Simon surrendered everything to follow Jesus because fishing no longer mattered as much as following Jesus did.
By Priscilla Shirer
The only thing we know about Peter the first time we meet him in Scripture (when he went only by the name of Simon) was that he was an experienced fisherman. But even people with a great deal of experience at doing something can come up against situations they’re not expecting.
In Luke 5 (well before Jesus asked the disciples about their view of His identity), Peter and his crew had been out all night in the Sea of Galilee, confident in their nautical abilities and their knowledge about the best conditions for hauling in a decent catch. Again and again, they had cast their cumbersome net over the side of the boat, expecting it to return to them filled to the brim with fish, like it always did. But to their surprise, every attempt came up empty. Every swing was a miss. The waters appeared to be unoccupied tonight. None of the fishermen’s keen insights were paying off.
Picture the difficulty and discouragement they must have felt as each dark hour dovetailed into the next. Imagine their bewilderment at not being able to do a job they’d successfully performed hundreds of times before.
Fishing wasn’t just their weekend hobby. Fishing was their career—the industry and craft to which they had dedicated their lives. Failing to catch a single fish on an all-night endeavor would’ve meant more than a disappointment. It was an affront to their skill and expertise, to their esteem as professionals, not to mention a hindrance to their economic bottom line. Their families and communities were counting on these men to bring home the next day’s meal. Their overnight failure would not go undetected.
Emptied
The next morning, the crowds were already out in force, listening to Jesus teach “God’s word” (Luke 5:1)—a biblical phrase that, whenever it appears in the Gospels, refers to His teaching about Himself as the Messiah, the bringer of good news. In other words, He was teaching about His identity. And the people were pressing in so tightly to listen that He needed a better platform if He was going to be able to talk where everyone could hear Him.
“The crowds were out in force, listening to Jesus teach ‘God’s word’ (Luke 5:1)—a biblical phrase that, whenever it appears in the Gospels, refers to His teaching about Himself as the Messiah.” — @PriscillaShirer Share on XEyeing Simon’s boat sitting empty on the beach—not a coincidence—He called out to him while the men were washing their empty nets. Again, not a coincidence, because Simon’s emptiness was about to be filled by Christ’s presence and power. Jesus stepped onto the empty platform of that boat and asked the fishermen to push out a little way from the shore so He could teach the crowds gathered around the water’s edge more effectively. From there, Simon would’ve had the closest seat in the house. He was front and center, next to Jesus, to hear with startling clarity what Jesus continued to say about who He was and about His messianic identity.
Obedient
Then he heard something else. Something more. Something personal. He heard his name.
Simon?
“Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4, CSB).
This sentiment went against everything an experienced fisherman knew about working in this area. To effectively fish the Sea of Galilee, traditionally you stayed in the shallow water and fished at night, not in the deep part in bright daylight. Peter initially tried to reason with Jesus, presenting his bona fides as a man who knew the fishing business better than some teacher did. They’d worked all night and caught nothing, he said. Jesus didn’t answer. Jesus waited.
OK then. “If you say so, I’ll let down the nets,” (v. 5). But I’m telling you, it won’t do any good.
When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink (vv. 6-7).
Now we come to the best part.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord!” (v. 8).
Not just teacher. “Lord.”
“For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners” (vv. 9-10).
Surrendered
As recently as the morning’s sunrise, Jesus had seemed to them no more than a local teacher, a religious man who taught by the seashore. But now He’d shown Simon and his fishing partners the whole truth. He could command the seas, and its creatures responded to His word. He could do things nobody else could do. He’d said so, and now they’d seen it. The result?
“Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him” (v. 11).
“Everything.” All their things.
They surrendered everything to follow Jesus. All the fish they’d been striving to catch, all the financial security their hardworking enterprise had brought them. They left it all behind in an instant—even the largest single catch of fish they’d ever collected in their lives. Not because fish and fishing no longer mattered but because it no longer mattered as much as following Jesus, the One whose identity had become so strikingly clear to them.
Peter and his partners left everything "not because fish and fishing no longer mattered but because it no longer mattered as much as following Jesus, the One whose identity had become so strikingly clear to them.” — @PriscillaShirer Share on XAn enormous catch had once been their highest aspiration, but now surrendering their all to Christ was the only thing they longed for because now they had no doubt about who He really was.
Discipled
Over time, He would reveal even more about His identity to them, as well as to the crowd. And on the day when Jesus asked His disciples the piercing, poignant, powerfully personal question: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter could answer without reservation: “God’s Messiah” (Luke 9:20). “You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29). “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).
The roots of his confident declaration began on that morning when the coarsened ropes of Peter’s fishing nets began coming apart under the weight of a miraculous catch. It started a process that would wreck and recalibrate his life, as well as those of all the others who were with him. It had shifted the trajectory of their goals and ambitions. And it had changed the barometer they used for measuring success and failure.
Jesus had shown them who He really was, who He really is.
That’s the making of a disciple.
For permission to republish this article, contact Marissa Postell Sullivan.
Priscilla Shirer
most recently in The Forge—Priscilla’s primary ambition is to lift up Jesus and equip His children to live victoriously. She and her husband, Jerry, together lead Going Beyond Ministries and make their home near Dallas, Texas.
