How do we follow Jesus into the job of changing the world? What do we need in our proverbial locker if we are to see God’s Kingdom come to change and heal this hurting and broken world through us? We need to have an intimate relationship with the living God by His Holy Spirit for one. This will lead us to a genuine love for others too, which is crucial; but we also need faith - and lots of it.
Despite his many shortcomings, I see Peter as a fine model of faith in the gospels. He gets some things wrong but he gets a heck of a lot right too, so I thought I would spend the next few blogs going through Luke 5.1-11, where we see Peter being called to follow Jesus. This is how the story goes...
1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him."
We begin with a description of the scene, but without much of an explanation for it. Why was Jesus standing by the lake? The implied explanation given is simply that he was there to teach. That is what his ministry is about in some part. He has just laid out the multi-faceted nature of his ministry in Luke 4 - his own manifesto as it were - drawn from Isaiah 61, and now he has begun to work it out in public. He has already healed one man with an unclean Spirit, a woman ( Simon's mother) from a fever and has cast out many demons - no sickness is too big or too small for Jesus - and now he continues to teach. His teaching can never be separated from his healing and vice versa. They are inextricably linked as they both form a part of his composite announcement of the reality of the Kingdom, which has drawn near in his own self.
The crowd is pressing in on him. They know why they are there. They have seen something in him up to this point that they have never witnessed in anyone before this point. Even in this short time of his active ministry they know that this man Jesus is unique and they want more. They want to hear what he has to say. There is something about this man that marks him out from the others, even in an age where there are many opinions and leaders.
He has authority (Luke 4.36).
What the crowd see is a man filled with the Holy Spirit (4.1) and empowered by the Holy Spirit (4.14) to do the very works of God. How could the crowd fail to see that? They can! That’s why they’re there. His teaching is different (4.15) because it is active and it draws people. This is reminiscent of Paul's approach in Corinth (1 Cor 2.1-5). It is the only sound basis for the preaching of the gospel.
"1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
This kind of preaching, in itself, requires great faith. Jesus has that kind of faith and he inspires it in those he meets.
Jesus observes the situation he is in and he sees more than meets the eye. An opportunity not simply to teach the crowd but to draw disciples to himself. Jesus is able to focus on the large scale and the small scale at the same time. He does not get so enamored and distracted by the crowd that he loses his focus on the individual. Nor does he become so intrigued with the personal that he withdraws from the corporate. He has bifocal vision. He sees the purposes of God in both and has a big enough picture to honor God in both.
He climbs aboard and begins to teach the crowds. He does not ask permission, he simply does it. He is demonstrating his authority in action. He has also 'paid his way' in some measure by healing Simon's mother in the previous verses. There is some relationship already stirring between Simon and Jesus.
Jesus is totally free to ask Simon to do what he says. He has no fear of offending Simon, no worry about putting him out. Simon obeys him word for word by 'putting out a little way from the sure'. Jesus is 'testing the water' of Simon's heart, so to speak. He is working out whether this is the kind of guy he would like to have with him. Simon doesn't know he is at a job interview, which makes his obedient response all the more impressive.
Notice this. Simon does not alter Jesus' request at any point. He simply hears and obeys. This is the response of faith, that we hear and we obey. Simon is about to demonstrate this again, although he does not know it yet.
We'll move onto this in the next post.
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