Fishing Boat Leaving the Shore for Deep WaterBible World
5:4Luke 5:4
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
After He finished teaching the people from Simon's boat pushed a little from the shore of the lake, Jesus told Simon to row out into deep water and drop the nets for a catch. Though the fishermen had toiled all night and taken nothing and fishing by day seemed useless by human judgment, Simon obeyed at His word and enclosed so great a multitude that the net began to break and both boats were filled nearly to sinking. The miracle revealed His divine power over nature and drove away unbelief and discouragement, filling Peter with awe, shame for unbelief, and recognition of Jesus as the Son of God. The command was their first test of faith and obedience, teaching that God's will is to be obeyed without question despite discouraging experience and human reasoning, and it began their lesson and calling to become fishers of people. Applied to Christian service, launching into the deep means leaving the shallow waters of self-care and familiar limits for the wider field of labor for souls, trusting that Christ's presence and power with human effort will bring an unexpected harvest.
Setting and Circumstances
The command came after Jesus finished teaching the people from Simon's boat on the lake of Gennesaret, the Sea of Galilee, the boat having been pushed a little from shore. He had been teaching in the morning in the open air to common people pressing down to the water's edge, sitting in a fisherman's boat swayed to and fro by the restless waves and proclaiming the good news of salvation, the mysteries and great things of His kingdom. The lake, the mountains, the spreading fields, and the sunlight flooding the earth gave Him a fitting scene whose objects illustrated His lessons and impressed them upon the mind. No lesson fell fruitless but came to some soul as the word of eternal life, showing that He met people in ordinary working places such as boats and lake shores to reach them with divine truth.
The fishermen had toiled all night and taken nothing and were discouraged about their livelihood and temporal prospects. Peter was also thoroughly disheartened by the death of John the Baptist and tortured with unbelief. Night was the best time to fish because fish could see and avoid nets in the clear lake water by day, so after a fruitless night obeying the command to fish by day seemed useless by human judgment.
Those who heard it were humble, ordinary, sturdy toiling fishermen from daily work, candid, fair, kind and able to feel for others' suffering. They were not shaped by worldly customs or hardened by prejudice like the learned leaders who trusted their own wisdom and righteousness. They welcomed connection with Him and could be taught ideas they would remember, pass on, and be changed in mind and character through three years of association and through the Old Testament Scriptures and walking with Him. The verse belongs to the time when the disciples had returned to fishing while troubled and uncertain, before they had fully joined Jesus as co-workers.
Command and Miraculous Catch
After He had finished teaching the people from Simon's ship by the lake of Gennesaret, Jesus told Simon to launch out into the deep, to row out into deep water and let down the nets for a draught. Night was the best time to fish because fish could see and avoid nets in the clear lake water by day, so after a fruitless night obeying the command to fish by day seemed useless by human judgment. The command was an act by which the Lord Jesus works miracles for His people, and obeying it brought the great multitude of fishes that filled both ships.
Simon answered in a desponding tone that they had toiled all night and taken nothing, for Peter was thoroughly disheartened by the death of John the Baptist and tortured with unbelief because of it, and discouraged over his temporal prospects and worried about his livelihood after the long night of fruitless toil. It was morning on the Sea of Galilee after Jesus had preached from Peter's boat to the crowd on the shore about the mysteries of the kingdom of God when He turned to Peter and bade him launch out and let down his net. Yet out of love for his Master and at Christ's word he obeyed, though surprised, and the disciples with the Divine Presence with them let down the net again. The command tested their faith, for casting the nets by day seemed hopeless after working all night without a catch in waters where night fishing was normally more favorable.
At His bidding they enclosed so great a multitude of fishes that the net began to break and they needed help to haul it in. Both ships were filled, heavily laden, and began to sink and were in danger of sinking, and Simon and his companions could not haul the loaded catch in alone. Their obedience brought an abundant catch that filled the nets until they broke, as evidence that Jesus can give His people the fruit of their labor today and bless their work with success and growth.
The abundant catch was a miracle wrought by the Lord Jesus that revealed His divine power over nature and overcame the disciples' discouragement and unbelief. It showed that success came through following His direction and through His presence and power, not human effort alone. Human labor relying on human wisdom and strength alone brings failure, while when Christ dwells in men and works with and through them their labor bears fruit. No miracle had impressed Peter so strongly; it drove away unbelief and discouragement and filled him with awe at divine power, shame for sinful unbelief, and a sense of unworthiness in the presence of the Son of God. The miracle led Peter to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and to feel unworthy to be near Him, and led directly to the call to catch men and the leaving of nets and boats to follow Jesus.
Faith Obedience Divine Power
The order to launch into deeper water after a night of catching nothing was the disciples' first test of faith and obedience. Their prompt response brought an enormous catch that revealed Christ's divine power. That response tested whether their desire for temporal good or for fellowship with Christ was stronger.
Night was the best time to fish because fish could see and avoid nets in the clear water by day, so after a fruitless night obeying the command to fish by day seemed useless by human judgment. Yet God's will is to be learned even in trying circumstances and obeyed without question, trusting Christ's word despite discouraging experience, and such obedience is rewarded. Christ demands implicit obedience to His words under all circumstances, as Simon obeyed trustingly when the prospect seemed discouraging.
No one should let human reasoning in apparent difficulties lead to acting contrary to a command of the Lord, even when the command goes against personal experience, preconceived opinions, human reasoning and human plans. God sometimes calls for work contrary to human reasoning, and the opinions of men have for years blocked the work of God. At His bidding, with the Divine Presence with them, they cast again and caught an abundance of fish. The miraculous draught showed that success came through Christ's presence and power, not human effort alone. Human effort and labor relying on human wisdom and strength alone bring failure and no real results in saving souls, but when Christ dwells in workers and works with and through them, their labor bears fruit.
Following Christ requires wholehearted obedience and willingness to leave everything for His service. When He called them they immediately left boats and nets to follow Him. They accepted His call without first demanding a promise of income or security, trusting instead to be with Him and serve in His work. Peter, James, and John leaving their nets illustrates that people today may leave their vocations to proclaim the gospel and gather multitudes to Him.
Call to Fish for People
The order to push into deep water and lower the nets was given to teach faith and perseverance for the higher work of fishing for souls. It begins an object lesson in the disciples' work as fishers of men, in which a night of empty toil is followed at His word by an extraordinary catch. That catch revealed His power and prepared the fishermen for their calling to catch people.
The abundant draught accompanied His call for them to leave fishing and become fishers of people. Immediately after it He bade them leave their nets and follow Him to do that work. It showed that their work would succeed through faith and in connection with His power.
Christ's presence in the boat made their fishing successful, and His indwelling presence is just as necessary for winning souls. Their success came because He was with them, and the same dependence belongs to soul-winning now. Those who follow Him in living faith, with their aim fixed on His glory, will see God's salvation.
In labor for salvation workers will meet disappointment, weariness, and the feeling that further effort is useless. Yet they must obey Christ, leave the result with Him, and rely wholly on divine power to move hearts. They must learn where to labor and how to allure souls, and wait patiently with faith and confidence. Then their efforts will prove wholly successful with an unexpected harvest of souls like the draught of fishes.
The command belongs to the account of Jesus calling fishermen as co-laborers. It shows that men from ordinary daily work could be called and, through association with Him, trained for His work and changed in mind and character.
Link to Later Draught
The draught that followed the command to launch out into the deep and let down the nets stood at the commencement of Christ's ministry, when so many fish were enclosed that the net broke for the multitude taken. Immediately after it came the bidding to leave the nets and follow Him to become fishers of men. The later miraculous draught after the resurrection was wrought to make this first miracle more impressive and more meaningful.
It was to show that though deprived of the personal companionship of their Master and of sustenance from their fishing employment, even their favorite employment, a resurrected Saviour still has care over them and will provide for them while they are doing His work. His care and power remained with them even when they could no longer be with Him in person.
The direction to cast on the right side, where Christ stood on the shore, teaches that when human effort labors in connection with Him, His divine power uniting with human effort does not fail of success.
Launching Deeper in Mission
Applied to Christian service, launching into the deep means leaving the shore and the shallow waters and going out to serve others. It means overcoming self-care and selfishness and turning attention to people whose lives are as precious as one's own. When followers obey and let down their nets, the Master gathers people in and reveals God's mighty work. The deep-water fishing is an image of active, personal effort in sharing sacred truth, undertaking the work fully in faith rather than remaining idle and seeking a greater harvest.
It calls workers to take the work beyond familiar limits and narrow limits rather than remaining idle near shore. Many remain near shore while few venture into deeper waters and let down their nets for a harvest among all kinds of people. The command directs ministers to move beyond disputes and criticism and to carry the gospel into new fields to seek people who need salvation.
Deep water represents a wider field of labor and work that requires energetic, persevering faith. It means advancing into all the highways and byways and the surrounding communities and regions beyond, reaching new places rather than remaining where the work is already opened. It means taking the work beyond narrow limits to reach more people, widening and extending the message across the coast, especially by working in large, influential cities rather than staying in small places. This includes Capetown, Africa, and other places, with God's people imbued with the Holy Spirit for the task.
Applied to work among the French, it urges moving beyond cautious, limited efforts to move forward by faith. It calls for taking risks and using abilities and means rather than remaining safely near shore. The net cast on the right side represents working by faith rather than relying on human wisdom. Those who work with energy and persevering faith, relying on God rather than their own wisdom, will see results from their labor.
Casting the net on the right side means doing the work of helping people in the right way. It means economizing in order to help those who come into the truth. It means looking carefully after those thrown out of employment, not carrying them but helping them get a start. It means speaking words of encouragement to all who have moral courage to receive and confess the truth, finding a place for those who possess intelligence so their intelligence will increase, and providing work for all who have physical strength. Each is to willingly take up the burden laid upon them according to ability under Christ, who honored labor, is touched by human woe, bears burdens, encourages the worker, and never makes a mistake.
Christ's Provision for Workers
When the Galilean fishers obeyed the direction to let down their nets, the nets filled until they broke, and that catch stands as evidence that Jesus can give His people the fruit of their labor today and bless their work with success and growth. Obedient labor at His word brings the fruit of labor by His power. He guides His people and gives skill and understanding and wisdom to those who strive to do their duty conscientiously and intelligently, including skill for preparing healthful food. He supplies their needs from His rich resources as owner of the world, and blesses everyone who is seeking to bless others.
The fishermen of Galilee whom Jesus chose as co-workers in salvation were sturdy toilers, showing that faithful work and religious service belong together. Their calling proves that God does His work through common people. As He did then, He will raise up men and women from among the common people by means not now seen to accomplish His work. There will soon be an awakening that will surprise many, in which those who do not realize the necessity of what is to be done will be passed by, while heavenly messengers work with those called the common people, fitting them to carry the truth to many places. Now is the time to awake and do what can be done.
After He finished teaching the people from Simon's boat pushed a little from the shore of the lake, Jesus told Simon to row out into deep water and drop the nets for a catch. Though the fishermen had toiled all night and taken nothing and fishing by day seemed useless by human judgment, Simon obeyed at His word and enclosed so great a multitude that the net began to break and both boats were filled nearly to sinking. The miracle revealed His divine power over nature and drove away unbelief and discouragement, filling Peter with awe, shame for unbelief, and recognition of Jesus as the Son of God. The command was their first test of faith and obedience, teaching that God's will is to be obeyed without question despite discouraging experience and human reasoning, and it began their lesson and calling to become fishers of people. Applied to Christian service, launching into the deep means leaving the shallow waters of self-care and familiar limits for the wider field of labor for souls, trusting that Christ's presence and power with human effort will bring an unexpected harvest.
Setting and Circumstances
The command came after Jesus finished teaching the people from Simon's boat on the lake of Gennesaret, the Sea of Galilee, the boat having been pushed a little from shore. He had been teaching in the morning in the open air to common people pressing down to the water's edge, sitting in a fisherman's boat swayed to and fro by the restless waves and proclaiming the good news of salvation, the mysteries and great things of His kingdom. The lake, the mountains, the spreading fields, and the sunlight flooding the earth gave Him a fitting scene whose objects illustrated His lessons and impressed them upon the mind. No lesson fell fruitless but came to some soul as the word of eternal life, showing that He met people in ordinary working places such as boats and lake shores to reach them with divine truth.
The fishermen had toiled all night and taken nothing and were discouraged about their livelihood and temporal prospects. Peter was also thoroughly disheartened by the death of John the Baptist and tortured with unbelief. Night was the best time to fish because fish could see and avoid nets in the clear lake water by day, so after a fruitless night obeying the command to fish by day seemed useless by human judgment.
Those who heard it were humble, ordinary, sturdy toiling fishermen from daily work, candid, fair, kind and able to feel for others' suffering. They were not shaped by worldly customs or hardened by prejudice like the learned leaders who trusted their own wisdom and righteousness. They welcomed connection with Him and could be taught ideas they would remember, pass on, and be changed in mind and character through three years of association and through the Old Testament Scriptures and walking with Him. The verse belongs to the time when the disciples had returned to fishing while troubled and uncertain, before they had fully joined Jesus as co-workers.
Command and Miraculous Catch
After He had finished teaching the people from Simon's ship by the lake of Gennesaret, Jesus told Simon to launch out into the deep, to row out into deep water and let down the nets for a draught. Night was the best time to fish because fish could see and avoid nets in the clear lake water by day, so after a fruitless night obeying the command to fish by day seemed useless by human judgment. The command was an act by which the Lord Jesus works miracles for His people, and obeying it brought the great multitude of fishes that filled both ships.
Simon answered in a desponding tone that they had toiled all night and taken nothing, for Peter was thoroughly disheartened by the death of John the Baptist and tortured with unbelief because of it, and discouraged over his temporal prospects and worried about his livelihood after the long night of fruitless toil. It was morning on the Sea of Galilee after Jesus had preached from Peter's boat to the crowd on the shore about the mysteries of the kingdom of God when He turned to Peter and bade him launch out and let down his net. Yet out of love for his Master and at Christ's word he obeyed, though surprised, and the disciples with the Divine Presence with them let down the net again. The command tested their faith, for casting the nets by day seemed hopeless after working all night without a catch in waters where night fishing was normally more favorable.
At His bidding they enclosed so great a multitude of fishes that the net began to break and they needed help to haul it in. Both ships were filled, heavily laden, and began to sink and were in danger of sinking, and Simon and his companions could not haul the loaded catch in alone. Their obedience brought an abundant catch that filled the nets until they broke, as evidence that Jesus can give His people the fruit of their labor today and bless their work with success and growth.
The abundant catch was a miracle wrought by the Lord Jesus that revealed His divine power over nature and overcame the disciples' discouragement and unbelief. It showed that success came through following His direction and through His presence and power, not human effort alone. Human labor relying on human wisdom and strength alone brings failure, while when Christ dwells in men and works with and through them their labor bears fruit. No miracle had impressed Peter so strongly; it drove away unbelief and discouragement and filled him with awe at divine power, shame for sinful unbelief, and a sense of unworthiness in the presence of the Son of God. The miracle led Peter to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and to feel unworthy to be near Him, and led directly to the call to catch men and the leaving of nets and boats to follow Jesus.
Faith Obedience Divine Power
The order to launch into deeper water after a night of catching nothing was the disciples' first test of faith and obedience. Their prompt response brought an enormous catch that revealed Christ's divine power. That response tested whether their desire for temporal good or for fellowship with Christ was stronger.
Night was the best time to fish because fish could see and avoid nets in the clear water by day, so after a fruitless night obeying the command to fish by day seemed useless by human judgment. Yet God's will is to be learned even in trying circumstances and obeyed without question, trusting Christ's word despite discouraging experience, and such obedience is rewarded. Christ demands implicit obedience to His words under all circumstances, as Simon obeyed trustingly when the prospect seemed discouraging.
No one should let human reasoning in apparent difficulties lead to acting contrary to a command of the Lord, even when the command goes against personal experience, preconceived opinions, human reasoning and human plans. God sometimes calls for work contrary to human reasoning, and the opinions of men have for years blocked the work of God. At His bidding, with the Divine Presence with them, they cast again and caught an abundance of fish. The miraculous draught showed that success came through Christ's presence and power, not human effort alone. Human effort and labor relying on human wisdom and strength alone bring failure and no real results in saving souls, but when Christ dwells in workers and works with and through them, their labor bears fruit.
Following Christ requires wholehearted obedience and willingness to leave everything for His service. When He called them they immediately left boats and nets to follow Him. They accepted His call without first demanding a promise of income or security, trusting instead to be with Him and serve in His work. Peter, James, and John leaving their nets illustrates that people today may leave their vocations to proclaim the gospel and gather multitudes to Him.
Call to Fish for People
The order to push into deep water and lower the nets was given to teach faith and perseverance for the higher work of fishing for souls. It begins an object lesson in the disciples' work as fishers of men, in which a night of empty toil is followed at His word by an extraordinary catch. That catch revealed His power and prepared the fishermen for their calling to catch people.
The abundant draught accompanied His call for them to leave fishing and become fishers of people. Immediately after it He bade them leave their nets and follow Him to do that work. It showed that their work would succeed through faith and in connection with His power.
Christ's presence in the boat made their fishing successful, and His indwelling presence is just as necessary for winning souls. Their success came because He was with them, and the same dependence belongs to soul-winning now. Those who follow Him in living faith, with their aim fixed on His glory, will see God's salvation.
In labor for salvation workers will meet disappointment, weariness, and the feeling that further effort is useless. Yet they must obey Christ, leave the result with Him, and rely wholly on divine power to move hearts. They must learn where to labor and how to allure souls, and wait patiently with faith and confidence. Then their efforts will prove wholly successful with an unexpected harvest of souls like the draught of fishes.
The command belongs to the account of Jesus calling fishermen as co-laborers. It shows that men from ordinary daily work could be called and, through association with Him, trained for His work and changed in mind and character.
Link to Later Draught
The draught that followed the command to launch out into the deep and let down the nets stood at the commencement of Christ's ministry, when so many fish were enclosed that the net broke for the multitude taken. Immediately after it came the bidding to leave the nets and follow Him to become fishers of men. The later miraculous draught after the resurrection was wrought to make this first miracle more impressive and more meaningful.
It was to show that though deprived of the personal companionship of their Master and of sustenance from their fishing employment, even their favorite employment, a resurrected Saviour still has care over them and will provide for them while they are doing His work. His care and power remained with them even when they could no longer be with Him in person.
The direction to cast on the right side, where Christ stood on the shore, teaches that when human effort labors in connection with Him, His divine power uniting with human effort does not fail of success.
Launching Deeper in Mission
Applied to Christian service, launching into the deep means leaving the shore and the shallow waters and going out to serve others. It means overcoming self-care and selfishness and turning attention to people whose lives are as precious as one's own. When followers obey and let down their nets, the Master gathers people in and reveals God's mighty work. The deep-water fishing is an image of active, personal effort in sharing sacred truth, undertaking the work fully in faith rather than remaining idle and seeking a greater harvest.
It calls workers to take the work beyond familiar limits and narrow limits rather than remaining idle near shore. Many remain near shore while few venture into deeper waters and let down their nets for a harvest among all kinds of people. The command directs ministers to move beyond disputes and criticism and to carry the gospel into new fields to seek people who need salvation.
Deep water represents a wider field of labor and work that requires energetic, persevering faith. It means advancing into all the highways and byways and the surrounding communities and regions beyond, reaching new places rather than remaining where the work is already opened. It means taking the work beyond narrow limits to reach more people, widening and extending the message across the coast, especially by working in large, influential cities rather than staying in small places. This includes Capetown, Africa, and other places, with God's people imbued with the Holy Spirit for the task.
Applied to work among the French, it urges moving beyond cautious, limited efforts to move forward by faith. It calls for taking risks and using abilities and means rather than remaining safely near shore. The net cast on the right side represents working by faith rather than relying on human wisdom. Those who work with energy and persevering faith, relying on God rather than their own wisdom, will see results from their labor.
Casting the net on the right side means doing the work of helping people in the right way. It means economizing in order to help those who come into the truth. It means looking carefully after those thrown out of employment, not carrying them but helping them get a start. It means speaking words of encouragement to all who have moral courage to receive and confess the truth, finding a place for those who possess intelligence so their intelligence will increase, and providing work for all who have physical strength. Each is to willingly take up the burden laid upon them according to ability under Christ, who honored labor, is touched by human woe, bears burdens, encourages the worker, and never makes a mistake.
Christ's Provision for Workers
When the Galilean fishers obeyed the direction to let down their nets, the nets filled until they broke, and that catch stands as evidence that Jesus can give His people the fruit of their labor today and bless their work with success and growth. Obedient labor at His word brings the fruit of labor by His power. He guides His people and gives skill and understanding and wisdom to those who strive to do their duty conscientiously and intelligently, including skill for preparing healthful food. He supplies their needs from His rich resources as owner of the world, and blesses everyone who is seeking to bless others.
The fishermen of Galilee whom Jesus chose as co-workers in salvation were sturdy toilers, showing that faithful work and religious service belong together. Their calling proves that God does His work through common people. As He did then, He will raise up men and women from among the common people by means not now seen to accomplish His work. There will soon be an awakening that will surprise many, in which those who do not realize the necessity of what is to be done will be passed by, while heavenly messengers work with those called the common people, fitting them to carry the truth to many places. Now is the time to awake and do what can be done.