Launch Out Into The Deep
Launch Out Into The Deep
Luke 5:1-11
“So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they [a]forsook all and followed Him.”
Some of the greatest stories ever told are fishing stories! I grew up around Jessieville, AR fishing Lake Ouachita with my grandpa and my dad. Those are some of my most dear memories. Now I spend days on that same lake with my son Jedidiah, fishing and telling him stories of where I caught a big fish or certain place my grandpa hung up in the brush and so on. I’m sure he gets tired of hearing those same old stories and memories but he is a good sport and never lets on like he does. There is just something about a fishing story, and this is one of the greatest ever told!
Jesus has began His public ministry on this earth and had been baptized by John the Baptist, and then rejected as the Christ by those in His hometown. Jesus states in Luke 4:43 “ I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” Jesus begins preaching on the edge of Lake of Gennesaret and preaches the Kingdom and multitudes press about Him to hear the Gospel! Wow! Can you imagine what it must have been like to stand on the shores of the lake and hear an eternity changing Gospel from The Christ Himself. Something strikes me here, Jesus is preaching to multitudes who are yearning to hear what He has to say and He doesn’t call any of them. This has always intrigued me. Notice that the fishermen leave the multitude and begin to wash their nets. Jesus obviously sees something in these men that we can’t see. They probably listened for a bit and then decided that they had better get on with their net cleaning. Jesus walks over and climbs in Peter’s boat. How amazing is it that these are the men He chooses out of all these multitudes? No matter where you are in life or ministry, God is taking notice of you. Even if you are not paying much attention and washing your own net! His eye is always on you.
Jesus steps into the boat and begins to preach from the boat. We see our first move towards deeper water at this point. The end position is to be in the deep water but we are still on the lake’s shore at this point. Jesus instructs Peter to push out a little from the land. I want you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt you will never see a huge catch spiritually, fishing in shallow water. Jesus knows exactly where the fish are and what these fishermen need to do even before he tells them to cast out their nets! I am thankful that Jesus knows exactly what we need before we ever even ask. Matthew 6:8 reads “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” Those are not my words, but the Word of God! Jesus knows that the fish are out in the deep water, and His desire is to ultimately show Peter, James, and John that there is power in being obedient to His commands.
We read in vs 4 “When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”” Jesus gives Peter another direct instruction. We see that the Lord wants these fishermen to get out even deeper than the first command. Why? Because He knows where the fish are. He knows they are about to receive a huge catch. He knows that their lives are about to change. Always remember that the Lord has a plan even when we do not. I wonder what thoughts were running through these fishermen’s minds? Why do we need to go out deeper, they wont be able to hear you from that far? Why is this man wanting to get in our boat? The fact of the matter is that it is ok that they didn’t know what Jesus was up to. That is the case most of the time in our lives. It is not so important that we know the plan as it is for us to be obedient to His commands.
Vs 5 says “But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” Simon Peter answers in a way that I feel we often respond to the Lord’s commands. He first gives his thoughts. We have fished all night and haven’t caught anything at all. It might sound something like this…Lord we have been praying all week and nothing has happened. Or maybe…Lord we have vacuumed the church three times and no one has patted me on the back this week for it. Lord we have fished all night and haven’t caught a thing! Why would You want us to go back out there and fish again. Why? Because Jesus said so! I am so thankful that Peter said even though we have fished all night and haven’t seen much of a harvest at all, we trust Your Word more than we need a reason. Now remember these are the guys that left the multitude and started washing their nets. These are the men that allowed Jesus in the boat. These are the men that went out a little from the land. These are the men that have launched out into the deep and now are on the brink of a miracle. Something life changing is about to happen. See the process? I can feel the presence of the Lord as I am typing this. What a life changing moment they are on the brink of. Don’t ever underestimate being obedient to God’s Word….it is life changing! Peter said “At Your Word.” They launched out to the deep water not because they wanting to go back fishing, or because they had an ingenious idea, but because Jesus told them to.
We find in vs 6 “And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.” Wow what a great catch we can have when we are obedient and get in the deep water. That’s where the fish are. What is a reward of a fisherman? FISH. They were rewarded with a great catch of fish. God didn’t reward fishermen with a harvest of rocks, He gave them fish! Phillippians 4: 6 says “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;” God desires for us to ask Him. He wants to give fishermen a great harvest of fish. He is a good God that delights in His people. Where did these fishermen need to be to receive this great harvest? In the deep water. The scripture says in Psalms 42:7 that “ deep calls unto deep”. We can’t call for the deep things of God from the shallow water. If we want to see the miraculous we must launch out into deeper spiritual water. Pew setting by itself is extremely shallow. We must seek the Lord with our whole heart in order to reach a deeper walk with Him!
They caught so many fish their nets began to break! When was the last time we had such a spiritual encounter with God that it began to break the fleshly net over our heart? As humans sometimes we tend to have expectations or limits as to what we will allow or want to happen. For example, if Peter would have known what he was about to catch he would have brought a bigger net. He never expected to catch so many fish that the net he had would break. Don’t limit God. He works in the impossible. Don’t set boundaries on your heart. Launch out to the deep where the miracles happen and be ready for whatever God sends your way!
Vs 7 “They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.” As Peter began to realize what was happening here he motioned for the partners in the other boats to come help him, and by doing so they were blessed and took part in this awesome harvest. When God begins to bless you, don’t hoard it up for yourself, share it with the world! If we are not careful we can have the mindset of…wow I launched out into the deep and look at all these fish I have and they haven’t caught anything. We must remember that it is always God that gives the blessing and increase. We have very little to do with it! Our only role is to be obedient. Let’s look at the fishermen in the other boat for a minute. When Peter began to signal for help they came at once. They were not jealous or aggravated at him, they left what they were doing and got in on the action and by doing so they received a great catch as well. You know what else they had to do to help? They had to launch out into the deep. There was no way they could help Peter from the shallow. They had to get out deep where he was. The Lord blessed them in such a way that the amount of fish they caught began to sink their boat. What a miracle!
If you want to be used of God you must first get into to deeper spiritual water. How do we do that? By being obedient to His Word. Everything we need to know is written in the Bible. We don’t need anything more or anything less, we just need to do what it says. Peter and these fishermen lives were changed because they had an encounter with Jesus in deep water. Talk about a powerful fishing story!