Study Bible
Luke
Chapter 5

The call of Peter

Luke 5:2-11Luke: List of Major Bible Charts, Maps, & PicturesJesus' Ministry in GalileeTeaching and Miracles

Luke 5:2-11NIV11-EN

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 fish for people.” ¹¹So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

New International Version · Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The call of Peter

This is covered in detail in the Gospel of Mark (below). In Luke 5:2 the text omits the name "Andrew" (cf. Mark 1:16), but still speaks in the plural, indicating someone else was present. Luke may have desired to focus on the primary character - Simon Peter. After each fishing trip the "nets" (pl.) were checked, mended and cleaned for the next use. The "boats" (pl.) were not in use, so Jesus could sit in Simon's boat and escape the press of the crowd.

Interestingly, in Luke 5:3, Luke uses the term "Master" (epistates), This word is used only by Luke and always of Jesus (cf. Luke 8:24, 45; 9:33, 49; 17:13). While Luke avoids the use of Rabbi completely for Jesus, he does use the title of "teacher," but only when used by strangers.

In Luke 5:8, Peter falls on his knew showing the proper respect of the "Lord." He says, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" Peter knew fishing and saw in the event of Luke 5:4-6 the hand of God. In the presence of God, he was convicted of his sinfulness (cf. Gen. 18:27; Job 42:6; Isa. 6:5). Peter's words should not be taken literally, like 'Get out of here,' but rather something to the extent of 'Lord forgive me.'

Luke 5:11 states, "So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him." In Mark 1:20 says, "left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him" and Matthew 4:22 has "immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him," but Luke concentrates on the fact that they left "everything." For Luke then the word "follow" is frequently used to denote Christian discipleship.

Luke 5:2-3

Because the crowd was eager, Jesus decided to teach from a boat (see Mark 4:1-2). Luke emphasized the importance of God's word.

Luke 5:4

Simon. Later named Peter (v. 8; 6:14). Jesus had recently healed his mother-in-law (4:38-39). In this passage (vv.3-11), he is representative of the other disciples. let down your nets. Fishing in this day was done using dragnets. Those large nets were shaped like semi-circles, stretched over 100 ft. in length. The fishermen would cast out the nets and let them sink into the water to catch fish. These full, heavy nets would then be pulled back up into the boat.

Luke 5:5

Simon was reluctant to obey Jesus, perhaps for a few reasons. First, as a carpenter's son, he may have believed that Jesus had less knowledge of fishing than Simon, the fisherman by trade. Second, they had already been fishing all night and caught nothing. Finally, it was morning, which was a worse time to fish than evening. Nevertheless, Simon obeyed Jesus's instructions.

Luke 5:6-7

It is unclear if the miracle was one of Jesus's knowledge (location of the fish) or authority (directing the fish). Luke was more concerned to show the size of the miracle, which revealed Jesus's glory.

Luke 5:8

fell down. A visible sign of humility and fear (18:13). sinful man. Whenever humanity truly encounters God, what overcomes them most is his holiness (see 7:6; Job 42:5-6; Isa. 6:1-7). Peter's response indicates that he saw divine power at work through Jesus. Only God commands the seas and all that is in them (see Ps. 95:4-5; 148:1-8). Lord. Previously, Jesus was simply called master (v. 5). The word simply mean sir but Luke's previous thirty uses of it always indicate God.

Luke 5:10

James and John. Prominent disciples who joined Peter as an "inner circle" among the disciples (8:51; 9:28, 54). Do not be afraid. Jesus encouraged faith in Peter and the other disciples. catch men. The word evokes rescue from danger. Instead of catching living fish to kill for consumption, they would catch spiritually dead people for new life in Christ (see Eph. 2:1-8). This is the central calling of every disciple. Those who have followed Jesus by believing the gospel are to call others to follow him as disciples (see Matt. 28:19-20; John 20:21; Acts 1:8).

Luke 5:11

followed him. This is the basic description of Jesus's disciples. They follow by acknowledging his lordship (Rom. 10:9) and learning from teaching (see Matt. 11:29; John 14:23-24). left everything. Other things in this life do not compare to Jesus. They can be forsaken in light of his call (9:3; 12:33; 14:26, 33; 18:22; John 12:25).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.