2/23/2025 - Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Summary: In Luke 5, we learn about the amazing meaning of the word "Gospel," which means the good news about Jesus. In this story, Jesus meets three fishermen named Simon Peter, James, and John. He asks them to follow Him, and they become His very first disciples. A breathtaking moment occurs when Jesus helps Simon Peter catch an incredible number of fish. This miraculous event reveals Jesus' extraordinary powers. Because of this miracle, Simon Peter decides to follow Jesus after repenting his sins.
Jesus tells Simon Peter and his friends, James and John, that instead of catching fish, they will now be "fishers of men," which means they will help share God’s love with others. This story shows us how Jesus started His important work of teaching and helping people!

  1. (Ava): What did Simon Peter do with all the fish? When the Bible says, "they left everything and followed Jesus" (v. 11), does it refer to all the fish they caught or their occupation as fishermen?
  2. (Noah): Does the Bible specify how many fish they caught and how much success/money that would mean?
  3. (Jeremy): Why did it take a miracle for Simon Peter to believe Jesus' word?
  4. (Audrey): Why did Jesus withhold His power until He commanded that the fishing be successful?
  5. (Jordan): Was it only Simon Peter who fully repented at the sight, or did many people in the crowd repent after witnessing Jesus' miracle? Did James and John also repent?

Comments

  1. Pastor JamesFebruary 26, 2025 at 1:09 PM

    Question 1 (Ava): Great question Ava. When the bible says in Luke 5:11 that "they [the disciples] left everything to follow Jesus', it means both that they left all the fish they caught and that they left their occupation as fishermen. But let me explain further.

    When Jesus commanded the disciples to leave everything and follow him, what probably happened was that the disciples left all the fishes they caught and immediately followed Jesus. So what happened to the fishes they caught? Well the disciples (Peter, James, John, and Andrew), had other workers who worked alongside them, so it is likely that they took care of the fishes they caught. The disciples abandoned their work because of the call of Jesus Christ. Later, they would completely abandoned their occupation as fishermen and become permanently the followers and eventually the leaders of the church after the resurrection of Jesus.

    Although for a brief time, some of the disciples did return to fishing (see John 21:1-14), after the the death of Jesus when they were confused and scattered.

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  2. Pastor JamesFebruary 26, 2025 at 1:17 PM

    Question 2 (Noah): Does the Bible specify how many fish they caught and how much success/money that would mean?

    Good question Noah! No, the bible does not specify how many fish they caught but you can imagine what it mean when it says in verse 6, "... they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So 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." This is the dream of every fishermen, to catch the once in a lifetime "catch". I love fishing and just one time in my life, my friend and I caught in one spot, underneath a beautiful fall, so much fish, over 80!! We stopped counting because we caught one fish after another!

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  3. Pastor JamesFebruary 26, 2025 at 1:29 PM

    Question 3 (Jeremy): Good question, Jeremy! Why did it take a miracle for Simon Peter to believe Jesus' word? The reason why Simon did not believe in Jesus until he saw the miracle was because Simon did not know and did not believe who Jesus was. After all, if someone came and tried to tell you to do something that you thought you were an "expert" on, chances are, you would dismiss them or not take them seriously.

    It's human nature. We believe that we are good at something and we take great pride in what we know and can do. So if someone comes to us who we think doesn't know what he's talking about, we tend to dismiss them. And that's what was going on in Peter's mind. But because Jesus was a guest in his boat and because his brother Andrew most likely invited Jesus into the boat, Simon tried to be polite when he said in verse 5, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." In other words, Simon let down the net not because he believed in Jesus but probably because he wanted to prove Jesus wrong! How wrong Simon was! He had no idea, who Jesus was. But because of this event, this miracle, it got Simon's attention! Jesus may not have been a "professional" fisherman like Peter and the other disciples, but Jesus was Lord of the sea and the fishes!

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  4. Pastor JamesFebruary 26, 2025 at 1:37 PM

    Question (Audrey): Why did Jesus withhold His power until He commanded that the fishing be successful? Now, that's a great question. Jesus withheld his power until the end, because he first needed Simon to experience "failure" so that he can demonstrate his power.

    Many times, God's doesn't intervene at the beginning but only at the end, much like a parent doesn't always intervene when their children face challenges because until we have experienced failure, we won't listen to what others have to say. We think we can do things on our own without God's help. So we make plans and we depend only on ourselves. God is not part of our equation. But when we fail, then we are humbled and more opened to recognize our limitations, and to listen. And that's what happened when Simon. At the beginning he was proud and skeptical, but at the end, he was humbled and he "left everything and followed Jesus."

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  5. Pastor JamesFebruary 26, 2025 at 1:45 PM

    Question 5 (Jordan): Was it only Simon Peter who fully repented at the sight, or did many people in the crowd repent after witnessing Jesus' miracle? Did James and John also repent?

    That's a great question Jordan! As far as we know, only Simon repented when he fell on his knees and said to Jesus, "Go away from me, Lord: I am a sinful man!" It is possible that James and John who were with Simon may have also joined with Simon and repented but we don't know. By this early point in the ministry of Jesus, James and John [and Andrew] were already disciples of Jesus and they received the baptism of repentance through John the Baptist.

    As for the crowds, they did not know what was going on in the boat, so they could not have repented. But maybe, the others fishermen, who were not disciples of Jesus saw everything that was happening. And who knows, maybe they started to take Jesus seriously!

    This story is in the Gospel because Peter (also called Simon) was such an important leader among the original disciples and the leader of the early church.

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