Luke 5:1-11 — Sinful Dude Given A Mission

READ THIS: Luke 5:1-11

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He 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. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 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. 

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and 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.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Welcome to the reading for this special day :)

Fun fact about the gospel of Luke: it is mainly organized by geography. So, we already saw Jesus heal Simon's mother-in-law in one geographical spot, and now we're going back to a different geographical spot to see when Jesus first called Peter to follow Him. 

What those of you who have been reading with us from the beginning might notice is that Jesus says the phrase that angels use when popping up in front of people (like with Zechariah and Mary). That phrase is "don't be afraid." 

In this section, that command isn't because Jesus is showing up in a bright light or appearing out of nowhere. That command comes because Simon Peter comes face-to-face with perfection and knows it. And that is WAY scarier then a dude just showing up in flashing light. Staring into perfection is like seeing all of your imperfections all at once and realizing that you truly deserve punishment. But, Jesus says that not only is Simon welcome to be with Jesus, but for him to be the one who shows other people that they can and should follow Him as well! That's a lot of trust given to a sinful person like Simon Peter....and to sinful people like us!

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Have you ever felt deep down how perfect and good Jesus is? If so, what was that experience like? Feel free to share below!

2. On this Thanksgiving day, how can you give thanks to Jesus specifically for what He has done in your life? (Simon Peter would talk about this day he caught a lot of fish, the day Jesus healed his mother-in-law and each day he got to walk side-by-side the Creator and Savior of the world). 

TRY THIS:

Rank yourself on a scale of 1-10 of sinfulness and then rank yourself on a scale of 1-10 of how much you are forgiven. Do those scales match this story in any way?

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