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NOTES for Luk 5:1-11

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1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
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Fishing in daylight, when fish hide from the sun, is a hopeless business, especially since Simon, an experienced fisherman, had caught nothing even at night. But Jesus catches His fish in the least suitable places and at the least suitable time. And now His main catch is not on the shore, where crowds of people were ready to listen to His parables, but in a small boat, where several people were found who were ready to leave their familiar life and follow the new Teacher to the end.

If the other evangelists emphasize that the fishermen who followed Jesus became "fishers of men" (Mark 1:17), then here, in Luke, they themselves are first of all caught in daylight - caught by His light, by the miracle of His person. For without this "absolute captivity" to the image of Jesus, they would have been unable to do anything to bring His Kingdom near and proclaim His Gospel.

Other notes

 
For Luk 5:1-11
1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
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Jesus gets into the boat not in order to separate Himself from those left on the shore, but so that...  Read more

Jesus gets into the boat not in order to separate Himself from those left on the shore, but so that His word will be equally accessible to everyone gathered there. The evangelist does not give the content of the sermon, but in any case the words that sounded that day over the Lake of Gennesaret led toward salvation.

And when the sermon is over, He sees to it that the fishermen who had given Him a place in the boat catch more fish. The move from preaching about the fundamental foundations of life to caring for ordinary human needs was immediate. Of course, one can see in the remarkable catch a visible parable shown to the disciples: just as successful was the catch of fish taken at His word, so successful will be the preaching of the disciples. Such an understanding of this episode is entirely acceptable, precisely because Jesus responds both to the loftiest spiritual aspirations and to requests concerning everyday material needs.

But here we meet another paradox: Simon Peter, having acknowledged himself a sinner, is called by Jesus, in response to that acknowledgment, to catch people and to go out preaching. Jesus does not leave the terrified Peter precisely because He came not to superheroes, but to ordinary people, people like any of us, in order to deliver us from sin and fear. It is hard to say what terrified Peter more: the encounter with the Holy One, or the depth of his own sinfulness. But even in terror, even begging Jesus to depart, he himself did not recoil from Him, but fell at His knees. And this is the only possible path after we become able to see our own darkness and filth.

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For Luk 5:1-11
1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
Hide
Metropolitan Anthony, in one of his works ("The Spiritual Journey"), in the chapter on Bartimaeus, unexpectedly also speaks about today's passage on the miraculous catch, recalling...  Read more

Metropolitan Anthony, in one of his works ("The Spiritual Journey"), in the chapter on Bartimaeus, unexpectedly also speaks about today's passage on the miraculous catch, at the same time recalling the story of the healing of the centurion's servant. In other words, he points us to the spiritual closeness of these two events. We must understand what they have in common and make it a rule for our spiritual life. "It is reckless to seek a premature meeting. Therefore the whole teaching of the Orthodox Church about prayer and about conduct in life says: 'Do not seek any mystical experience; in reverent worship ask God, with all the attention and faith available to you, with all the power of hope and aspiration, to change you, to make you such that someday you may meet Him,'" Metropolitan Anthony writes.

Let us not force the Lord to reveal Himself to us. More than that, when we experience something that seems so stunning to us that we are sure this is the Lord giving a sign, this is Him, and it delights us, when we are in a state of some spiritual elation and it seems to us, here it is, the miracle, we must make a serious effort to push this experience away from ourselves, as it were, and try to step back from it. Then, if it really is something true, after our emotional sphere has calmed down, we will clearly see whether there is substance in what happened to us, or whether it is pseudomysticism, a temptation, and so on.

Peter, like the centurion, is moved by a feeling of deepest humility, by his own smallness before the face of God and his unworthiness to commune with Him. But this is precisely what the Lord values so highly, and it is precisely such a person whom He does not abandon.

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For Luk 5:1-11
1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
Hide
To understand Peter's state of mind, imagine that you are sitting at a computer trying to load the web page you need, but it will not load...  Read more

To understand Peter's state of mind, imagine that you are sitting at a computer trying to load the web page you need, but it will not load. You have already spent the whole night at it and tried every possible browser—all to no avail. Suddenly someone comes up behind you and says, “Why don't you try opening it through Word?” (We will not discuss your first reaction.) You are so exhausted that, with a dismissive wave, you launch Word. And—wonder of wonders!—you are already on the website you need. Having retrieved the information you wanted, and realizing that this does not happen and cannot happen, you turn around and see—not a programmer, no, but a Carpenter, the son of a carpenter. I will not attempt to predict what you would do next, but Peter was overcome with terror, seeing clearly that the presence of the One who does the impossible was incompatible with his own sinfulness. Jesus reassures him and lifts the veil of mystery slightly from his future. A new life begins for Peter; he begins to enter into the New Covenant with God.

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For Luk 5:5
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
Hide
The most important thing in relationships between people is trust. And in relationships between a person and God as well. Trust that sometimes proves even higher than one's own everyday and professional experience, when the experience of relationship with a person bears witness that in this...  Read more

The most important thing in relationships between people is trust. And in relationships between a person and God as well. Trust that sometimes proves even higher than one's own everyday and professional experience, when the experience of relationship with a person bears witness that in this concrete case trust can and should be placed above one's own everyday experience. Peter does not immediately understand who Jesus is. Later he will call Him the Messiah and the Son of the living God, but for now He is for him simply a mysterious righteous man and teacher, perhaps a prophet, but in any case a man of God, about which there can be no doubt.

And this man of God, who appears to understand nothing about fishing, while fishing on Lake Gennesaret is a very specific occupation understood only by one who has tried it, advises him to cast the net where there is no point in casting it. Absolutely none, as any fisherman on the Kinneret understands.

So what then: cast the net or not? Peter decides that it is worth trying. And the catch turns out to be unexpected, and unexpectedly large besides. Does God reward trust? Yes, one can say so. But that is not the only point.

The point is also what such trust means, what stands behind it. Whoever Peter considered Jesus to be at that concrete moment, it is obvious that he entrusted himself not only to a human being, but also to God, and to God first of all. But to entrust oneself to God means to establish with Him completely special relationships, because trust presupposes personal relationships, and personal relationships are always unique. This means they are always completely special.

And special relationships include a person in God's plan, one way or another, to one degree or another, but they necessarily include him. Then, among other things, a fisherman may well meet a shoal of fish where fish are usually not found. Simply because inclusion in God's plan means living no longer according to the laws of this world, but according to the laws of the Kingdom, even when it would seem that the Kingdom is still far away. For to God the world has always remained the Kingdom. And in the Kingdom creation is fully obedient not only to God, but also to the human being, including fish too.

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For Luk 5:1-16
1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
12 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
13 And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
14 And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
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The apostles were certainly very fortunate. With their own eyes they saw...  Read more

The apostles were certainly very fortunate. With their own eyes they saw the miraculous catch of fish, healings, and many other miracles. Even spending a short time beside Jesus was enough for them to understand in their hearts that it was He and to fall prostrate before Him. What, then, is left for us?

We are left with no lesser miracle: to recognize Him in the Gospel; to gain sight in our hearts across dozens of centuries; after reading a very short account of the miraculous catch, suddenly to realize that He is standing beside us—not in a boat, perhaps, but simply in the room—and thus perhaps to find ourselves closer to Him than the fishermen of Galilee were.

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For Luk 5:1-16
1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
12 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
13 And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
14 And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Hide
The unexpected abundant catch of fish where, by all signs, there could not have been any is one of the Savior's first miracles. What is it: proof? Testimony to His own messiahship? But Jesus never sought to prove anything to anyone. Testimony - perhaps...  Read more

The unexpected abundant catch of fish where, by all signs, there could not have been any is one of the Savior's first miracles. What is it: proof? Testimony to His own messiahship? But Jesus never sought to prove anything to anyone.

Testimony - perhaps. But testimony to what? God's power? Yes, surely: it is no accident that Peter asks Jesus to go away, to leave him. He understands that a sinful person should not draw near to God; this can end in the defiling of the holy, the profaning of that divine presence which seemed to Peter and the others an obvious reality.

But Jesus, on the contrary, calls Peter to follow Him. He knows that a person who is aware of his limitation and looks at himself soberly and realistically is more reliable than self-confident enthusiasts of spiritual life. The miraculous catch truly becomes testimony. But not only to a theophany. It becomes testimony to the Kingdom that has drawn near, whose breath can now touch the waters of the Lake of Gennesaret so that even its fish feel it.

They feel it - and gather where they usually are not. After all, the breath of the Kingdom attracts not only people; every living thing feels its presence. But if so, if the matter is the Kingdom, then Peter must not turn back. Despite his sinfulness, despite his unreadiness to follow the Messiah. Especially because no one is ready anyway: where in the fallen world can sinless people be found? But a step after the Messiah is a step into His Kingdom, where He Himself reigns.

And now He Himself will work with those who are not ready to live the life of His Kingdom but are ready to follow Him despite their unreadiness and their sinfulness. The path of righteousness has always been exactly this way, even before Christ came into the world: following God despite one's own sinfulness. Now there are different possibilities, a different, absolute fullness of life with God. But the path remains the same; even today it is possible for a person only despite his fallen nature. Not because it is nature, of course, but because it is fallen.

And so all the apostles will follow Him, beginning with Peter. To the end. To that fullness of the life of the Kingdom without which the path has no meaning.

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