Lucas 5

By the sea

1 Now it happened, as He had come along the Lake of Genesaret, that the multitude crowded Him to hear the Word of God; 2 He saw two boats standing by the lake (the fishermen were out of them, washing their nets). 3 So He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land.*Peter had already spent time with Jesus, so this was natural. Sitting down He began to teach the crowds from the boat.

A miraculous catch

4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." 5 And in answer Simon said to Him, "Master, we have worked hard the whole night and caught nothing, but based on your word I will let down the net."*Peter was the professional here, and figured he knew better than Jesus, but he does obey. However, Jesus had said to let down ‘nets’ (pl), but Peter let down only one. 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read ‘nets’, to be followed by most modern versions. (Actually, Jesus put ‘let down’ in the plural, so there was at least one other in the boat, unless it was really His intention that both boats should go out.) 6 When they had done this, they caught such a large number of fish that their net began to tear. 7 So they signaled to their partners who were in the other boat to come help them; they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 Upon experiencing this Simon Peter fell at Jesus' knees,*Jesus was still sitting in the boat, only now surrounded by fish, probably up to His knees. saying, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!"*Do you find Peter’s reaction to be curious? No doubt he felt pretty ‘small’ at that point. 9 Because astonishment gripped him and all who were with him at the haul of fish which they had caught; 10 yes, this included James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." 11 Pulling the boats up on the shore, they left it all*The hired men took care of the fish, etc. No doubt most of the crowd had stayed to watch, so getting rid of the fish probably was not a problem. and followed Him.