At the heart of our passage this morning is a miraculous catch of fish. The carpenter’s son told the professional fisherman, Simon Peter, to let down his net after a completely unsuccessful night of fishing and, miraculously, Simon caught so many fish that the catch filled two boats to overflowing. It was a miraculous catch.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus Christ performed the particular miracles we read in the Gospels and not others? Why, for example, did Jesus perform a miraculous catch of fish, but never fly? Certainly, flying would have demonstrated his divinity. Why did Jesus perform a miraculous catch, but never a miraculous flight?

It’s because Jesus’ miracles were never mere displays of power. The miracles weren’t just miracles; they were signs that demonstrated a greater truth about Christ, his gospel, and what it means to follow him. The miracles weren’t a mere divine flex; they were signs that pointed to greater gospel realities. Flying would not have demonstrated a greater truth about himself and the gospel, so Jesus never flew. On the contrary, a miraculous catch of fish teaches us a great deal about what Jesus will do and what it means to follow him.

The second-to-last verse in our passage reveals what Jesus Christ’s miraculous catch shows us about him and what it means to follow him. Luke 5:10b — And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” The miracle was like a sign on a trail that pointed toward something greater. When Jesus performed the miraculous catch, it wasn’t about fish; it was about people. He was demonstrating his power to catch and save people, and he was demonstrating that caught people catch people.

And that brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: Jesus will save people through his people. Jesus will save people through his people.

This morning we’re going to take our passage and that big idea in two parts:

1. Jesus will save people (5:1–7)

2. Through his people (5:8–11)

JESUS WILL SAVE PEOPLE (vv. 1–7)

Before we get to the miracle—the sign—I want you to notice the setting for the miracle. Jesus was preaching.

Luke 5:1–3 tells us that on one occasion, a crowd pressed in on the Lord Jesus Christ because they wanted to hear him preach God’s word. Since Jesus was by the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him, he got into a boat and used it as a pulpit. It’s impossible to overestimate how important preaching and teaching were to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ began his public ministry in the power of the Spirit by teaching in the synagogues around Galilee (Luke 4:14–15).
The Lord Jesus Christ went to his hometown in Nazareth in order to preach in their synagogue and proclaim that the year of the Lord’s favor was fulfilled through his arrival (Luke 4:18–21).
Luke’s first recorded miracle done by the Lord Jesus Christ took place at the synagogue in Capernaum after Jesus taught as one with authority (Luke 4:31–32).
The Lord Jesus Christ refused to stay in Capernaum, despite his growing popularity, because he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:42–43).
And in our present passage, right before Jesus performed the miraculous catch, he was using Simon Peter’s boat as a pulpit.

As one scholar puts it, “Christ uses Peter’s boat as a pulpit, whence to throw the net of the Gospel over his hearers.”

It’s impossible to overestimate how important preaching is to the Lord Jesus Christ. Preaching is how Jesus saves—how he catches people. We’ll come back to that when we consider how Jesus saves people through his people.

After the Lord Jesus finished his sermon from Peter’s boat, he performed a sign that revealed why God the Father sent his Son into the world.

Luke 5:4–5 — And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

Peter had two reasons to respond to the Lord Jesus with skepticism.

First, Jesus is a land guy, not a lake guy. Don’t miss the irony that the carpenter’s son is telling the fisherman’s son where to fish.

Second, it’s not the right time for fishing. Night was the best time for fishing, and the night’s fishing had been completely unsuccessful. The professionals caught nothing overnight. Why would they cast their nets now that it’s day?

Neither of those two reasons slowed down Peter’s obedience to Jesus. Peter is a model for how we should all respond to the Lord Jesus’ commands. Notice what Peter said: “At your word I will let down the nets.” (Verse 5). At your word…

J.C. Ryle drives home the point:

“We need not doubt that a practical lesson for all Christians is contained under these simple circumstances. We are meant to learn the blessing of immediate, unhesitating obedience to every plain command of Christ. The path of duty may sometimes be hard and disagreeable. The wisdom of the course we propose to follow may not be apparent to the world. But none of these things must move us. We are not to confer with flesh and blood. We are to go straight ahead when Jesus says, ‘Go!’ We are to do a thing boldly, unflinchingly, and decidedly when Jesus says, ‘Do it!’ We are to walk by faith, and not by sight, and believe that what we don’t see now to be right and reasonable we shall see hereafter. So acting, we shall never find in the long run that we are losers. So acting, we shall find, sooner or later, that we reap a great reward.”

In a few moments, when we learn what kind of people Jesus uses to save people, remember Simon’s example: immediate, unhesitating obedience.

So Peter and his friends let down their nets.

Luke 5:6–7 — And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ perform this miracle—this sign—right before assembling his initial group of disciples?

Remember what Jesus will soon promise his disciples that they will do: “from now on you will be catching men.” Jesus performed the sign to show his disciples that he’s the one doing the catching. Jesus is demonstrating that he is sovereign over the catch.

Soon Jesus will promise his disciples that they will be fishers of men, but they can fish only because Jesus is doing the catching. The sign points to this greater truth: Jesus will save people. Jesus will—not might—save people. Jesus loves to save sinners, and Jesus will save sinners. He’s sovereign over the catch.

Like fish in a net, Jesus will gather up and save people out of the ocean of sin so that they can serve him.

This truth—that Jesus will, not might, save people—the truth that he is sovereign over the catch, was constantly on our Lord’s lips during his life on earth.

Matthew 11:27 — “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Jesus saves people; he is sovereign over the catch.

John 5:21 — “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” Jesus saves people; he is sovereign over the catch.

John 6:37 — “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Jesus saves people; he is sovereign over the catch.

John 6:39 — “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” Jesus saves people; he is sovereign over the catch.

John 10:27–28 — “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Jesus saves people; he is sovereign over the catch.

John 10:16 — “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Jesus saves people; he is sovereign over the catch.

John 15:16 — “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” Jesus saves people; he is sovereign over the catch.

Friends, if you want to begin sharing the gospel with your non-Christian friends and family, if you want to remain faithful and bold in speaking the gospel to non-Christians, if you want to never lose hope in it all, there is nothing more encouraging than knowing that Jesus will catch—he will save people.

There is nothing more empowering than knowing that Jesus is sovereign over the catch and that he will save people. Nothing will embolden you to keep casting and casting like being convinced of the truth that Jesus is doing the catching. Nothing will encourage you to keep your net in the water like knowing Jesus is sovereign over the catch. Nothing will calm your fears that you might say the wrong thing at the wrong time like knowing that Jesus is sovereign over both the catch and our imperfect casting.

You can cheerfully keep praying, keep loving, keep inviting, and keep sharing with that classmate or coworker because Jesus will catch those whom the Father gives to him.

You can even be trained up at Citylight and sent out to plant your life right in the middle of the Muslim world and spend decades casting the net of the gospel without losing hope and with the greatest confidence because Jesus is sovereign over the catch and will save his people.

The reason you must know this is because not only will Jesus save people, Jesus will save people through his people.

So let’s turn to part two:

THROUGH HIS PEOPLE (vv. 8–11)

Have you ever wondered why you weren’t teleported directly to heaven to be with the Lord when you were saved? Why are we still here?

One reason is because Jesus will save people, and he has one way of doing it: through his people.

In our passage, Peter—and to a lesser extent, his friends—serve as a model for the kind of people that Jesus uses to save people. Jesus will save his people. Jesus will do it through his people.

So let’s see what kind of people Jesus uses to save people so that we can grow into those people, by God’s grace and for his glory.

The people that Jesus typically uses to save people are growing in four characteristics.

What kind of people does Jesus use? Four kinds…

People Who Are Humble

Notice Peter’s initial response to the miraculous haul of fish.

Luke 5:8 — But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Peter’s response is theologically charged and thoroughly humble. Peter fell down at Jesus’ knees, told him to depart because he’s a sinner in the presence of the sinless one, and called Jesus Lord.

The one who commands the fish and is sovereign over the catch is God in the flesh. Jesus is Yahweh.

Peter’s response to Jesus reminds me of Isaiah’s response to seeing the Lord high and lifted up in the heavenly throne room. Do you remember when Isaiah saw the Lord Almighty high and lifted up and the seraphim were singing, “holy, holy, holy”?

Listen to how Isaiah responded, because it’s just like Peter’s response to Jesus.

Isaiah 6:5 — And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Isaiah and Peter both knew they were sinners in the presence of the holy, holy, holy God.

Notice that Peter didn’t say, “I sin sometimes.” No, he said, “I am a sinful man”—through and through.

Humble people who know they are sinful through and through, yet saved by sheer grace—repentant people—are the kind of people that Jesus uses to save people.

Humble people who can’t get over that Jesus Christ would save the likes of them by grace are the kind of people that Jesus uses to save people. When you humbly can’t get over being saved by grace, you’ll want to tell others how they can be saved by grace as well.

Draw near to Jesus each day and ask him for a humble heart that never gets over being saved, and you will increasingly become the kind of person that Jesus uses to save other people.

People Who Are Clear on the Mission

I love the way the Lord Jesus articulates the mission in Luke 5:10b — And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

The mission, as we often say around here, is making disciples of Jesus to the glory of God. Every true church exists to make disciples of Jesus to the glory of God, and this involves going, baptizing, and teaching.

In this sense, Citylight’s mission is nothing unusual. But it can be helpful to contrast this mission with what the mission of the church is not.

The mission of the church is not any of the following:

To provide a safe space for believers to gather together in the midst of a dark and dangerous world (the church can and should be this, but it is not the mission).

To make the world a better place through acts of service, including feeding the hungry and serving the poor (again, the church and individual Christians can and should do this to put God’s love on display, but it is not the mission).

To encourage strong marriages and families (this could be part of the mission, since children are image-bearers who need to become disciples of Christ, but it is not the main thing).

To support a nation’s goals or priorities (a church might be in line with a nation’s goals or priorities, but it might not be—and this is not our mission).

Jesus will save people through his people who are clear on the mission: speaking the gospel with the aim to persuade people to believe in Christ and become his disciples.

People Who Know They Have a New Profession

Luke 5:11 — And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

From that point on, Peter, James, and John were only amateur fishermen. It’s not that they never fished again. It’s that they knew they had a new profession—and they turned the world upside down.

To be the kind of person that Jesus uses to save people, you don’t have to quit your job, but you do have to embrace a new profession, a new life focus.

The kind of people Jesus uses to save people say:

“Of course I am still a mom, but my true profession and focus is leveraging motherhood for disciple-making.”

“Of course I am still a student, a teacher, or a lawyer. Of course I’m in business, finance, medicine, or nonprofit work. But my real profession and my ultimate aim in all of that is making disciples of Jesus to the glory of God.”

The kind of people that Jesus uses to save people know that they have a new profession as fishers of men; they’re just amateur students, teachers, lawyers, nurses, and so forth.

Of course, I do hope that some of you will prayerfully consider actually pursuing a new profession in a literal sense. Now that you’ve seen that the greatest need in all the world is true preaching and fervent fishing for men, I hope that many of you men will prayerfully consider leaving your career behind to be trained to be a pastor here in America or in a nation where Jesus Christ is far less named or known.

I hope that many of you women will prayerfully consider leaving your career so that you can devote yourself part- or full-time to teaching other women and children God’s word here or among the nations, assisting in the building up of the church of Christ around the world.

People Who Preach Even When Circumstances Aren’t Ideal

We see this final characteristic not in Peter, but in Christ. He did not wait for perfect circumstances to preach to the people.

As J.C. Ryle writes:

“We should observe in this passage our Lord Jesus Christ’s unwearied readiness for every good work. Once more we find Him preaching to a people who were pressing around Him and listening to the word of God. And where does He preach? Not in any consecrated building or a place set apart for public worship, but in the open air; not in a pulpit constructed for a preacher’s use, but in a fisherman’s boat. Souls were waiting to be fed. Personal inconvenience was allowed no place in His consideration. God’s work must not stand still.

The servants of Christ should learn a lesson from their Master’s conduct on this occasion. We are not to wait until every little difficulty or obstacle is removed before we put our hand to the plow or go forth to sow the seed of the Word. We may often be lacking convenient buildings for assembling a company of hearers. We may often be lacking convenient rooms for gathering children to Sunday school. What then are we to do? Shall we sit still and do nothing? God forbid! If we cannot do all that we want, then let us do what we can. Let us work with such tools as we have. While we are lingering and delaying, souls are perishing.

It is the slothful heart that is always looking at the hedge of thorns and the lion outside in the way (Proverbs 15:19; 22:13). Where we are and as we are, in season or out of season, by one means or by another, by tongue or by pen, by speaking or by writing—let us strive to be ever working for God. But let us never stand still.”

Jesus will save people through his people.

Go fish for men.