Luke 5:6-11 And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net broke.… 1. Illustrates Christ's indirect method of working. He often gives commands, the exact bearing of which it is difficult or impossible to see. 2. Illustrates the proper treatment of the Divine word on the part of man. 3. Shows the proper effect of God's rule over inferior things. There is enough in any display of Divine power to humble us, if we did but open our eyes to see the way of the Most High. 4. Illustrates the ever-heightening and ever-widening vocation of mankind. (1) "Thou shalt catch men." God does not call men downward but upward, when they are faithful to their trust. (2) Men need to be caught, for they have gone astray from God. (3) Man must catch men. (4) The art of catching men is a Divine art. It is easy to amuse them, and not difficult to instruct them; but to catch them in the holy sense of this promise to Peter, is an art taught only by the Master Himself. 5. Shows that Jesus Christ does not put men into the ministry simply because they are unfortunate in secular concerns. Peter had caught nothing all night, and in the morning he was turned into a minister! Do not people plan to put their least gifted and least successful children into the Church? It is sometimes said that they do. Christ seemed to say to Peter, "See, there are fish enough yet in the water; but you leave your occupation at the very moment of your highest success. I don't make a minister of you because there is no other way in which you can make a morsel of bread, but for infinitely higher reasons." So to-day there are men in the ministry who could have caught fish enough and been highly successful in the ordinary work of life. Give them credit for good motives. (J. Parker, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.WEB: When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking. |
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