July 22, 2025
Fishing for Men - Part 1
Luke 5:1-3
07/21/2025
1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in
on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by
the lake of Gennesaret,
2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the
fishermen had gone out of them and were washing
their nets.
3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's,
he asked him to put out a little from the land.
And he sat down and taught the people from the
boat. (ESV)
Jesus uses unlikely men to serve as pastors and evangelists
in His Church. Consider Simon Peter. We know that he was not a
Biblical scholar, one who spent long hours debating the Word of
God with fellow Rabbis. He was a fisherman by trade, a partner
of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. All three of these men
were called by Jesus to proclaim the truth that the Kingdom of
God, the grace of God, was at hand.
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him
to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of
Gennesaret, and [Jesus] saw two boats by the lake, but
the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing
their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was
Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the
land. And he sat down and taught the people from the
boat.
Jesus began His ministry by teaching the Word of God to
those who desired to learn. So many people gathered that He
needed to separate Himself from the crowd so that everyone could
see and hear the message of hope. The boat made a good pulpit.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.
As we will see this week, Jesus called others to proclaim the
same Word which He taught, for only the Word of God brings us the
forgiveness of our sins and life everlasting.
May our Lord open our hears to hear of God's grace and
mercy. Amen.