Luke 5:1–11
2025/10/05 — Osaka Church
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
People strive hard to become “good people,” righteous people, and beloved by all. However, when we look deeply within our hearts, we realize that we have not become good people.
Peter the fisherman, who “toiled all night but caught nothing,” sat down exhausted. This image represents us, who are “hardworking and honest”. We are the ones who sit down in despair, exhausted by the blind struggle of our souls.
Seeing Peter’s exhausted state, Jesus called out to him, “Put out into the deep and cast your nets there.” He called him to leave the shallow waters near the shore, to go into the deep, and there let down the nets and wait.
We have tried so hard to become “good people,” “righteous people,” and “beloved” by others. Our parents taught us to be “good children” and our teachers taught us to “contribute to society,” and we have continued to pour all our energy into living up to those teachings. Jesus gently calls out to us, those of us who “have worked all night but caught nothing.” “Oh dear, it must have been hard, but forget all about that for now. Cast your nets in the deepest depths of your heart and wait patiently. And listen with your heart to my words, not as a guide on how to become a good person, but as Words of Life from the One who created you and who is giving life to you even now.” This is how the Lord calls out to us.
And then something amazing happens.
Peter shook his head at the Lord’s words, saying “Jesus, who is not a fisherman, would not understand,” but reluctantly obeyed and lowered his net as he was told. But before he knew it, “a great school of fish had gathered in it,” and it was about to burst. The boat was about to sink under the weight of the countless fish they pulled up, and Peter threw himself at Jesus’ knees, crying out:
“Lord, depart from me! I am a sinner!”
When we come to know Christ not as a teacher to teach us how to be good people or a model to demonstrate how to live a good life, but as the “Word of Life,” as the “Life” that gives us life from the deepest part of our being, we will truly bow down and say, “I am a sinner.” And we suddenly see: all this time the Lord was right beside us, ready to help, but we fought alone, relying on the efforts of our own soul, struggling in the darkness. That, in truth, is sin. Something incredible had happened to me. A world I had never known before suddenly opened up before my eyes. As we feel the joy in our bodies as we watch the gleam of the silver scales of the countless fish dancing in the net and the powerful, trembling grip of our hands holding the net, we clearly recognize our previous misguided efforts to become good, righteous, and beloved all by ourselves as sinful. And at the same time, we tremble with joy at having been liberated from such a “misguided” way of life. We shudder at the realization that this was an “awesome grace,” and above all love, showered upon us, our sinful selves, by someone who surpasses all our imaginations.
Jesus said to Peter, who was trembling at his knees:
“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be fishers of men.”
It was in this same state of fear and joy that the Holy Apostle Paul, who lived as a “fisher of men,” said:
“We will be perplexed, but not in despair; we will be cast down, but not destroyed, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies, knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with him and will bring us into His presence together.
All things work for good… therefore we do not lose heart.”