February 6, 2022 – Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

We sometimes think that one of the first things that Jesus did was to call the disciples. But as we heard in Luke 4:14, Jesus began to teach in the synagogues of Galilee before returning to Nazareth and the confrontation that happens which we have heard about the previous two weeks.

Following this event, the Lectionary skips over the rest of Chapter 4 of Luke, in which Jesus travels to Capernaum, where once again he teaches on the Sabbath, amazes everyone, and drives out a demon (Lk 4:31-37). He then goes to Simon’s house and heals his mother (Lk 4:32-39). Crowds come for healing (Lk 4:40-41). And when they try to make Jesus stay, he says, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also.” And then Luke concludes, “So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea” (Lk 4:42-44).

So unless Luke has once again demonstrated his unfamiliarity with the geography of Israel, Jesus has left Galilee in the north and journeyed to Judea in the south. Which means that the opening of Chapter 5 is a bit of a leap both in space and time. “Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret…” (Lk 5:1). In the previous verse, Jesus was in Judea, and now we come upon him happening to stand beside a lake back in Galilee. (The lake here called Gennesaret is more commonly called Lake Galilee.)

We begin with Luke reporting that crowds are pressing Jesus… to hear the word of God. And then we get to fishing. Since there were no means to keep fish fresh, fishing was done at night. The fish were sold in the morning, and eaten that day. So Jesus sees two boats that have been emptied of their night’s catch and gear, and the fishers are off cleaning up. To be sure, fishermen were of low status, primarily because they were away from their home and family at night. 

Knowing that we skipped Jesus visiting Simon’s house makes this reference to Simon less sudden. But Simon’s not the primary focus here, even though he’s named explicitly.

What happens next is a miracle. And as far as I can tell, this is the one and only time that Jesus himself initiates a miracle. If you recall back to the wedding feast a few weeks ago, Jesus’ miracle is performed in response to a request, and this is the case for all of the other recorded miracles. In this case, the miracle isn’t simply that fish are caught, but that the catch is so abundant as to almost sink two boats.

The abundance of fish is a sign that not only can Jesus teach the word of God, but he is also a holy man who has authority over the spirit of the water and the fish within the water. (You might be thinking ahead to the calming of the storm, and you’d be forgiven here for letting your mind wander.)

We should also remember that this is the last time that Simon, James, and John will fish in this old way. Jesus is about to ask them to re-imagine what it means for them to be fishers – and to re-imagine who the “fish” might be. So the moral of the story today is NOT “Let’s keep doing what we’ve always done before and trust that our God will one day fill our nets.” If anything, the moral of the story is “Let’s stop fishing the way we have always done it. Let’s reimagine who we are and how we are and what we are called to do. Let’s be fish out of water!”

Jesus’ demonstration of his holiness provokes a response from Simon Peter. First, he falls on his knees, which was the customary gesture of honor shown to a superior. Second, he asks Jesus to leave Simon’s unholy personal space and the unholy work space of the boat. But, as always, Jesus isn’t interested in doing things simply for the purposes of amazing people; he’s not in the entertainment industry. He is in the business of proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. And the time has come for Jesus to shift from teaching to crowds who go home to teaching disciples who follow.

Luke clearly emphasizes to us how those following Jesus left “everything.” More is involved than leaving material items behind. Moving geographically and breaking with one’s social network (family, patrons, friends, neighbors) were considered odd (and deviant) behavior and would have been much more traumatic in Jesus’ time than simply leaving behind material wealth.

I think some of the challenge for those of us hearing the reading today is that most of us will not give up everything and become mobile. We will – like the crowds in Jesus’ time – go home. And so perhaps it’s helpful to return to the start of the reading today, to the crowds who were pressing Jesus to hear the word of God.

We tend to lift up Simon, James, and John as the real models of what real commitment to Jesus means. But perhaps that isn’t the only response that Jesus seeks. After all, Jesus spends significant time and effort to be with, and to teach to, and to heal the crowds. And maybe for those of us with kids and debts and jobs and aging parents, simply being amazed and pressing forward to hear the word of God and telling others about Jesus is sufficient. At least, that’s what I’m praying for.