Forming Faith Blog

Fishing or Catching? (Luke 5)

Posted on January 14 2025 by Gregory Rawn

In the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, Jesus calls his first disciples to become “fishers of people,” but Luke chose a different story: a miraculous catch of fish and the promise of more catching to come.

A silhouette of a fisherman with a fishnet on a lake at sunrise. Jesus promises Simon catching rather than just fishing.
Photo by Huseyin Avni Atagun on Pexels.com
Revelation of the Son of Man

This week marks the third Sunday after Epiphany, and we continue Luke’s introduction of Jesus as the Messiah. We have heard about Jesus’ birth and what happened leading up to that. We have heard about Jesus’ visits to the temple (as an infant and preteen), his interaction with his cousin John, and his (re)introduction to his childhood neighbors in Nazareth. All of these stories, including today’s and next week’s reveal something about who Jesus is (the Son of Man part is next week). 

And this week, we hear about Jesus calling his first disciples.

The Synoptics and an Orderly Account

If you are reading this, there’s a good chance you already know about the synoptic Gospels, but in case you don’t, this is pretty important. No matter what you believe about biblical inspiration, the writings (including the Gospels) were written by specific people in specific times for specific reasons. By tradition (without evidence), we call the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are a LOT of similarities between the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, while John’s just flying high doing his own thing. Because of the commonalities between Matthew, Mark, and Luke scholars have grouped them together as the “Synoptic” (lit. look together) Gospels. And there is scholarly consensus that Mark’s Gospel was written first and Matthew and Luke each had a copy of Mark when they wrote their own Gospels. (There’s also this thing about Q, but that’s not relevant here.)

No, really, this nerdy stuff is actually significant to my reflection here, so bear with me. So, the Gospel writer Luke did his research (Luke 1:1-4), gathered his sources (including Mark), and set out “to write an orderly account… concerning the things about which [a guy named Theophilus has] been instructed” (Luke 1:3-4). All of this is to say that Luke carefully chose and organized pieces of previous sources to teach someone about Jesus.

An Abundant Difference

Now on to today’s reading of Luke 5:1-11. All three Synoptic Gospels have an account of Jesus calling his first disciples—Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, and John—by the Sea of Galilee. All three involve fishing. But while Mark’s and Matthew’s versions are almost identical, Luke’s version is very different. So, if Luke had a copy of Mark’s Gospel, why didn’t he choose to use Mark’s version of this event?

First, what’s the difference? In Mark and Matthew’s versions:

  1. Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee.
  2. He sees Simon and Andrew, two fishermen.
  3. He tells them “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people”
  4. They immediately leave their nets and follow Jesus.
  5. Jesus then sees James and John, calls them, and they immediately leave everything and follow Jesus.

Now, let’s outline Luke’s version:

  1. Jesus is by the Sea of Galilee, teaching a crowd.
  2. He commandeers Simon’s fishing boat for more space and better acoustics.
  3. When Jesus is done teaching, he tells Simon to pull out into deeper water and let down his nets.
  4. Simon mildly protests. He and his crew of experienced fishermen did this last night (usually considered to be a better time to fish) and caught nothing. But, he agreed to do it anyway.
  5. They (because apparently others are involved now) catch so many fish that their nets start to break.
  6. Simon has a bit of a freak-out about his unworthiness and Jesus’ obvious connection with God.
  7. Jesus tells him “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”
  8. They (presumably Simon, James, and John (sorry Andrew!)) leave everything and follow Jesus.

A bit different, right? Luke chose to include an entire miracle to set the scene that’s not in the other Synoptics. And I have to admit, with as much time as I’ve spent in the Bible, I didn’t realize that the miraculous catch of fish wasn’t part of the call story in all three Synoptics! Another, more subtle, difference is in what Jesus said:

“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people”

Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17

“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

Luke 5:10b
Catching versus Fishing

There is a big difference here with what Simon (et al.) will be doing. In Mark, they will be fishing. In Luke, they will be catching. And anyone who has done any fishing knows that there’s a big difference between fishing and catching. You can decide to go out and fish. You cannot decide to go out and catch. That’s the hope, of course, but it’s not ultimately up to you. Simon and company went fishing all night, but they didn’t catch anything.

The fishermen didn’t catch anything in this miracle story until Jesus gave them the fish. They didn’t take the fish, they received them. Jesus did the real work there. And that’s what Jesus is telling Simon will happen in the future (with people rather than fish). As a disciple/apostle, Simon and the rest of the Twelve’s work is to receive what God gives them. Yes, they have to do hard work. But the results are not based on their work! Yes, Simon and company had to row out to the deeper water, throw in their nets, and haul the fish into their boats. But they had done that the night before. They had fished but hadn’t caught anything.

A Strange Call

Another strange thing about Luke’s call story: Jesus didn’t actually call anyone! He doesn’t tell Simon (or the others) to follow him. The only imperative (command) Jesus gives is to not be afraid. Jesus informs Simon about what he will do in the future, but he doesn’t even invite them to follow him. But they do it anyway.

What about Us?

So what? What do my thoughts and interpretations here mean for us? Among the many meanings we can take from this story, one of them is that of comfort. Yes, following Jesus is hard work. It will indeed be heartbreaking and cause suffering. But our job as followers of Jesus isn’t about what we do for God. It is about what God does for us (the whole world). We don’t so much have pressure to perform and provide but to receive and obey.

That doesn’t absolve us of responsibility. We still need to get out there (row further into the lake), do the work God calls us to do (let down our nets), and welcome people into God’s kingdom (haul in the fish).

In Christ’s love,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

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Free Resource

During the main Narrative Lectionary year (September 8 to June 8), we provide a free resource download from one of our products to help you in your faith formation ministry. This week, download the activity “Picnic by the Sea of Galilee” from our Living the Word: Kids (PK-2nd, NL) curriculum. This simple snack activity can be adapted for use with most faith formation participants!

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