That Net Can't Hold

and their net brake...

Luke 5:4 KJV

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

In this passage, Jesus gave a direct instruction to Peter after he used his boat to give a sermon and it was a seemingly easy instruction to carry out.

Let's see if Peter carried out that instruction in the next verse.

Luke 5:5 KJV

And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

He obeyed it, right? Wait, did he?

Remember, in verse 4, Jesus said “Nets” - in verse 5, we discovered that Peter let down a single net.

Peter was a fisherman and from verse 5, we can see that they tried all night but couldn't catch any fish and when Jesus told him to let down his net, he was probably doing it just to fulfill all righteousness.

In doing so, he let down a net instead of letting down nets.

Let's see what happened thereafter;

Luke 5:6 KJV

And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

We can see that even though he didn't completely obey the instruction that was given to him, he still caught a great multitude of fishes.

But look at the end of verse 6; “and their net brake”

Jesus told them to use Nets because he knew what was about to happen.

You can't comfortably catch with a net, what was meant to be caught by nets.

Sometimes, we take on a huge task alone instead of sharing it with people and lessening the burden - in Peter's case, the net broke. In our case, we will be burdened and possibly break down.

This is a passage that I've read over and over since I was little but the pieces just came together for me yesterday and I thought to share it.

There are some instructions that I read and carry out thinking that I understand the instructions perfectly - at the end, my mistakes will be called out and I sit there and beat myself up for missing the tiny details.

Learning that this same thing happened to Peter helped me to rethink. Peter didn't turn out bad because of that tiny detail he missed.

Luke 5:8 KJV

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

Here, we can see him recognising the authority of Christ at the spot - the fishes didn't matter to him anymore and that was proven in verse 11;

Luke 5:11 KJV

And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Before the above verse, Jesus said something special.

Luke 5:10 KJV

and so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

Keywords: Catch men

Peter went on to lead the early church; he didn't use one net to catch men for Christ - he broke down the task of evangelizing to the disciples at the time. In other words, he let down nets this time.

---

Bonus:

Mark 16:15 KJV

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

This was Christ's last instruction before leaving earth.

Did they completely obey this one? No

Have ye learned nothing?

They stayed in Jerusalem till persecution broke out and scattered them to the ends of the earth.

Selah!