JESUS, THE MASTER FISHERMAN

TEXT- LUKE 5:1-11

INTRODUCTION


Thomas Boston, a young minister and fly fisherman from Scotland, wrote this in his diary in 1699: "Reading in secret, my heart was touched with Matthew 4:19, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.' My soul cried out for the accomplishing of that to me, and I was very desirous to know how I might follow Christ, so as to be a fisher of men."

Boston later wrote a booklet titled, A Soliloquy on the Art of Man Fishing, in which he spelled out what he learned about soul-winning by following the Master Angler. He pointed out that the habits of fish and the habits of sinners are often quite similar.

I too am an avid fly fisherman.  I have fished many of the blue ribbon lakes, streams and rivers in the western states.  I agree with Boston that catching fish and winning souls are very much alike. But analogy can only take us so far. The best way to become an effective "fisher of men" is simply to follow Jesus.

For us that means watching how the Master "fished" and then imitating Him. It involves reading the Scriptures and lingering over His words and deeds, learning how He "caught souls." Then we must cry out, as Thomas Boston did, and ask Jesus to make us like Him—great "fishers of men."

Truly Jesus was a master fisherman.

This might seem as a strange statement to make because Jesus was not raised as a fisherman but as a carpenter.

What does it take to be a good fisherman?

As we look at these verses we should notice that even though Peter, James and John were raised fishermen, they didn’t catch any fish on this occasion.  But rather it was Jesus who told them what to do to catch some fish.

As church members we are not to be fishers of fish but rather, fishers of men.  When we think about it, fishing for fish and fishing for men are similar in many ways.

As fishermen, Peter, James and John already had the talent for fishing but they needed to become fishers of men.