Luke 5:1-11 breakdown: The passage begins with Christ going into the boats with the fishermen – Simon(Peter), James, and John – and giving his sermon to the people. Upon the completion of the semon, Christ directs the fishermen to lower their nets into the water. The fishermen having caught nothing all day say to their Lord as such, yet, still do as they were directed. After releasing their nets, the fishermen find that the nets have been filled to the brim with fish, and so direct other boats to come and split the load. Upon this miracle, the fishermen fall before the Lord and request that he depart from them because they are not worthy of his presence. Christ then tells them that from then on they will be “fishers of men.”
This passage acts as a metaphor to the future of these holy men. Simon(Peter), James, and John will go down in church history as apostles of Christ and were among the first called. The metaphor is this: just as the fishermen use the net to catch the fish and bring them back to the boat, Christ will use these men to catch men and bring them into his church. In Christ’s scheme, these men will act as the net that will catch the lost sheep, that is, the people of ‘Israel,’ and bring them back to the truth. These fishermen will go on to do this not through traps like they used to catch fish, but through enlightenment and preaching of the good news of the gospel.
Tom Davenport III 