Children’s Bible Lesson
The great catch of fish miracle
Luke 5:1-11
One day when Jesus was by the lake, teaching the people about God, the crowd pressing in on Him was so large that there wasn’t room for Him anymore. Near where He was, a fisherman named Simon was with his fishing partners cleaning their nets. They had been out all night fishing, without catching anything.
They had met Jesus before, after hearing of Him from John the Baptist. So when Jesus asked for their help, they were willing. They let Jesus get into the boat and get out on the water to teach the people on the shore.
After the time of teaching about God, Jesus told Simon to take the boat out into deeper water and let down their nets to catch some fish. Simon, whose name Jesus would later change to Peter, was a professional fisherman. He knew how to fish. And he knew on this lake the fish come up toward the surface at night, so that was when to catch them in the nets. Now it was bright daylight, and the fish would stay down under the water away from the sun.
But Jesus was telling them to go fishing now, in the day, when it shouldn’t have worked to try to catch fish in a net on this lake.
So Simon said, “Master, we were trying all night and didn’t catch anything. If anyone else told me to, I wouldn’t do what You’re saying. But because it is You, we will do what you say.” This is wisdom. Even when we know how to do something, and even when we think we know best—the actual best thing to do is trust God’s word and do what He says. Even when God wants us to do something that doesn’t make sense to us. Even then, we should still trust Jesus and obey. God doesn’t need our advice; He needs our obedience.
Simon and his fellow fishermen went out into the water like Jesus said. They let down their nets for a catch just like Jesus said. And Jesus did a miracle. So it worked. Instantly so many fish swam into their net that it was too full to hold onto. The net was even breaking under the weight of all the fish as they brought it in. So a second boat had to be brought to help carry all the fish they caught back to the shore.
Back at the shore, this miracle made Simon know that Jesus was indeed God’s anointed One. And Simon realized what we all need to know—that he was a sinner unworthy of blessing from Jesus. So Simon bowed at Jesus’ feet to worship, and he was afraid. He told Jesus, “You should stay away from me, because I am a sinful man.” The good news is that Jesus already knows we are sinful. And it doesn’t make Him want to go away from us. It makes Him want to cleanse us from sin and bring us into His family. That’s what Jesus did for Simon that day. He told Simon and his partners, “Do not be afraid. You will follow Me and from now on you will catch people the way you used to catch fish.” That meant that they would tell people about Jesus and His salvation. Many of those people would believe and be saved, like fish picked up in a net.
Simon and the others obeyed. They left their job as fishermen behind, and followed Jesus from then on. We can also trust in Jesus, be cleansed of our sins, and follow Him for Him to use and bless us.
Walk of Faith - Dave Bunnell 