Epiphany 5C, 2025

Text: Luke 5:1-11

Title: Getting Rid of Jesus 

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“Get away from me,” says Peter to Jesus.  How could he say such a thing?  Why would he say such a thing?  What would bring Peter to the point of trying to get rid of Jesus, to push him away?

For Peter to get to this point, he must believe that two things are true.

Thing one, that Jesus is divine.

At the beginning of the story, Peter calls Jesus, “master.”  This is a polite way to address someone respectable.

By this point in the story, Peter must have known a bit about who Jesus was and what he was up to.

The region of Galilee was not that large.

The town of Capernaum was not that large.

By this point, Jesus has begun preaching and teaching.  He has cast out demons and healed the sick.  He’s starting to draw crowds, to the point where Jesus needs some space to be able to address them all at once.

And so when Jesus asks for use of Peter’s boat, he agrees.  He’s done fishing for the night.  There’s no point in fishing in the middle of the day.  He’s a nice guy; he’ll do Jesus a favor.

And when Jesus tells Peter to let down the nets into the deep water, Peter goes along with that, too, even though it was not the time or place to be fishing.

Perhaps Peter had a little bit of a chuckle at Jesus’ expense.  “Sure, Jesus. Whatever you say, Jesus.”  But Peter knew better; surely there were no fish there to be caught.

Can you imagine the look on Peter’s face, when he starts to pull up the nets, and finds that he actually has to use some muscles to bring them up?  Can you imagine what was going through His head when this isn’t just a few fish, but so many fish that the nets are breaking, so many fish that they need a second boat just to hold them all?  Can you picture his face?

Peter knows that this is not just beginner’s luck. Peter knows that Jesus isn’t some sort of ringer who had a favorite fishing hole.  Peter knows that Jesus is divine.

And so he calls Jesus by a divine name.  No longer “master,” Jesus is now “Lord.” “Kyrios.”  The Lord God almighty who made the world, the land, the sea, and all that is in them.  The Lord God almighty who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and revealed His name as “I am,” “Yahweh,” the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who brought His people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.  This is the name that Peter now uses for Jesus.

So that’s thing number one that Peter knows. Jesus is Lord.

Thing number two is that Peter is a sinner.

Now Peter doesn’t go into great detail about specific sins.  He knows his sins as well as you know yours.  We get to know Peter a bit better throughout the course of the story. Peter walks on water, until he takes his eyes off of Jesus and begins to sink.  Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, until he tries to stop Jesus from going to Jerusalem to die.  And when they show up in the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus, Peter gets out his sword and starts swinging, until he runs away and eventually denies even knowing Jesus three times.

Peter knows that he cannot stand in the presence of the holy God.

And that is the same way that Isaiah felt.

He was in the heavenly temple of God, angels flying around, singing “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

And Isaiah knows that he is not holy.  He is not even clean.  His lips are unclean, and the lips of his people are unclean.

Perhaps Isaiah has been speaking lies and deceit. Perhaps Isaiah has been speaking slander and gossip.  Perhaps Isaiah has been speaking of things unclean and profane.

Isaiah recognizes that he is unclean, and he expects to die in the presence of the Holy God.

How about you.  You just said moments ago that you, too, were sinful and unclean.

Were you scared at all to come here today and to stand before God?  Were you nervous when you walked into His house?  Perhaps you should have been.

I think too easily we turn Jesus from the Lord God Almighty to our fishing buddy, who ignores our bad behavior, who laughs at our dirty jokes, and never expects us to change a thing about ourselves.

This Christmas and Epiphany season, what have you learned about this Jesus?  He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.  He was heralded by angels, real angels, at His birth.  He was worshipped by Magi who traveled across the world to bring Him gifts.  He was at home in His Father’s house and marveled those who heard him speak.  At His baptism, God the Father proclaimed Him to be His beloved Son as the Holy Spirit fell upon Him.  And at Cana, He turned water into wine.

This is the man who stood before Peter that day. No wonder that Peter did not feel worthy, did not feel safe to have Jesus there with him.

Now the biggest miracle in this story is not the fish in the boats.  Those are merely an object lesson.

The biggest miracle in this story comes after the fish, and after Peter has asked Jesus to leave.

Jesus says to Peter, “Do not be afraid.”

Jesus has not come to destroy Peter, or Isaiah, or you or me.

Jesus has come to take away our fear of the divine.

Now Peter had it right.  Isaiah had it right.  If they were sinful and unclean, they could not stand in the presence of God. The only way that could happen would be if they were cleansed, sanctified.

For Isaiah, that came by way of the coal, taken from the most holy altar of incense, purifying his lips.

For Peter, that came by way of these words of Jesus.  Jesus is not merely telling Peter to buck up and be a man.  Jesus’ words do what they say.  And so when Jesus tells Peter not to fear, those words drive the fear away.

You can stand before the Lord today without fear, because this Jesus has taken your uncleanness upon Himself.  This Jesus took your sins upon Himself. 

He experienced the righteous wrath of God for your sins in your place through His death on the cross.

So that you may now stand without fear in the very presence of God, whether it’s here in the place, or in heaven itself.

And that’s not all.  That certainly would have been more than enough, but the Lord had more for Isaiah, more for Peter, and more for you.

For Isaiah, that meant using those cleansed lips to preach.  Even though they would not listen to him and would harden their hearts against him, there would be hope, there would be a seed, that would eventually sprout and grow as Jesus Christ, the shoot from the stump of Jesse.

For Peter, that meant following Jesus and fishing for people.  And he did.

Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, on that day of Pentecost, this same Peter who wanted Jesus to leave, he stood in front of a crowd of thousands.  And he boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the promised one.  And even though he had been crucified, He rose from the dead and was still at work through His Holy Spirit, whom He had poured out on the disciples.

And the fish began to fill the net.

On that day, 3,000 fish were caught up in the net through repentance and baptism.

And that was just the beginning.  The net of the gospel was cast further and further throughout Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the world. 

And just as before, more hands were needed to haul in that miraculous catch.  And so Barnabas and Paul, and Silas, too, and Timothy and Titus from last week, and Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos and the rest joined in the task of drawing the fish out of the water and into the boat of the Holy Christian Church. 

Which brings us to you.  A few weeks ago you were sheep.  In a few more weeks you’ll be a chicken.  But for today, you are fish, drawn out of the depths of sin and death, into the marvelous light of the gospel. 

Jesus doesn’t push you away, but He draws you closer to Him, and closer to one another.

And He just might have use for you in joining in the fun of drawing more fish into His boat.

So answer quickly when he calleth, “Here am I, send me, send me.”

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