Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 5

LUKE CHAPTER V.

The people pressed upon him. Multitudes came to hear. There were times in the life of our Saviour when thousands were anxious to hear him, and when many, as we have no reason to doubt, became his true followers. Indeed, it is not possible to tell what might have been his success, had not the Pharisees and scribes, and those who were in office, opposed him, and taken measures to draw the people away from his ministry; for the common people heard him gladly (Mark 12:37).

The Lake of Gennesaret. Called also the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberias.

"Gennesaret was the more ancient name of the lake, taken from a small territory or plain of that name on its western borders. See Numbers 34:11; Joshua 19:35, where, after the Hebrew orthography, it is called Chinnereth" (Owen).

The plain lying between Capernaum and Tiberias is said by Dr. Thomson (The Land and the Book, vol. i. p. 536) to be a little longer than thirty, and not quite twenty furlongs in breadth. It is described by Josephus as being, in his time, universally fertile.

"Its nature is wonderful as well as its beauty. Its soil is so fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow upon it, and the inhabitants accordingly plant all sorts of trees there; for the temperature of the air is so well mixed that it agrees very well with these several sorts; particularly walnuts, which require the coldest air, flourish there in vast plenty. One may call this the ambition of Nature, where it forces those plants which are naturally enemies to one another to agree together. It is a happy conjunction of the seasons, as if every one laid claim to this country; for it not only nourishes different sorts of autumnal fruits beyond men's expectations, but preserves them a long time. It supplies men with the principal fruits; with grapes and figs continually during ten months of the year, and the rest of the fruits, as they become ripe, through the whole year; for, besides the good temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile fountain."

Dr. Thomson describes it now as "preeminently fruitful in thorns." This was the region of the early toils of our Redeemer. Here he performed some of his first and most amazing miracles; here he selected his disciples; and here, on the shores of this little and retired lake, among people of poverty and inured to the privations of fishermen, he laid the foundation of a religion which is yet to spread through all the world, and which has already blessed millions of guilty and miserable men, and translated them to heaven.

Two ships. The ships used on such a small lake were probably no more than fishing boats without decks, and easily drawn up on the beach. Josephus says there were 230 of them on the lake, attended by four or five men each. That they were small is also clear from the account commonly given of them. A single large catch of fish endangered them and nearly sank them.

Standing by the lake. Anchored by the lake, or drawn up on the beach.

Which was Simon's. Simon Peter's.

Prayed him. Asked him.

He sat down. This was the common posture of Jewish teachers. They seldom or never spoke to the people standing . It may be somewhat difficult to conceive why Jesus should go into a boat and put off from the shore in order to speak to the multitude; but it is probable that this was a small bay or cove, and that when he was in the boat, the people on the shore stood round him in the form of an amphitheatre.

It is not improbable that the lake was still; that scarcely a breeze passed over it; that all was silence on the shore, and that there was nothing to disturb his voice. In such a situation he could be heard by multitudes; and no spectacle could be more sublime than that of the Son of God—the Redeemer of the world—thus speaking from the bosom of a placid lake—the emblem of the peaceful influence of his own doctrines—to the poor, the ignorant, and the attentive multitudes assembled on the shore. Oh how much more effect may we suppose the gospel would have in such circumstances, than when proclaimed among the proud, the showy, the honoured, even when assembled in the most splendid edifice that wealth and art could finish!

Launch out. Go out with your vessels.

Into the deep. Into the sea, at a distance from the shore.

For a draught. A catch of fish; or let down your nets for the taking of fish.

Master. This is the first time that the word translated here as Master occurs in the New Testament, and it is used only by Luke. The other evangelists call him Rabbi or Lord. The word used here means a prefect, or one placed over others, and therefore it comes to mean teacher or guide.

At thy word. At your command. Though it seemed so improbable that they would take anything after having toiled all night in vain, yet he was willing to trust the word of Jesus and make the trial. This was a remarkable instance of faith.

Peter, as it appears, knew little of Jesus at that time. He was not then a chosen apostle. Jesus came to these fishermen almost as a stranger and unknown; and yet, at his command, Peter resolved to make another trial and go once more out into the deep.

Oh, if all would as readily obey him, all would be blessed in the same way. If sinners would obey him in this way, they would find all his promises sure. He never disappoints. He asks only that we have confidence in him, and he will give us every necessary blessing.