Christ Calls His First Disciples, and Ourselves As Well

Jesus Calls His First Disciples: We Are Called Likewise

(Luke chapter 5, verses 1–16)

For this week’s study, we’ll be moving on to the first half of Luke chapter five. Here we chronicle the ministry of Jesus during a time when he was just beginning to call his first disciples. We also will find as we go along that Jesus not only continued his healing ministry that he began in the previous chapter, he took it up a notch as well. By this time Jesus had developed quite a following, with many praising him. Others, however, including the religious establishment of that time, began actively looking for ways to discredit Jesus out of jealousy. With this as our backdrop, then, let’s get right into Luke’s gospel chapter five.

“One day as Jesus was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the Word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fisherman, as they were washing their nets. He got onto one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little bit from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Pull out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch’. Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked hard all…