Luke 5:1-11 NASB [1] … Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; [2] and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. [3] And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. [4] When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” [5] Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” [6] When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; [7] so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” [9] For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; [10] and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” [11] When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. …
Peter was a professional fisherman, so when Jesus tells him to go back out into the deep water and to let his nets down for a catch, I can only imagine what Peter was thinking. We get some insight into his thoughts when he explains to the Lord that they had worked hard all night and caught nothing. Peter and the disciples were still in the process of fully discovering the wonders of this man Jesus, but they knew that Jesus was not a fisherman; He was a carpenter, but in respect, Peter said he would let down the nets anyway. When the nets were filled with fish, Peter understood even more clearly that Jesus was not like anyone else he had ever met. This catch of fish was a miracle, and the result was that Peter fell down at the feet of Jesus repeatedly saying to Jesus, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
In light of the miracle of the catch of fish, Peter, knowing his own humanity, felt he was unworthy and figured this would be as good a time as any for Jesus to abandon him because surely it would eventually come in light of his own sinfulness. It has always ministered to me the way Jesus responded to him. Jesus told him to not be afraid and from now on he would be catching men. Simply put, Jesus was telling Peter to never fear that He (Jesus) would never leave him. As a matter-of-fact, He was telling Peter that He was just the kind of person Jesus was looking for; a man who was imperfect and would be willing to leave everything to follow Jesus even in his imperfections. This is what Jesus is looking for; imperfect people who have a heart to leave everything and follow Him.