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First miraculous catch of fish

Luke 5:1–11 · Early ministry in Galilee

Scripture

Luke 5:1–11

nd it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

King James Version · public domain

Lluka 5:1–11

dhe gjindja tek po ishte dyke shtrënguar’ atë që të dëgjoninë fjalën’ e Perëndisë, ay qëndronte përanë lëqerit Gjenisaret. 2Edhe pa dy lundra dyke qëndruarë përanë buzës’ së lëqerit; edhe peshkatarëtë duallë nga ato, e laninë rrietatë. 3Edhe ay hyri mbë njërënë nga lundratë, mb’atë që ishte e Simonit, edhe i ulut ati të largonej pak prej tokësë. Edhe si ndënji mësonte gjindjenë nga lundra. 4Edhe si pushoj së-foluri, i tha Simonit, Sill lundrënë ndë ujërat të-thella, edhe hithni rrietatë t’uaj, që të zini pishq. 5Edhe Simoni upërgjeq e i tha, Mësonjës, gjithë natën’ umunduamë, edhe nukë zumë gjë; po për fjalënë t’ënde dot’ e heth rrietënë. 6Edhe si bënë këtë, mbyllnë brënda një shumicë pishqish të-madhe, edhe rrieta e atyreve po çirej. 7Edhe u bënë me shënjë shokëvet që ishinë ndë lundrët tjetërë, që të vinin’ e t’u ndih-moninë; edhe ata erdhë, edhe mbushnë të dy lundratë, kaqë, sa ato zunë të fundoseshinë. 8Edhe Simon Pjetri, kur pa, ra ndër gjunjët të Jisujt, dyke thënë, Dil prej meje, Zot, sepse jam njeri fajtuar. 9Sepse të-habiturë e pushtoj atë edhe ata që ishinë bashkë me atë, për gjahun’ e pishqvet që zunë; 10Gjithashtu edhe Jakovin’ e Joannë, të bijt’ e Zevedheut, të-cilëtë ishin shokë të Simonit. Edhe Jisuj i tha Simonit, Mos ki frikë, se paskëtaj dotë gjuanç njerës. 11Edhe si suallë lundratë mbë tokët, i lanë të-gjitha edhe vanë pas ati.

Kristoforidhi, Dhiata e Re Toskërisht 1879 · zotërim publik

Summary

The Fathers read the fruitless night of toil as the labor of the old covenant, the work of the law and the prophets that toils hard yet catches little until the word of Christ goes out at daybreak. Cyril and Ambrose see in the command to launch into the deep the turning of the apostolic mission toward the wide world of the nations: the deep is the sea of mankind, and the net let down at Christ's word is the net of apostolic teaching, which gathers in those scattered in error and brings them back to God. The overwhelming catch is therefore the harvest of the Church, drawn in not by human skill but by obedience to His word.

Peter's cry, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord," the tradition offers as the right posture before the divine presence. Nearness to God exposes our unworthiness, yet the very confession that fears to keep Him near is what He honors; He does not depart but draws closer, answering fear with "Fear not." The Fathers note the holy paradox that this acknowledgment of sin is the threshold of apostleship, for the Lord chooses not the self-assured but the humble who know their need.

Several of the Fathers see the two ships and their partners as a figure of the Church's fellowship in mission, no single laborer sufficing for so great a catch, while the nets straining to the point of tearing prefigure how vast that ingathering would prove. The promise that Peter would now catch men turns the whole miracle forward: the fish taken from the water die, but men drawn up by the gospel are taken from the depths of this world into life. So a day of fishing becomes the call to leave all and follow.

In their own words

in the name, however, of Christ, they let down the net, and immediately it was full of fish; in order that by a visible fact, and by a type and representation, miraculously enacted, they might be fully convinced that their labour would not be unrewarded

St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Sermon XII (on Luke 5:4), trans. R. Payne Smith, 1859

The First Miraculous Catch of Fish (Luke 5:1–11)

Public-Domain Patristic Commentary

The texts below are quoted verbatim from public-domain English translations (the Library of Fathers, the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, and the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas Aquinas in J. H. Newman's 1841 translation). Each section gives the source edition and a link to the complete text. Nothing here is paraphrased.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon XII (on Luke 5:1–11) Source: trans. R. Payne Smith, Library of Fathers, 1859. Public domain. Full text: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cyril_on_luke_02_sermons_12_25.htm

On the catch as the calling of the apostles to gather the world (Luke 5:2):

Let us admire the skilfulness of the method employed in making them a prey who were to make prey of the whole earth; even the holy Apostles, who, though themselves well skilled in fishing, yet fell into Christ's meshes, that they also, letting down the drag-net of the Apostolic preachings, might gather unto Him the inhabitants of the whole world. For verily He somewhere said by one of the holy prophets, "Behold I send many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall catch them as fish: and afterwards I will send many hunters, and they shall hunt them as game." By the fishers He means the holy Apostles; and by the hunters, those who successively became the rulers and teachers of the holy churches. And observe, I pray, that He not only preaches, but also displays signs, giving thereby pledges of His power, and confirming His words by the display of miracles.

On the obedience of Peter and the net filled (Luke 5:4):

As He had now taught them sufficiently, and it was fitting also to add some divine work to His words for the benefit of the spectators, He bade Simon and his companions push off a little from the land, and let down the net for a draught. But they replied, that they had been labouring the whole night, and had caught nothing: in the name, however, of Christ, they let down the net, and immediately it was full of fish; in order that by a visible fact, and by a type and representation, miraculously enacted, they might be fully convinced that their labour would not be unrewarded, nor the zeal fruitless which they displayed in spreading out the net of the Gospel teaching; for that most certainly they should catch within it the shoals of the heathen.

On the partners beckoned, and the net still drawn:

But observe this, that neither Simon nor his companions could draw the net to land; and therefore, being speechless from fright and astonishment, for their wonder had made them mute, they beckoned, it says, to their partners, those, that is, who shared their labours in fishing, to come and help them in securing their prey. For many have taken part with the holy Apostles in their labours, and still do so, especially such as search into the meaning of what is written in the holy Gospels; and others besides them, even the pastors and teachers and rulers of the people, who are skilled in the doctrines of truth. For still is the net drawn, while Christ fills it, and summons unto conversion those in the depths of the sea, according to the Scripture phrase; those, that is to say, who live in the surge and waves of worldly things.

On Peter's fear (Luke 5:8):

For this reason also Peter, carried back to the memory of his former sins, trembles and is afraid, and as being impure ventures not to receive Him Who is pure: and his fear was laudable: for he had been taught by the law to distinguish between the holy and the profane.

St. John Chrysostom (c. 349–407)

From the homilies of St. John Chrysostom, as compiled in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On how Christ called each according to his own art:

For in His condescension to men, He called the wise men by a star, the fishermen by their art of fishing.

On the apostles' poverty (Luke 5:2):

This was a sign of leisure, but according to Matthew He finds them mending their nets. For so great was their poverty, that they patched up their old nets, not being able to buy new ones.

On their faith and obedience (Luke 5:11):

But mark their faith and obedience. For though they were eagerly engaged in the employment of fishing, yet when they heard the command of Jesus, they delayed not, but forsook all and followed Him. Such is the obedience which Christ demands of us; we must not forego it, even though some great necessity urges us.

Theophylact of Ohrid (c. 1050–1107)

From his Explanation of the Gospel of Luke, as compiled in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the gentleness of Christ and the willingness of Peter:

Behold the gentleness of Christ; He asks Peter; and the willingness of Peter, who was obedient in all things.

On Peter's reply and the double kindness shown him (Luke 5:5):

He did not go on to say, "I will not hearken to you, nor expose myself to additional labor," but rather adds, Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net. But our Lord, since he had taught the people out of the ship, left not the master of the ship without reward, but conferred on him a double kindness, giving him first a multitude of fishes, and next making him His disciple.

Blessed Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate CXXII Source: trans. John Gibb, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 7, ed. Philip Schaff, 1888. Public domain. Full text: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1701122.htm

Expounding the later catch of John 21, Augustine sets it against this first catch in Luke 5, and so interprets the meaning of the present passage.

On the two catches and what this first one signifies:

In doing the one at the commencement of His preaching and this latter after His resurrection, He showed thereby in the former case that the capture of fishes signified the good and bad presently existing in the Church; but in the latter, the good only, whom it will contain everlastingly, when the resurrection of the dead shall have been completed in the end of this world.

Furthermore, on that previous occasion Jesus stood not, as here, on the shore, when He gave orders for the taking of the fish, but "entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land; and He sat down therein, and taught the crowds. And when He had left speaking, He said to Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." There also they put the fishes that were caught into the ship, and did not, as here, draw the net to the shore.

On the nets not let down to one side, signifying good and bad together:

On that occasion the nets are not let down on the right side, that the good alone might not be signified, nor on the left, lest the application should be limited to the bad; but without any reference to either side, He says, "Let down your nets for a draught," that we may understand the good and bad as mingled together.

On the breaking of the nets:

There the net was broken on account of the schisms that were meant to be signified.

On the two ships filled to the point of sinking:

There the multitude of fishes caught was so great, that the two vessels were filled and began to sink, that is, were weighed down to the point of sinking; for they did not actually sink, but were in extreme jeopardy. For whence exist in the Church the great evils under which we groan, save from the impossibility of withstanding the enormous multitude that, almost to the entire subversion of discipline, gain an entrance, with their morals so utterly at variance with the pathway of the saints?

On the two ships as Jew and Gentile:

And as on that first occasion it was done by two vessels, with reference to the circumcision and the uncircumcision.

St. Ambrose of Milan (c. 339–397)

From his Exposition of the Gospel of Luke (Book IV), as compiled in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the ship of Peter as the Church:

Now in a mystery, the ship of Peter, according to Matthew, is beaten about by the waves, according to Luke, is filled with fishes, in order that you might understand the Church at first wavering, at last abounding.

On "Launch out into the deep" (Luke 5:4):

Lastly, though to others it is commanded, Let down your nets, to Peter alone it is said, Launch out into the deep, i.e. into deep researches. What is so deep, as the knowledge of the Son of God!

On the nets of the apostles:

But what are the nets of the Apostles which are ordered to be let down, but the interweaving of words and certain folds, as it were, of speech, and intricacies of argument, which never let those escape whom they have once caught. And rightly are nets the Apostolical instruments for fishing, which kill not the fish that are caught, but keep them safe, and bring up those that are tossing about in the waves from the depths below to the regions above.

On Peter's confession (Luke 5:8):

Say you also, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord, that God may answer, Fear not. Confess your sin, and the Lord will pardon you.

St. Bede the Venerable (c. 672–735)

From his Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, as compiled in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the two ships as the circumcision and the Gentiles (Luke 5:2):

Now mystically, the two ships represent circumcision and uncircumcision. The Lord sees these, because in each people He knows who are His, and by seeing, i.e. by a merciful visitation, He brings them nearer the tranquillity of the life to come. The fishermen are the doctors of the Church, because by the net of faith they catch us, and bring us as it were ashore to the land of the living.

On the ship of Simon as the primitive Church:

The ship of Simon is the primitive Church, of which St. Paul says, He that wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of circumcision. The ship is well called one, for in the multitude of believers there was one heart and one soul.

On Peter as the type of the Church (Luke 5:10):

This especially belongs to Peter himself, for the Lord explains to him what this taking of fish means; that in fact as now he takes fishes by the net, so hereafter he will catch men by words. And the whole order of this event shows what is daily going on in the Church, of which Peter is the type.

On the catch that continues to the end of the world:

But the filling of these ships goes on until the end of the world.

Note on sources and other Fathers

The two principal commentaries quoted from continuous works are St. Cyril (his Commentary on Luke in Payne Smith's translation) and Blessed Augustine (Tractate 122 on John, where he expounds this first catch against the later one in John 21). The remaining voices come through the Catena Aurea on Luke, as marked. The Catena's chain on this passage also names Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory of Nyssa — the latter observing that the draught was as great as "the Lord of the sea and land willed," for "the voice of the Word is the voice of power" — together with several Western compilers; these are noted rather than quoted here. St. Gregory the Great treats the passage in his Forty Gospel Homilies (Homily 24), which survives in English only in copyrighted modern editions and so is not reproduced.

Patristic sources

Read the sources: Cyril on Luke, Sermons 12–25 (Tertullian.org)