The account is found in Luke 5:1-9. Jesus enters the world of one of the owners of a fishing business, taking control of his vessel. And the results were dramatic.
The multitudes are pressing around Jesus, wanting “to hear the word of God,” the account begins. Jesus looks for a vantage point from which to reach them. And he chooses a business as his means of communicating truth, in this case a vacant fishing vessel. It seems the business owner was away from the vessel, maintaining his fixed assets.
Simon Peter, the boat owner, saw Jesus step into his boat. He left drying his fishing nets and joined Jesus in the boat. They knew each other. Earlier Jesus had healed Simon’s mother in law. But he didn’t really know Jesus as he would come to know him. And it seems that can be the case with business owners today who are Christian.
Jesus doesn’t just step into Simon’s business. He plops himself down right in the middle of the board room. He sits there and asks Simon to push off a little from shore so that he can minister to the crowds better. The good news here is that Simon actually hears and then actually complies. What would it look like if Jesus invaded the very center of your business today, telling you what to do and using the business vehicle to reach the masses?
I think some of us might be caught off guard, even if we had wanted to serve Jesus through our business in the past. Perhaps we had given some of the business profits to support him or had done other good things.
But now Jesus himself shows up. He does the ministering. We’re simply there to yield our business to his purposes. Can we recognize his presence and voice? We may not understand it all, but we yield to him.
After Jesus stops speaking, he turns to the boat owner and gives him some business advice. He says, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” It’s one thing for Jesus to be sitting in the board room, but now he’s giving orders.
The boat’s CEO doesn’t think the advice is good. He quickly responds to Jesus, “We have toiled all night and caught nothing.” It’s amazing that we can work hard and really not accomplish anything, but we are not willing to try something different. Maybe it’s just that we are so busy trying to figure out how to make things work that we can’t stop to hear the Master’s voice. Maybe we think our expertise is more sound than Jesus’ advice. Or maybe we’re just too plum tired to keep trying to make it work.
To Simon’s credit he finally does what Jesus asks him to do. And wouldn’t you know it, the nets immediately fill with fish to the point that they are exceeding the capacity of the business infrastructure. Simon immediately calls for his business partners to bring another boat to help. And even then they have so many fish that both boats begin to sink. Now that’s a problem we’d all like to have. We’re bringing in so much revenue that our accountant can’t even keep track.
Jesus blessed the business of Simon and his partners James and John because they had allowed him to be Lord in their business. And Simon gets a greater revelation of who Jesus really is. He falls down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
Jesus loves him and says, “Do not be afraid.” When we see what Jesus can actually do and recognize him for who he is, we seem to be so ill-equipped and meager in comparison. But Jesus doesn’t see that. He sees something different. He prophesies to Simon that he will “catch men.”
Peter, James, and John left “all” and became three of the apostles. We have to leave “all” also. That doesn’t mean we walk away from our businesses. It does mean, however, that we leave our “sinful man” behind and submit to Jesus’ full control of everything we do, including the key decisions in our businesses. It means recognizing that Jesus wants to step right into the middle of our businesses and give guidance.
Now, I could end the story here, and you might have had the Holy Spirit speak to you about how much you are really letting Jesus manifest himself in your business and in your personal life. And if you stop here, that’s o.k. But there’s more to the story that can impact you. Let me explain.
The example from the beginning of Luke 5 should be read in the larger context of what Jesus had revealed in Luke 4. That context has major implications for us today in business.
Luke 4 opens by telling the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan after he was baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist. Satan offered him “all the kingdoms of the world” and said, “All this authority I will give you, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.” (vs. 5-6) Satan believed he had control of everything, including the economics of all kingdoms.
Jesus resists Satan’s temptations and instead returns “in the power of the Spirit” and begins proclaiming his mission. In Nazareth he enters a synagogue on the Sabbath day and reads:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because he has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor:
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4: 18-19 NKJV)
He has rejected Satan’s temptation and is declaring that He is taking back what Satan claimed he owned. Jesus was quoting Isaiah 61:1-2, a prophetic passage about the coming Messiah.
The Isaiah passage continues, by telling the results of His coming. And here’s the key for kingdom people in business. It reads:
And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs. (Isaiah 61:4-7 NKJV)
Isaiah was telling what we ourselves would be empowered to do when Jesus has shown up. We in business will rebuild old ruins, raise up former desolations, and even repair ruined cities. We will be taking back what Satan thought was in his control when he offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.
And as a result many people will be working for you and be your “vinedressers,” that is, you will have authority over others in your business. And they will recognize you as “the servants of our God.” You as a kingdom business person “shall eat the riches of the Gentiles” and instead of shame, “you shall have double honor.” You “shall possess double.”
Jesus did show up, and now we get to walk out Isaiah’s prophecy. Just before the account of Jesus stepping into Simon’s business, Jesus had said, “I must preach the kingdom of God...because for this purpose I have been sent.” (Luke 4:43 NKJV)
Then he entered into the very center of Simon Peter’s business.
He wants to enter into the very center of our businesses too. We are people of the Kingdom. We take back what Satan thought was his. We rebuild, raise up, and restore. We are people of the Kingdom. And people recognize the difference.
Jesus says to us as he said to Simon Peter, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” And we get to use our calling to business as our vehicle.
John Boneck is the Director of the Kingdom Business Association. He is a business coach and has served in management in a $100M division of a corporation.
