What does Luke 5:9 mean?

In return for the use of his boat and as an introduction to a lifelong mission, Jesus has allowed Peter and Andrew (Mark 1:16) to catch an enormous haul of fish. The overloaded nets threaten to break, and both their boat and James and John's are at risk of sinking (Luke 1:1–7). This is how Jesus works: turning scarcity into abundance beyond anyone's wildest expectations.

When Jesus performs a miracle, people are as impressed with the quality of the results as the fact of the results. When He turned water into wine at the wedding at Cana, the steward praised the taste (John 2:9–10). After Jesus healed a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, the bystanders proclaimed, "He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak" (Mark 7:37).

The four fishermen are soon to learn Jesus' greatest miracle is what He can do in human lives. Later, Paul will tell the Ephesians God can do "far more abundantly than all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20). That includes building a worldwide church: a body of brothers and sisters from every nation and tribe (Revelation 7:9). Jesus doesn't just invite the fishermen into this work (Luke 5:10). He also so changes them personally that religious leaders become confused as to how uneducated tradesmen could express such profound theological arguments (Acts 4:13).

Those in the church these men build continue to experience God's extravagant blessings. When speaking of eternity, Paul quotes Isaiah 64:4: "But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him'" (1 Corinthians 2:9). The fish are just the beginning.