Jesus tells them to cast their net on the right side of the boat, which must have been the opposite side from which they had just cast. Plummer notes that “There is no need to seek symbolical meanings for the right and the left side. The difference is not between right and left, but between working with and without Divine guidance.”

They may have thought that the person on the shore had a better observation point than they. H. V. Morton tells of watching two men fishing with a hand net. The one on the shore could see the school of fish better because of the glare from the sea so he would shout instructions to the man in the water flinging the net. Whether this would be true for someone a hundred yards from the boat is uncertain, but the disciples may have thought it a possibility. For whatever reason, the disciples obey the yet unknown man on the shore and cast their nets off the right side of the boat and get such a large catch that they cannot haul in the net. Obedience to Christ always produces a rich reward.

Notice that Jesus manifested Himself to His people by doing for them what nobody else could do. Note also that what He did for them was totally unexpected by them. They didn’t even know it was Jesus until after, and a result of, the miracle.

This miracle was quite like one Jesus had done much earlier to pay Peter for the use of his boat (Luke 5:1-11). The previous miracle was the clincher for getting Peter and the thunder brothers (James and John. See Mark 3:17) to leave everything and follow Him. Much had happened since then and now everything was totally changed. This miracle could not help but catch the attention of Peter, James, and John. Jesus met them exactly where they were. Henry says that “Latter favours are designed to bring to mind former favours, that eaten bread may not be forgotten.” By doing this particular miracle, Jesus had to be reminding the disciples what their real purpose in life was from now on. In their ministry of fishing for men, the disciples, up to this point, had been casting their nets on the left side of the boat, but the time was soon approaching when they would be instructed to cast their net on the right side of the boat with amazing results (Acts 2:36-41).

Luke 5:1-11  One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding round him and listening to the word of God,  he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”  Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”  When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,  and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Mark 3:17  James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder);

Acts 2:36-41  “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”  When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”  With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”  Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

“my Father’s house” = a messianic claim by Jesus.  In the Old Testament the Temple is often called the “house of God” and Jesus referred to the owner of the Temple as being His Father, a claim to deity.  Also, the Messianic prophecy in Zech 14:21 refers to there being no more Canaanites in the house of the LORD, but the Hebrew word translated as “Canaanite” may also be translated as “merchant” or “trader.”

Zech 14:21  Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty.

Note that Jesus called the Temple “my Father’s house” and not “our Father’s house.”  He never indicates that His Sonship is anything like ours.

Jesus drove out the sheep because their owners would follow, and He overturned the moneychanger’s tables, but they could pick up their coins. However, with the doves, which were the sacrifice of the poor, He told their owners to get them out, because if he had let them go, they would have flown away and caused economic loss to their owners. We must never let our zeal hurt others.

What is the motive of Jesus?  As Strachan points out, “His motive was one of reverence for ‘my Father’s house,’ and of deep concern that the spirit of worship should thus be dissipated at its very door.”  The Court of the Gentiles, where all of this activity was taking place was the only court on the Temple grounds where the Gentiles could go to pray and meditate and there was certainly no peace for them there to worship.  As Wright says, “A place that should have stood as a symbol for the freedom of access of all nations in prayer to God, had become a place associated with sordid pecuniary interests.” (qt’d in Morris 195) Not only that, but the sacrifices themselves were defiled by the motives of the offenders. See (Mal 3:1-4). Jesus was concerned with making offerings which were pleasing to God and not with wealth-seeking religion.

Mal 3:1-4 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.

Today the Temple no longer stands; the church has taken its place. And with that substitution, comes the possibility of falling into the same temptation which took hold of the Temple of God in the day of Jesus. In fact, it has happened many times over the centuries, but the church bounces back from its sin and reforms. Why? Because Jesus comes again and again to cleanse the House of God. Maclaren notes that “if Jesus Christ had not thus come, over and over again, to His Church, Christian men would have killed Christianity long ago.” Jesus still comes to cleanse His Temple.