Luke 5:1-11
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Him to hear the Word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.
3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land.
And He sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that 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 be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
The Scriptures repeat and repeat. We find thousands and thousands and multitudes were healed by Jesus from His Word. And as Good Friday approached, every day of Jesus doing His Ministry as grace upon Grace, the Disciples needed to hear The Word again.
The work of mankind, is to believe the One He Sent.
Mankind comes to God and abruptly asks to learn to pray. Not with numerous beguiling words. More bluntly, saying John the Baptist teaches us to pray. Eve wanted to be like God as well. We are dealing with the Christ of God, His Only Son. The exact nature of the Lord. And Jesus never calls down fire like Elijah. We have Good News.
Abraham begins with faith. And when God, The Almighty, doesn't arrive swiftly on chariots with Heavenly horses to fix what God said, Abraham convinces himself his own works will help God. Mankind has no trouble believing their own good deeds. Mostly. Sometimes.
Abraham goes to be faithful, argues for the salvation of many, and God blesses the heart of Abraham for his belief to be called righteousness. Like Solomon, is called wisdom. Because the Lord Sees The Heart. And how do the grandchildren of Abraham lose the land God Promised? Famine. Starvation. Need. Financial. Hunger. Loss of life and living water in the Promised Land. Except, mankind cannot lose or break the Word of God and His Story. His Plan.
Even in apparent and believable brokenness, The Works of God Continue. His workmen go Home.
And how did the Children of Israel come forth out of Egypt? Out of Egypt, I call My Son. Famine. Starvation. Need. Financial. Hunger. Loss of life and living water in the Promised Land. Except, mankind cannot lose or break the Word of God and His Story. His Plan.
Why are the men standing at the Sea of Galilee when they had met Jesus in John's very first Chapter of The Gospel of John? Famine. Starvation. Need. Financial. Hunger. Loss of life and living water in the Promised Land. Except, mankind cannot lose or break the Word of God and His Story. His Plan.
Why were the men fishing after Easter? Jesus had passed on violently. All of Israel knew. The Disciples had hidden. But the morning of the conclusions of John's First Gospel, they were fishing. Why? Famine. Starvation. Need. Financial. Hunger. Loss of life and living water in the Promised Land. Except, mankind cannot lose or break the Word of God and His Story. His Plan.
Why is this need important, even during Lent?
God sees the heart of mankind.
Even if we aren't in famine, starving, enslaved, hopeless, hungry, losing life and living water searching for the Promised Land. We hunger for love, for approval, for success, for our children, for our loved grandchildren, the people we love, their comfort, hope and safety. For stable lives free from worry. We know we die each day and work to be Living Water finding the Promised Land. Jesus tells us we are the sheep who need The Good Shepherd.
And how did the men with guilt, of being self preserving, doubters do with the Victory of God, daily, healing, loving, encouraging...
Matthew 19:27 —
Then Peter said in reply,
“See, we have left everything and followed you.
What then will we have?”
Doing the work to believe the One He sent? Not exactly, except the style of Peter is to be blunt and be who he is. Like David. Peter believes more in the mercy of God than overly halo polishing. Why and how did Peter put his heart on his sleeve and speak to the Only Son of God? Peter spoke after hearing of God's Glory.
Matthew 19:26 —28
— Jesus looked at them and said,
“With man this is impossible,
but with God
all things are possible.”
28 Jesus said to them,
“Truly, I say to you, in the new world,
when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious Throne,
you who have followed Me
will also sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
The Scriptures repeat and repeat.
Beautiful Stone work, columns of the late first Century
listing “Sons of Thunder, James and John” (on Capernaum's Synagogue)
James and John became uncharacteristicly quiet. Sons of Thunder. Their mother had heard what Peter heard.
And she arrived to give Eternal Glory in the placement of James and John in Jesus' Kingdom.
Golly, James and John did not say my people do the Will of God. Golly. Forever, is a mighty long time, The artist formerly known as Prince did sing. Princes James and Princes John.
4 And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon,
“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that 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 be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
We do not serve a God who asks for a ring of false piety. We do not come to a cold Jesus who wants us to favor His Opinions and Ideas that are pretty impossible.
We come to a Father, willing to Give His Son to us.
To trust us again to treat His Infant Son well. To Believe Jesus grew up strong and with wisdom. To see Mary and Joseph met impossible and solid laws to find a community seeing the Love of Jesus pulled them together. We find, again, Jesus did incredible miracles of meeting real needs. Not asking John to be Peter. Or Matthew to be Simon the Zealot. Not asking them to walk on water. Asking their love and faith.
To Love and Be Stirred up to Good Deeds.
Jesus knew the men had wife, mother-in-law, taxes and brothers.
Matthew 17
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?”
25 He said, “Yes.”
And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?”
26 And when he said, “From others,”
Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
Just as God went with Israel and his 12 sons to seek help in Egypt during the time of great famine.
When Jesus began to Lift up the Cup of Salvation
Lifting up the New Covenant,
He said,
John 17:17
Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth.
The Scriptures repeat and repeat. On the last day of John's First Gospel, Jesus knew Peter would be embarrassed and ashamed. Eager to see Jesus and would still be Peter.
Jesus was willing again to meet Peter, where Peter would be understood and know the truth, to learn, again, today, His Word is Truth.
John 21
21 After this
Jesus revealed Himself
again
to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias,
and He revealed Himself in this way:
Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.
14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Paul knew in his heart and soul, The Holiness of God, God's Own Holy Spirit is the Christ of God is Help, Helper, Comfort and Comforter
Why?
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble
with the comfort
we ourselves have received from God.
5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us,
so also through Christ
our comfort overflows.
Abba, Father,
Life assures us the road has sharp turns,
Unforeseen corners and the comments do not cease.
Jesus Himself tells us
He is the way, the truth and the Life.
Know the Scriptures,
Know the Power of God.
And we will believe in the One He has Sent.
Surely, He took on our infirmities
and carried our sorrows;
yet, we considered Him stricken by God,
struck down and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace
was upon Him,
and by His stripes
we are healed.
Each Day we are Blessed
to ask for more
More Heaven on earth.
More Give us This Day.
More Daily Bread.
The Universe is upheld
by the
Power of Your Word.
May The Lord God Almighty
His Son Jesus
surround and uphold us
in This Peace.
The Peace is Upheld by God Himself
and
we ask
His Blessing and Favor.
Gently, we hand You our Cares
knowing Your Hands hold
this so well.
Tenderly.
And we are Loved and Filled.
We give thanks for
Your Sacrifice
to bring those unworthy
to be adopted into Your Family.
Knowing we are not perfect,
have weakness,
flaws
and sins.
And draw near to you with confidence
in Jesus Christ
according to Your Will
Your Word
Your Steadfast Love
and Your Promises in Jesus.
Dwell in us
and help us to be Pleasing to You
Dwell in those we Love and Honor
and help us to seek You first
and we will end well in Jesus Christ.
In the Highest Name
of Jesus Christ,
Amen
Thank You.
Our God is working. His Son,
Jesus is working.
Amen.
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
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