Meeting Jesus Again
- by Joachim Lee
Text: Luke 5:1-11
8 February 2004 |
|
Gospel as portrayals of human character,
response, struggles and hope
-
Real day to day
issues to deal with
-
Even in the
presence of Jesus, the path is not as easy—doubts, unworthiness and fear
prevail.
Luke’s account is somewhat confusing
-
In Mk 1:21-39
Jesus had called Andrew, Peter, James and John--they were to be fisher of men.
They followed Jesus.
-
In Luke, we
read that Jesus is on his own, preaching on the shore
-
Simon is
meeting Jesus for the first time?
-
But the end is
the same, they leave their fishing business behind and follow Jesus
-
Luke’s story is
wrong, or that Mathew and Mark’s are wrong?
Luke writes from a Gentile’s perspective.
Gives his reason for writing in Lk 1:1-4…wanted Theophilus (Lover
of God) to be assured of what he was taught was accurate.
Biblical Scholars conclude that Luke actually records a different
incident than that of Mark and Matthew.
Today’s sermon theme is “Meeting Jesus Again” because Jesus had
already called Andrew, Simon, James and John to follow Him and they had
responded.
-
Been exposed to
Jesus’ teaching and miracles but the commitment and transformation was not
lasting
-
Peter’s life
makes it clear that after the initial invitation from Jesus, Peter (we) spend
the rest of his (our) lives living into that new life
-
Peter is the
one with great and profound insights one moment, and who falls flat on his
face the next. (We have hope!)
-
Luke picks up a
matter of days, weeks or months later. Peter’s life is an encouragement to all
of us…we can Meet Jesus Again.
After teaching the crowd, Jesus issues instructions to Simon to
put out his nets for a catch of fish. There are 3 principles that we can learn
when we Meet Jesus Again.
The New Call Demanded Greater Commitment (vv 4-7)
“Launch out into the deep and let your nets for a catch”
-
Simon had been
listening while mending and washing his nets.
-
Simon had
family commitments—he had to make a living.
-
Launch out into
Deeper Water is an analogy of what Jesus wants to do to Simon
-
Simon was
tempted to be guided by his experience. Best fishing was at night close to the
shore.
-
Asked to try
again even when he failed. He protests, “Master, we worked all night…”
-
Master = Rabbi
= Teacher…shows respect, does not let his better judgment hinder his obedience
-
Vv6-7--result
of obedience
Invitation to Greater Intimacy v 8
-
Rather than
being overjoyed, Simon does the opposite. “Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
-
Obeying Jesus’
command has given Simon an acute sense of his own sinfulness. He was not
trying to get rid of Jesus but was overcome with a sense of unworthiness.
-
Only as our
experience deepens and we gain knowledge that only in Him can we experience
the forgiveness of our sins, then an awareness of our unworthiness drives us
to Jesus.
-
In Peter’s life
according to John 21, “after the Resurrection, and deeply anguished over his
denial of Jesus, he went back to Galilee…
A New Way of Life vv 9-11
-
Every miracle
has a purpose. Simon sees Jesus in an entirely new light. Jesus is Lord and he
is a sinful man. He saw his own reluctance to obey the command to let down the
nets as sin.
-
Notice that
Jesus does not say, “Yes your sin is a problem, go sin no more, or yes you are
a terrible sinner. Rather, Be Not Afraid.
-
It was not sin
that stopped Peter BUT FEAR!
-
Jesus re-issued
the call to go and catch people.
[Top]
|