Divinity on Display Luke 5:1-11
The Son: Meeting Jesus through Luke • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
Introduction:
All four of the Gospel writers (Matt, Mark, Luke, John) wrote with one singular purpose: to reveal Jesus to their audience. But, they all four do it from a different vantage point, choosing to focus on different aspects of the life of Christ and his ministry.
Matthew- writing to a Jewish audience focuses on Jesus fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, presenting Jesus as their long awaited Messiah.
Mark- writing to a gentile audience focuses on the miracles of Jesus and presents him as a suffering servant.
John- differs from the other three writers in that his book is not a historical narrative of the life of Christ, but is a doctrinal treaty on Jesus being God in the flesh. He focuses on the Deity of Christ.
Luke- is a historian, so he writes from a facts and figures perspective in order to prove the historical accuracy of the life Jesus writing from the first hand accounts of witnesses. He focuses on Jesus humanity. While Luke does present Jesus as fully man, the perfect man, that doesn't mean that Jesus divinity is not also on display throughout his account.
Jesus is truly the God-Man. Fully Man and Fully God at the same time. We’ve fully examined his humanity in Luke 4, now in Luke 5, we will see Christ divinity. Putting the two together we get a full view of Jesus being the God-Man.
Before we jump into examining where we see the divinty of Christ in the text allow me just to set the stage a bit.
We do not know the exact amount of time that has passed between the end of Luke 4 and the beginning of Luke 5. It could be as short as the next morning after the close of Luke 4 or it can be anywhere from a few weeks to a month later. I tend to lean toward this event being the next morning or within a day or two. Whichever is the case, Jesus was still in Galilee (Capernaum) teaching, healing and casting out demons. The scene open with Jesus teaching the crowds on the shores of the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee).
Just to get an idea of the crowds that followed Jesus, the Jewish historian Josephus, who lived around the time of Christ, estimated the population of the region of Galilee to be about 3 million people. Couple that with the fact that going to hear a gifted teacher was a form of entertainment, a gifted orator could draw huge crowds.
46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”
As Jesus was teaching, the crowds were swarming around him wanting to hear him preach and perhaps even more so to see him preform a miracle.
Nearby to where Jesus was, are two boats where fisherman are mending their nets after fishing all night. We know from later in the text and in parallel passages these are the boats of Peter, his brother Andrew and James and John.
Jesus gets into the boat of Peter in order to use it as a sort of pulpit to create some distance between Him and the crowd (His voice would have carried over the water). Then, when he finishes speaking, he tells Peter to gather up his nets and launch out into the deep. Peter reluctantly agrees and a miracle takes place, they catch so many fish, the nets begin to break and they have to call over for help from their business partner. Both boats were so full of fish that they began to sink.
Simon, who was already following Jesus around Capernaum, comes to the realization, this guy is more than just a prophet and he falls at Jesus feet in worship, declaring his sinfulness. We get the idea that all four men were on their knees before the Lord. Jesus, calms their fear and tells them they are going to no longer catch fish, they are going to catch men. This arrests them so greatly, that when they get the boats to the shore they leave their business behind and follow Jesus. Becoming his full time disciples.
This miraculous event is one that really causes us to focus on the divinity of Christ because it puts five of his divine attributes on display.
From this text you can see:
Truth on display. (v.1-3)
Omniscience on display. (v.4-6a)
Omnipotence on display. (v.6b-7)
Holiness on display. (v.8-10a)
Mercifulness on display. (v.10b-11)
1.) Truth on display. (v.1-2)
1.) Truth on display. (v.1-2)
We mentioned already of the crowds that were gathering around Jesus this day but notice why they were gathering, what captured their attention so much.
Notice what v.1 says:
Luke 5:1 (NKJV)
1 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,
Today this is what we often call the Bible. We say “This is the word of God”. Speaking of the book itself. What we mean by that is contained within the paper, glue and cover are God’s words to us. Which is right and true.
But that’s not the way this phrase is used here.
The phrase “of God” in the greek is used in a form that denotes source. The people were listening to Jesus speak “the word that came directly from God.”
When the crowds heard Jesus speak, they were literally hearing God speak. We do not know the subject of Jesus message this day, but we do have some in sight into the way in which Jesus spoke.
We learned last week that he spoke with authority and that there was a striking difference between how he spoke and how the other Rabbi’s of his day spoke.
He spoke with the authority of the author, with the voice of God. Because He was God the Son. God in human flesh and bone.He spoke with the divine authority that only God can speak with.
The people were listening to truth incarnate that day on the shores of Galilee.
5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
16 So that he who blesses himself in the earth Shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Shall swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My eyes.
and in John 14:6 Jesus declared of himself
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John says of the Lord Jesus in his Gospel:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Over and over again Jesus is either referred to or calls himself the truth or claims to speak the truth from God..
Every word Jesus ever spoke were not the words of a man, but the Word of God.
49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
From this we see that Jesus is the source from which truth flows, He is the truth. Everything that claims to be truth needs to be held up to the light of Christ.
He alone is the source of all truth.
2.) Omniscience on display. (v.2-6a)
2.) Omniscience on display. (v.2-6a)
Omniscient- to have complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness or understanding. Perceiving all things.
The only truly omniscient being there has ever been is God. He knows all things, is fully aware at all times and has full understanding of all things.
We see in vs.2 that as Jesus is speaking, he sees that there are two boats nearby, the fisherman were not with their boats as they were off cleaning their nets (which was standard practice after a night of fishing to make your nets last longer).
The text tells us the boat Jesus climbed into belonged to Peter (this passage doesn't mention Andrew, but PP do). Jesus, being omniscient, knew that before he climbed in.
Jesus calls over to Peter and asks him to put out just a little from land. He did this in order to put distance and allow his voice to carry over the crowd, Jesus then sits down and finishes teaching.
Then he asks Peter to do something odd.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Now, I’m not much of a fisherman, but you don’t have to be to know that the hardest thing about fishing is finding the fish. Even those who have the nicest boats and the latest sonar often catch nothing.
Speak of Ed talking yesterday about his friend who competitively fishes. Even if you have the best equipment and latest sonar to see the fish, there’s no guarantee you will still catch them.
Understand though, Jesus, being omniscient and the one who created everything, knew exactly where the fish were.
These men were experienced, professional fisherman. They knew you don’t catch fish in the heat of the day. On the sea of Galilee you fished at night, because the fish would feed and be more active making it easier to catch them in the drag nets.
Add to that, these nets were heavy, and difficult to use. Add to that if you'd been fishing all night and caught nothing, and now this guy who is not a fisherman tells you to catch some fish in a place you're quite certain they aren't, you’d answer like Peter too.
5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
But Jesus knew exactly where the fish were, because he is the omniscient God of the universe.
Immediately there nets filled up with so many fish they had to call in reinforcements.
Nothing is hidden from the Lord
24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,
30 Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
24 And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen
The omniscience of Christ is proof of his deity.
3.) Omnipotence on display. (v.6b-7)
3.) Omnipotence on display. (v.6b-7)
Omnipotence- almighty infinite power and authority.
The omnipotence of Christ is displayed through the sheer amount of fish that were caught. Enough to fill two boats to the point that they began to sink. There is no human explanation for that.
The four men on those boats were witnessing the power of God gathered together in that one spot on full display.
The Old testament tells us that no only did God create the world, but that it is under his control:
24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions—
25 This great and wide sea, In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great.
26 There the ships sail about; There is that Leviathan Which You have made to play there.
27 These all wait for You, That You may give them their food in due season.
28 What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth.
Jesus possesses the same power of his Father:
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
It is this same power on display by the Lord Jesus in this miracle. In fact, every miracle of Christ is an example of his power and might. The kind that only God possesses.
The power of Christ on display left these men amazed to the point of shock and terror.
4.) Holiness on display. (v.8-10a)
4.) Holiness on display. (v.8-10a)
The men on those two boats have just witnessed Jesus reveal himself to be the omniscient and omnipotent God of the universe. SO their reaction was a normal one for when people came into the presence of God.
8 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 which they had taken;
This is a pretty typical Old Testament response to being in the presence of God.
Isaiah after having a vision of God in His holy temple.
5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
Ezekiel after having a vision of God.
28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.
It’s interesting, in v.5 Peter addresses Jesus as “Master” (leader, teacher) but now he calls him “Lord” (God, owner).
Peter was a devout Jew and so were the men with him. They knew the commands of scripture like
13 You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
It was a big deal for these men to fall at Jesus feet and worship Him in his holiness.
Friends, when we speak of the Holiness of God we’re referring to his divine majesty and absolute purity. When we come into contact with such holiness we can do nothing but bow in worship and awe. There is only one person who has ever demonstrated the holiness of God to this extent and it is the Lord Jesus.
5.) Mercifulness on display. (v.10b-11)
5.) Mercifulness on display. (v.10b-11)
While Peter recognized his sinful condition to the point of wanting to send Jesus away because he wasn’t worthy to be in the Lord’s presence, notice what Jesus doesn’t drive him away but pulls him closer.
“Do not be afraid...”
Friends, when we come to Christ seeing ourselves for what we are (repentance) as these men did and seeing him for who He is, that is the moment we receive Christ as our savior.
There was no need for Peter and his companions to be scared of Jesus.
In His mercy he tells them that He is going to take them from cowering in fear to catching men.
Catching- means to capture alive.
He was going to take these men from catching fish for the purpose of killing them (which they had done all of their lives) to spending the rest of their lives catching men and giving them life.
This is what the mercy of God does, he brings us from what we once were and changes us in an instant into something greater for him.
The divine mercy of God moved these men from cringing in fear of judgement to the greatest evangelist the world has ever seen.
Give the gospel
5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
These fisherman, who were going about their normal day came into contact with God incarnate that day and they were never the same.
Coming into contact with Jesus that day caused them to recognize their sinful condition and embrace Christ as the only true, omniscient, omnipotent, holy and merciful God.
This encounter with Jesus so radically changed them that they left everything behind in order to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives.
It is no different for us, when we recognize our sinful condition and embrace Jesus as these men did he draws us to himself, forgives our sin and changes us into someone radically different.
He then sets us on a course to serve him and tell others about him.
Have you come into contact with Jesus today?