Miracles Part 1

Me

I remember my first miracle. It wasn’t about my hurts or pains. It was about my Jesus. All miracles are about Jesus.

A money miracle isn’t about your poverty level.

A food miracle isn’t about your hunger.

All miracles are about Jesus.

We

We have a great need for a miracle.

Our World needs a miracle.

Our Community needs a miracle.

Our Church needs a miracle.

Our Families need a miracle.

Because of this great need. We are going to dive deep into the miracles of Jesus. We are going to answer a number of questions:

How do miracles occur?

What is the purpose of miracles?

What is the role of Faith and Miracles?

God

One of Jesus’ most well known miracles is found in Luke 5. Its the great catch. Jesus has already started drawing crowds to hear Him speak and in this story is speaking beside the Sea of Galilee.

Let’s join the story.

Luke 5:1–11 ESV

1 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.

Time to break this story down.

Verses 1-3

Here we find Jesus preaching to a large group of people. But His voice isn’t reaching all of them, so He asks the fishermen if He can stand in their boats.

Notice that the fishermen were cleaning their nets. This is a clear sign that they were done fishing. The fishermen were getting ready to go home. They were not planning on getting back into the water.

These first three verses are very important. And the first step in our story to experiencing a miracle. The fishermen had an experience with Jesus. They heard the word of God.

After we have failed and tried everything, we need to go to the word of God and receive instruction.

Verses 4-7

After Jesus had finished speaking He gives the fishermen a command.

Luke 5:4 ESV

4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

There nets are all clean.

They are exhausted.

Hungry.

They just want to go home.

But still Jesus gives them a command. Go back and try it again.

Have you ever felt this way?

Defeated, Tired, and worthless.

Simon Peter responds negatively at first.

Luke 5:5 ESV

5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

In this story, Peter is the professional. He’s the expert. Not Jesus. Sometimes we need to push the experts to the side and listen to Jesus.

Peter tells Jesus that they have been working all night and haven’t caught a single fish. Peter might even say that there were no fish in this lake! Its not going to work!

Lets be honest, the only reason Peter is putting his nets back into the water is because of Jesus.

When we have failed time and time again, sometimes the only one who can get us to try again is Jesus.

Luke 5:6 ESV

6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

The next verse tells us that when they had put their nets into the water, that is when the miracle happened. It didn’t happen before, but the moment they obeyed Jesus.

We must go all the way with Jesus.

God’s commands are faithful. God doesn’t command us to do things that fail. Because God’s commands are faithful.

They didn’t just catch some fish, they caught so many fish that their nets did not have the strength to hold all of it.

When God blesses, God blesses hard. God has the capability to bless us so much that we won’t know what to do with all the blessings.

Peter and Andrew collected so many fish that they had to call James and John over to help them. But not only that, they had so many fish that both boats began to sink. There wasn’t room for the fishermen because there was so much fish.

Verses 8-11

How would these fishermen respond to this miracle? Would the take all the credit? Would they ask for Jesus to come back the next day and do it again?

Humility.

We don’t know much of Peter’s story before he met Jesus, but we do know how Peter viewed himself. As sinful.

Peter like everyone who comes in contact with God recognized who he was and who God is.

When you experience a miracle, you experience the goodness of God.

What’s remarkable about this miracle is that we begin to see that this great catch wasn’t about the fish. It was about Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

Because in the next few verses we learn why Jesus was there. He had his own fish He sought to catch.

Luke 5:10 ESV

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.”

Peter might have needed more money to settle a debt. He may have needed the fish to feed his family. But that isn’t the reason Jesus performed this miracle. He performed this miracle to bring Peter into the ministry of being a fisher of men.

You

I believe God doesn’t intervene so our lives can be better. No, He looks past our immediate happiness. God performs miracles so that we can become who He always wanted us to be.

Miracles give us a glimpse into the character of God.

You and I need a miracle. But most likely we have no idea what that miracle will look like. Because I believe God doesn’t want to fix our symptoms. He wants to fix the heart problems. The big thing that is separating us from Him.

What’s astounding about this story is that Peter doesn’t stay with his new collection of fish. He doesn’t try to use Jesus as a new source of income.

The miracle gravitates Peter to Jesus.

We

If we are to experience a miracle, its going to happen when:

Receive a word from God.

So open your Bible.

2. Do what God commands.

3. Give God the Glory.

Experiencing a miracle happens when we experience Jesus. So go experience Jesus this week. Be a miracle.