Ministry, Miracles, and an Invitation

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“Present the glorious gospel in as many ways as possible”—that’s how Luke did it in this section. Why? So people hear about Jesus Christ and choose whether they will accept Him or reject Him. All of us must make this decision for ourselves.

Jesus called the disciples to follow Him. They followed for a while but then went back to fishing. While Jesus taught the crowds, they sat lakeside, washing their nets.

The Lord climbed into Peter’s boat and asked him to push out a little from land. His boat became a pulpit. After the Lord finished teaching, He said, “Let’s go fish.”

Peter objected at first; he hadn’t caught anything all night. But Jesus doesn’t give impossible commands. Sure enough, they brought in so many fish their nets began to break.

When Peter saw so many fish, he confessed, “Lord, you called me to be a fisher of men and I failed. I went back to fishing—I thought I knew that kind of fishing better, but I guess I don’t! Go find someone you can depend on.” The Lord must have smiled. He didn’t want to get rid of Peter, He wanted to use him.

Same as with us. All we need is to humble ourselves in our failures and faithlessness. When we are willing to depend on Him, He won’t throw us overboard, He will use us. Do you need that encouragement today?

Jesus continued on in His ministry, giving as many people who would listen the opportunity to follow Him. He even stopped to heal lepers. One called to Him, “Jesus, if You want to, You can heal me,” and Jesus replied, “I am willing; be cleansed” (5:13). Jesus could have just spoken healing, but instead He touched the leper’s infectious body. This poor man hadn’t felt anyone’s touch for years. Can you imagine what it must have meant to him to feel Christ’s hand on him?

Has the Lord Jesus touched your life? We all need that.

Jesus also loved the creativity of friends who bring people to Him. One group broke through a straw roof to get their disabled friend to Jesus. He loved their faith!

All this time, the Pharisees had Jesus in their crosshairs. They even set up situations to trap Jesus into doing something they could accuse Him of.

Many people followed Jesus at this time, but out of all these disciples, Jesus chose twelve men to be His apostles. He spent the entire night in prayer before making His choice—a good pattern for us to follow.

Then Jesus’ ministry kicked into high gear. As Jesus traveled around Galilee, He healed thousands and taught everyone who would listen.

It was as unpopular then as today to mention sin. Many say sin is just a weakness, not a crime against God. They are afraid to say God hates it. But to be right in God’s sight, you must call it what it is. You can’t put a band-aid on cancer. The only place to take sin is to the Cross. There God performs major surgery, making you a new creature in Christ Jesus. Jesus taught this in the Sermon on the Plain.

“Some people,” He says, “who believe Me are like the man who built his house on a rock, firm against any storm. Others who don’t believe are like the house built on sand. When the storm came, that house was destroyed. Choose to build your life on a foundation that will stand.”

Are you lost? Come to Jesus. Get on the Solid Rock which is Christ. He will save without money and without price. Come to Him in simple faith, and put your complete confidence in Him.

1. What can Peter’s experience with Jesus and the miracle of the fish teach us about God?

2. Why do you think Jesus chose to heal the leper by touching him? What would that touch have communicated about Jesus to the leper?

3. The sin of the Pharisees had so blinded them that they were more concerned with trying to entrap Jesus than with seeing people healed. How could these people who knew the Scriptures better than anyone have ended up in this tragic place?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee’s complete teachings on Luke 5 and Luke 6.