Title: Jesus Calling Sinners / Luke 5:1-16
Content Jesus Calling Sinners / Luke 5:1-16
It is an honor and a privilege for us ordinary people to share the truth of the gospel with others. We enjoy the greatest glory when ordinary people are called and used before God. Through the historical facts of the Bible, God repeatedly tells us that He uses ordinary lives like us.
1. Jesus in the boat of ordinary life
As a fisherman, Peter was clearing the nets when many people gathered near Jesus to hear him speak. After being pushed to the shore by the crowds, Jesus found Peter's empty boat and climbed on his feet. Jesus didn't ask Peter if he would use his boat first, but rather got into Peter's boat and asked to use it (3). Here we should note that Jesus got into Peter's boat. Jesus asks us today to visit not only Peter's boat, but also to come into our lives and use our lives.
◎ How did Jesus step into my life?
2. Jesus Using an Unholy Life
When Jesus got into the boat, he said to Peter, “Now cast your net into the deep.” Peter's situation was difficult to follow Jesus' words, but he obeyed Jesus and went into deep water and cast his net. The result of obedience was unexpected. If you look closely, it is said that the nets were torn because they caught too many fish (6). Peter, who caught the fish until the nets were torn, must have asked his friends for help and rowed hard in the boat that was about to sink (7). Neither the breeze nor the sun would have been a delight to them as the boat was about to sink. There are times when we still row desperately when God does great things for us, just as he did to Peter in desperate situations.
Arriving at the beach, Peter tells Jesus that you are holy. This moment is the moment of revelation. Peter had a spiritual experience. To Jesus who said, “Follow me,” Peter responded, “Lord, you have chosen me, but I am an unholy man.” We, too, respond like Peter to Jesus who calls us. “Jesus, you can’t use me. I am a bad and lacking person. Please use someone else. We reject the call of Jesus by saying, “I believe I am a man of the forgiven Christ, but in many cases a fallen life.” How many areas are we lacking in Jesus' use? But Jesus says, “I will change you and use you” in spite of our response. The important thing is not that we change Jesus, but that Jesus comes into our lives and changes us. He says to Peter, who is lacking and unholy, “Follow me,” and that he has work to do for him.
◎ How are we responding to the words that Jesus will use?
3. Jesus came to this earth for sinners
First, Jesus healed a leper who was then considered a sinner. Lepers were treated as sinners and rejected by the religious leaders because they did not get along with people and did not like God's children. This leper must have seen Jesus healing other sick people from afar, despairing and thinking that he would neither look at him nor heal him. We see our mistakes, the mistakes of others, and think the Lord will not forgive, but He heals. The Lord forgives and heals any sin in us that we thought would never be forgiven, like the leper who no one looked back on. He healed the leper and told the priest to go and tell him that Jesus had come to save the unforgivable world.
Second, Jesus forgave the paralytic's sins and healed them. At a time when many religious leaders were arguing with Jesus that Jesus did not have the authority to forgive sins, a paralytic was taken down from the roof by four friends and placed before Jesus. To see if the paralytic's sins were forgiven, Jesus commanded, “Take up your bed and go out.” He picked up his bed and quickly walked out. Just as a disease that has been ill for a long time is easily healed, Jesus says that our sins can be forgiven. Jesus heals us from the same limp and transforms us into a life where we can walk properly.
Third, Jesus became the friend of sinners. The tax collector Matthew met Jesus while he was doing bad things by collecting taxes from people. To Matthew, whom people hated, Jesus did not say, “You are a bad person,” but, “Follow me.” Jesus calls and uses even the worst human beings. Jesus had a party with tax collectors and sinners. A lot of food was prepared and the disciples and people gathered. Then the religious leaders who appeared from nowhere condemned Jesus for being with sinners. But Jesus said, “You really don’t understand. I'm here for the patient, like a doctor. Have you seen the doctor say we don't need the sick? He came for the sick and for the conversion of sinners.”
Conclusion:
Jesus came to this earth to forgive sinners. There is a protector for the person who has sinned. However, we who are saved must try not to sin in order to be freed from the wrong lives of the past. Also, we must believe and rejoice that God is always holding us and shout Hallelujah Amen. If our church loses the gospel of salvation and forgiveness, it cannot fulfill God's mission. In front of Jesus who calls us, we are bad people like lepers, paralytics, and publicans, but we must believe in Jesus who transforms us and proceed to His calling. Jesus, our savior, is calling us today, “Follow me.”
◎ Let's share what it means to be forgiven of any sin in Jesus.