The Power of Jesus on The Sea Of Gal

The material that is put in this post covers only a small portion that I used in this one sermon, which has taken about four weeks to cover.

Let’s open our Bibles to the 8th chapter of the gospel of Luke as we examine God’s precious Word and another magnificent portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ presented to us by the Spirit-inspired historian, Luke. we’re looking at a section in this chapter from verse 22 through verse 25.

23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. And he awoke, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And being afraid they marvelled, saying one to another, Who then is this, that he commandeth even the winds and the water, and they obey him?

　

And the theme is power, power beyond anything man can do.

Not power to harness natural forces, but power to stop them. Massive power is exhibited in this passage by Jesus to control wind and water, forces that man has never ever been able to control.

And modern history is as full of devastating hurricanes and tornadoes and destructive winds and waves and floods as ancient history because man throughout all of the millennia has achieved virtually no ability to do anything about these powerful forces.

And yet in this account given to us by Luke, also given to us by Matthew and Mark, other gospel writers who described the same event, we see Jesus has complete power over these forces.

Verse 22: “Now it came about on one of those days that He and His disciples got into a boat and He said to them, ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake.’ And they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep and a fierce gale of wind descended upon the lake and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. And they came to Him and woke Him up saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing.’ And being aroused He rebuked the wind and the surging waves and they stopped and it became calm. And He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this that He commands even the winds and the water and they obey Him?'”

Now the Lord of creation chose the ideal place on the planet for this display of astonishing power.

A town of Naphtali, called Chinnereth ( Joshua 19:35 ), sometimes in the plural form Chinneroth ( 11:2 ). In later times the name was gradually changed to Genezar and Gennesaret ( Luke 5:1 ). This city stood on the western shore of the lake to which it gave its name. No trace of it remains. The plain of Gennesaret has been called, from its fertility and beauty, “the Paradise of Galilee.” It is now called el-Ghuweir.

Galilee, Sea of. _{http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/smiths-bible-dictionary/galilee-sea-of.html}

So called from the province of Galilee, which bordered on the western side. ( _{Matthew 4:18 ) It was also called the “Sea of Tiberias,” from the celebrated city of that name. ( John 6:1 ) At its northwestern angle was a beautiful and fertile plain called “Gennesaret,” and from that it derived the name of “Lake of Gennesaret.” ( Luke 5:1 ) It was called in the Old Testament “the Sea of Chinnereth” or “Cinneroth,” ( Numbers 34:11 ; Joshua 12:3 ) from a town of that name which stood on or near its shore. ( Joshua 19:35 )}

Its modern name is Bahr Tubariyeh .

Most of our Lords public life was spent in the environs of this sea. The surrounding region was then the most densely peopled in all Palestine. no less than nine very populous cities stood on the very shores of the lake.

The Sea of Galilee is of an oval long and six broad. It is 60 miles northeast of Jerusalem and 27 east of the Mediterranean Sea. The river Jordan enters it at its northern end and passes out at its southern end. In fact the bed of the lake is just a lower section of the Great Jordan valley. Its more remarkable feature is its deep depression, being no less than 700 feet below the level of the ocean.

The scenery is bleak and monotonous, being surrounded by a high and almost unbroken wall of hills, on account of which it is exposed to frequent sudden and violent storms. The great depression makes the climate of the shores almost tropical. This is very sensibly felt by the traveller in going down from the plains of Galilee.

In summer the heat is intense, and even in early spring the air has something of an Egyptian balminess. The water of the lake is sweet, cool and transparent; and as the beach is everywhere pebbly is has a beautiful sparkling look. It abounds in fish now as in ancient times. There were large fisheries on the lake, and much commerce was carried on upon it. [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton’s Bible Dictionary

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GALILEE, SEA OF _{http://bibleatlas.org/chinneroth.htm}

(he thalassa tes Galilaias):

1. The Name:

This is the name 5 times given in the New Testament (_{Matthew 4:18; Matthew 15:29 Mark 1:16; Mark 7:31 John 6:1) to the sheet of water which is elsewhere called “the sea of Tiberias” (John 21:1; compare John 6:1); “the lake of Gennesaret” (Luke 5:1); “the sea” (John 6:16, etc.), and “the lake” (Luke 5:1, etc.).}

The Old Testament names were “sea of Chinnereth” (yam-kinnereth: _{Numbers 34:11 Deuteronomy 3:17 Joshua 13:27; Joshua 19:35), and “sea of Chinneroth” (yam-kineroth: Joshua 12:3; compare 11:2; 1 Kings 15:20). In 1 Maccabees 11:67 the sea is called “the water of Gennesar” (the Revised Version (British and American) “Gennesareth”). It had begun to be named from the city so recently built on its western shore even in New Testament times (John 21:1; John 6:1}); and by this name, slightly modified, it is known to this day-Bachr Tabariyeh.

2. General Description:

The sea lies in the deep trough of the Jordan valley, almost due East of the Bay of Acre. The surface is 680 ft. below the level of the Mediterranean. It varies in depth from 130 ft. to 148 ft., being deepest along the course of the Jordan (Barrois, PEFS, 1894, 211-20). From the point where the Jordan enters in the North to its exit in the South is about 13 miles. The greatest breadth is in the North, from el-Mejdel to the mouth of Wady Semak being rather over 7 miles. It gradually narrows toward the South, taking the shape of a gigantic pear, with a decided bulge to the West. The water of the lake is clear and sweet. The natives use it for all purposes, esteeming it light and pleasant. They refuse to drink from the Jordan, alleging that “who drinks Jordan drinks fever.” Seen from the mountains the broad sheet appears a beautiful blue; so that, in the season of greenery, it is no exaggeration to describe it as a sapphire in a setting of emerald. It lights up the landscape as the eye does the human face; and it is often spoken of as “the eye of Galilee.” To one descending from Mt. Tabor and approaching the edge of the great hollow, on a bright spring day, when the land has already assumed its fairest garments, the view of the sea, as it breaks upon the vision in almost its whole extent, is one never to be forgotten. The mountains on the East and on the West rise to about 2,000 ft. The heights of Naphtali, piled up in the North, seem to culminate only in the snowy summit of Great Hermon. If the waters are still, the shining splendors of the mountain may be seen mirrored in the blue depths. Round the greater part of the lake there is a broad pebbly beach, with a sprinkling of small shells. On the sands along the shore from el-Mejdel to `Ain et-Tineh these shells are so numerous as to cause a white glister in the sunlight.

The main formation of the surrounding district is limestone. It is overlaid with lava; and here and there around the lake there are outcrops of basalt through the limestone. At eT-Tabgha in the North, at `Ain el Fuliyeh, South of el-Mejdel, and on the shore, about 2 miles South of modern Tiberias, there are strong hot springs. These things, together with the frequent, and sometimes terribly destructive, earthquakes, sufficiently attest the volcanic character of the region. The soil on the level parts around the sea is exceedingly fertile. See _{GENNESARET, LAND OF. Naturally the temperature in the valley is higher than that of the uplands; and here wheat and barley are harvested about a month earlier. Frost is not quite unknown; but no one now alive remembers it to have done more than lay the most delicate fringe of ice around some of the stones on the shore. The fig and the vine are still cultivated with success. Where vegetable gardens are planted they yield plentifully. A few palms are still to be seen. The indigo plant is grown in the plain of Gennesaret. In their season the wild flowers lavish a wealth of lovely colors upon the surrounding slopes; while bright-blossoming oleanders fringe the shore.}

Coming westward from the point where the Jordan enters the lake, the mountains approach within a short distance of the sea. On the shore, fully 2 miles from the Jordan, are the ruins of Tell Chum. See _{CAPERNAUM. About 2 miles farther West are the hot springs of eT-Tabgha. Here a shallow vale breaks northward, bounded on the West by Tell `Areimeh. This tell is crowned by an ancient Canaanite settlement. It throws out a rocky promontory into the sea, and beyond this are the ruins of Khan Minyeh, with `Ain et-Tineh close under the cliff. Important Roman remains have recently been discovered here. From this point the plain of Gennesaret (el-Ghuweir) sweeps round to el-Mejdel, a distance of about 4 miles. West of this village opens the tremendous gorge, Wady el Chamam, with the famous robbers’ fastnesses in its precipitous sides, and the ruins of Arbela on its southern lip.}

From the northern parts of the lake the Horns of ChaTTin, the traditional Mount of Beatitudes, may be seen through the rocky jaws of the gorge. South of el-Mejdel the mountains advance to the shore, and the path is cut in the face of the slope, bringing us to the hot spring, `Ain el-Fuliyeh, where is a little valley, with gardens and orange grove. The road then crosses a second promontory, and proceeds along the base of the mountain to Tiberias. Here the mountains recede from the shore, leaving a crescent-shaped plain, largely covered with the ruins of the ancient city.

The modern town stands at the northern corner of the plain; while at the southern end are the famous hot baths, the ancient Hammath. A narrow ribbon of plain between the mountain and the shore runs to the South end of the lake. There the Jordan, issuing from the sea, almost surrounds the mound on which are the ruins of Kerak, the Tarichea of Josephus Crossing the floor of the valley, past Semakh, which is now a station on the Haifa-Damascus railway, we find a similar strip of plain along the eastern shore.

Nearly opposite Tiberias is the stronghold of Chal`-at el Chocn, possibly the ancient Hippos, with the village of Fik, the ancient Aphek, on the height to the East. To the North of this the waters of the sea almost touch the foot of the steep slope. A herd of swine running headlong down the mountain would here inevitably perish in the lake (_{Matthew 8:32, etc.). Next, we reach the mouth of Wady Semak, in which lie the ruins of Kurseh, probably representing the ancient Gerasa. Northward the plain widens into the marshy breadths of el-BaTeichah, and once more we reach the Jordan, flowing smoothly through the fiat lands to the sea.}

3. Storms:

_{The position of the lake makes it liable to sudden storms, the cool air from the uplands rushing down the gorges with great violence and tossing the waters in tumultuous billows. Such storms are fairly frequent, and as they are attended with danger to small craft, the boatmen are constantly on the alert. Save in very settled conditions they will not venture far from the shore. Occasionally, however, tempests break over the lake, in which a boat could hardly live. Only twice in over 5 years the present writer witnessed such a hurricane. Once it burst from the South. In a few moments the air was thick with mist, through which one could hear the roar of the tortured waters. In about ten minutes the wind fell as suddenly as it had risen. The air cleared, and the wide welter of foam-crested waves attested the fury of the blast. On the second occasion the wind blew from the East, and the phenomena described above were practically repeated.}

4. Fish:

The sea contains many varieties of fish in great numbers. The fishing industry was evidently pursued to profit in the days of Christ. Zebedee was able to hire men to assist him (_{Mark 1:20). In recent years there has been a considerable revival of this industry. See FISHING. Four of the apostles, and these the chief, had been brought up as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. Peter and Andrew, James and John.}

The towns around the lake named in Scripture are treated in separate articles. Some of these it is impossible to identify. Many are the ruins of great and splendid cities on slope and height of which almost nothing is known today. But from their mute testimony we gather that the lake in the valley which is now so quiet was once the center of a busy and prosperous population. We may assume that the cities named in the Gospels were mainly Jewish. Jesus would naturally avoid those in which Greek influences were strong. In most cases they have gone, leaving not even their names with any certainty behind; but His memory abides forever. The lake and mountains are, in main outline, such as His eyes beheld. This it is that lends its highest charm to “the eye of Galilee.”

The advent of the railway has stirred afresh the pulses of life in the valley. A steamer plies on the sea between the station at Semakh and Tiberias. Superior buildings are rising outside the ancient walls. Gardens and orchards are being planted. Modern methods of agriculture are being employed in the Jewish colonies, which are rapidly increasing in number. Slowly, perhaps, but surely, the old order is giving place to the new. If freedom and security be enjoyed in reasonable measure, the region will again display its long-hidden treasures of fertility and beauty.

W. Ewing

CHINNERETH; CHINNEROTH

kin’-e-reth, kin’-e-roth (kinnereth (_{Deuteronomy 3:17 Joshua 19:35, etc.)), (kinaroth; Codex Vaticanus, Kenereth, Codex Alexandrinus, Cheneroth (Joshua 11:2)): Taking the order in which the towns are mentioned, this city seems to have lain North of Rakkath (?Tiberias). It may have occupied the site of el-Mejdel, at the Southwest corner of the plain of Gennesaret. From this city the sea took its Old Testament name (Numbers 34:11, etc.).}

_{http://bibleencyclopedia.com/gennesaret.htm}

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_{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee}

The Sea of Galilee lies on the ancient _{Via Maris, which linked Egypt with the northern empires. The Greeks, Hasmoneans, and Romans founded flourishing towns and settlements on the land-locked lake including Hippos and Tiberias. The first-century historian Flavius Josephus was so impressed by the area that he wrote, “One may call this place the ambition of Nature.” Josephus also reported a thriving fishing industry at this time, with 230 boats regularly working in the lake. Archaeologists discovered one such boat, nicknamed the Jesus Boat, in 1986.}

Much of the _{ministry of Jesus occurred on the shores of Lake Galilee. In those days, there was a continuous ribbon development of settlements and villages around the lake and plenty of trade and ferrying by boat. The Synoptic gospels of Mark (1:14–20), Matthew (4:18–22), and Luke (5:1–11) describe how Jesus recruited four of his apostles from the shores of Lake Galilee: the fishermen Simon and his brother Andrew and the brothers John and James. One of Jesus’ famous teaching episodes, the Sermon on the Mount, is supposed to have been given on a hill overlooking the lake. Many of his miracles are also said to have occurred here including his walking on water, calming the storm, the disciples and the boatload of fish, and his feeding five thousand people (in Tabgha).}

In 135 CE _{Bar Kokhba’s revolt was put down. The Romans responded by banning all Jews from Jerusalem. The center of Jewish culture and learning shifted to the region of the Galilee and the Kinneret, particularly the city of Tiberias. It was in this region that the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled.[11]}

Middle Ages

The lake’s importance declined when the Byzantines lost control and the area was conquered by the _{Umayyad Caliphate and subsequent Islamic empires. Apart from Tiberias, the major towns and cities in the area were gradually abandoned.[citation needed] The palace Khirbat al-Minya was built by the lake during the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (705–715 CE). In 1187, Saladin defeated the armies of the Crusades at the Battle of Hattin, largely because he was able to cut the Crusaders off from the valuable fresh water of the Sea of Galilee.}

Modern era

Southern tip of the lake, seen from Mount Poriya

Throughout the early Ottoman era, the lake had little importance within the Ottoman Empire. Tiberias did see a significant revival of its Jewish community in the 16th century, but had gradually declined, until in 1660 the city was completely _{destroyed. In the early 18th century, Tiberias was rebuilt by Zahir al-Umar, becoming the center of his rule over Galilee, and seeing also a revival of its Jewish community.}

In 1909, Jewish pioneers established the first cooperative farming village (_{kibbutz), Kvutzat Kinneret in the immediate vicinity of the lake. The settlement trained Jewish immigrants in farming and agriculture. Later, Kvutzat Kinneret pioneers established Kibbutz Degania Alef. The Kvutzat Kinneret is considered the cradle of the kibbutz culture of early Zionism and is the birthplace of Naomi Shemer and the burial site of Rachel—two of the most prominent Israeli poets.}

In 1917, the British defeated Ottoman Turkish forces and took control of Palestine, while France took control of Syria. In the carve-up of the Ottoman territories between Britain and France, it was agreed that Britain would retain control of _{Palestine, while France would control Syria. However, the allies had to fix the border between the Mandatory Palestine and the French Mandate of Syria.[12] The boundary was defined in broad terms by the Franco-British Boundary Agreement of December 1920, which drew it across the middle of the lake.[13] However, the commission established by the 1920 treaty redrew the boundary. The Zionist movement pressured the French and British to assign as many water sources as possible to Mandatory Palestine during the demarcating negotiations. The High Commissioner of Palestine, Herbert Samuel, had sought full control of the Sea of Galilee.[14] The negotiations led to the inclusion into the Palestine territory of the whole Sea of Galilee, both sides of the River Jordan, Lake Hula, Dan spring, and part of the Yarmouk.[15] The final border approved in 1923 followed a 10-meter wide strip along the lake’s northeastern shore,[16] cutting the Mandatory Syria (State of Damascus) off from the lake.}

The British and French Agreement provided that existing rights over the use of the waters of the Jordan by the inhabitants of Syria would be maintained; the Government of Syria would have the right to erect a new pier at Semakh on Lake Tiberias or jointly use the existing pier; persons or goods passing between the landing-stage on the Lake of Tiberias and Semakh would not be subject to customs regulations, and the Syrian government would have access to the said landing-stage; the inhabitants of Syria and Lebanon would have the same fishing and navigation rights on Lakes Huleh, Tiberias and River Jordan, while the Government of Palestine would be responsible for policing of lakes._[17]

On May 15, 1948, Syria invaded the newborn State of Israel,_{[18] capturing territory along the Sea of Galilee.[19] Under the 1949 armistice agreement between Israel and Syria, Syria occupied the northeast shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. The agreement, though, stated that the armistice line was “not to be interpreted as having any relation whatsoever to ultimate territorial arrangements.” Syria remained in possession of the lake’s northeast shoreline until the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.}

In the 1950s, Israel formulated a plan to link the Kinnereth with the rest of the country by _{National Water Carrier, in order to supply the water demand of the growing country. The carrier was completed in 1964. The Israeli plan, in line with the Headwater Diversion Plan (Jordan River) of the Arab League, sparked political and sometimes even armed confrontations over the Jordan River basin.}

Archaeology

During a routine sonar scan in 2003 (finding published in 2013),_{[20] archaeologists discovered an enormous conical stone structure. The structure, which has a diameter of around 230 feet (70 m), is made of boulders and stones. The ruins are estimated to be between 2,000 and 12,000 years old, and are about 10 metres (33 ft) underwater.[21] The estimated weight of the monument is over 60,000 tons.}

Researchers explain that the site resembles early burial sites in Europe and was likely built in the early Bronze Age.

Water use

Israel’s _{National Water Carrier, completed in 1964, transports water from the lake to the population centers of Israel, and in the past supplied most of the country’s drinking water}._{[22] Nowadays the lake supplies approximately 10% of Israel’s drinking water needs.[23]}

In 1964, _{Syria attempted construction of a Headwater Diversion Plan that would have blocked the flow of water into the Sea of Galilee, sharply reducing the water flow into the lake.[24] This project and Israel’s attempt to block these efforts in 1965 were factors which played into regional tensions culminating in the 1967 Six-Day War. During the war, Israel captured the Golan Heights, which contain some of the sources of water for the Sea of Galilee.}

The Israeli government monitors water levels and publishes the results daily at _{this web page. The level over the past eight years can be retrieved from that site.[25] Increasing water demand in Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, as well as dry winters, have resulted in stress on the lake and a decreasing water line to dangerously low levels at times. The Sea of Galilee is at risk of becoming irreversibly salinized by the salt water springs under the lake, which are held in check by the weight of the freshwater on top of them.[26]}

Up until the mid-2010s, about 400,000,000 cubic metres (1.4×10^{10 cu ft) of water was pumped in the National Water Carrier each year._{[27] Under the terms of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, Israel also supplies 50,000,000 cubic metres (1.8×109 cu ft) of water annually from the lake to Jordan.[28] In recent years the Israeli government has made extensive investments in water reclamation and desalination infrastructure in the country. This has allowed it to significantly reduce the amount of water pumped from the lake annually in an effort to restore and improve its ecological environment, as well as respond to some of the most extreme drought conditions in hundreds of years which the lake’s intake basin has frequently experienced since 1998. Therefore, it is expected that in 2016 only about 25,000,000 cubic metres (880,000,000 cu ft) of water will be drawn from the lake for Israeli domestic consumption.[23]}}

Tourism

ourists on a boat at Tiberias, 1891

The beach of the Sea of Galilee ^{_{Tourism around the Sea of Galilee is an important economic branch. Historical and religious sites in the region draw both local and foreign tourists. The Sea of Galilee is an attraction for Christian pilgrims who visit Israel to see the places where Jesus performed miracles according the New Testament, such as his walking on water, calming the storm and feeding the multitude. Alonzo Ketcham Parker, a nineteenth-century American traveler, called visiting the Sea of Galilee “a ‘fifth gospel’ which one read devoutly, his heart overflowing with quiet joy”.[29]}}

In April 2011, Israel unveiled a 40-mile (64 km) ^{_{hiking trail in the Galilee for Christian pilgrims, called the “Jesus Trail“. It includes a network of footpaths, roads and bicycle paths linking sites central to the lives of Jesus and his disciples. It ends at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus espoused his teachings.[30]}}

Another key attraction is the site where the Sea of Galilee’s water flows into the ^{_{Jordan River, to which thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come to be baptized every year.[citation needed]}}

Israel’s most well-known open water swim race, the Kinneret Crossing, is held every year in September, drawing thousands of open water swimmers to participate in competitive and noncompetitive events.[^{_{citation needed]}}

Tourists also partake in the building of rafts on Lavnun Beach, called Rafsodia. Here many different age groups work together to build a raft with their bare hands and then sail that raft across the sea.[^{_{citation needed]}}

Other economic activities include fishing in the lake and ^{_{agriculture, particularly bananas, dates, mangoes, grapes and olives in the fertile belt of land surrounding it.[citation needed]}}

Flora and fauna

The warm waters of the Sea of Galilee support various flora and fauna, which have supported a significant commercial fishery for more than two millennia. Local flora include various reeds along most of the shoreline as well as ^{_{phytoplankton. Fauna include zooplankton, benthos and a number of fish species such as Acanthobrama terraesanctae. Fish caught commercially include Tristramella simonis and Sarotherodon galilaeus, locally called “St. Peter’s Fish”.[3] In 2005, 300 short tons (270 t) of tilapia were caught by local fishermen. This dropped to 8 short tons (7.3 t) in 2009 due to overfishing.[31]}}

However, low water levels in drought years have stressed the lake’s ecology. This may have been aggravated by over-extraction of water for either the National Water Carrier to supply other parts of Israel or, since 1994, for the supply of water to Jordan (see “Water use” section above). Droughts of the early and mid-1990s dried out the marshy northern margin of the lake.^{_{[32] A fish species that is unique to the lake, Tristramella sacra, used to spawn in the marsh and has not been seen since the 1990s droughts.[32] Conservationists fear this species may have become extinct.[32] It is hoped that drastic reductions in the amount of water pumped through the National Water Carrier will help restore the lake’s ecology over the span of several years. As such, the amount planned to be drawn in 2016 for Israeli domestic water use is expected to be less than 10% of the amount commonly drawn on an annual basis in the decades before the mid-2010s.[23]}}

^{_{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee}}

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He chose the little lake of Chinneroth, (Joshua 19:35,)Gennesaret, or modern times Lake Chinnereth in the Galilee section of Israel, usually in the Bible referred to as the Sea of Galilee, though it’s just a lake thirteen miles at its longest length and seven or eight miles at its widest point.

Lake Chinnereth, as it is known today, is one of the most fascinating and most studied bodies of water on the earth. We become sort of superficially familiar with it as the Sea of Galilee and we know about the fishing boats and about the agriculture around the sea, but we really, for the most part in kind of going through the stories of the Bible, never come to grips with the amazing properties of this lake which make this story so believable and so important.

It is one of the most studied lakes in the world. It is studied by scientific experts from all over the globe. All you have to do is look on your Worldwide Web for Lake Chinnereth and you will be flooded with all of the studies that have been done through the years to try to come to grips with the amazing, amazing, unique elements of wind and water that function on this lake.

It is the lowest freshwater lake in the world at 682 feet below sea level. There is no lake lower on the planet. It is only thirty miles east of the Mediterranean Sea, situated in a bowl-shaped valley. To the west are the hills of Galilee which rise to a height of about 1,500 feet and so they are 1,500 feet plus 682 feet above the surface of the lake. To the north and west, as I said, are those hills of Galilee. To the east of the Sea of Galilee is a plateau. In fact, it’s a plateau that runs for forty-two miles down that part of the land of Israel. It is a plateau sixteen miles wide known today as the Golan Heights. It is a no-man’s land. The Israelis have pushed the Arabs back many miles against the…against the countries to the east and away from the heights because for so many years they were being shelled in the villages below the Golan Heights. The Golan Heights rise to an elevation of 3,000 feet, so they are quite high above the surface of the lake, a perfect place to bombard the people in the villages below. This plateau is sheer at some points and sloped at other points. To the north of the lake are the mountains of southern Lebanon that rise 10,000 feet above the surface of the water.

So there it exists on three sides surrounded by mountains from 1,500 feet all the way up to 10,000 feet.

The lake itself is supplied by the snow melt that comes from the Lebanese mountains, Mount Hermon being the most familiar one at 9,200 feet above sea level. The snow melts and sends the clean, clear water down the small Jordan River and it fills up the lake.

But that’s not the only water supply. That whole area is geothermal (produced by the internal heat of the earth) energy: and at the north and west part of the lake there are hot springs, fresh clear water bubbling up out of the ground that also supplies the marvelous and unique lake. Because the water is so pure, 50 percent of all drinking water in Israel comes from that lake, providing wondrously good water for all the inhabitants of Israel and it’s always been that way.

The lake is amazingly stratified. i.e. to form, arrage, or deposit in layers.

There are literally three sections of water, three different temperatures that are remarkable. The lake goes to a depth of 150 feet. Go down fifty feet and the temperature drops to about fifty-nine degrees. Go down another fifty feet and it drops to under fifty degrees, and those various sections of the lake have their own movements and their own motion, which contribute to the surface turbulence, to some degree.

Because of the freshness of the lake and the agitation of the lake, it is a wonderful place for algae to flourish and algae flourishing causes the fish population to flourish so that catching fish in the Sea of Galilee is about as easy as catching them anywhere.

Fishing in the Sea

^{_{http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/13965/}}

^{_{http://exploringbiblelands.com/2013/01/27/fishing-in-the-sea-of-galilee/}}

For millennia, fishing has been a very prosperous industry around the Sea of Galilee. Jesus spent most of the early years of his ministry in this area. He soon asked twelve men to help him. The first men He selected were local fishermen.

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. – Matthew 4:18-22

Have you ever wondered what type of fish was caught? I have. Of course, we can’t know for sure because the Bible doesn’t tell us. But, generally, there were three different species of fish in the sea during the First Century. The most common was a species called ^{_{Tilapia. It is primarily a fresh water fish and lives in lakes and seas in warmer climates. As an adult, these fish are about 7-8 inches long and weigh about a pound.}}

Tilapia, a common fish found in the Sea of Galilee, being served at a restaurant in Magdala.

Over time, this species of fish has been nicknamed “St. Peter’s Fish”. This is an obvious reference to the passage mentioned above as well as a couple of others in Scripture. Present day visitors to the area can have the opportunity to eat this at a few restaurants around the shore. On my first trip to Israel, we ate at a small restaurant near the ancient city of Magdala. I have attached a picture of my plate. Being from the southeastern part of the United States, the opportunity to eat fried foods while I was over there was definitely a highlight of the day.

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Israel Bars Fishing In Sea of Galilee

Posted on ^{_{April 25, 2010 by Arieh O’Sullivan – The Media Line in Travel}}

^{_{https://www.greenprophet.com/2010/04/israel-fishing-ban-sea-galilee/}}

Shaul the fisherman hoses down a load of imported sea bream flown in from Greece, speaking nostalgically of the good old days when the catches were plenty: “When I was a kid, fishermen would toss out 150 hooks and haul in 100 kilos of fish,” says Shaul Rokach, a 57-year-old fishmonger from Jaffa.

“Today the fishermen toss out 3,000 hooks. He starts letting them out and doesn’t know when it will finish and in the end he hauls in 15 kilos, maybe. They can’t even cover the cost of the bait let alone the fuel. “Once my smile spread from ear to ear,” he adds. “My pockets were full of money. We’d strut down the piers. Now, they’re just trying to kill off the profession.”

Rokach is not the first fisherman to complain there are no longer any fish to catch in the holy land. Tradition holds that Jesus and his disciples fished the Sea of Galilee. According to the New Testament, Apostle Simon Peter ran a fishing business on the shores of the lake and complained that his net kept coming up empty. Jesus told him to cast his net again and it came up bursting with fish (Luke 5:4).

Generations have carried on this tradition, and today the most popular fish in the lake is dubbed St. Peter’s Fish, or Tilapia. But after being almost overfished to death, in the coming six weeks the Israeli government will gradually enforce a total ban on fishing in the biblical lake an effort to bring it back to life.

The new, two-year ban will force some 200 licensed fishermen out of the Sea of Galilee in search of a new trade.

“We will support the fishermen and make sure the lake is restocked with fish,” Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said when announcing the ban after his weekly cabinet meeting

The Sea of Galilee has witnessed a dramatic decline in fish, largely due to illegal practices such as catching breeding fish and preventing fish populations from growing. Millions of hungry migratory birds also feed heavily on the fish.

The ban on fishing in the fresh water Sea of Galilee in northern Israel has been discussed for some time. A joint, formal plan was recently formulated by Israel’s Agriculture Ministry, Environment Ministry and Treasury.

“There is a world wide trend in the decline of fish,” Hagay Noyberger, chief fishing ranger from the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture tells The Media Line. “In Israel it’s the same. It’s caused by pollution, overfishing, global warming and other phenomena.”

Prof. Menachem Goren, an aquatic biologist from ^{_{Tel Aviv University, says overfishing was the principal problem in the declining fish stocks.}}

“There are too many fishermen, too many boats, over fishing and no management,” he says, speaking in his laboratory with shelves full of bizarre sea creatures preserved in jars. “The situation has become very bad not just in the reduction in the numbers of fish, but also in the size of those which remain.”

The Ministry of Agriculture reports that there has been a steady 20 percent decline each year in Israeli fish catches. In 2000, for example, there was almost 4,000 tons of fresh catch recorded. By 2006, just over 2,000 tons of fresh fish were caught.

Unlike neighboring countries, Israel does not ban fishing during the three to four month fish reproduction season, thus denying the fish population a chance to recover.

“In most Mediterranean countries, fishing is banned during the summer time and this allows the fish to breed and to grow,” says Prof. Goren. “Here in Israel we don’t have any regulation of this kind right now. So the fishermen fish all year round and they don’t give the fish any chance. They remove the mothers while they are small before they get to maturity and that is it.”

Noyberger says this too was about to change.

“We want to close areas to fishing in order to replenish the stock. It is a long process and not something that takes a day or two,” the fish ranger reveals.

Noyberger refuses to elaborate, but reports say these no-fishing zones will be off the coast of Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and the rich breeding grounds of Achziv just south of the Lebanon border.

The result of these changes is that Israeli fishermen are a dying breed, and the few who do remain say many have quit the trade out of frustration.

Rokach, known as “Shaul the fishmonger” from Jaffa, abandoned his boat to make a living importing fish.

“I’ve got salmon from Norway, grouper from Egypt, and cod and mackerel and sea bass,” he says, rattling off his imported stock. “People love fish a lot. All the fishermen I know are retiring and there are no new fishermen. I miss it, but let me remain with my good memories.”

The Ministry of Agriculture admits it has a plan to encourage the retirement of at least a third of the country’s legal fishing fleet. There are about 400 licensed boats in the Mediterranean, Sea of Galilee and Red Sea and about 3,000 registered fishermen.

“In order to improve fishing for the coming generations there is a trend to try and reduce the fishing fleet,” says Noyberger. “It is not something that will happen tomorrow, but if possible we will in the coming years reduce it by a third so that those who do remain will be able to make a living… The fishermen who are less active might find it worth their while to leave the profession.”

^{_{A Luxurious Vacation Near the Galilee Sea}}

(This story was first published by ^{_{The Media Line)}} Image via ^{_{the lees}}

 

Brief Notes “The Power of Jesus To Calm The Storm”

The Power of Jesus Christ

Luke 8:22-25 Part one

Let me say from the outside, that in studying this message, I learned more than I have very knew about this lesson. I think I am rather learned in Scripture but after this study I think I am at about 10% if that much of knowing the Bible as I should.

In our continuing study of the Word of God, we return to the 8th chapter of Luke, this morning, Luke chapter 8. And what I think for many of you will be a recollection of a Sunday school story that you will, no doubt, remember when I read it. This is one of those favorite stories about Jesus that shows up in almost every children’s book. Almost every Sunday school teacher has told it. It is the story of Jesus calming the storm, Luke chapter 8. Let me read verses 22 through verse 25.

“Now it came about on one of those days or, Now it came to pass on a certain day

that He and His disciples : or,

into a boat. or, a ship

And He said to them, ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake.’

And they launched out.

But as they were sailing along,

He fell asleep and

a fierce gale of wind descended upon the lake; or, and there came down a storm of wind on the lake

and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.

And they came to Him and woke Him up saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing.’

And being aroused,

He rebuked the wind and the surging waves and they stopped and it became calm.

And He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’

And they were fearful and amazed,

saying to one another, ‘Who then is this that He commands even the winds and the water and they obey Him?'”

Familiar story, right? Brief story. But it’s going to take us two weeks to get through this story. I don’t know why that is, it just is. And it’s not because the story is hard to understand. It’s because the reason for the story must be understood.

Sometimes we’re cheated of the depths of divine truth because we’re content with the surface. This is profound revelation and you need to understand the theological and redemptive and historical context in which this fits.

So we go back before the Fall, when God created man and made him king of a perfect earth, paradise. And then we remember that man sinned and paradise was lost and the earth was cursed and man was cursed. The earth by virtue of the curse fell immediately into the hands of the usurper Satan, who became the ruler of this world.

Man was stained by sin. The planet was stained by sin. Life then is marked by sickness and pain and suffering and sorrow and death and difficulty, war, injustice, lies, natural disasters, famines, demonic activity, and so it goes.

But God has a plan and it’s a twofold plan.

He has a plan to redeem His people and to redeem His planet.

And that plan begins to unfold early in redemptive history in the Old Testament as God promises there will come a Redeemer who will redeem His people. And He will also redeem His planet and one person will do both.

The first time He comes it will be to redeem His people.

The second time He comes it will be to redeem His planet.

And that simply defines the first and second coming of Jesus Christ. He came the first time to save His people from their sins. He came the second time to restore the planet to peace and justice and righteousness and joy.

The ultimate design then is that man is delivered from his sin and the planet is delivered as well from the effect of sin.

Jesus came the first time in humility, to offer Himself as the sacrifice for sin by which to provide redemption.

He comes the second time in glory and majesty as a conqueror to destroy all the wicked and all the ungodly and establish Himself as King of the world.

He comes then the first time to redeem His people, the second time to redeem His planet.

Note the footnote at the end of this paper “The Remarkable Re=Birth oif Planet Earth by Henry Morris

Now it’s obvious that if someone is going to do that they have to have immense power, immense power. It’s enough of a challenge to redeem people, but add to that the promise to redeem the planet. To reverse what is wrong with man and to reverse what is wrong in the universe, this is the task laid at the feet of the great Messiah, Savior. It takes power beyond anything human. It takes power beyond any human comprehension. It is inconceivable to us to understand the kind of power that it takes to reverse the Fall and the curse. And it is power that belongs only to God Himself. But that is precisely what God says He will do.

We know already in the gospel of Luke that the Messiah came to redeem His people, to save His people from their sin. We know from this story that Jesus the Messiah also has the power to control natural forces, wind and water.

In fact, if you wanted to pick an illustration of what is hard to control, wind would be the best one. Everybody talks about the weather, the old adage goes, but nobody does anything about it. And the reason nobody does anything about it is because nobody can do anything about it. With all of our ability to harness energy, with all of our ability to advance scientifically, and to draw out of the resources of this planet wealth and benefit, we can’t do anything about the weather. But Jesus could and that’s what He did in this event.

It’s more than just a…a simple story in and of itself. You’ve got to get beyond the superficial.

This is all about one demonstrating power to fulfill prophecy, prophecy that relates to paradise regained, reversing the curse, renewing the earth.

The Bible is very clear about the kingdom that is going to come.

During the kingdom, the millennial kingdom, Satan will be bound for the entire duration of a thousand years. Revelation 20 makes that clear. Whoever it is then that’s going to come and establish the kingdom has to have the power to triumph over Satan. We already know in the gospel of Luke that Jesus has that power because when Satan came against Jesus, he was totally vanquished, remember that? That’s important for us.

We also know that in the kingdom demons will not dominate. They will with their leader, Satan, be bound and the saints will dominate. This is clear in Scripture. And we already know in the gospel of Luke that Jesus had total power over demons. He spoke to them at will and they did exactly what He told them to do. He exercised complete power over that realm.

Scripture says that in the kingdom sin will be instantaneously punished. Everybody in the world will be under the judgeship of one judge, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will act both benevolently and justly instantaneously. Whoever is to be this perfect judge must demonstrate then perfect equity, perfect righteousness, perfect holiness, hatred for sin and love of what is right. So we’ve already learned that Jesus fits that perfectly.

When the kingdom comes peace will dominate the earth.

He will have to be a peacemaker the likes of which the world has never seen. Joy will abound. Isaiah 12, the prophet says, “When the kingdom comes joy will abound in the earth.” Isaiah 11:9, “Truth will pervade.”

The knowledge of God will fill the earth, Scripture says.

And nature will change. Natural enemies will become friends, according to chapter 11 of Isaiah. Lion lies down with the lamb. Children play in snake pits without ever being bitten or fearing anything. Carnivorous beasts eat straw like an ox.

Crops will flourish, according to Isaiah chapter 30. The planet’s ability to produce will be altered dramatically, so much so that Isaiah chapter 30 and Joel chapter 2 tell us the crops are going to grow all night long and the moon will have the same photosynthetic power that the sun does, different world.

Isaiah 35 says the desert is going to blossom like a rose, the barren, bleak desert is going to flourish like a garden; that the Lord Himself is going to create a river out of the backside of Jerusalem that’s going to flood the desert. It’s going to create a new valley.

That health and healing will mark the millennial kingdom. Disease will be diminished. There will be healing, wholeness, health. If someone dies at the age of 100 they die as a baby. It will be like it was before the Flood when people lived for centuries.

True worship will be restored, according to Ezekiel 40 to 48. There will be one great King and one great Ruler, the Messiah.

All of this is paradise regained. This is the coming promised kingdom of God.

His throne will be established in Jerusalem, from which He will rule the world.

The ability to change the planet, the ability to redeem sinful people and the ability to literally reverse the curse physically is only possible through God’s power. Nobody can do that. We don’t have to worry too much about preserving the planet.

Perhaps not too long from now the Lord Jesus is going to turn it into something like the Garden of Eden. And only the Creator can have that power.

Does God have that power? Of course He does.

David said in Psalm 62:11, “Power belongs to God.” That seems like a simple statement but the kind of power David was talking about is immense.

I read you Psalm 29 You can go back and look at it. It talks about God’s power over the waters, God’s power over the seas, God’s power over the land and God’s power over the animals and God’s power over man.

Job 26:14 says, “The thunder of His power, who can understand?”

Psalm 79:11 talks of the greatness of His power. Nahum wrote, “The Lord is great in power.”

Isaiah 26:4, “The Lord God is an everlasting power.”

Psalm 65:6 says, “Who by strength,” speaking of God, “establishes the mountains being girded with power?”

Psalm 63:1 and 2, “Oh God, You are my God, early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You, to see Your power.” David wanted to see God’s power. And He could have seen it and he did see it.

Romans 1 says, “The power of God is manifest in the creation,” so that if you don’t see the power of God and acknowledge Him for it, then you’re without excuse because the manifestation of God’s power in the creation is so obvious.

I mean, just think about how much power God has to create and sustain the entire universe.

 

Discerning Wheat and Weeds

It’s the parable of the soils.

Why do People Respond Differently to the Gospel?

Discerning Wheat and Weeds

Luke 8:4-14

And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature

.

Sermon outline:

Failure and Success in Hearing: The produce of our spiritual fields does not always answer to our hopes or rewards our labours; there is much sowing, but little reaping. How do we account for it?

1A The Account of the Failure

1B Inattention on the part of the bearer.

2B Want of reflection: (6)

3B Incapacity to stand tests (7)

2A The Conditions of Success. What is the good ground? What is the honest and good heart? (8-15.

1B Sincere inquire. He liste4ns eagerly and continuously.

2B Devout meditation: He ponders, dwells upon, he prays over, the truth he has been receving

3B Intelligent, deliberate dedication: He takes all things into his mind that must be taken; counts the cost, considers what the service of Christ means, how much it involves in the way of surrender and of activity, and he solemnly devotes himself to the service,

A Few Outlines:

1. The soil condition is God’s responsibility: What is the subject of this parable? The parable is about the sower. Or is it:

2. A disciple is about making disciples: What the sower is doing. vs. 5

3. The Word of God is the seed we sow: _{https://church.calvaryministries.com/luke5/}

(2) The Diffeent Ways of Responding to the Gospel: Matthew 13:1-24; Mark 4:1-20 Luke 8:4-15

_{http://www.unionchurch.com/archive/012702.html}

For lack of “counting the cost,” hundreds of professed converts, under religious revivals, go back to the world after a time, and bring disgrace on religion. They begin with a sadly mistaken notion of what is true Christianity. They fancy it consists in nothing more than a so-called “coming to Christ,” and having strong inward feelings of joy and peace. And so, when they find, after a time, that there is a cross to be carried, that our hearts are deceitful, and that there is a busy devil always near us, they cool down in disgust, and return to their old sins. And why? Because they had really never known what Bible Christianity is. They had never learned that we must “count the cost.” [Bishop J.C. Ryle, HOLINESS, Christian Life Classics (Lafayette In.: Sovereign Grace Trust, 1990) p. 61]

　

we need to re-think our methods of evangelism.

Arthur Pink writes words that ruffle a number of feathers as he talks about those who are like the soil that responds quickly but have no roots.

today almost everything connected with modern evangelistic effort is calculated to produce just this very type of [superficial] hearer. The “bright singing,” the sentimentality of the hymns, the preachers appeals to the emotions, the demand of the churches for visible and quick “results,” produce nothing but superficial returns. Sinners are urged to make a prompt “decision,” are rushed to the “penitent form,” and then assured that all is well with them; and the poor deluded soul leaves with a false and fleeting “joy.” And the deplorable thing is that many of the Lords own people are supporting this Christ-dishonoring and soul-deceiving burlesque of true Gospel ministry. [Pink, The Prophetic Parables of Matthew 13, 3. the Parable of the Sower. p. 20]

Luke 7 :42-50 Part Four

39

Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

So he was disgusted by the scene. He was disgusted by what the woman did. He was disgusted by what Jesus let her do. But it was a satisfied disgust because it vindicated in his mind that Jesus was no prophet or He would have had some divine insight into who or what this woman was and never allowed her to defile or touch Him. She was well known in the city.

40-41

And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

Simple story. Money lender, a guy comes and says I need 500 denarii, that’s 500 day’s wages, a year and a half or so. And he loaned him a year and a half’s wages. And another person came and they needed, you know, two months wages or so, fifty denarii, loaned him. They couldn’t pay, couldn’t repay the debt. So he graciously forgave them both. That’s a nice story, isn’t it?

42

And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.

To understand that is to get an insight into the forgiveness of God. And when God forgave your sins, He then incurred the debt and Jesus Christ died to pay it. The debt doesn’t go away. It still has to be paid, but the forgiver incurs it and pays it. So it’s not just forgiveness and it’s done. It’s forgiveness and then the debt is transferred to the forgiver.

42 ^{_{which of them will love him more?”}}

Who’s going to have the greater love for the money lender, the greater love for the forgiver? Who’s going to have the greater love?

43

Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most.

And Jesus said to him, “Hey, sorry “thou hast rightly judged,” you judge correctly.”

That’s the right answer. You got it. That’s it. Whoever got forgiven the most is going to be showing the most love. Pretty simple, isn’t it? Very simple.

Now we’ve established a principle here. What’s the principle? Great love comes from great forgiveness. Is that the principle?

Great love comes from great forgiveness. You said it. It came out of your brain and your mouth, Simon, right? You just said where you see great love you have seen great forgiveness. The greater the forgiveness, the greater the love.

^{_{Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?}}

I ^{_{entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.}}

45 “You ^{_{gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.}}

46 “

You did not ^{_{anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.}}

47 “For ^{_{this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”}}

You show me somebody who is a third generation Christian, second generation Christian, some kid raised in a Christian family, it’s all they’ve ever known. Don’t have some sordid life of sin to look back to. And their level of thanks and gratitude and forgiveness is little. There’s some, it’s little.

And then you show me somebody who lived a sordid, wicked, hell-bent, Godless, Christless life and were rescued in adulthood and totally transformed and there’s a whole different level of love. That’s the principle.

So, He says you just saw love like you’ve never seen it. Nobody had ever seen anybody do things like that, that’s absolutely unheard of that someone would do that. What would make somebody so loving?

What would make somebody so lavish, so grateful? I mean, this woman, this is… This is almost over the top, right? This is almost bizarre. I mean, weeping all over somebody, wiping their feet with their hair, holding on and never letting go and pouring out…I mean, this is…this is extravagant behavior. Why is this so much love being poured out? And His simple answer is, “You said it. Because somebody who has been forgiven much, loves much and this woman whose sins were many have been forgiven, for she loved much. He who has been forgiven little, loves little.”

^{_{48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.}}

That’s perfect tense. It didn’t happen right there then. That’s past. Perfect tense, something happened in the past with continuing effect. She had already been forgiven. She had been forgiven some other place, some other day, some other time. She came there already forgiven, in a state of forgiveness, to find Jesus to thank Him. Maybe it was the day before that she encountered Him. Maybe it was in the week some time that she encountered Him. We don’t know that. But since He had come to her town, she had been redeemed. She had been forgiven. And the guilt was gone and the shame was gone and the life was different and longings after holy things and righteous things began to occupy her heart and she was swept away with gratitude, swept away with affection and love for the One who had forgiven her. So much so that she couldn’t even contain herself and the Pharisee himself said, “When somebody has forgiven much, they love much.” And so He says, “There you see much love.

What can you assume from that?” Much what? Forgiveness.

This is a transformed life. You can’t explain this woman’s behavior any other way. She’s been forgiven. She’s grateful because all the bondage of her sin is gone, all the depth of guilt is gone. You didn’t do anything for Me. You showed Me no honor, you showed Me no respect, you showed Me no affection, you gave Me no sacrifice, you showed Me nothing. You insulted Me with your lack of respect, your lack of love, your lack of tribute.

And so, Jesus is showing this self-righteous Pharisee what real transformation looks like.

49 ^{_{Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”}}

And there is no other explanation. The people saw it, verse 49, they all got it.

50 And He ^{_{said to the woman, “}}

Your ^{_{faith has saved you; go in peace.”}}

 

Luke 7:38 Part three

the story of Jesus evangelizing a Pharisee. He came to seek and to save the lost. Anointing of Jesus’s feet by a penitent woman.

The Greatest Story Ever Told. The Melting Love of God. My Sin, Oh the Thought! The Tearful Woman.. The Meal in the House of the Pharisee. A Pharisee Evaluating Jesus? LUKE 7:36-50

Pastor-Teacher Charles e Whisnant

When you think about witnessing, when you think about evangelism, when you think about missions, when you think about reaching lost people, what is it that makes the most impact?

Is it a logical argument? Is it reasonableness? Is it the promise of prosperity, or the promise of eternal life itself? What is it that can impact a person to embrace Jesus Christ?

First you have to proclaim the truth. You want to articulate the promises. This is true of course But what really is powerful is the testimony of a transformed life. What makes the message believable is when it demonstrated transformed lives.

Jesus knew this. Jesus knew that in His own personal evangelism, in His own seeking the lost, it was powerful to present a transformed life.

37

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, she ^{brought an alabaster vial of perfume,}

During the course of the meal, a sinner , a person of bad characdter, entered the house univited. There was a woman in the city, she lived there. Everybody knew her. She plied her trade in that town. She was known to all. It’s not just lost people that are described as sinners. It is a term that has some disdain in it. It refers to those who were sort of the low life.

Now perfume was part of the trade of being a prostitute. And it was also a part of just being a woman. Many Jewish women had around their neck a vial of perfume on a cord or a leather thong which they kept with them all the time. It was a sort of deodorizing agent in a very different kind of world than we’re used to today. It was not uncommon for women to spend a lot of money on perfume.

vS. 38 “She was taking her place, standing behind Him at His feet.”

So when she came in she went to the feet of Jesus, probably in her mind wondering how and when she would get an opportunity to anoint His head with this costly perfume, which she so much wanted to do. Shocking that she’s even there.

It doesn’t tell us anything about a response to that effect, but obviously she was in a place where she shouldn’t have been, but perhaps in a dim light she wasn’t immediately noticed by the people who would have known her. She stayed out of the way. She stayed back in the background near the feet of Jesus, standing there, no doubt, pondering what to do. How was she going to get to the place where she could anoint His head. This was what was in her heart. This is what she wanted to do with a sacrificial profuse expression of love and generosity toward Him.

As she stands there amazingly, she begins weeping.

She is just flooded with the reality of the kind of woman that she is. And she is just weeping, overwhelmed with emotion. She lets loose with what Luther called “heart water,” and it bursts out of her eyes as if the emotional damn has broken into pieces and the flood begins.

And as she weeps, because of where she is, she began to wet his feet with her tears. She’s weeping and naturally she looks down and she sees of all things that the host has never provided a servant to wash the feet of Jesus.

She notices that His feet are dirty. And this is really a social disgrace. And so since the tears are profusely running down her face and she has no water, other than those, she allows them to fall on the feet of Jesus. And this outburst of emotion is gaining momentum.

and began to wash his feet with tears,

Then it says she began to wet, it’s the Greek word brechō, which means rain, literally she rained tears on His feet. She had no water but her heart water. But it was enough to wash His feet. Her emotion is so strong. There she is before she thinks any further about how can she anoint His head, caught up in the fact that nobody has given the simplest dignity to the man by washing His feet, and so her tears are a sufficient supply of liquid to do that.

and did wipe them with the hairs of her head

And then it says, “She kept wiping them with the hair of her head.” She had no towel either. So she took her hair down because all Jewish women in public were required to wear their hair up. Not to do that was a sign of shame and looseness. But she had no choice except to use her hair to clean and dry His dirty feet.

and kissed his feet, .

Once His feet were clean, it says she was kissing His feet, kataphileō, that’s an intense word. It’s used in ^{Luke 15:20 of the father’s kisses when the prodigal came home and he fell on his neck and kept embracing and embracing and embracing, kissing. It isn’t necessarily limited to the lips, it’s that clinging, that tight embrace. We might even include with it the idea of a hug.}

She’s there at His feet and first the tears start falling on His feet and then she realizes that she can use the tears to clean His feet, a courtesy that hasn’t been given to Him. And then she can take her hair down and use her hair to dry His feet.

And meanwhile, we don’t know how the table is reacting. It may have been that she’s still in the background a little bit. Jesus obviously knows what’s going on. Actually He’s planned for this. She’s doing this still maybe in the background and once the feet are clean, then she’s so completely swept away with emotion that she embraces His feet and it tells us she continues to do it. She is kissing His feet in continual expression of affection.

and anointed them with the ointment

And then comes the final act of generosity, anointing them with the perfume. She decides that she can’t wait any longer and there’s maybe not going to be any opportunity to move any further toward the table. And so swept away in the emotion she snaps the alabaster bottle and she pours perfume out on His feet.

I mean, this could be a very, very difficult situation for Jesus. In the first place, she’s a known prostitute. She’s shamefully taken down her hair, certainly in the view of the Pharisee. She’s touching Him. Not only is she touching Him, but she’s washing His feet with her hair. Not only that but she continues to embrace His feet to hold on to Him, as if she didn’t want to let Him go, expressing this emotion. And then she’s pouring out this perfume.

This could be a very serious breach of decorum, respectability, good manners, this was not the qualilty of conforming to conventionally acceptied standards of behavior or morals for sure.

It would be very easy to say, “How in the world does this prostitute feel so familiar with Jesus? She must know Him. How did He have any relationship with such a shameless woman?” Well somebody might make an obvious connection.

 

 

Luke 7:36 Part Two

36 ^{Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table}

“One of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him.”

(Here is a historical narrative about where Jesus was, which is what I have learned from MacArthur, and some have said if I were to leave out the history are the georgraphical research the sermon would be shorter).

We don’t know where this is except that it’s in Galilee during His Galilean ministry, in the north and He was obviously in a town or a village. He was probably teaching and preaching regularly and perhaps even spoke in the synagogue.

And it may well have been that this was an invitation to an afternoon meal, after a Sabbath synagogue meeting in which Jesus was the teacher. That was customary to take home the rabbi as it has been in other places, to take home a preacher after a Sunday sermon. (that used to be common, but it seems not today.)

And so, whatever the occasion, it might have been that, it might have been a special banquet called in the evening. It might have been some part of the Jewish feast schedule. We don’t know anything about the specifics of the event because they aren’t really important to the story.

Jesus had just begun His ministry. Here He was – this young rabbi, teaching people and becoming more and more popular. There was this problem with His teaching and behaviour. He accepted sinners, He ate with them, He proclaimed God’s forgiveness to everyone who repented. Regardless of what kind of persons they were, regardless of what they had done. He forgave unconditionally.

^{_{https://pastorsblog.com.au/2013/06/17/be-sinner-luke-736-50/ Good notes}}

 

But this Pharisee was requesting Jesus to dine with him.

On the surface, that might seem like a good thing, like he had some personal interest in Jesus, like he was open to Jesus. Well that’s really not the case, as the story makes it very clear.

This was a man who belonged to a very close-knit group. There weren’t that many of them, a few thousand Pharisees. That’s all.

They were the fastidious guardians of the law. They were the law-keepers, they were the people who set the standard to which everybody had to adhere and be measured. They were the legalists. They were self-righteous. They were tightly knit and they knew internally what they were all about. They had close and intense communication.

(Footnote: ^{_{http://makingtalmidim.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-silent-years-hasidim.html Very intresting article}}

^{_{http://fireandlife.org/encouragement_Pharisee.htm}}

(A background on the Pharisees)

36 ^{_{Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.}}

So he invites Him to a meal. And they don’t do fast-food meals in the ancient Near East, but when they have a dinner like this and they recline, they’re going to be there a while. And that’s the kind of occasion it was. He requested Him to dine with him and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined, the original says. He reclined. They took a posture of reclining.

Now here Jesus was willing to go into the house of a man that He knew was a hypocrite. He knew the man had evil intentions toward Him. He knew the man was going to do everything he could to get some incriminating evidence against Jesus by something that Jesus did or said. He knew he was looking to mount the case for Him. But nonetheless, Jesus, gracious as He always is and coming to seek and to save that which was lost, is willing to expose this wicked, hypocritical Pharisee to the power that He has to transform. And so He entered the Pharisee’s house. As I said, there’re a couple of other occasions that Luke records He did the same thing, reaching out even to these lost legalists.

Now the reclining feature is, I think, probably familiar to most of us.

 

A description of the room that Jesus was in: (a little side note)

They might have had a round table or sort of an oblong table or even a square table and they had pushed up against the table long couches without a back or sides. It was sort of like a lounge, like a chaise lounge, or something elevated at one end and you sort of leaned up on your elbow at one end with your head at the table and your feet away from the table. You didn’t sit in a chair.

You reclined and you ate with sort of an elbow propping up your head and that was how you had your conversation. The idea in that part of the world at that time was to keep feet as far away as was humanly possible. And I suppose the taller the person, the better. Since sanitation wasn’t what it is today, and since the roads were either muddy or dusty, feet were an issue, particularly at a prolonged meal. I’ve even sat at meals where children were fully clothed and a parent said, “Go and wash your feet and then come back,” because feet represented certain activities that didn’t need to be brought to the table. They took a normal approach toward what would make a pleasant meal and so they designed that kind of thing.

It also made for a more comfortable posture, for prolonged conversation. And that’s typically the way things would go. It was common to invite a visiting rabbi to a Sabbath meal, or a special banquet in order to bring some measure of honor, or in order to discuss theological issues and issues of the society and the culture and that was what this was all about.

This became a kind of form of local entertainment. You know, they had their important people, they had their celebrities in every little town and village, as the world has always had.

And people always wanted information. That’s why there are newspapers, that’s why there are tabloids, that’s why there are gossip columnists, that’s why there are programs on radio and television that tell us what prominent people are thinking. There’s a certain level of curiosity about that. After all, they’re recognized as the movers and shakers and shapers of thought.

And so in ancient times what they would do would be have a dinner like this, invite a celebrity, somebody who was known, somebody who was perhaps unusual who had something to say that was unique. And then they would throw the doors open and though the population of the town were not invited to the meal, they were allowed to come in, if they wanted to and stand around the perimeter of the room. They would stand around the walls, perhaps in a somewhat darkened place, just unobtrusively enjoying the conversation and the dialogue as a form of local entertainment, amusement and information. And that is, no doubt, what occurred on this occasion.

Reclining At The Table

The table is in the middle. Everybody who is around the table is leaning in to the table. And around the perimeter walls there’s space for the local people to come in and experience the event itself and to hear the discussion and learn from it. Also, typically in that kind of environment poor people would come in the hopes that they would be able to pick some of the scraps off the table and therefore be able to eat and to feed their family. Some of the day laborers who perhaps hadn’t had work, some of those who were indigent and couldn’t work and needed help would then benefit by either begging around the perimeter when the time was appropriate after the meal was over, or even being offered some of the scraps from the meal to take for themselves. So it was not unusual to have people around. It was not unusual to have people of a lower class or a lower station in life than would normally be invited to a Pharisee’s house. That’s the scenario.

And the Pharisees had already rendered a verdict on Jesus. The scribes and the Pharisees had already collectively determined that the man was a blasphemer. He was a blasphemer because He forgave sin. And so, He acted as if He was God, forgiving sins.

They hated Him because of His message. They hated Him because He preached against self-righteousness. And He also spent His time with outcasts, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the low-life sinners of all kinds, the drunkards, etc. And so they saw Him as somebody who belonged as an outcast. He had stepped on sacred ground, claiming to be able to forgive sin. That was open and outright blasphemy. He had continually defiled Himself by hanging around defiling people the Pharisees would never hang around.

And His message irritated them because it was a message that assaulted their self-righteousness.

Jesus was very much like John the Baptist, whom they also hated. Luke tells us that they wanted nothing to do with John, they were unwilling to acknowledge John.

5:29, the tax gatherers…the people and the tax gatherers heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees, verse 30, and the lawyers, or scribes, rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

They rejected John, they hated His message. You know, he called them snakes. He warned them of the wrath to come. He said they lacked the fruit of repentance. He unmasked their hypocrisy in a public way. They hated him. And because they rejected John, they never accepted Jesus whom John identified as the Messiah.

They hated Jesus’ message. And so they had already made their conclusion.

So why did this Pharisee invited Jesus to his place?

They were in the process of accumulating incriminating evidence against Him. Now this is part of that fact finding. This Pharisee has in mind getting Jesus in a situation whereby His own words He can incriminate Himself. He’s going to get some more evidence against Jesus.

So he invites Him to his house. He is no friend of Jesus at all, though he may have feigned a measure of friendship. He is a hypocritical enemy, along with the rest of the self-appointed guardians of external righteousness. He hated everything Jesus said and was.

But the full hostility hasn’t yet broken out. They’re still accumulating their material against Jesus. It is down in Luke 11:53 that when Jesus left an occasion there, having a meal with a Pharisee, scribes and Pharisees began to be very hostile and questioned Him closely on many subjects, plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say. By that time the thing has really mounted and it’s materialized. They want Him dead. Now there are serious plots. Trapping Him in His words is their intent so that they can then accuse Him of some crime of bringing about His own execution.

So, all of that is mounting. And this Pharisee is part of the accumulating force trying to get the evidence on Jesus. He’s in his town. Jesus had set up His home in Nazareth. the Pharisee captial of the Jewish world.

So this Pharisee takes the advantage of having him over in order that he might accumulate more confirming evidence that this man is a blasphemer.

Luke 7:36 Part One Sermon

the story of Jesus evangelizing a Pharisee. He came to seek and to save the lost. Anointing of Jesus’s feet by a penitent woman.

]

FULLY FORGIVEN The Greatest Story Ever Told. The Melting Love of God. My Sin, Oh the Thought! The Tearful Woman.. The Meal in the House of the Pharisee. A Pharisee Evaluating Jesus?

Jesus is showing this self-righteous Pharisee what real transformation looks like

Luke 7:36-50

Pastor-Teacher Charles e Whisnant

THE TEXT

36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said.

41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[a] and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.””You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

=======

36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37

And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,

38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were

a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”

Parable of Two Debtors

40 And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.”

41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

42 “When they

were unable * to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”

44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

45 “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.

46 “

You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.

47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

48 Then He said to her, “

Your sins have been forgiven.”

49 Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”

50 And He said to the woman, “

Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Again, open your Bible today to

Luke chapter 7 and we’re going to be looking at verse 36 through verse 50, right to the end of the chapter. We can cover all of this because it’s one story and it needs to be dealt with as a unit.

When you think about witnessing, when you think about evangelism, when you think about missions, when you think about reaching lost people, what is it that makes the most impact?

Is it a logical argument? Is it reasonableness? Is it the promise of prosperity, or the promise of eternal life itself? What is it that can impact a person to embrace Jesus Christ?

First you have to proclaim the truth. You want to articulate the promises. This is true of course

But what really is powerful is the testimony of a transformed life. What makes the message believable is when it demonstrated transformed lives.

Jesus knew this. Jesus knew that in His own personal evangelism, in His own seeking the lost, it was powerful to present a transformed life.

Now obviously He couldn’t do that because He didn’t need to be transformed. But He on occasion used somebody who was transformed as an instrument to give the power of the gospel to somebody else.

And that’s exactly what happens in the account before us. Jesus, who came to seek and to save the lost, Luke writes in 19:10 is here seeking a lost man. And He uses the transformed life of a woman as the testimony to this man and all around the table at this occasion to whom He spoke.

Most people when they read this account identify it as the story of the immoral woman. It isn’t really that. She is, in a sense, only an element of the story.

It is the story of Jesus evangelizing a Pharisee. He came to seek and to save the lost.

They accused Him of being only interested in drunkards and tax collectors and being the friend of sinners. And He was, but He wasn’t just a friend of the outcast sinners, the riff-raff, the low life, He was even the friend of religious sinners like the Pharisee.

In fact, on a number of occasions in the book of Luke He has some meal with a Pharisee; right here in this chapter, then again in 11:37, 14:1, we see Him sitting down for a prolonged conversation obviously intended to expose the Pharisee to the reality of who He was and why He came.

Jesus was committed to evangelizing and presenting a gospel offer to all sinners, whether they were the low-life sinners, or whether they were the high-life sinners, whether they were the outcasts, and irreligious, or the very religious.

And on this occasion, in an act of irony, He reaches out to demonstrate His power to forgive sins to a hypocritical, self-righteous Pharisee by using the very person that the Pharisee despised the most, the low-life, reprobate, wretched, immoral prostitute whose transformation was very clear and inarguable.

This He uses as evidence of His power to transform even the Pharisee.

The story begins in verse 36. And here the narrative starts and it must be treated as a narrative. It’s a story

We just flow with the story. Here Jesus identified in verse 34 as “the friend of sinners,”

34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

which demonstrates that He is the friend even of a sinning Pharisee, who, by the way, is the worst of sinners.

You say, “You mean worse than a prostitute?” Yes. The worst possible sinner, the most unredeemable of all is the one who thinks he’s not a sinner and doesn’t need redemption, who thinks that God is pleased with him the way he is. This is the worst of sinners.

Paul was one of these and that’s why he called himself “the chief of sinners.”

The worst kind of sin is the sin of self-righteousness, the assumption that you on your own by your own religious activities and moral merit can somehow earn a place in the kingdom of God. That is the most heinous crime of all for it treats the sacrifice of Christ with utter disdain, as being unnecessary and foolish. This then is a story of Jesus using a wretched sinner to reach an even worse sinner.

Now the story is not to be confused with another story that has some similarity. (What I learn by study, MacArthur pointed this out, and I didn’t know this, where was Raymond Barber in Life of Christ.)

There is a story of a woman anointing Jesus’ head. That story is recorded in Matthew 26. It is recorded also in Mark 14. It is recorded in John 12. Those three writers record that same story.

That’s not this story. This is another place, another time and different people. The differences are clear. The story the other three gospels record happened in Judea in the south.

Luke’s story happened in Galilee. In fact, it happened in the town of Bethany. And it happened much later. It happened right before Jesus went to the cross.

The writer in this story, in Luke, is a Pharisee. The writers in the other account, later on, is a leper.

In this story the perfume is poured out by the woman on the feet of Jesus. In that story it’s poured out on the head of Jesus. Different place, different time, different people, different circumstances and yet there are some people who want to blend these stories together and the reason is because the writer of this story is a Pharisee named Simon and the host of the other one is a leper named Simon.

And so some people conclude because you have the name Simon, it has to be the same story. Not at all; different place, different time, different people, different circumstances and

Simon is the commonest of names. Simon Peter, one of the apostles, Simon the Zealot, one of the apostles, Simon the father of Judas, Simon of Cyrene, Simon the tanner, Simon the leper, Simon the Pharisee, and on we go. It’s like Joe in English, plenty of Joes and Johns. So don’t necessarily equate these two accounts. They can’t be equated even though the name was the same.

Let’s look at the story, verse 36,

 

Jesus Was God In the Flesh

 

This last Sunday January 10, 2016 sermon from Luke 7, my outline that I gave out was contained notes that I was able to teach.  As a matter of fact I only was able to finish the first point, and I taught fifty minutes at that.  

In my study of the Word of God I must confess as I have for 40 years I study from some really great teachers.  I have never denied my study from others.  When you do exposition teaching, which means you “exegesis”  i.e. an explanation or critical interpretation of a text.  

In order to “exegesis” the passage of scripture requires some study.  And in the old days before the internet we used books to help us with interpretation of the text which I still like to do, but now the Internet is filled with so many good resources. 

The greatest joy that a preacher has is to preach Jesus Christ. So teaching Luke has been great. Luke’s gospel gives us the clearest view that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. Jesus Christ has made know God to the world. Jesus shows the character of God.

The writer Luke in his historical setting of the life of Jesus Christ takes us step by step showing that Jesus was God.

Luke’s gives us the update status of Jesus, His daily walk, His dally teaching, His daily miracles, His daily encounter with the religious leaders of the day

JESUS RAISES A WIDOW’S SON

Luke’s View Jesus As God in the flesh

LUKE 7:11-17

Charles e. Whisnant, Teacher, Expositor and sometime Pastor

Why is it important that we know that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh?In John 1:18 we read “No man has seen God at any time.”

What man has seen is the only begotten God. that is God the Son, which is He who is in the bosom of the Father. True so one has seen God at any time. But the best view ever is the view of God broguht to us by the only begotten Son of God, the One who is literally intimate with God, in the bosom of God, That is the One who is the same essence as God, He has declared Him or explained Him.

Jesus “exegesis” God, i.e. Jesus explains God. Jesus unfolds God. Jesus reveals God. So when we look at Jesus, you’re seeing God. So that is what Jesus Himself said , “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” John 14:9

So the best, clearest view of God that any man has ever had, will ever have is in Jesus Christ, here on earth or in Heaven. Jesus Christ has made known God to the world. Jesus has exegeted God. He is, in fact, God in human flesh.

And it happened, that he went into a city

Point One: Divine Purpose

Jesus never did anything without a determinate destination and a predeterminated intention and there were no unforeseen events or problems and there was no second plans.

He is sovereign. He has perfect intentions for everything He thinks, everything He says and every act. His mission is clear, His objective is clear, His strategy is clear, His plan, His purpose will come to pass. God has a sovereign-bent for sure. (He was pre Calvinist before John Calvin)

Jeremiah 29:11; Isaiah 55:11, Isaiah 49:9-11

Every thought God has, every word God says, every act God does operates perfectly on divinely established purpose. And that is the way it is with Jesus. John 4:4; Luke 9:51; Luke 13:33

and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.

The Sovereign Knowlege of Jesus Christ: God knows the beginning and the end. Jesus Christ Himself as well, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. So here is Jesus with intentionality, moving in a direction toward an obscure little town that would never be known to us biblically if it weren’t for this one incident.

++++++++++++

The above notes is as  far as I got in the message.  I seem never to finish a sermon.  I just quit and pick up next week.

The Disciples of Christ Luke 6

Luke 6:  The Disciples of Jesus METHOD:

LET’S DEFINE DISCIPLESHIP:

Charles e Whisnant, teacher

The public relations experts would have pointed out 6 mistakes that Jesus made in His ministry:

He didn’t go to the upper-class of Jewish society: the influence, powerful and money.

He wasted His time by going to the opposite extreme and calling the poor, the sick and shepherds and tax collectors and fishermen i.e. the low life’s of society

Didn’t try to talk people into supporting Messiah ship: There was no sales pitch/ Jesus only challenged the people to follow Him.

He alienated those in leadership. Was bad enough he didn’t pick any of the top echelon, but it seems He went out of His way to confront them

He refused to compromise. So often in the business/political world its a matter of give and take in leadership/ Not Jesus

The group of guys He chose to be His reps, His PR men

They had little education and very little spiritual perception.

They had no formal training for the ministry

They were rude No hospitality: When faced with a hungry crowd they told Jesus “Get out of here.”

When kids were brought to Jesus, they rebuked those who brought them.

JUST A SIMPLE REMINDER: JESUS’ WAY OF DOING THINGS IS NOT AT ALL LIKE OURS

Today if someone is organizing a series of outreaches, they want to get a group of highly trained professionals, and good communicators. NOT Jesus: think about His initial FRONT MAN. John the Baptist.

NOT EXACTLY MAN’S IDEA OF STIMULATING CHURCH GROWTH: Jesus did preach before the thousands, but His teaching was the training of the 12 men who started out as disciples then He made them Apostles.

Verse 12, “And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

So Jesus before He made this decision about who was going to be His apostles he had to pray all night. “Lord are you sure these are the ones.” (well no but we might have said that.)

Many of the people would have said, Lord we don’t really understand why these guys? Jesus said, “They don’t.

How are you going to reach them? Three years of training.

But really note that Jesus prayed to the Father over this great decision.

PRAYER was a key part of Jesus life.

This reflected His desire to live in constant communion with His Father as well as in continual dependence

The disciples realized this as being -the key ingredient – why they said to Him teach us to Pray – not preach or do miracles or even raise the dead.

9/19/2014

HE CALLED ORDINARY GUYS TO DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS>

There was no accident that the Lord gives us their names.

Note that there was a strange mixture of Team-Members

Today, Jesus would have been advised to go the the Master’s Seminary, one of the best theological seminaries and pick the best professors.

And those with the most charisma to command the attention of the crowds.

Then get several millionaires on the team.

Maybe a pro wrestler tyo use as body guards they are going to need it.

BUT WHAT DID JESUS DO?

Instead he went to the Fisherman’s Wharf in Galilee and picked unknowns for goodness sake. The would today would have said they are a bunch of losers.

Take your Bible and look at Luke chapter 6. We come to verses 12 through 16. Here we are introduced to the Twelve Apostles and we’re going to cal;l the series “The Master’s Men.” The Twelve Apostles are introduced to us in this important text.

Twelve Ordinary Men called by Jesus to do some uncommon things.

I want to read the text for you and then we’ll introduce this study and before we’re done, in the weeks to come, we will get to know each one of these Twelve men as well as we possibly can, given what is in Scripture about them.

Verse 12, “And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them whom He also named as Apostles; https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/apostles.cfm

1. Simon, whom He also named Peter, (Most would’ve fired him within a week: Impulsive…… Could NOT sit a wait for things to happen/Tried to make them happen

2. Andrew his brother (Once a disciple of John the Baptist. But we find him reluctant to trust God.) John 6:9

3. James and

4. John (They had allot of zeal but no tact… Jesus rebuked them for their intolerance. (I can picture them wearing Black leather robes)

5. Philip : (Timid Galillean. Didn’t approach Jesus like Andrew & John- He waited until Jesus invited him to join. ) has been called a Calculating Pessimist At the feeding of the 5,000……. Jesus asked Philip “Where will we get enough food?”….. Where is the money.

6. Bartholomew: (This is the guy who was 1st to doubt Jesus was Messiah. John 1:45-51

7. Matthew: (ATax Collector for the Roman Govt. That put him on the “most hated list”in Israel Ahead of robbers, murderers. He was Considered a traitor by his own people for selling out to the Romans, They swore to assassinate every traitor & every Roman they could.

8. Thomas, (Doubting Thomas”. The pessimist… He only saw the dark side of things: Negative. When Jesus said they were going to Judea, – it was Thomas who reminded Jesus – They want to Kill you down there .

9. James the son of Alphaeus and

10. Simon who was called the Zealot, A Political Religious party of fanatical nationalists . They hated foreign domination & fought for independence -They were the Israeli Freedom fighters. They swore to assassinate every traitor & every Roman they could. The Zealots – carried long – hooked knives under their coats – when they found a Roman – or a traitor like – Matt. Simon was the kind of guy to stand up & yell, “Kill the Pinko Communist Romans!” That would be like having an Israeli Zionist & Yassir Arafat of PLO together!

11. Judas the son of James and

12. Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.”‘ He was a FALSE disciple who became a traitor /He was also a thief.When Mary poured ointment on Jesus’ feet… Judas protested – waste John 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

The Leper Comes To Jesus: Luke Study