Luke - Chapter 5 / Friends, following & refresh the soul

Just a quick note... if you are reading Luke & wanted to follow along with my scatter brained notes & missed a day, you can always click the LUKE keyword at the very bottom of the post & it'll take you only to these posts. 

Luke 5

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

* We always have excuses about why we dont want to do something.  I love that Simon goes ahead though. "But because you say so"... I get really good at dishing out the why I dont want to do things & need to adapt that sort of Simon thinking. BUT BECAUSE YOU SAY SO LORD!

__________________________

9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.  Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

* Fun Side note - I love just saying Zebedee... Ricky actually knows someone with that name - they call him "Zeb" ... just if anyone is looking for an usual baby name :)

* So this is the 4th time we see a reference to not having fear but this is the first time we see it from Jesus. It has been Angels before but love that this person, also a resident of Heaven, is sure to deliver the same message.

* Isnt that CRAZY?  Jesus says one quick thing & these men are like, OK, Yep - we're outta here. Let's leave EVERYTHING behind.  I cant even leave the house for longer than 9 hours because I have something always that needs attention there.  These men heard - & probably more importantly, FELT Jesus's words & was like, that's the direction I want my life to go - wherever He leads us.

____________________________

15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

* I know we'll see this throughout scripture, but we already see that even though Jesus waited 30 years to start His ministry, He is already remembering the alone time - the quiet time.  You'd think he'd be ready to be swarmed by all the people & just want to do so much in the short time He would be remaining on the earth.  But the importance to STILL be alone & pray... even when others are wanting His attention, His healing.  

I just really value Jesus's example throughout the Gospels that shows if you dont take care of yourself &  your own spiritual health, your connection with God, then how can you fully give to help others?

___________________________

18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.  20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

* So we just had a lesson on this in HSM & I could do probably 5 blog posts just from this awesome message we heard.  The power of friendship.  The passion to never give up on a friend.  But I love so much in this part of this story that Jesus heals this man because of the friend's faith.  

Dont ever think that your desire & heart for your loved ones dont matter to God. We can't do the saving, but we can do all we can to get them to the feet of Jesus & Jesus will reward.

__________________________

27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

*2 words... all it took for Levi to follow Jesus.

You cant tell me that there wasn't a presence about Jesus that was just over whelming. Something exuding off of Him.  Something that just spiritually moved the hearts around Him.

__________________________

29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”  31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

* So were the Pharisees at the same place Jesus was?  How did they find out about him "eating with tax collectors & sinners"? You'd have to think they were right there in the same place they were giving Jesus grieve for being at. So much irony.  Pointing fingers & accusing of things & never once realizing what they are doing.

* Jesus answer... one of the biggest things I think people forget about Christians.  None of us are healthy. We all struggle with sin... we all need a "doctor".  It hurts my heart to think how some people think they need to be "good" or get a sin under control before they can come to church, or even more so - to Jesus... when its the complete opposite.  I know I need my Great Physician every single day.

_________________________

33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours (Jesus)  go on eating and drinking.”

* So John the Baptist had disciples... the Pharisees has disciples... Jesus has disciples.  

Had to look up the definition of "disciple" .... a follower or student of a teacher, leader, or philosopher

We see that people are following someone who is delivering good news.

We see that people are following people teaching the wrong way of God.

& we see people that are following the One True Living God.

... who are you following today?