Trinity 5

Luke 5:1-11 - Trinity Five - June 26, 2016
At Your Word

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At your word.  This is the Christian response to Jesus.  The crowds gathered to hear him.  His word is truth.  That is why we respond as we do.

Peter believed what we do about the words that Jesus preached.  What he spoke was God’s word.  What he taught was true and reliable.  Peter knew this.  So he listened to Jesus.  Peter knew furthermore that it was good also for the people to hear what Jesus had to say.  So there was no question about what to do when Jesus asked him to push out his boat a little so he might more effectively preach to the large crowd gathered at the edge of the lake.  Peter gladly supported the Lord in his preaching of the kingdom of God.  He did this by contributing what he had – much as we do when we give our offerings. 

Trinity 5

Luke 5:1-11 - Trinity V - August 26, 2012
God’s Word Is Powerful toward Sinners

Jesus had been preaching in the Synagogues of Galilee; he had been healing many sicknesses, and casting out demons.  Jesus was doing what we all picture Jesus spending his time doing.  But everything he did served one central purpose: he taught.  In the miracles that Jesus performed, he always taught something.  And likewise, when he taught, Jesus often accompanied his instruction with miraculous signs to confirm his teaching.  And so the two went hand in hand: his teaching and his acts of divine strength.  His miracles were never just to wow the crowds, but always indicated and revealed who he was, what he had come to accomplish, and how these things made known the Father’s will toward them.  God doesn’t reveal his strength just to flex his muscles for his own sake.  No, he shows his strength in order to teach us that he intends to use his infinite power to save us.  And so Jesus’ miracles teach us the same.  That is, they teach us to listen to his word, because it is there that we learn the reason and purpose for everything God does.