I should have listened to the advice of my friend from seminary and my wife when I went overseas to Israel, because had I done so I wouldn’t have gotten sick. Though I don’t like the taste of Coke or drink caffeine, they advised me to drink it in Israel as a proven way to prevent yourself from getting a stomach bug. The thing is he didn’t drink Coke or caffeine either, but he sad it worked when he went. Did I listen? Nope! So myself and several other people on the tour with me were sick on the day we were going to Peter’s house in Capernium of Galilee and then for a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. As we eventually pulled up to the Sea of Galilee, one man got off the bus and immediately started to throw up. Unfortunately I didn’t realize this until I got off the bus and smelt what he threw up. This caused me to gag and immediately take off running towards to Sea of Galilee to throw up myself. Unable to make it to the Sea of Galilee in time, I ended up throwing up twice on this huge bolder like rock that was on the way. In this picture I look pensive and deep in spiritual thought as I look over the Sea of Galilee, but I’m also leaning on the side of the boat in case I needed to throw up again!
The scene of me running a few yards towards the Sea of Galilee to throw up is often what comes to my mind when I read about it in the Bible. However, this Sea and the regions surrounding it, was the scenes of much of Jesus’ ministry and particularly the one we’ll explore today in Luke 5. Now as this scene unfolds in Matthew 4:18-22 and in Mark 1:16-20, you may be left to think that Jesus just met and called His first disciples right there by the shore of the Sea of Galilee. However, contrary to popular belief, this isn’t the first time Jesus has met or called these fishermen; Peter, Andrew, James and John. As we’ve already seen in John chapter 1, Jesus has already called them the first time in Judea by the Jordan 18 months prior, as recorded only in the Gospel of John. As a matter of fact, by the time we come to this scene by the shore they’ve been following Jesus part time for 18 months. They had already taken the first 2 steps on Jesus’ discipleship pathway and were now about to be introduced to the 3rd step.
And as we’ve been on this journey with Jesus in this series, maybe you have started to settle into the love of Christ as your compelling Why for life and now you’re starting to take what it means to follow Jesus seriously. If so, that’s wonderful! Yet by now you might be asking, “Ok, so what’s next?” When the love of Christ is the Why for your life, then what’s the third step He leads your life into? Well, if you want to find out, then Come with me to the shore of the Sea of Galilee as the water gently splashes on our feet while we stand in the midst of a crowd that have pressed together to hear Jesus teach. It’s so crowded that Jesus pauses to look down the shore at two fishermen’s boats and some fishermen wash their nets next to it. Now let’s enter the story beginning in verse 3…
CJ Cousins
CJ is a follower of Jesus, husband, father, speaker/author and Lead Pastor for Stone Mountain SDA Church, near Atlanta, GA.
