“Jesus Is Merciful” (Luke 5:10b-11)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/26/2026 9:59 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  “Jesus Is Merciful”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 5:10b-11

            Message of the verses:  “Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”  When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.”

            This morning I will be looking at the last section in chapter 26 of John MacArthur’s first commentary on the gospel of Luke, and I think that he has written four books on his commentary of Luke, so that means once we get through chapter five of Luke, which ends this first commentary, that we will have three more books to look at.  They go like this Book on, Luke 1-5; book 2, Luke 6-10; book three, 11-17; book 4, 18-24.

            He begins his commentary on this section by writing “In the terror of the recognition of his sinfulness, Peter wanted to send the Lord away, but Jesus wanted to draw Peter closer.  The very point at which the sinner feels the most alienation is the point at which the Savior seeks reconciliation.  In Psalm 51:17 David wrote, ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.’” Just a reminder that this Psalm, along with Psalm 32 were written by David after his sin with Bathsheba, where afterwards David made sure that her husband was killed so he could marry her.  One more thing we see in the Word of God that it speaks of this sin as David sinned, but when he numbered the tribes of Israel for his own pride was involved in that we see that the Bible says David sinned greatly.  Ok back to MacArthur’s comments “Through the prophet Isaiah God declared, ‘For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite’’(Isa. 57:15; cf. 66:2).”  Isaiah 66:2 “2  All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”  Back to MacArthur’s commentary: “At their moment of deepest alienation when, overwhelmed by their sinfulness, Peter, James, and John sought to flee, Jesus reached out to pull them to Himself.  This is the glorious moment of their repentance.  He did the same with Isaiah who, in the presence of God, cursed his own sinfulness and deemed himself unworthy to be in the presence of the Holy One.  But the Lord sought to cleans him and use him as His instrument (Isa. 6:5-9).”

(Isa. 6:5-9)

“5 ¶  And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" 6  Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7  And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." 8  And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me."  9 ¶  And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "’Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’”

            “Seeking to calm and reassure him, Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear.”  There was no need for him and his companions to be terrified.  There is a proper, healthy fear of God, expressed for instance in Deuteronomy 13:4: ‘You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him and cling to Him.’  That reverential fear is different from the terror of the demons or the sinner, who fears the judgment of God and seeks to flee from His presence (cf. Rev. 6:15-17); it is the fear of love, awe, and adoration that causes the believer to cling to the ‘Father of mercies’ (2 Cor. 1:3) and serve and obey Him (cf. Deut. 10:12-13; 1 Sam. 12:24).  The proper fear of the Lord results in wisdom (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 9:10) and worship (Ps. 2:11).

(cf. Rev. 6:15-17)

15  Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16  calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

            “Mercy would take them from cowering in fear to catching men (zogreo) which literally means, ‘to capture alive.’  They had spent their lives catching fish for the purpose of killing them; now they would spend the rest of their lives catching men to give them life.  Isaiah feared he would be destroyed, but instead was called to preach (Isa. 6:8-11).  John feared that he would be destroyed, but instead was called to write (Rev. 1:19).”

(Rev. 1:19)

“19  Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.”

“Divine grace and mercy moved Peter, James, and John from cringing fear of judgment to evangelizing the lost, laying the groundwork for the great commission.

            “This was Jesus’ formal and permanent call of these three men to full-time discipleship, so when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him (cf. vv. 27, 28; 9:23, 49, 57, 59, 61; 18:22, 28, 43).  At the very pinnacle of their earthly careers, having just made the greatest catch of fish ever seen on that lake, they abandoned their boats, turned their backs on their fishing business, left everything, and followed Jesus (cf. Luke 9:23-25).”

(cf. Luke 9:23-25)

“23  And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25  For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”

            “Those who recognize their sinful unworthiness and embrace Jesus as the truthful, omniscient, omnipotent, holy, and merciful God are the ones He reconciles to Himself.  He forgives their sin, takes away their fear of judgment that sin causes, and commissions them to the great task of evangelization, of catching men alive for the kingdom of God.”

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  Evangelization is one of the reasons that I spend time studying, and writing my Spiritual Diaries each and everyday.  It is my desire when I get to heaven, hopefully alive at the rapture of the Church, that I will meet many people who surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ, as their Savior and Lord after the Holy Spirit uses some of these Spiritual Diaries to call them to the Lord.  That surely will be a great day!

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting that the Lord will show us the way to get help for Sandy’s cancer as we now have two options, along with some new meds that I pray will help her.

5/26/2026 10:52 AM

 

 

"Jesus is Holy" (Luke 5:8-10a)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/25/2026 10:01 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  “Jesus Is Holy”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                  Reference:  Luke 5:8-10a

            Message of the verses:  “8But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.”

            Now we have been just looking at how the Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to be the omniscient, omnipotent God of the universe.  When Simon Peter saw the evidence of that in the miraculous catch of fish, he was overwhelmed with the realization that he was face-to-face with Holy God.  Peter fully aware that if he saw deity, deity saw him too, and realizing that the One who could see the depths of the lake could see the depths of his heart, and not only Peter’s hearts, but all hearts too.  So Peter felt exposed, and that is what everyone should feel too.  Peter immediately fell down at Jesus’ feet, actually His knees and he said to Jesus “God away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”  No longer did Peter use the respectful term epistates as he used in verse five, but he used kurios, by which he means, “God.”  Now as a devout Jew, Peter knew that God alone was to be worshiped as referenced in Luke 4:8 and Deut. 6:13), yet he fell down before Jesus in the posture of a worshiper.  The Lord’s masterful teaching in the synagogue, His power as He cast out a demon, and also He healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and then above all the stunning catch of fish for which there was no human explanation, had brought Peter to the place where Jesus wanted him—to the recognition of his sinfulness.  One has to realize that he or she is a sinner before they realize their need for salvation, and Jesus is the way the truth and the life, the only One who can save a person.  Peter indeed did realize this by the catch of fish Jesus provided for them.  Whatever he may have thought about Jesus before this incident, Peter had no doubt now that He was God, and he recognized his own unworthiness to be in the Lord’s presence.  Peter’s attitude was like that of the repentant tax collector who, overwhelmed by his sinfulness, ‘was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” (Luke 18:13).

            MacArthur writes “Peter’s response of fear and penitence is typical of those in the presence of God.  Abraham described himself as ‘dust and ashes’ (Gen. 18:27); Job humbly said, ‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes’ (Job. 42:5-6); after encountering the angel of the Lord (the preincarnate Christ) Samson’s father ‘Manoah said to his wife, ‘We will surely die, for we have seen God’’ (Judges 13:22); when the Israelites ‘perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain [Mount Sinai] smoking…they trembled and stood at a distance.  Then they said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die’’ (Exodus 20:18-19); after seeing a vision of God in His heavenly temple, Isaiah cried out in terror, ‘ Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts’ (Isaiah 6:5); after he saw a vision of God, Ezekiel fell on his face (Ezekiel 1:28); when the apostle John saw the glorified Christ, he ‘fell at His feet like a dead man’ (Rev. 1:17).

            “The amazement that had seized Peter was shared by all his companions, who were equally overwhelmed by the catch of fish which they had taken.  Luke specifically names James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.  Along with Peter, they would form the inner core group of the apostles.  Later, all three would see an even more awe-inspiring revelation of Christ’s divine glory at the transfiguration (Matt. 17: 1-6).  That incident also traumatized them, and ‘they fell face down to the ground and were terrified’ (v. 6).”

            I pray that all who are believers who read this SD will get a renewed spirit of remembrance as to when they became a born-again believer in Jesus Christ.  I remember a story that I heard a long time ago about a man who went fishing in a lake, and a young man came up to him and asked him why he was fishing in the lake because there were no fish in it.  Well the man did catch fish in that lake, and this illustrates many who have been born-again a while back but have kind of fell into not being faithful to the Lord and so they are not fishing in the lake full of fish, thinking nothing is in there.  Start fishing (in the Word of God) so that the Holy Spirit of God will bring revival in your heart.

5/25/2026 10:36 PM

“Jesus Is Omnipotent” (Luke 5:6b-7)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/25/2026 10:46 AM

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  “Jesus Is Omnipotent”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                   Reference:  Luke 5:6b-7

            Message of the verses:  “and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them.  And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.”

            When I look at the title of this SD “Jesus Is Omnipotent” I want to know what that word means, and so let us look at several words that help us understand that word.  “Invincible, Almighty, Supreme, All-Powerful, Godlike,”  God is the only one who can be described with these words. 

            Jesus knew the location of the fish, and this demonstrated Jesus’ omniscience, but the staggering, unprecedented size of the catch revealed His omnipotence.  Peter and the others were shocked and amazed at the enormous number of fish, knowing that there was no possible human explanation for it.  Now, perhaps if this was the first time you have read this section from the Word of God you may have a couple of things that go through your mind.  Perhaps you would think that this could not happen, and think that the Bible is false.  Or perhaps you would be in wonder to think that this kind of thing could happen.  Now if this verse, and the truth of it has been looked at by you many times you may just not get the greatness of what the Lord Jesus Christ did hear.  Perhaps it is time to again be in awe of who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what He just did here.  Now nothing like this had ever happened before; no catch had been anywhere near this size.  They were witnessing a display of divine power as the Lord gathered together in one location the vast number of fish that were now causing their nets…to break.  This caused Peter and his crew to become desperately wondering what they could do, and so they signaled to their partners in the other boat (v. 7) for them to come and help them.  Hurrying to their partners’ assistance, the other boat then came alongside Peter’s and working frantically, the crews filled both of the boats.  But so enormous was the catch that both boats began to sink because of the staggering weight of the fish.

            John MacArthur writes:  “As they knew from the Old Testament, God not only created the world, but also controls it.  Nehemiah prayed, ‘You alone are the Lord.  You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them.  You give life to all of them and the heavenly hosts bows down before You.  You are the Lord God’ (Nehemiah 9:6-7).  Extolling the Lord’s sovereign control over His creation the psalmist wrote,

“24 Lord, how many are Your works!
^[In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your possessions.
²⁵ There is the sea, great and broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
²⁶ The ships move along there,
And Leviathan, which You have formed to have fun in it.

²⁷ They all wait for You
To give them their food in due season.
²⁸ You give to them, they gather it up;
You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
²⁹ You hide Your face, they are terrified;
You take away their breath, they perish
And return to their dust.
³⁰ You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground.”

In Isaiah 50:2b, God declared, “Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst.’  Even the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar acknowledge God’s sovereign control over all of His creation:  ‘All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’’(Dan. 4:35).

            Those shocked, amazed, and frightened fishermen knew that they were witnessing confirmation of the truth that ‘power belongs to God’ (Psalm 62:11).

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  When my son was born he had a bad heart, really bad, and we knew from right after he was born that he would have to have open heart surgery.  When he was 18 months old he had that open heart surgery as the took his heart out of his chest, as he was on a device to keep him breathing and the blood flowing.  As one may expect there was much prayer that was going before, during, and after his surgery. I believe to this day that this was done through the power of God, to give those surgeons the ability to do what was needed to be done in order to give healing to my son.  As I look at this section from Luke’s gospel I don’t want to miss out on knowing the all powerfulness of God, to look over it because I have read it before.  God is all powerful and can do as He wants to do, and what He does is all in His will.  I am still so very thankful for the successful surgery my son got when he was 18 months old.  He is married, and has three children of his own, one in college, and two in high school.

My Steps of Faith for Today: It is my prayer for my wife that the Lord will do a miracle for her, and for the rest of the family, that God will give wisdom to us to do the correct thing in order to defeat that devilish disease of cancer.

5/25/2026 11:23 AM

 

“Jesus Is Omniscient” (Luke 5:4-6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/24/2026 8:09 PM

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  “Jesus Is Omniscient”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                    Reference:  Luke 5:4-6a

Message of the verses:  “4When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish,”

            Now when anyone, especially a professional fisherman goes out to fish the challenge always facing them is finding the fish.  Even experienced fisherman, using the latest fish-finding sonar, often come up empty, and there is a lot of high-tech fishing things on the market today.  The Lord Jesus Christ, however, did not need any of this high-tech fishing gear for He knew exactly where the fish were.  As the One who created everything as seen in John 1:3; Col. 1:16; and Heb. 1:2, He has an exhaustive knowledge of all creatures—even to the point of knowing when a sparrow falls to the ground (Matt. 10:29)—since “there is no creature hidden from His sight” (Heb. 4:13).  As the story continues to unfold, Jesus’ omniscience becomes evident as we will see.

John 1:3; Col. 1:16; and Heb. 1:2

3  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

“16  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

“2  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

            John MacArthur writes:  “When He had finished speaking to the crowd, Jesus said to Simon (the verb is a second person singular), ‘Put out into the deep water and then said to the entire crew let down (this verb is a second personal plural) your nets for a catch.’  The nets were not the small ones used by individuals fishing from the shore or in shallow water (cf. Matt. 4:18) but large nets similar to modern seines, and used for fishing in deeper water on the lake.”

(cf. Matt. 4:18)

“18 ¶  While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.”

            “Perhaps surprised that a carpenter would presume to tell experienced fisherman how to fish, Simon answered the Lord and said, ‘Master (epistates; ‘chief,’ ‘commander’; a respectful title for one in authority, but not an affirmation of deity), we worked hard all night (when, as noted above, fishing was usually done) and caught nothing.’   Why then should He expect them to catch fish in the middle of the day?  Besides, letting down the large nets and hauling them in was hard work.  But then again, this was no ordinary carpenter, but one who had healed his mother-in-law, so Peter added, ‘but I will do as You say and let down the nets.’

            “If Jesus’ command surprised them, the result utterly dumfounded them.  When they had let down the nets, much to their amazement they enclosed a great quantity of fish.  Nothing in their experience could have prepared them for such an unheard catch of fish in the middle of the day.  But the omniscient Savior knew exactly where the fish were.  Later He would tell Peter where to find one specific fish with a specific coin in it mouth (Matt. 17:27).”

(Matt. 17:27)

“27  However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.’”

“And after His resurrection, the Lord would once again tell Peter and his companions where to let down their nets for a huge catch of fish (John 21:1-6).”

(John 21:1-6)

“  1 ¶  After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2  Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3  Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4  Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5  Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6  He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.”

            “Knowing where the fish in the Sea of Galilee were is merely one demonstration of Jesus’ omniscience.  He described exactly the man who would lead Peter and John to the upper room where they would celebrate the Last Supper (Luke 22:8-12).  His supernatural knowledge of Nathanael’s whereabouts (John 1:47-48) led Nathanael to exclaim, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel’ (v. 49).  He was not deceived by the shallow, superficial, nonsaving professions of faith on the part of some, because ‘He Himself knew what was in man’ (John 2:25).  He ‘knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him’ (John 6:64).  Christ’s omniscience was convincing proof of His deity, and caused the disciples to say, ‘Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by we believe that You came from God’ (John 16:30; cf. 21:17).  Those times when Jesus voluntarily restricted His omniscience (e.g., Matt. 24:36; Mark 11:13; Luke 8:45-46) are consistent with His submission to the Father during His incarnation.”

(e.g., Matt. 24:36; Mark 11:13; Luke 8:45-46)

“36  "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

“13  And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.”

“45  And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46  But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.’”

5/24/2026 8:51 PM

 

PT-3 “Jesus Is The Source Of Truth” (Luke 5:1-3)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/24/2026 8:08 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-3 “Jesus Is The Source Of Truth”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                    Reference:  Luke 5:1-3)

            Message of the verses:  “1Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat.”

            I want to pick up where I left off last night and begin to write that Jesus being pressed against the water on that crowded shore, He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake.  Now these were fishing boats, and not some small row boats.  They were large enough to hold Jesus and the twelve disciples as see in Matthew 8:23-24; 14:22-23; Mark 6:31-32; 8:10; cf. John 21:2-3 which is where seven of the disciples were in a boat.  Now these particular boats were beached or anchored to the shore, and the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets in preparation for the next night’s fishing.  Fishing on the Sea of Galilee was generally done at night, and the fishermen washed and repaired their nets and worked on their boats and equipment during the day.

            Now to create some space between Himself and the crowd that was shoving and jostling for position around Him, Jesus got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s.  Perhaps the others belonged to James and John.  The Lord’s decision to enter that particular boat was not a random one; Jesus did nothing without purpose.  The time had come for Him to move not only into Peter’s boat, but more intensely into his life, along with the other two who would become His inner circle, James and John, to lift them to the highest level of commitment.

            MacArthur writes “Since the Lord had first encountered Peter (John 1:41-42) when his brother Abdrew brought Peter to Him they, along with John (the unnamed second disciple of John the Baptist referred to in v. 35) began their initial voluntary interest in following Jesus as the Messiah.  The Lord’s first actual calling of Peter, along with Andrew, James, and John (Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20), drew them in as men chosen by the Lord to be followers of Him.  In this passage, Luke alone records their final call, when they abandoned their fishing business and became permanent, full-time disciples of Jesus.  The Lord targeted Peter in particular, since he would be the recognized leader of the Twelve (his name is first on all four New Testament lists of the apostles) and have a great influence on the rest (cf. John 21:3).

            “After entering Peter’s boat, Jesus asked him to put out a little way from the land.  Being on the water freed Jesus from being jostled by the crowd, allowed the people to see Him better, and may have provided better acoustics, since the flat, calm surface of the lake would to some extent amplify the sound of His voice.  After the boat was moved a short distance from the shore and anchored n place, Jesus sat down (as rabbis traditionally did when teaching; cf. 4:20; Matt. 5:1; 13:1; John 8:2) and began teaching the people from the boat (cf. Matt. 13:2).  No matter what the exigencies or difficulties, Jesus would not be deterred from preaching the Word of God, which the Father had sent Him to do (4:43; Mark 1:38).”

            This ends the section and this evening I begin to look at “Jesus Is Omniscient.”  5/24/2026 8:46 AM

 

PT-2 “Jesus Is The Source Of Truth” (Luke 5:1-3)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/23/2026 8:54 PM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-2 “Jesus Is The Source Of Truth”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                    Reference:  Luke 5:1-3)

            Message of the verses:  “1Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat.”

            I want to continue to look at these verses in this evening’s SD.

            Now on this occasion, the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God as He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.  Now the lake, more commonly known as the Sea of Galilee as the Old Testament refers to it as the Sea of Chinnereth found in Numbers 34:11; Josh. 13:27 or also in John 6:1; 21:1, the name by which it was known when he wrote), is a lake nearly 700 feet below sea level, that is the dominant geographical feature of the entire region of Galilee.  Now let me take a moment to quote the two verses from John’s Gospel.

John 6:1; 21:1

“1 ¶  After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.”

“1 ¶  After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.”

            The name Gennesaret derives from the fertile plain of that name to the northwest of the lake.  The primary source of water for the Sea of Galilee is the Jordan River, which arises from several sources near Mount Hermon which is 9,200 feet above sea level, and it flows into the lake from the north.  The enlarged Jordan River exists the southern end of the lake, and flows south into the Dead Sea. 

            As I study the different gospels I find that the crowds were always eager crowds that surged around Jesus, pushing Him toward the water’s edge.  What captured their attention was Jesus’ preaching of the word of God, but also the chance to see one of His many miracles done.  MacArthur writes “The term is not here a synonym for the Bible as it commonly is in Christian circles today. The phrase of God is a subjective genitive in the Greek, indicating source; the people were listening to Jesus speak the word that came directly from God.  When Jesus spoke, they literally heard God speaking.  The subject was the good news of salvation; the truth about entering the kingdom of God.  It was the glorious truth that the spiritually poor could be made rich; the spiritual prisoners set free; the spiritually blind given sight; and the spiritually oppressed delivered from their bondage…It was the good news of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.  ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, ‘Jesus declared, ‘he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life’ (John 5:24).

            “Jesus’ teaching and preaching was strikingly different than that of the rabbis, whose authority was connected to quoting other rabbis.” (Perhaps like the blind leading the blind!) “But Jesus, being God spoke the long-awaited divine revelation of the kingdom, which could be entered through faith in Him.  Jesus did not speak as an Old Testament scholar or as a rabbinic tradition; it was the voice of God.  Jesus was the Son of God; God in human flesh, and when He spoke He spoke with personal divine authority (Matt. 7:29; Mark 1:27).”

(Matt. 7:29; Mark 1:27)

“29  for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

“27  And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’”

            “Jesus is truth incarnate, since God is true (Ps. 31:5; Isa. 65:16).  His word is an expression of His truth (Ps. 138:2).”

(Ps. 31:5; Isa. 65:16)

“5  Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.”

“16  So that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.”

(Ps. 138:2)

“2  I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.”

“In John 14:6, Jesus declared ‘I am the way, and the truth and the life.’  Earlier in his gospel the apostle John wrote of Him, ‘And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the one begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth….For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ’ (1:14, 17).

            “Jesus repeatedly taught that He had been sent by God and thus spoke the truth.  In John 7:16, He ‘answered [the Jewish religious leaders] and said, ‘My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.’”  Later ‘Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free’’(John 8:31-32).  ‘Because I speak the truth,’ He told the Jewish leaders, ‘you do not believe Me.  Which one of you convicts Me of sin”  If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?’ (John 8:45-46).  In John 12:49-50, Jesus again affirmed that He spoke exactly `as the Father commanded Him: ‘For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.  I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

5/23/2026 9:30 PM

 

PT-1 “Jesus Is The Source Of Truth” (Luke 5:1-3)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/23/2026 11:54 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-1 “Jesus Is The Source Of Truth”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                    Reference:  Luke 5:1-3)

            Message of the verses:  “1Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat.”

            This morning I begin to look at these verses with the help of John MacArthur’s commentary, and I do need to mention that this may take a number of SD’s to get through it, but hopefully all who read it will learn and grow in the Lord as a result of reading it.

            The first thing we want to look at is the phrase now it happens, and this indicates that an indefinite amount of time had passed since the events that were recorded in Luke 4:38-44.  It is not know what happened during that time period.  We do know that the Lord was still in Galilee, and according to Luke 4:44 He was preaching, healing, and also casting out demons (vv. 40-41), which, understandably, resulted in large crowds following Him as seen in verses (42; cf. 4. 14:5; 5:15; 6:17; 7:11-12; 24:8, 42, 45; 9:11, 37; 11:14, 29;12:1, 54; 14:25).  MacArthur adds “Writing later in the first century, the Jewish historian Josephus estimated the population of Galilee at about three million, which allows for the vast size of the crowds that followed Jesus.)  In a day when no media existed, gifted communicators drew huge crowds, and Jesus was obviously unparalleled (John 7:46).”

(John 7:46)

“46  The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

            Now as I read about all of the healings that Jesus did, and of course many of them were not told about, but many were the ones that the Holy Spirit wanted to put into the Word of God.  What I am wondering about is how many of those healed became true believers in Jesus Christ, for we read in the book of Acts that after Jesus had returned into heaven that there were only 120 people in this room where they were told to wait until the Holy Spirit would come upon them.  They did wait and once that event happened the disciples went out into the city of Jerusalem when Peter gave the very first sermon of the church age; (Acts 2:41).

(Acts 2:41)

“41  So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

            Now think about this for a moment, think about the church going from 120 to an addition of 3,000 people who just received Christ as their Lord and Savior, but as mentioned when Jesus was preaching and doing miracles it seems to me that for the most part that those who received healing did not truly become believers.  I think about the young blind man in the 9^th chapter of John’s gospel and we know from that story that he truly did become a believer.  The demoniac that is seen in different Gospels, and he became a true believer.  Think about two other times when Jesus feed the five thousands, and then the 4000 and we are not clear as to any of them being truly saved.  After the feeding of the 5000 the people tried to come and make Jesus their King so that as they went out and would fight against the Romans, they would not have to worry about being fed, and if someone got killed then Jesus could bring them back to life to go out and fight another day.  These people had it wrong as to why Jesus came to earth, as He came to teach and preach, but most of all to die on the cross for the salvation of those who would come to Him, asking that their sins would be forgiven so that they then could have eternal life.  As I was studying about the movements that were and are still going on, and I am talking about healings it seems to me that the most important thing that should be going on is the preaching of the Word of God and not about healings, for if not many became believers when Jesus was on earth teaching, preaching and healing many, many people that not many of them would get saved, how many will become saved from this movement that is going on.  When I first became a believer and was introduced to this kind of charismatic movement the friend that that was mentoring me told me that God heals you every time except the last time.  I think that I will end this SD for this morning and hopefully pick up where I am leaving of in this evening’s SD.

Spiritual Meaning for My Life today:  It is my desire to tell the truth about what I write and put on my Spiritual Diaries, and then allow the Holy Spirit of God to use what I write to bring honor and glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord to led me to the right people that will be able to help my wife as she battles the cancer in her body.  I know that all of us, including believers and non-believers have an expiration date, and we don’t know when it will be, but I believe we are to continue to do what we can when we are ill to have the illness taken care of and leave the results up to the Lord.

5/23/2026 12:34 PM