His Personal Touch

Wednesday, February 12th
His Personal Touch
Nicole Goddard

How are we enjoying the Gospel of Luke? Luke’s gospel is a personal favorite because he spares little details! Likely due to his background of being a doctor, Luke ensures we get the whole story and context.

The story of the first disciples and the miracle of the fish is only shared in this great of detail in Luke’s gospel. Matthew & Mark only tell us that Jesus told them to follow him and become fisher of men, and the gospel of John doesn’t share this initial encounter between Simon and Jesus at all.

So why did Luke find it important to give us the full story of Simon’s calling?
I believe Luke wanted to share how personal Jesus’ call to Simon was. A fisherman by trade, Simon leaned on his experiences and observations of the sea’s conditions, following his gut feeling each day on where the fish might be.

That morning, Jesus caught Simon in a moment of defeat. He was tired and frustrated from a long night of night of nothing when Jesus told him to let down his net again. Out of respect for this Master teacher, Simon obliged.

And then God showed up BIG, overflowing the net with fish when Simon’s experience told him to expect nothing. God touched Simon in such a personal way, performing a miracle so impactful to Simon and his colleagues that he completely caught their hearts on the spot.

 And then Jesus told Simon, “From now on you will be catching people.” Then they brought their boats to land, left everything and followed him. Luke 5:10-11.

May we not miss God’s personal touches in our day and the mindful miracles he performs to get our attention. Especially when we might feel defeated or frustrated with our current circumstances.
 
Luke 5:1-16
GOD’S WORD Translation

Calling of the First Disciples
5 One day Jesus was standing by the Sea of Galilee. The people crowded around him as they listened to God’s word. 2 Jesus saw two boats on the shore. The fishermen had stepped out of them and were washing their nets. 3 So Jesus got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Then Jesus sat down and taught the crowd from the boat.

4 When he finished speaking, he told Simon, “Take the boat into deep water, and lower your nets to catch some fish.”

5 Simon answered, “Teacher, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll lower the nets.”

6 After the men had done this, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. Their partners came and filled both boats until the boats nearly sank.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he knelt in front of Jesus and said, “Leave me, Lord! I’m a sinful person!” 9 Simon and everyone who was with him were amazed to see the large number of fish they had caught. 10 James and John, who were Zebedee’s sons and Simon’s partners, were also amazed.

Jesus told Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will catch people instead of fish.”

11 Simon and his partners brought the boats to shore, left everything, and followed Jesus.

Jesus Cures a Man with a Skin Disease
12 One day Jesus was in a city where there was a man covered with a serious skin disease. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground. He begged Jesus, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean.” [a]

13 Jesus reached out, touched him, and said, “I want to. So be clean!” Immediately, his skin disease went away.

14 Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone. Instead, show yourself to the priest. Then offer the sacrifice as Moses commanded as proof to people that you are clean.”

15 The news about Jesus spread even more. Large crowds gathered to hear him and have their diseases cured. 16 But he would go away to places where he could be alone for prayer.