Before we start our study in Luke 5, we want to review the
last part of Luke 4 to get the background to our chat today. Remember Jesus had
begun His earthly ministry in the region of Galilee. On the northern shore of
the Sea of Galilee in the village of Capernaum after teaching in their
synagogue all day, He healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law and then others came
to be healed. Jesus continues to heal people and cast out demons late into the
night but early the next morning He went to a solitary place to pray and spend
time with His Father.
But the crowd found Him and urged Him to stay there in Capernaum,
but He responded that He must go to the other cities of Galilee and preach the
Kingdom of God. Luke 4 ends with this verse: “And He was preaching in the
synagogues of Galilee.” So, you can imagine that His fame begins to quickly
spread throughout that whole region and the crowds keep growing.
That brings us to the first verse in Luke 5. “So it was,
as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by
the Lake of Gennesaret”. In the Old Testament, the Sea of Galilee is called
the “Sea of Chinnereth” or “Chinneroth” (Numbers 34:11; Joshua 12:3; 13:27),
named after the town, which is also spelled Kinnereth (Joshua 19:35). Some
scholars think this name comes from a Hebrew word meaning “harp.” By the first
century, the Sea of Galilee had been renamed the “Lake of Gennesaret” or “Sea
of Gennesaret” (Luke 5:1). In John’s Gospel, the apostle calls it the “Sea of
Tiberias” (John 6:1; 21:1). Today, the “Lake of Gennesaret”, is better known by
the name, “Sea of Galilee”.
I believe that now Jesus was very close to the city of Capernaum
where Peter lived and had his fishing business. Over the past few days or weeks,
the crowds have been growing as Jesus has been preaching in the other cities of
that region. And now, they have assembled on the north shore of the Sea of
Galilee. I can picture Jesus with His back to the water teaching and preaching
to the multitude.
I have been to this very location many times on our tours
there. The acoustical properties of this area are remarkable. The still water behind
Jesus would have acted as a sounding board, a loudspeaker. It picks up a
speaker's voice and throws it up the beach and the hillside so that everyone
can hear what is being said even when it is spoken in a conversational tone of
voice. The Lord did not have to raise His voice to be heard by one and all.
Today, what I think is important to note is that “the
multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God.” No doubt many
were coming out of curiosity to see what was going on or to see a miracle. But Luke
notes here, this multitude were eager to hear the Word of God! They were hungry
for the Truth! Remember this was a region of darkness with a tremendous amount
of demonic activity. Which means people are hurting, broken and empty.
It is amazing how Luke wrote this. He could have said, “they
came to hear Jesus”. But he wrote, “To hear the word of God”. Think
about it. Jesus is the Living Word. Read John 1:1-14. Jesus is God, “the
Word that became flesh and dwelt among us”. The multitude came to the right
Person!
Today, I am convinced that there are multitudes of people in
this dark world of evil in which we live that are hungry for truth and
righteousness. Even in Matthew 9:35-38, we read how Jesus looked on these multitudes
with compassion for they were like sheep without a shepherd. “They were
weary and scattered…”. On another occasion in John 4, Jesus said the field
are ripe to be harvested.
Jesus tells His disciples to pray for the Lord of harvest
to send forth laborers to these multitude that are waiting for someone to tell
them about Truth and salvation! Someone is waiting for you today to share Jesus
with them! Will you pray, will you go, will you tell them?
God bless!
