My name is Sea of Galilee and I want to tell you about a human story that happened to me. I will be quoting different reliable source and I trust that you will enjoy it.
Listen what Docter Luke wrote about me:
Luke 5:1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.
Day was breaking over me, the Sea of Galilee. The disciples, weary with a night of fruitless toil, were still in their fishing boats on me the lake.
Jesus had come to spend a quiet hour by the waterside. In the early morning He hoped for a little season of rest from the multitude that followed Him day after day. But soon the people began to gather about Him.
I have never seen so many people flocking to my shores to listen to a preacher. This fact testifies to His “fame,”
Luke 5:1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.
You should have the faces of the people who lived off the fish in me the lake. They have never heard such inspiring, deep, serious and encouraging messages in all their lives.
His words were gracious, fraught with life-giving power, and the people hungered for them. How their hearts must have thrilled as they listen to Him who was the Word of God incarnate.
There were two boats approaching my shores. In one of them there was a man called John. I have seen him and his brother James as well as their father Mr. Zebedee on my waters.
Eventually John and his brother left their full time fishing business and became full time followers of Jesus as we will hear a little later. Listen to what he wrote at the end of his life concerning the words of Christ:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the> Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2 He was with God in the beginning.
1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
What the crowd heard that specific day from the lowly Galilean was actually the One who created them and who also created me, the beautiful lake.
But more than that. He created the world in which they lived. But even more amazing is the fact He created the beautiful stars that shine at night.
The One that spoke that day left His glory and creative power behind to come and tell them that God loves them and that He will one day come to take them home to enjoy life as it was meant to be enjoyed in the beginning without misery, pain and eventually the disgraceful cruel experience of death.
And John penned these beautiful words:
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Throughout my existence of thousands of years I saw millions of people coming to me to make a living by catching my fish, by I have never seen the Creator.
And this specific day I had the joy of seeing and hearing my Creator in humble human guise. What an unforgettable moment in my life.
MY LOCATION
Let me tell you a little of my location and the cosmopolitan population who lived on my outskirts:
In the time of Christ I, the Sea of Galilee, bordered on the richest and most populous district of all Palestine.
Galilee was populated chiefly with Jews, yet was quite some distance from Jerusalem, the focal center of Judaism.
Galilee was somewhat removed from the prejudice and animosity of Judaism, and in many respects was an ideal place for Christ to carry on His work.
Let’s continue this inspiring story. Listen what Jesus saw when He came to me:
Luke 5:2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.
One of the boats here mentioned belonged to Peter and Andrew; the other one, to James and John.
I called the fishermen “the sea folk.” The four fishermen soon to become fishers of men, as we will see in a moment.
Luke 5:2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.
The memory of the father Zebedee, his two sons and “hired servants” who had returned from their night’s fishing expedition are still in my mind.
Let me explain what washing nets mean:
It is a term used before hanging the nets up to dry. The expression “casting a net” means simply that the men were fishing, and might be considered as describing any phase of their occupation.
Caring for the nets was as important as actually using them to catch fish. Others of the group were “mending” their nets, that is, getting them in shape for the next fishing expedition.
But the body language of these seasoned fisherman spoke of failure. They did not catch one single fish.
They worked all night and failed. Has this happened to you?
But there was One who knew about their midnight crises and disappointment and He arrived on the scene.
Listen to what Jesus did next:
Luke 5:3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
This was the first time Jesus my Creator entered my waters in a boat. Why did He sit down?
Teachers customarily sat as they addressed their classes. This was true both rabbinical schools and of public instruction given by the rabbis in the Temple courts in Jerusalem. Those teaching in the synagogues also customarily sat as they taught (see on ch. 4:20).
This was the greatest message ever coming from Jesus on my waters.
What a scene was this for angels to contemplate; their glorious Commander, sitting in a fisherman’s boat. He is swayed to and fro by the restless waves, proclaiming the good news of salvation to the listening crowd that were pressing down to the water’s edge!
He who was the Honored of heaven was declaring the great things of His kingdom in the open air, to the common people. Yet He could have had no more fitting scene for His labours.
The lake, the mountains, the spreading fields, the sunlight flooding the earth, all furnished objects to illustrate His lessons and impress them upon the mind. And no lesson of Christ’s fell fruitless. Every message from His lips came to some soul as the word of eternal life.
NEXT TIME
After Jesus concluded His most inspiring message of a new kingdom that would be established, he gave a very strange command to Peter.
He and his brother Andrew, James and John, have just returned from a night of failure.
They have washed their nets and were going to “call it a day,” when Jesus no.
If you have said to yourself “Call it a day” Jesus may say to you what He said to four men who accepted their failure.