The Holy One, the Son of God, Master, Lord - Not if, When

Luke 4:31-5:11(NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible(link available on links page)

³¹ And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; ³² and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority. ³³ In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” ³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm. ³⁶ And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” ³⁷ And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.

Many Are Healed

³⁸ Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. ³⁹ And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.

⁴⁰ While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. ⁴¹ Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.

⁴² When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. ⁴³ But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”

⁴⁴ So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

The First Disciples

5 Now 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; ² and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. ⁴ When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” ⁶ When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; ⁷ 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. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

We see in today's text, in each of these accounts, there is a recognition of who Jesus is. In the first account the demon calls Him by name, Jesus of Nazareth. Then it adds, " I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”  In the next account we see again the recognition of Jesus authority and identity.

 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. ³⁹ And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.

⁴⁰ While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. ⁴¹ Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.

The demons recognize and obey Jesus. The fever obeys Jesus. Philippians 2:9-11 says:   God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.     Every knee will bow, those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. There is no escaping that there is a God and Jesus is His Son and is Lord. All of creation and every spirit recognizes who Jesus is.  James 2:19 says:   You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

All of creation and every spirit is subject to the Lord Jesus Christ. Only we have been given a free will to choose how we will respond to Jesus, the Holy One, the Son of God.  In today's text we see Simon Peter respond to Jesus request to use his boat to be able to teach the crowds. There is no asking why, no excuses made, simply obedience and compliance to the will and way of the Lord. When Jesus finishes teaching He says, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”     Here Simon begins to have some reluctance. He is responding to Jesus based on his past experience.    He responds to Jesus in obedience, recognizing Jesus authority as master.       Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”  

Though his expectations may have been low, his faith was based on what he knew and had experienced, Simon's obedience was rewarded.    When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; ⁷ 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. 

It is through this bountiful provision that Simon gets a full revelation of who Jesus is.    He fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”  Simon now recognizes and acknowledges that Jesus is Lord. At that same time he is also aware of his condition, he says I am a sinful man. At the revelation of Jesus, the recognition that He is the Holy One, the Son of God, the Lord, we too become aware of our condition.  Amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken.   Jesus does amazing things in the world and in our lives every day. These  amazing things, these signs are to confirm His word and His identity.  

We and every individual has a choice in how we respond to the revelation that Jesus is the Christ. Simon, James and John had just experienced their most successful career acheivment. Yet their response to Jesus was that they  left everything and followed Him.

Jesus authority, His identity is not dependent on our response or our acknowledgment. Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings whether we acknowledge it or not.  One day,  every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord . For each person the choice is not whether Jesus is Lord, it is when He is Lord.

If you have not made that choice yet, I pray that today would be the day you decide to follow Him. If you are praying for a loved one or loved ones to make that choice. Pray that they would be given spiritual discernment. Every spirit recognizes that Jesus is the Christ and at the revelation of Christ they will be aware of their condition.  We can not choose for others each one must choose for themselves when they will bow and call Jesus Lord.

Increase Lord Jesus in our midst. May people see with amazement the things You do. May it be according to Your will that none should perish but rather all come to repentance. Simon, James and John said yes Lord. I say yes Lord. May all You have called say yes Lord. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done  on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen