I. PREVIOUS AND LESS FORMAL CALL. Our Lord now calls to his side the first four disciples - Andrew and John, Peter and James. With the former pair he had already made acquaintance when they were disciples of John the Baptist. The account which St. John in his Gospel gives of the matter is complementary, and throws light on it, enabling us to understand more clearly how it was that these two brethren showed such alacrity and readiness in now obeying the Saviour's more formal call, and in following him. Andrew was one of the two disciples whose attention the Baptist directed to Jesus as "the Lamb of God," and John was in all probability the other, though, with his usual reserve, he does not name himself in the narrative. These two were privileged to spend a day with Christ, by special invitation, from ten o'clock in the morning, if we adopt the modern reckoning; otherwise from four p.m. Andrew was the means of bringing his brother Simon Peter to Christ, and John may have rendered the same signal service to his brother James. In the interval between the first and this more formal call, these disciples had returned to their daily duties, biding their time till the Master would require their more special and active services.

II. THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT OF ANDREW. The Christian spirit is in its very nature missionary. As soon as Andrew, with whom in one sense the Christian Church begins, got good for his own soul, he wished to share it with others; soon as he found Christ for himself, he set about making him known to others. His charity, too, begins at home, for he does not rest satisfied with the great discovery he had been favored with, nor does he selfishly keep it to himself, he immediately goes in quest of his own brother, to communicate to him the good news. But though charity in his case began at home, it did not confine itself to such narrow domestic limits. On two other occasions we find Andrew similarly employed in bringing persons to Christ. It was he that brought the lad with the five barley loaves and the two small fishes to Christ, as we read in John 6:8. Not only so; it was Andrew who, in company with his townsman Philip, introduced to the Saviour those Greeks who, having come up to worship at the feast, expressed their earnest wish for that interview, saying, "Sir, we would see Jesus." And now that Andrew, in the fullness of his brotherly affection, had brought Peter to Christ, Andrew and Peter were bound together ever after, in a dearer, because a double, bond of brotherhood. Here is an example worthy of imitation, and that not only by the brethren of the same family, but by dwellers in the same neighborhood and members of the same community, who may have shared with us in the amusements of childhood or the employments of youth, or who still walk side by side with us in manhood on the journey of life. Nay, as far as in us lies, by proxy, if not in person, we must seek to be instrumental in brining our fellow-creatures of every name and clime to the foot of the cross, and in thus winning the world for Christ.

III. THE EMPLOYMENT OF THESE DISCIPLES. While Andrew and Peter were brothers and joint-occupants of the same dwelling - as we learn from ver. 29, owing to St. Mark's attention, to minute details - we are informed by St. Luke that James and John were partners in trade (κοινωνοί), i.e. in a sort of fishing firm, with Simon, and so sharers in the general profits of the little company. They were also fellow-workers, for they are called, some verses earlier in the same chapter, sharers in the work. Diligence in business, whatever our employment may be, is an important duty, and one which God is sure to acknowledge and bless; while Satan is ever ready to find mischief for idle hands to do. Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, when the angel of the Lord, appearing unto him in that bush that burned with fire and yet was not consumed, sent him to bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt. Gideon was threshing wheat by the wine-press, to hide it, when he was summoned to save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Saul was making search for the lost asses of his father, when he was taken by Samuel and anointed with oil to be captain over the Lord's inheritance. David was tending a few sheep in the wilderness, when God called him to the high office of shepherd of his people Israel. Elisha was "ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth," when Elijah cast his mantle upon him in token of his becoming his assistant and successor in the prophetic office.

IV. THE PLACE OF THEIR WORK.

1. Name of the lake. "The Lake of Gennesaret," as St. Luke accurately calls this sheet of water so famous in sacred story, is termed" the Sea of Galilee" by St. Matthew and St. Mark, "the Sea of Tiberias" also by St. John, and in the Old Testament "the Sea of Chinnereth," i.e. harp-like in shape, of which "Gennesaret" may be a corruption, if the latter word be not derived from two Hebrew words meaning "gardens of princes" (ganne satire) or "garden of Sharon" (gan sharon); while it gets the designation "of Galilee" from the province in which it is situated and that of " Tiberias" from the Roman emperor Tiberias, in compliment to whom the town Tiberias was so named by Herod Antipas, its founder. From this, too, comes the modern name by which the lake is sometimes named Bahr-al-Tabariyeh.

2. The shape and size of the lake. We have already referred to its shape as resembling a harp. It is somewhat oval, and very like a pear in form; while its length is twelve miles and a quarter by six and three quarters in breadth at its widest part. The depression of the lake is remarkable - . between six hundred and seven hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea. Its waters, reflecting the blue of the sky above, are clear, transparent, and sweet to the taste; while all sorts of fish, largely contributed by the numerous streams that enter it, abound therein.

3. Scenery and surroundings. The margin of the lake is surrounded by a level beach, here covered with smooth sand or small shells, there strewn with coarser shingle, and discernible as a white line encompassing the lake. This beach (αἰγιαλός), so often mentioned in the Gospels, while laved on one side by the bright waters of the lake, is fringed on the other side in many parts by shrubs and oleanders with their rosy-red blossoms. From this shore-line rise gradually in most places the surrounding hills, though to no considerable height, with brown outline but ever-varying tints; while away in the distance are seen in white lines along the sky the snowy peaks of Hermon; also on the eastern side the undulating table-lands commencing in Gaulonitis run southward from Caesarea Philippi down to the Yarmuck, and onward through Peraea. But coming close to the lake and commencing at Kerak, we proceed northward to the hot springs, near to which extend the ruins of Tiberias now Tabariyeh. This was the noble city where once "the Jewish pontiff fixed his throne," and where the Sanhedrin was established; where, moreover, existed for three centuries the metropolis and university of Judaism. Near this place are steep rocks and a mountain approaching the water's edge. Further north we reach Magdala, now a miserable village called Mejdel, where Mary Magdalene had her home. It is situated at the southern extremity of the plain of Gennesaret, now called El Ghuweir, "the little hollow." Here again the mountains recede, and this plain on the north-western shore of the lake is formed; its extent is two miles and a half long and one mile broad. It is now covered with brushwood and some patches of corn, though once so celebrated for fertility and beauty. The description of it by Josephus has been often quoted; it is as follows: - "One may call this place the ambition of nature, when it forces those plants that are naturally enemies to one another to agree together. It is a happy contention of the seasons, as if every one of them laid claim to this country; for it not only nourishes different sorts of autumnal fruits beyond man's expectation, but preserves them a great while. It supplies man with its principal fruits, with grapes and figs continually during ten months of the year, and the rest of the fruits, as they become ripe together, through the whole year; for besides the good temperature of the air, it is watered from a most fertile fountain." The abundant waters that irrigate this plain proceed from a large round basin of antique structure, called Ain-el-Medawara, or Round Fountain; or according to others, from the fountain called Ain-et-Tabiga. At the other or northern extremity of the plain are the ruins of Khan Minyeh, marking, perhaps, the site of ancient Chinnereth, but wrongly identified by some with Capernaum Close to this is the Fountain of the Fig Tree, called Ain-et-Tin, with its rather indifferent water; and a quarter of an hour further in the same direction brings us to the little bay and great spring of Tabiga, supposed, as we have seen, by some to be that of which Josephus speaks as watering the plain of Gennesaret. A mile and a half further northward we find the ruins of Tell Hum, rightly identified, as we think, with the ancient Capernaum, Kerr-ha-hum being changed into Tell Hum by abridging the termination into hum, and substituting for Kerr, a village, Tell, a heap, when a heap of rubbish was all that remained of it. If Tell Hum be in reality Capernaum, then Kerazeh, two miles and a half from the lake, and about two miles north from Tell Hum, is Chorazin. Two miles further onward bring us to mounds and heaps of stones called Abu Zany, at the northern mouth of the Jordan, identified by the author of the ' Land and the Book' with Bethsaida of Galilee - the native place of Andrew and Peter and Philip; while on the opposite bank are ruins which the same writer considers to be Bethsaida Julias. With the east side of the lake we have less to do, and the very few spots on that side of any importance have less interest for us. There is the very fertile and well-watered plain of Butaiha along the north-east shore of the lake, which bears a close resemblance to the plain of Gennesaret on the north-west shore. There are besides the ruins of Khersa, the ancient Gergesa, on the left bank of the Wady Semakh; the remains of Gamala, on a hill near the Wady Fik; and the ruins of Um Keis, the ancient Gadara, a long way southward.

4. State of matters at present. In the days of our Lord and his disciples the fisheries yielded a profitable revenue, while one, perhaps two, of the villages on its shores, viz. Western and Eastern Bethsaida, "house of fish," got their names therefrom. The white sails of vessels, amounting to some thousands, were seen in its waters, from the ship of war or merchantman down to the fishing-smack or pleasure-boat. Its surface was astir with life and energy and joy. Now a single miserable bark is all that furrows its waves, and even that is sometimes difficult to procure. The noise and bustle and activities of numerous villages and towns are hushed in unbroken silence.

5. The sacredness of this district. Here indeed is holy ground. "Five little towns," says Renan, "of which humanity will speak for ever as much as of Rome and of Athens, were, at the time of our Lord, scattered over the space that extends from the village of Mejdel to Tell Hum;" the towns he refers to are Magdala, Dalmanutha, Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin. Elsewhere he says," We have a fifth Gospel, lacerated, but still legible (lacere, mais lisible encore)," in the harmony of the gospel narrative with the places therein described. It was here Jesus called his first disciples; it was here he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; it was here from its deck he taught the pressing crowds that lined the shore; it was here he walked upon the waters; it was here he stilled the storm; it was here, after his resurrection, he was known to the disciples by the great draught of fishes; it was here he directed them to bring of the fish thus caught and "come and dine." "What," says Dr. Thomson in 'The Land and the Book,' "can be more interesting? A quiet ramble along the head of this sacred sea! The blessed feet of Emmanuel have hallowed every acre, and the eye of Divine love has gazed a thousand times upon this fair expanse of lake and land. Oh! it is surpassingly beautiful at this evening hour. Those western hills stretch their lengthening shadows ever it, as loving mothers drop the gauzy curtains round the cradle of their sleeping babes. Cold must be the heart that throbs not with unwonted emotion. Son of God and Saviour of the world! with thee my thankful spirit seeks communion here on the threshold of thine earthly home." Still more beautiful and touching are the verses of the sainted McCheyne on the sea of Galilee, of which, though so well known, we venture to cite the three following

"How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave,
O Sea of Galileo!
For the glorious One who came to save
Hath often stood by thee.

"Graceful around thee the mountains meet,
Thou calm reposing sea;
But ah, far more! the beautiful feet
Of Jesus walked o'er thee.

"O Saviour I gone to God's right hand!
Yet the same Saviour still,
Graved on thy heart is this lovely strand
And every fragrant hill."

V. MANNER OF THEIR WORK AND ACTUAL ENGAGEMENT WHEN CALLED, Simon and Andrew were actually engaged in fishing when the Master called them; James and John were mending, or rather preparing (καταρτίζοντας), their nets. Here we are taught the right use and proper economy of time. When not actually engaged in the labours of our calling we may do much in preparing for it, either taking necessary rest and refreshment for our bodies, and so acquiring vigor by repose, or in getting our apparatus or equipments of whatever kind in readiness for the resumption of labour. Different kinds of nets. Three kinds of nets were used by the Galilean fishermen. There was the δίκτυον, the most general name for any kind of net, and derived from δίκω, I cast, a word akin to δίσκος, a quoit. It is sometimes used figuratively in the LXX., as παγίς is in the Pauline Epistle in the New Testament. Nets of this sort John and James were repairing when they were summoned by the Saviour. There was the ἀμφίβληστρον, from ἀμφί, around, and βαλλώ, I cast - the casting-net spreading out in a circle when cast into the water, and sinking by weights attached. From its circular shape it enclosed whatever lay below it. There was also the σαγήνη, from σάττω σέσαγα, I load, which was a sweep-net of wide reach, and included a wide extent of sea. Hence it is used, according to Trench, in a parable, "wherein our Lord is setting forth the wide reach and all-embracing character of his future kingdom," and where neither of the other two words would have suited as well or at all.

VI. READY AND UNRESERVED COMPLIANCE. No sooner had our Lord said, "Hither, after me," as the original words literally mean, than these four brethren, James and John, as well as Simon and Andrew, at once obeyed the summons. St. Mark's words here are very expressive - they went away or off behind him - and imply the completeness with which they separated themselves from previous connections and severed themselves from past pursuits, as also the entire devotion with which they joined their new Master and commenced their new calling. They do not seem to have entered into any worldly calculations as to their present maintenance or future prospects, or to have counted the cost of the sacrifice they were called to make; neither did they consult with flesh and blood, or take into account considerations such as carnal policy is apt to suggest. They left all at once and for ever. What if their boats and nets were comparatively of small value or little worth in the estimate of the rich? Still to these fishermen the sacrifice was great, for it involved their worldly all.

VII. THE GOODNESS OF THE MASTER. Hardly, if ever, does Christ give us a precept that he does not add a promise to encourage us to, and help us in, the performance. If he bids us come to him, however weary and worn, sad and suffering and sorrowful we may be, he promises to give us rest; if he bids us take his yoke upon us, he assures us it will be light; if he bids us seek, he promises we shall find; if he urges us to ask, he promises we shall receive; if he presses us to knock, he pledges his word that it shall be opened to us; and so of all the rest. Thus it is here, when he summons them to forsake their humble occupation of fishermen, he gives them the appropriate and characteristic promise to make them "fishers of men."

VIII. INSTRUCTIVE INCIDENT. True religion, instead of cutting the ties of kinship, as a rule consecrates them. Times of persecution, indeed, may separate us from the nearest relatives and dearest friends; for, unless we love Christ more than the nearest and dearest, we are unworthy of him. Still, such cases are exceptional. Here a beautiful circumstance is brought to our notice by St. Mark. John and James, when leaving their father Zebedee to follow their Master, were not forgetful of the claims of filial piety and natural affection. They did not leave their aged father helpless, but with "the hired servants." From this the obvious inference is 'that he would be still enabled to continue his ordinary business, and pursue his usual avocation as heretofore.

IX. INTERESTING INFERENCE. There is good reason to infer that, for his station in life, Zebedee was, as it is called, well to do. If not rich, he was not positively poor. He was in the happy mean which the wise man sought when he said, "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." The boats and nets and hired servants bespeak the possession of at least a competence for one in his humble position yet honest walk in life. - J.J.G.

Text shows our Lord a guest at a great feast at which a company of publicans and others sat down with Him. Our Lord's example applicable to us all. That which Christ did always, His servants cannot be justified if they never do — the mixing with others, neither for business nor yet for pleasure, but, in the largest sense of the word, for charity.

1. It will then be seen how many persons there are who have need to be reminded of this duty.

2. One way of mixing with our brethren, in a manner most pleasing to Christ and useful to ourselves, is by holding frequent intercourse with the poor.

(T. Arnold, D. D.)

Some people are very much offended by the close connection of common joys with spiritual and religious events. "Keep religion by itself," they say, "and let it be unmixed with any associations which may in the least tend to degrade it; and if you take pleasure, let it be wholly separated from religious occasions." But the conduct of Christ is a perpetual witness to the fact that the most holy and momentous occurrence in our religious history may be associated with social enjoyment. The feast to which Christ was invited, and which He attended, was a feast which was given in connection with the choice and appointment of an apostle. The event is deserving of our attention inasmuch as it brings Christ before us in an aspect of His character which is often overlooked. We have looked to Him so much as the Christ who has gone away from the world that the simple gospel history of Christ in the world has been passed over by us, and we have almost felt that we were doing something wrong when we ascribed to Jesus Christ words and acts such as ordinary men would say and do. Yet here is the history to speak for itself — the record of One who, if He had been seen in our streets, and in our homes, might have been found living as we live, entering the dwellings of neighbours, with or without ceremony, speaking kindly to the old, the weak, the downcast, and being at home in the houses of rich and poor, Pharisee and publican, at the rich feast or the scant meal, and shedding around Him the fragrance of good feeling, and a genial warmth and light. And withal, here is the record of One, who, in all these simple and kindly courtesies, never forgot that it was the deepest cravings and wants in human nature which He had come to satisfy, and that His great mission was to bring men to God.

(A. Watson, D. D.)

I. JESUS BEHOLDING SINNERS. "Jesus saw a publican." Jesus, brethren, sees all the sons of men. His eyes behold all classes. Christ saw Paul while, in his unconverted state, he was sitting at the feet of Gamaliel; and while he was afterwards occupied in persecuting the Christian Church; and He took not off His eyes from Paul till, in deep contrition and self-devotion, he cried out — "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" Christ saw the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well, long before she had any idea that Christ's seeing her would issue in her salvation. Christ saw Zaccheus in the fig-tree before his conversion, and called him down to active service and eternal salvation. Christ saw Lydia of Thyatira, the seller of purple, long before she had any conception that her heart would be opened to hear the word spoken by St. Paul. But do not mistake my words. To prevent your conversion, Satan makes some of you imagine that, if you become religious, the Lord Jesus will wish you to neglect your proper callings. Far otherwise. He expects His people to be " diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." But, when Jesus beholds sinners with the eye of His pity, He does so with a view to their salvation. This we shall see, while we state our second point.

II. JESUS CALLING SINNERS. Jesus said unto Levi, "Follow Me." There are, you observe, brethren, two kinds of call. There is the general call, and there is the effectual call.

III. JESUS HONOURED BY SINNERS. It is the cry of every true believer — "What can I render unto the Lord for all His mercies? "This was the cry of Levi's heart as soon as he was brought to a saving knowledge of his Redeemer. He was willing to do anything which would show his attachment to that Saviour, to whose love and mercy he was so much indebted. He, therefore, made for Jesus "a great feast," "in his own house." He then thought to show his respect for Christ by providing for Him a great entertainment; and, with a view to their spiritual benefit, he invited to it many of his old friends from among the publicans and his other companions. Now this, brethren, is one great proof of an effectual call. David, in his deep thankfulness for God's sparing mercy, said to Araunah the Jebusite — "I will not offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing." There are innumerable ways, brethren, in which we also can show our gratitude to Christ. Temporally and spiritually we can help Christ's brethren; and of such acts He declares, "Ye have done it unto Me." Those, therefore, of you who never make any sacrifice, either of your substance or your time, for Christ and Christ's work, have reason at once to conclude that you have heard the Saviour call, but that thus far that call has been unheeded. It is a great trial to a really spiritual man to mix with the world at all, whether on festive or on other occasions. And as soon as such mixing with the world ceases to be a trial, mischief has been done. But we come now to notice a remarkable interruption in the feast, and this interruption gave our Lord the opportunity of stating —

IV. THE BLESSINGS IMPARTED BY THE GOSPEL. There never was any good done in this fallen world without some men objecting. When Nehemiah was building the walls of Jerusalem, "What do these feeble Jews?" was the taunt of Tobiah and Sanballat. And, what is more observable, the objection generally proceeds from those who ought to be the last to make it. The objection often comes from those who profess to be the spiritual guides of the people. Look at the case before us. Here was Levi making a feast for publicans and sinners, with Jesus among the guests, with a view to their spiritual profit. And who can object to such a proceeding? The civil and the ecclesiastical rulers of the day — "the scribes and Pharisees" — they object. They do not attack the Master; they attack the disciples. So is it now. Many objectors attack Christ's servants, but they little imagine that, in so doing, they are attacking Christ. If, therefore, you are attacked, brethren, for your piety, remember that no one was more attacked than was Christ Himself. You may safely leave your cause with Jesus, as your faithful Creator. He will answer every objection, and you shall hold your peace. It was so here. The scribes and Pharisees murmured against the disciples, and said — "Why do ye eat with publicans and sinners?" To this question Jesus gave them a reply they little expected. He told them plainly, that was the object of His gospel. It was not meant for self-righteous formalists. It was meant for those who feel their guilt — for those who are sensible of their spiritual disease. I now add two other practical remarks. We see hence —

1. The freeness of salvation. Medicine is for the sick. Salvation is for sinners. In all diseases there are outward symptoms. That precious blood, which He shed for our sins on the cross, is a never-failing remedy. It makes crimson iniquities as white as snow. It cleanses sins as red as scarlet, till they become as wool.

2. The peril of a worldly spirit.

(C. Clayton, M. A.)

I. THIS CALM IS TO INDIVIDUALS.

1. TO repentance, i.e., to begin life again.

2. To a feast, and its joys.

II. THIS CALL WILT. BE SUCCESSFUL IF WE DESIRE IT.

1. Having susceptible hearts.

2. If poor in spirit.

3. If we hunger after righteousness, i.e., desire the feast.

III. How THE CALL IS MADE OF NONE EFFECT.

1. The worldly heart — pre-occupied — makes effectual calling impossible (Luke 14:16, 20).

2. The "wise and prudent "do not like it (Matthew 11:25).

3. The stupid heart, wayside — no soil.

4. By levity. "They made light of it."

(F. B. Proctor, M. A.)

James, Jesus, John, Levi, Peter, Simon, Zabdi, ZebedeeGalilee, Genneseret, Jerusalem, JudeaBelonging, Board, Boat, Boats, Crowd, Crowds, Draw, Entered, Getting, Got, Multitudes, Prayed, Property, Push, Request, Sat, Seated, Ship, Ships, Shore, Simon, Simon's, Taught, Teaching, Thrust1. Jesus teaches the people out of Peter's ship;
4. shows how he will make them fishers of men;
12. cleanses the leper;
16. prays in the desert;
17. heals a paralytic;
27. calls Matthew the tax collector;
29. eats with sinners, as being the physician of souls;
33. foretells the fasting and afflictions of the apostles after his ascension;
36. and illustrates the matter by the parable of patches.

Luke 5:3

     2363   Christ, preaching and teaching
     5233   borrowing

Luke 5:1-11

     7758   preachers, call

Luke 5:2-4

     5425   net

Luke 5:2-11

     6620   calling

March 25 Evening
Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.--LUKE 5:5. All power is give unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: . . . and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea. Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: necessity is laid …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 19. "Launch Out into the Deep" (Luke v. 4).
"Launch out into the deep" (Luke v. 4). Many difficulties and perplexities in connection with our Christian life might be best settled by a simple and bold decision of our will to go forward with the light we have and leave the speculations and theories that we cannot decide for further settlement. What we need is to act, and to act with the best light we have, and as we step out into the present duty and full obedience, many things will be made plain which it is no use waiting to decide. Beloved, …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

December 9. "Launch Out into the Deep" (Luke v. 4).
"Launch out into the deep" (Luke v. 4). One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit Of boldness. One of the most essential qualities of the faith that is to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we are dealing with a supernatural Being, and taking from Him things that are humanly impossible, it is easier to take much than little; it is easier to stand in a place of audacious trust than in a place of cautious, timid …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Humility
LUKE v. 8. Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Few stories in the New Testament are as well known as this. Few go home more deeply to the heart of man. Most simple, most graceful is the story, and yet it has in it depths unfathomable. Great painters have loved to draw, great poets have loved to sing, that scene on the lake of Gennesaret. The clear blue water, land- locked with mountains; the meadows on the shore, gay with their lilies of the field, on which our Lord bade them look, …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

Instructions for Fishermen
'Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.'--LUKE v. 4. The day's work begins early in the East. So the sun, as it rose above the hills on the other side of the lake, shone down upon a busy scene, fresh with the dew and energy of the morning, on the beach by the little village of Bethsaida. One group of fishermen was washing their nets, their boats being hauled up on the strand. A crowd of listeners was thus early gathered round …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Fear and Faith
'When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' --LUKE v. 8. 'Now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him,... and did cast himself into the sea.'--JOHN xxi. 7. These two instances of the miraculous draught of fishes on the Lake of Gennesareth are obviously intended to be taken in conjunction. Their similarities and their differences are equally striking and equally instructive. In the fragment …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Blasphemer, or --Who?
'And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before Him. 19. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the house-top, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

"The Moody and Sankey Humbug. "
There was a man, while we were in London, who got out a little paper called "The Moody and Sankey Humbug." He used to have it to sell to the people coming into the meeting. After he had sold a great many thousand copies of that number, he wanted to get out another number; so he came to the meeting to get something to put into the paper; but the power of the Lord was present. It says here in this chapter (Luke 5) that the Pharisees, scribes, and doctors, were watching the words of Christ in that house …
Dwight L. Moody—Moody's Anecdotes And Illustrations

Absolution.
Preached June 2, 1850. ABSOLUTION. "And the Scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"--Luke v. 21. There are questions which having been again and again settled, still from time to time, present themselves for re-solution; errors which having been refuted, and cut up by the roots, re-appear in the next century as fresh and vigorous as ever. Like the fabled monsters of old, from whose dissevered neck the blood …
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton

Carried by Four
When our Lord left his retirement he found the crowd around him exceeding great, and it was as motley as it was great; for while here were many sincere believers, there were still more sceptical observers; some were anxious to receive his healing power, others equally desirous to find occasion against him. So in all congregations, however the preacher may be clothed with his Master's spirit and his Master's might, there will be a mixed gathering; there will come together your Pharisees and doctors …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Secret of Success.
5th Sunday after Trinity S. Luke v. 5. "We have taken nothing; nevertheless at Thy word, I will let down the net." INTRODUCTION.--S. Peter and the other Apostles had been fishing all night, and had met with no success at all, then Jesus entered into the boat of Simon, and bade him launch out and let down his net. S. Peter did not hesitate. He had met with no success when fishing in the night, nevertheless now, at the word of Christ, he fishes again, and this time the net encloses a great multitude, …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Christ the Great Physician.
"They that are whole have no need of a physician; but they that are sick. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Luke v. 31, 32). "For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them" (Matt. xiii. 15). "He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted" (Luke iv. 18). …
Frank G. Allen—Autobiography of Frank G. Allen, Minister of the Gospel

Jesus, Still Lead On.
"Jesu, geh Voran." "They forsook all, and followed him."--Luke 5:11. [7]Ludwig von Zinzendorf transl., Jane Borthwick, 1846, 1854 Jesus, still lead on, Till our rest be won! And although the way be cheerless, We will follow, calm and fearless. Guide us by thy hand To our Fatherland. If the way be drear, If the foe be near, Let not faithless fears o'ertake us, Let not faith and hope forsake us For, through many a foe, To our home we go! When we seek relief From a long-felt grief-- When oppressed …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

Travelling in Palestine --Roads, Inns, Hospitality, Custom-House Officers, Taxation, Publicans
It was the very busiest road in Palestine, on which the publican Levi Matthew sat at the receipt of "custom," when our Lord called him to the fellowship of the Gospel, and he then made that great feast to which he invited his fellow-publicans, that they also might see and hear Him in Whom he had found life and peace (Luke 5:29). For, it was the only truly international road of all those which passed through Palestine; indeed, it formed one of the great highways of the world's commerce. At the time …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Penitence, as Explained in the Sophistical Jargon of the Schoolmen, Widely Different from the Purity Required by the Gospel. Of Confession and Satisfaction.
1. Errors of the Schoolmen in delivering the doctrine of repentance. 1. Errors in defining it. Four different definitions considered. 2. Absurd division. 3. Vain and puzzling questions. 4. Mode in which they entangle themselves. 2. The false doctrine of the Schoolmen necessary to be refuted. Of contrition. Their view of it examined. 3. True and genuine contrition. 4. Auricular confession. Whether or not of divine authority. Arguments of Canonists and Schoolmen. Allegorical argument founded on Judaism. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Seventh Appearance of Jesus.
(Sea of Galilee.) ^D John XXI. 1-25. ^d 1 After these things Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and he manifested himself on this wise. 2 There was together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee [see p. 111], and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. [As usual, Peter was the leader.] They say unto him, We also come with thee. They went forth, and entered into the boat; …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus Heals a Leper and Creates Much Excitement.
^A Matt.VIII. 2-4; ^B Mark I. 40-45; ^C Luke V. 12-16. ^c 12 And it came to pass, while he was in one of the cities [it was a city of Galilee, but as it was not named, it is idle to conjecture which city it was], behold, ^b there cometh { ^a came} ^b to him a leper [There is much discussion as to what is here meant by leprosy. Two diseases now go by that name; viz., psoriasis and elephantiasis. There are also three varieties of psoriasis, namely, white, black and red. There are also three varieties …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Disciples of Jesus.
In this terrestrial paradise, which the great revolutions of history had till then scarcely touched, there lived a population in perfect harmony with the country itself, active, honest, joyous, and tender-hearted. The Lake of Tiberias is one of the best supplied with fish of any in the world.[1] Very productive fisheries were established, especially at Bethsaida, and at Capernaum, and had produced a certain degree of wealth. These families of fishermen formed a gentle and peaceable society, extending …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

The Conflict with Evil
The Kingdom of God Will Have to Fight for Its Advance The great objective is the Kingdom of God. In realizing the Reign of God on earth three recalcitrant forces have to be brought into obedience to God's law: the desire for power, the love of property, and unsocial religion. We have studied Christ's thought concerning these in the foregoing chapters. The advance of the Kingdom of God is not simply a process of social education, but a conflict with hostile forces which resist, neutralize, and defy …
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus

The Lake of Gennesaret; Or, the Sea of Galilee and Tiberias.
Jordan is measured at one hundred and twenty furlongs, from the lake of Samochonitis to that of Gennesaret. That lake, in the Old Testament, is 'The sea of Chinnereth,' Numbers 34:11, &c. In the Targumists, 'The sea of Genesar'; sometimes, 'of Genesor'; sometimes, 'of Ginosar': it is the same also in the Talmudists, but most frequently 'The sea of Tiberiah.' Both names are used by the evangelists; 'the lake of Gennesaret,' Luke 5:1; 'the sea of Tiberias,' John 21:1; and 'the sea of Galilee,' John …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Peter's Repentance
"And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:61, 62). That was the turning-point in the history of Peter. Christ had said to him: "Thou canst not follow me now" (John 13:36). Peter was not in a fit state to follow Christ, because he had not been brought to an end of himself; he did not know himself, and he therefore could not follow …
Andrew Murray—Absolute Surrender

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