The Life of Christ

Lk. 5:7-8 “…and 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, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

This was the ultimate reason for the miracle.

• Peter needed to be purged of his arrogant, prideful attitude.

• This moment of breaking became the first of several that would follow until Peter became the man God intended for him to be.

Lk. 5:9-10 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also 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.”

This became Peter’s formal call to follow the Lord full time.

• Such callings are often preceded by moments of intense purging.

• Before Isaiah was offered the next dimension of his call, his lips had to first be tempered by the hot coal (Isa. 6). Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Also, I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me” (Isa. 6:6-8).

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Mk. 1:40 And a leper came to Him, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Israel viewed lepers as the living dead.

• As the leper passed by, his clothes in rags, his hair disheveled, and the lower part of his face and upper lip covered, it was as though he were already dead as he read his own obituary —”Unclean, unclean.”

The Rabbinical law prohibited their existence in both the temple and any walled city.

• Should he step foot in either, the punishment was forty stripes, save one.

• They could live in villages, and even attend the local synagogue, however, they had to be the first to enter and the last to leave.

• In the synagogue, they were to occupy a separate compartment, ten palms (five feet) high, and six feet wide.

This was all because the Old Testament laid the greatest stress upon “clean” and “unclean.”

▪ For the most part defilement was primarily spread from one person to another.

• The Old Testament mentions eleven principal kinds of defilement, which the Rabbis assigned into two different degrees (level 1 and level 2).

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