Luke 5:1-3 - Multitudes Hungry for the Word

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!