The Lord's knees

I'm just going to be about 5-10 minutes, there's no reason why there can't be two or three different devotional messages given. Let's just turn quickly to Luke, the Gospel of Luke, and chapter 5, please. Interesting study.

I would encourage young and old, go through the Gospels with a pen and a piece of paper and just look at, find different parts of the Lord Jesus. We're going to look at His knees for a few minutes, and it's brought before us just a couple of times in the Word of God, the knees of the Lord Jesus. Look at Luke chapter 5 and verse 4. Both settings have the idea of disobedience in the background, amplified in the life of the Lord and the opposite, of course.

Luke chapter 5 and verse 4, now when He, as the Lord Jesus had left speaking, He said unto Simon, that would be Peter, launch out into the deep, notice, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net.

Notice the net is singular, and the Lord said plural. Verse 6, and when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net, singular break, and they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

Notice verse 8, when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken, and so on. You ever notice that? They're in a boat.

Why did Peter fall down at the knees of the Lord Jesus? Well, because there were so much fish in the boat. His feet were covered. And I can see the Lord Jesus standing in the boat, and they caught all these fish, and they put them in the boat, and the level of the fish came right up almost to the knees of the Lord Jesus.

And Simon Peter just simply falls down, because he realizes he had disobeyed. The Lord had said, let down the nets. Peter said, nevertheless, at thy word, I'll let down the net.

Peter, being the seasoned fisherman, it's in the morning. They always fished at night, in the cool of the night. The fish that were during the day deep in the Galilean Lake, they would have come up to feed in the nighttime, where the water was cooler.

But then as the sun was coming up, they would go down into the deep. And you can almost hear Peter, here's the Lord. Well, you know, Lord, you're not a fisherman.

I'm the fisherman, and you're telling me to cast a net this time of day? We've been trying that all night. No, no, no, this is the time to put away your nets. This is the time to clean the nets.

Well, whatever, nevertheless, at your word, we're going to let down one net, because you can almost hear Peter, because nothing's going to happen. Nothing is going to be caught. So he just throws in one net, and there's such a multitude of fishes, the single net breaks.

And they're able to get so many fish into that boat. So it's amazing to think what the Lord is able to do. And now this is not Peter's salvation experience.

No, depart from me, O Lord, from a sinful man. He just understood his heart, the capability of it, not listening to his Lord. Now, quickly, go over to Luke again, Luke chapter 22.

We want to read about the knees of the Lord again, Luke chapter 22. So think of the disobedience of Peter that we just read about, and the Lord still blessed him. That's lovely to think about.

Luke 22, we're all familiar with the week the Lord was arrested. And now, prior, he goes into the garden of Gethsemane, verse 39. Luke chapter 22 and verse 39.

And he came out and went as he was want or willing to the Mount of Olives. And his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, pray that ye enter not into temptation.

Notice this, verse 41. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

And we could keep on reading. What a scene this is. I look at scenes like this.

Yeah, we're going to somebody's home. And I like pictures on fridges, you know. And I like to go close.

And you like to look at the pictures and see what's going on in the picture. Or you ever look at a photo album, you ever pull out a photo, and you look at it, and you turn it, and you try to figure out what was going on in the picture. That's really what the gospels are.

The Spirit of God has taken snapshots of the Lord Jesus. Why would Luke say about a stone's cast? No other writer is going to do that. Well, the background is the disobedient son of the Old Testament.

Mother and father could do nothing with him. They take him to the rulers of the city. They explain the disobedience.

The judgment is given. The boy is to be put at a stone's cast and stoned for his disobedience. Here now is the obedient son at a stone's cast.

And we see him as he kneels down on his knees. He starts to pray. Isn't that amazing? It's just the anticipation of Calvary.

If you read in the other gospel accounts, bring them all together, such was the weight, the agony, that if it had have been allowed to continue, it would have brought him into death. So intense was it. Amazing to think of that, isn't it, dear child of God? Just him in the garden.

He's apart from his disciples. They couldn't enter into it. We can't enter.

I wish I could enter into it more. What a sight it must have been for the Father in heaven to look upon his only son kneeling on the ground. We could go to the gospel of Matthew where he fell upon his face on the ground.

Just flat out on the ground, thinking upon those hours of agony on the cross. May our hearts be encouraged as we think upon the Lord Jesus and his knees in those two different passages that we've read.