May 27, 2019 -- Luke 5:4-5 -- Jesus our Master

And when he [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

Luke 5:4-5 English Standard Version

And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.  And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

Luke 9:29-36 ESV

Jesus title in these passages is: Master. He is the One with power over the elements of nature, the animals of the earth, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea.

Jesus is the Master over life and death, people past, present and future.

Jesus is the Master with authority over whether or not a person goes to heaven or to hell.

Jesus is our Master. What a strange title for many of us. It conjures up images of slavery. In fact, that is an accurate thought. Jesus’ own followers called themselves His slaves. In Romans Paul refers to himself as a slave of Christ (Romans 1:1); Peter also calls himself a slave of Jesus Christ (II Peter 1:1) as does Jesus’ brother Jude (Jude 1). Why do these holy men call Jesus their Master and refer to themselves as His slaves?

Whatever compels us to act is our master. Whatever it is we serve that is what owns us. A man addicted to pornography is mastered by this sin. A women who watches soap operas is emotionally mastered by these false dramas and story lines. People can be slaves to: booze, money, fame, approval of their peers, anger, family, sports, fitness and so on. As people are mastered by sin, their thoughts and foods, goals and words are all oriented towards serving whatever masters them.

Originally Adam and Eve were made to be helpers to one another and in this relationship to being the friends of God, walking with Him, knowing Him, serving Him freely in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned our human nature was cursed by this act of rebellion so that we no longer master things, but we ourselves are mastered by things, we are unwitting slaves. Without God’s intervention, we will be slaves to sin and slaves to the death inducing passions of this world. Our hearts are never pure. Our actions are never innocent. Our words are never without barb or ulterior motive. We are slaves bound to the tyrant master: sin.

The glory of Jesus Christ is revealed in this: He sets us free from our sin and gives us His Spirit so that sin loses its power over it, its lustre and appeal. Jesus becomes for us the True Master and is restored as the rightful ruler of our soul. This is a difficult concept for many because our world has no good illustrations of kind masters. Our world lack political leaders who are wholly submitted to God. But Jesus’ own life on earth showed the life of One committed to the Father in obedience and blessed with the glory of knowing the Father as the source of joy, the only place where one’s soul is fully satisfied. Therefore the bible is for us the handbook of life, the way to knowing freedom from sin by being mastered by Jesus.

Romans 6 teaches us that we are to stop letting sin reign in our mortal bodies. We are not to be willing slaves to wrongdoing. Instead we are to present our hands and heart, mind and strength to Jesus so that we will be instruments of righteousness.

Jesus, be the Master of my soul. Rule me by Your Word and Spirit so that sin will not have a foothold. In fact so govern my life that sin is repugnant to me. I yield to You the parts of my body to be instruments of righteousness so that my whole life will sound praise to You. Forgive me for my failures. Thank You, Jesus that You are praying for me in heaven so that Your salvation will bring me to joy of the perfect completion of Your salvific work in me. The day is just beginning, I am praying this in the comfort of my home before too many challenges assail me. You are the Captain of my salvation, Master of my life, where and when I need You in this day, in whatever challenges come, bring Your Lordship to my mind so that I will keep the vows I make to You. Amen.