The Way - Day 005 (Luke 5)

Pastor Tom's Journal on Today's Reading:
Luke 5:1-15
Jesus' preaching and supernatural works throughout Galilee (4:44) attracted large crowds of people who desired "to hear the word of God" (5:1a), so He taught near the Lake of Gennesaret, also known as the Sea of Galilee (5:1b). While He was teaching, He noticed two boats docked at the lake, but the fishermen had left them and were now washing their nets (5:2). Because of the press of the crowd, Jesus got into one of these boats owned by Simon Peter and taught the people from the boat (5:3). After He finished speaking, He told Simon to "launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch" (5:4). Simon answered Jesus saying, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net" (5:5). Upon obeying the words of Jesus, the fishermen "...caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink" (5:6-7). Peter realized that a great miracle had been performed by Jesus, who was divine in nature so he exclaimed, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (5:8) A supernatural encounter with God should always cause a person to respond in humbleness. Those who also accompanied Peter and witnessed Jesus' miracle responded with amazement (5:9-10a).

Using what these men had just seen, Jesus says to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men" (5:10b). Their life thus far had been spent catching fish, but now the rest of their life would be consumed with catching men. Simon, as well as eleven other disciples, would proclaim the message of hope and salvation through Jesus Christ so that men could turn from sin and begin a new life in Christ. Also contained in Jesus' miracle was the implication that man, on his own, does not have the ability to cause others to repent and believe; however, God's work through the Holy Spirit and man's willingness to speak the truth can result in repentance and faith in others.

Following this miracle in the boat, Jesus traveled into another city where he encountered a man who was "full of leprosy" (5:12). Apparently this man's disease was in the final stages and had ravaged his body, but when he saw Jesus "he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean'" (5:12b). The cries of this man were so desperate knowing that without diving intervention, his life would soon be over. Mark writes that Jesus was "moved with compassion" by the desperation of this man (Mark 1:40), so He cleansed him of his disease (5:13-14). As a result of this miracle, Jesus' fame spread throughout the region resulting in great crowds of people coming to hear and be healed (5:15).

Both of these miracles performed by Jesus, the catching of the fish and the healing of the leprous man, demonstrate God's power to intervene when circumstances are out of our control. Instead of giving up hope, invite God to intervene; after all, he specializes in the miraculous.

Luke 5:16-26
Since the crowds of people who gathered to see Jesus were oftentimes overwhelming, the gospel writers periodically documented that He "withdrew into the wilderness and prayed" (5:16). Solitude and prayer were the two ways Jesus obtained strength for His daily journey and after ministering in Galilee and the surrounding regions, He took some time to be alone with God. If time alone with God was important for Jesus, solitude and prayer must also be imperative for those who follow Him. Luke then records another of Jesus' healings when He was found teaching inside a home where Pharisees and scribes (teachers of the Old Testament) were gathered along with local people. It is significant that Luke mentions that Pharisees and scribes had "come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem" to hear Jesus; in reality, they were not attending out of curiosity but out of condemnation. The scribes and Pharisees were the so-called religious leaders of Jesus' day who believed that outward obedience to the Old Testament law, as well a few of their own man-made laws, made a person righteous before God. When Jesus arrived on the scene, they became critical of Him because He didn't always adhere to their laws and they certainly did not believe that He was the Messiah who had been promised by God. These two issues resulted in a strong hatred for Jesus and anyone who followed Him.

Considering the friction which existed between Jesus and the religious leaders, they were always following Him everywhere He went in order to catch Him disobeying one of their laws so they could prove to the people that He didn't respect the Old Testament Scriptures and their ancestors such as Abraham and Moses. In this particular situation, Jesus was teaching in a home and Luke writes that "the power of the Lord was present to heal them" (5:17); however, a paralyzed man who desired to be healed could not get inside to see Jesus because of the crowd (5:18). The paralyzed man's friends who were carrying his bed decided to get up on the roof, remove the tiles, and lower him down where Jesus was teaching (5:19). When Jesus saw the faith of the men He said to the paralyzed man, "Man, your sins are forgiven you" (5:20). Ignoring the man's physical condition, Jesus saw that this man's greater need was to be forgiven of sin, but the Pharisees began to question Jesus' authority to forgive sin since they believed that only God could offer forgiveness (5:21). Luke writes that Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" (5:22-24a). Not only did Jesus grant forgiveness to the paralyzed man (which is easy), but He also turned to the paralyzed man and said, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house" (5:24b) and "immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!" (5:25-26). This supernatural work of Jesus and His authority to forgive sin proved that He was God and at this very moment, those who were listening should have recognized and worshiped Him as God; however, the people seemed to be more memorized by the miracle rather than with committing their lives to follow Him. People must not only be captured by the wonderful works of God, but also be willing to surrender their lives in faith to follow His ways.

Luke 5:27-32
Jesus had a slight confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees concerning Jesus' claim to be able to forgive sins (5:20-24) and this was terribly offensive to the religious leaders because, in their opinion, the forgiveness of sin was only reserved for God alone. Ultimately, these men did not want to receive Jesus as the Messiah so they spent much of their efforts trying to silence Jesus and eventually they would be responsible for His death on the cross. When Jesus departed from the house where He had healed the paralyzed man and answered the religious leaders' objections, He met a man named Levi who was a tax collector (5:27a). Tax collectors were hated by most common people because they often charged more money than was owed so that they could keep some for themselves while giving the rest to Rome. Men who were tax collectors were literally seen as outcasts and thieves in society, although they were often wealthy. It is significant that Jesus sees Levi sitting in the tax office and says "follow Me" (5:27b). Even though Jesus' words are few, the implications of His request reached far beyond the surface. If Levi chose to follow Jesus, that would mean he would be abandoning his lifestyle as a thief and committing to living life God's way. Luke writes that Levi "left all, rose up, and followed Him" (5:28).

In response to his life change, Levi holds a "great feast in his own house" and invites his tax collector friends as well as many other people, including Jesus and His disciples (5:29). The scribes and Pharisees were close to the action and grumbled against Jesus' disciples because they were eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners (5:30). In the opinion of the religious leaders, any association with outcasts or sinners was forbidden because they were viewed as unworthy of man's, much less God's attention. Jesus responds to the scribes and Pharisees with, what I believe to be, one of the most significant and revealing statements about the failure of the religious leaders. Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (5:31-32). The so-called religious leaders of Jesus' day thought that their rules and obedience to traditions brought them favor with God when, in reality, God only extends His forgiveness to those who know they cannot earn it on their own. Jesus made it clear that He had come in order to offer forgiveness to those who recognize their sinfulness, not those who already think they are righteous. According to Jesus' statement here, a person has no chance of receiving God's mercy until he first recognizes that he is utterly sinful before a holy and righteous God. It seems obvious that Jesus would spend His time with people who knew they needed forgiveness rather than waste His time with people who believed that they already had all the answers to life.

Luke 5:33-39
 Jesus and His disciples had just been accused by the religious leaders of eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners which, in their opinion, was a violation of their religious "rules." Jesus responded to this opposition by explaining that He was interested in spending time with people who recognized their need for help and were unlike the prideful scribes and Pharisees; furthermore, Jesus gave purpose to His earthly ministry when He said, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (5:32). Ignoring the significance of Jesus' statement, the scribes and Pharisees begin pestering Jesus with more questions like "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?" (5:33) Since fasting was a voluntary act, except for fasting on the Day of Atonement, and never commanded in Scripture, these "religious" men were simply emphasizing external displays of spirituality rather than dealing with the real problem - the sinful condition of their heart.

In a rare explanation to His accusers, Jesus says, "Can you make the friends [Jesus' followers] of the bridegroom [Jesus] fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days" (5:34-35). There was no need to fast in those days since Jesus walked with His followers daily; however, Jesus' future death and ascension to heaven would bring back the necessity of longing for His presence through the act of fasting.  In an obvious attempt to explain the difference between His teachings and the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus provides two illustrations for their understanding. First He says, "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old" (5:36). A new piece of cloth does not belong on an old garment, which was Jesus' way of saying that His new way of forgiveness cannot be connected with the old rituals and traditions of the law. Secondly, Jesus says, "...no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined" (5:37). New wine does not belong in old wineskins, which was Jesus' way of saying that the old traditions of the law cannot be contained by the new offer of hope and forgiveness through Jesus. In both of these illustrations, Jesus was teaching what Paul would later write in his letter to the Romans, "...by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). Keeping the Old Testament law was never meant to bring forgiveness of sin, but only expose the impossibility of keeping the law and its demands. When a person realizes their sinfulness and inability to gain God's favor through trying to keep the law, he will be forced to find forgiveness through other means, Jesus Christ. Forgiveness and cleansing from sin cannot be attained through prideful expressions of spirituality, but only through humbling ourselves before a holy God and seeking His forgiveness. Paul writes to the church at Corinth that Jesus took our sins upon Himself so that those who repent and believe will receive a righteous standing before God, even though they are still sinners (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:8).

Dear God, I know that I do not gain favor with You by performing outward displays of spirituality, but rather by humbling myself before You in recognition of my sin and serving You with my life.