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Luke 5:12-28 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ¹³ And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

¹⁷ One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. ¹⁸ And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. ¹⁹ But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” ²² But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” ²⁵ Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. ²⁶ They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

²⁷ After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” ²⁸ And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.

Luke chapter 4 ends saying:  When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.    What we see then, in today’s text, is a result of Jesus continuing throughout the cities, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. In today’s text it says:  While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.  Jesus desire was to preach the gospel of the kingdom. That is what He came for. Everywhere He went though, there were people whose circumstances and situations moved the heart of Jesus. He responded to their needs and their faith with the compassion and the power of the kingdom of God. Jesus desire was not that people would be drawn only to the power, but rather that they would hear the gospel. The text says that news about Him was spreading everywhere, large crowds were gathering both to hear Jesus and to be healed. Without the aid of any technology or media, Jesus reputation spread to such a degree that there were crowds everywhere He went. The text says though that even with all the demands on Jesus time and attention, He would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.  How easy is it for us to get so busy and so overwhelmed by our schedules and the demands of people, that we have a hard time finding time to pray? Martin Luther, the reformer of the 1500’s, is quoted as saying:  “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”   Whether or not you agree with his view of doctrine, you must admit that his view of the importance of prayer was truly in line with Jesus Himself. We cannot allow ourselves to ever be so busy, even in serving God, that we neglect taking time to pray.

The text continues:  One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”   Jesus says: “Where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” (Matthew 18:20) Where His presence is, there His power is also. The power was present and also the other necessary ingredient for healing; Jesus saw their faith and the power of the Lord responded to their faith with compassion. What Jesus said though caught everyone by surprise. Rather than proclaiming healing, Jesus said:  “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”  The text continues saying:   The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.”   In yesterday’s meditation we talked about Jesus authority, how throughout His ministry He taught with authority and exercised authority over both creation and the spiritual realm. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus says:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”   Because Jesus said those words at that time, does not mean that the authority was given at that time. Jesus has, always had and always will have all authority on heaven and earth. He had the authority to forgive this man’s sin because from the beginning it was determined that He would be the one who would come to sacrifice Himself for the sins of the world. In John 10:17-18 Jesus says:  “…the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.  No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”    The scribes and the Pharisees could not deny the power and authority which Jesus had over demons, and sickness, although they did at times try to discredit the source of His power and authority saying His power over evil was from the evil one. Still, there was no denying the results of the power and the compassion of Christ, everywhere Jesus went healing and deliverance happened in His presence. They questioned Jesus authority to forgive sins, calling it blasphemy, saying only God could forgive sins. Jesus showed them, by His words, His actions and their results, that indeed He had all authority in heaven and on earth. Healing and forgiveness were the same to Him. Neither was beyond His authority.

Perhaps it is because we live on this side of the cross, because we have heard Jesus words, spoken from the cross: "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)  Unlike the scribes and the Pharisees, we tend to have an easier time with Jesus authority to forgive than with His authority to heal and deliver. Yet Jesus has, always had and always will have authority to do both. He has all authority in heaven and on earth. Speaking before Jesus was born, Isaiah 53:5-6 says:  He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.  In today’s text it says of the man with leprosy:   immediately the leprosy left him and of the paralytic who Jesus forgave, Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God .  Each one was changed immediately through the power of the presence of Christ. The same Christ, who responded with compassion to their faith, is still present today. He still has all authority in heaven and on earth. In Revelation 1:8 He says:  “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Today’s text says that those who witnessed the authority of Christ to heal and to forgive said:  “We have seen remarkable things today.”  What remarkable things will we see today? What will we believe Christ has authority over in our lives and the lives of those we are near? Wherever we are, if two or more are gathered in His name, He is there. Where His presence is, there His power is also. He is willing. He always was, always is and always will be ready to meet our faith with power and compassion, with all authority in heaven and on earth.   

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, who is, who was and who is to come  thank You for all that You have done, are doing and will do. May we too see remarkable things today through the power of Your presence, Your compassion and all authority in heaven and on earth. Amen