Devotions

The Power of the Lord
Was There to Heal

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God’s will is laid bare for all to see as in Luke 5:13 “extending his (Jesus) hand he (Jesus) touched him (the untouchable leprous man), saying, “I am willing; be clean”. Into this world that knew what it meant to be “cursed by God”, comes a man. But there was something different about him. They would not have understood the virgin birth, and that wasn’t what Jesus led with in response. Jesus led with compassion, with authority, with forgiveness. Yet, none of them understood the birth of “the son of man” in 1 Corinthians 2:8 “none of the rulers of this age knew. For if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”. By him, light entered, the spirit of life entered and in 1 Corinthians 15:54 “Death is swallowed up in victory” so that we can in Hebrews 10:22 “approach with a true heart” our conscience clean to live for him.

The Crowd Was Pressing Around Him

Luke 5:1-11 

I Am Willing; Be Clean

Luke 5:12-16
People had been coming to Jesus from all around (see Luke 4:40-41) seeking to be healed and set free, but this man had leprosy. There was no cure for leprosy. It was contagious so lepers were ostracized from the community which is why the man said in Luke 5:12 “make me clean”.

To understand this, we must understand that true “leprosy sentenced sufferers to a living death. It cut them off from civilization and made them live alone. ‘He remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.’2 The disease gradually spread and sensation ceased; more and more parts of the anatomy became disfigured or fell off. The outcome was death.”1

Leprosy was not just an illness, because “The removal of other maladies is spoken of in NT as healing, but the removal of leprosy is called cleansing (Mt 8:3; 10:8; 11:5; Mk 1:42; Lk 4:27; 7:22; 17:17).”2

And to fully understand, in the culture, “the leper was regarded as the victim, in a peculiar degree, of a stroke of God, like the man hanged on a tree, ‘accursed of God,’”.3

So, when “Christ touched a man with leprosy, thereby demonstrating his power to overcome uncleanness as represented by leprosy (Mt 8:3; Mk 1:41, 42; Lk 5:12, 13)”.4

Jesus was not only giving physical healing, but reconciliation to God, and restoration of right relationships in every area of this mans life. And now that in Luke 5:13 “the leprosy went away from him”, he could go, as Jesus commanded in Luke 5:14 And he ordered him, “Tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and bring the offering for your cleansing just as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them”. This offering was in thanks to the Lord for restoring his life and it was also the public act of testimony so everyone would know the goodness of the Lord.

The Power of the Lord Was There to Heal

Luke 5:17-26

Follow Me!

Luke 5:27-32 

They Will Fast in Those Days

Luke 5:33-39
Jesus response to the questions about fasting seem odd to us because we are long past this moment of incarnation. Jesus is God, taking on flesh, coming to us, not just to bring healing to a few sick folk, but to secure the salvation of mankind. I’m not sure his parable of old wine and new wine conveys the impact of his appearing, but what words could?

Everyone who had lived until this moment lived under the curse of sin and death. They could only seek atonement for the sin already committed. This was the old wine, the perpetual sacrifice seeking to reconcile to God after having sinned. But now comes the new wine, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sin of the world, who releases the Holy Spirit and begins the transformation from our new birth to a life being transformed into the image of Christ.

John begins his gospel with

John 1:4–5 “In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

Then Luke says Jesus was the light of the world in

John 8:12 “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

And as the Church matures after His resurrection the message is clear that He was the light in

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

Ephesians 5:8–10 “for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live like children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is well-pleasing to the Lord.”

The truth of this message from Jesus is not that in Luke 5:33 “The old is just fine!”. He says this because they have never known what it means to drink the new wine, to be free from sin, to be able to “approach … our hearts sprinkled clean” that we might live freely the life God intended because we no longer know the darkness of sin in

Hebrews 9:14–15 “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And because of this, he is the mediator of a new covenant”.

Hebrews 10:21–22 “and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 6:1-5
Man, separated from God, knowing only the penalty of sin, can only come to the religious enforcement of right and wrong. But love has entered. The penalty of sin is about to be paid, and Jesus puts together two phrases that they just can’t comprehend in Luke 6:5 “The son of man” “is” “the Lord of the Sabbath”. By this, “Jesus is making a claim, and the claim is He has authority over this Sabbath, which raises this question: Who has authority over a day which God established by His activity, and who has authority over a day which God has put in the Ten Commandments? Who has authority over a day that God has sanctified in His law given to His people? Who has that kind of authority? … Only the Lord God has authority over the Sabbath”.5 And he is standing in front of them in human form, “the son of man”.

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Luke 5:1-39
  • Luke 6:1-5

References

  • 1. Green, M. (2001). The message of Matthew: the kingdom of heaven (p. 114). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • 2. Macalister, A. (1911–1912). LEPROSY. In J. Hastings, J. A. Selbie, A. B. Davidson, S. R. Driver, & H. B. Swete (Eds.), A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents Including the Biblical Theology (Vol. 3, p. 95). New York; Edinburgh: Charles Scribner’s Sons; T. & T. Clark.
  • 3. Peake, A. S. (1911–1912). UNCLEAN, UNCLEANNESS. In J. Hastings, J. A. Selbie, A. B. Davidson, S. R. Driver, & H. B. Swete (Eds.), A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents Including the Biblical Theology (Vol. 4, p. 831). New York; Edinburgh: Charles Scribner’s Sons; T. & T. Clark.
  • 4. Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Leprosy, Leper. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 1325). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
  • 5. Bock, D. L. (2014). NT211 Introducing the Gospels and Acts: Their Background, Nature, and Purpose. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.