Luke 5:12-26
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Expectations are important. Expectations sometimes determine success or failure or at least our perception of them.
John Quincy Adams held more important offices than anyone else in the history of the U.S. He served with distinction as president, senator, congressman, minister to major European powers, and participated in various capacities in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and events leading to the Civil War. Yet, at age 70, with much of that behind him, Adams wrote:
My whole life has been a succession of disappointments. I can scarcely recollect a single instance of success in anything that I ever undertook.
That’s a sad commentary on what I think we would consider to have been a very successful life.
As Jesus began traveling around the region of Galilee teaching and healing, there were expectations. We saw the expectations of those in Nazareth who watched Jesus grow up. They didn’t expect anything from Jesus. As a result, they rejected him. Some began wondering if Jesus might be the Messiah and there were expectations that came with that. But no one expected Jesus to be God come in the flesh. After recording the dream Joseph had of an angel explaining Mary’s pregnancy Matthew wrote:
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matthew 1:20-21)
The prophet Matthew was quoting was Isaiah. The passage is found in Isaiah 7:14. The Jews had to have been familiar with the prophecy but they were not expecting it to be fulfilled in Jesus. Because their expectations of Jesus were that he was just an ordinary man with some extraordinary abilities they had a difficult time accepting some of the things Jesus did.
If you haven’t already, turn to Luke 5. In our passage we’ll see how some of Jesus’ actions clash with these expectations. Jesus will heal two individuals: one a leaper and the other, a paralyzed man. Remember, the basic understanding of Jews at the time was disease and especially leprosy were caused by sin. Also, only God can forgive sin. We’ll start with verse 12.
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” (Luke 5:12)
Jesus had told people in Capernaum that he need to share the good news of God’s kingdom in all the towns around the Sea of Galilee. While he was in one of those towns, he was approached by a man with leprosy. Matthew and Mark simply say the man had leprosy but Luke tells us that his body was full of it. There was not a part of his body unaffected by the terrible disease.
Leprosy destroys the nerves, leaving those afflicted with it no sense of touch. As a result they don’t know when they’re touching something too hot and it burns them. They rub their face but they don’t know how hard they’re rubbing. The disease would start with just a small spot and spread. Luke says this man’s body was covered.
God gave regulations for how to deal with those who contracted the disease in Leviticus 13 and 14. Once the disease was discovered the individual was not allowed to live with the rest of the community. They were outcasts that lived dwelled alone or with other leapers.
The man came to Jesus though and knelt before him. Undoubtedly even he had heard stories of the things Jesus could do. Believing Jesus could heal him, he said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
There are two interesting parts to this request because it was a request. First, the man indicates his belief that Jesus is able to heal him; he’s just not sure if Jesus would want to heal him. No one wanted anything to do with leapers. Perhaps Jesus wouldn’t want anything to do with him either.
Second, we would expect the man to ask Jesus for healing but instead he asks to be cleansed. “You can make me clean.” Diseases may have been the result of sin but this was considered the worst of all diseases and thus the result of the worst of sins. Whenever they met someone on the road Old Testament law required them to cry out, “Unclean, unclean” in order to warn others of their disease. Jesus could make him clean again. Then, he would be able to rejoin his family and society.
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. (Luke 5:13)
Perhaps the most amazing part of this story was that Jesus touched the man. Because of Old Testament law that required isolation and fears of contracting the disease, no one would touch a leaper, but Jesus did. That the disease covered the man’s body tells us that he’d had the leprosy for some time. It had probably been years since anyone dared to touch him but Jesus did. It wasn’t necessary for Jesus to touch the man. It wasn’t even necessary for Jesus to see the man. In Luke 7 Jesus will heal the centurion’s servant without ever meeting the man. But Jesus touched the man. The fear was that if you touched someone with leprosy you would catch it. But that’s not what happened here. Instead of Jesus catching the leprosy, the man caught Jesus’ wholeness. That Jesus touched this leaper tells us so much about the compassion he had for him and for each of us as well. Jesus did what no one else was willing to do. William Barclay, commenting on this story reminds us that:
It is of the very essence of Christianity to touch the untouchable, to love the unlovable, to forgive the unforgivable. Jesus did – and so must we.
Jesus was willing to heal the man – as the man had asked – and declared that he was now clean. The leprosy that had covered his body was now completely gone. This did not end the matter though. Just as the law prescribed what those with leprosy were to do it also prescribed what they were to do if perchance they were healed.
14 Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” (Luke 5:14)
There were rituals that needed to be carried out as the law prescribed. Jesus wanted to make sure the man completed all that was required of him. Additionally, the man would be a witness or testimony to the healing the healing that Jesus had performed. However, Jesus did not want the man going out and broadcasting news of his healing. The ultimate reason Jesus had come was to die for our sins. It wasn’t time for that yet and Jesus didn’t want to confuse the expectations they already had concerning him. Of course, we know what the man did. He did what we would have done. He was so excited about his cleansing that he told everyone he met. And even if he obeyed Jesus and didn’t tell anyone, others who witnessed the event told others.
15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. (Luke 5:15)
You can understand how it would be hard to keep that kind of news quiet. The crowds only grew larger.
16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)
We read about Jesus going alone to pray in the last chapter and here we read about it again. Jesus would go off to a place where he could be alone to pray. I think this example of Jesus is important.
Why do you think Jesus spent so much time in prayer? Some have suggested he did it to set an example an example for us. But I don’t think that’s right. It is an example for us to follow but I don’t think he went to a place where he could be alone to set the example. If his sole purpose was to set an example, why wouldn’t he have prayed in public where people could have seen him? Instead, I think he spent so much time praying because he enjoyed being with his Father. Jesus wanted that fellowship that is possible only through spending time together.
I think there are two lessons we should take from this. First, Jesus was dependent on God. He was dependent on the Father for his power and strength. If Jesus needed God that much how much more do we? Second, I think we need to learn that spending time with God in prayer should be a blessing. However, for so many Christians prayer is drudgery. It’s something to mark off their to-do list. We should long for the day when it is a desire as much as drinking when thirsty is a desire. If you don’t have the desire, ask God to give you the desire. “Lord, don’t want to pray today but I want to want. Help me want it more.”
We aren’t told where Jesus was when the man with leprosy approached him but Mark tells us the next story took place in Capernaum. Some have supposed he was at Peter’s house.
17a One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. (Luke 5:17a)
In Luke 15 we read about how tax collectors and sinners gathered around to hear Jesus, but here it’s the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Not only that, but we discover that they too had traveled some distance to hear him. Luke mentions the towns around the sea but some had traveled for days to see Jesus. Jerusalem and Judea (which refers to the area surrounding Jerusalem) were not just down the road. They were going out of their way to hear Jesus. We aren’t told here why they were making this great effort but later we’ll read about how they come in order to find something Jesus said to use against him. Their opposition to him would only increase with time.
17b And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. (Luke 5:17b)
It was God’s power that enabled him to heal the sick. I think that power came from spending so much time with his Father.
18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. (Luke 5:18-19)
This is a pretty dramatic story. It would have been nearly impossible for the men to have done that today. Once the men got though the many layers of the roof they would only find themselves in the attic. They would still need to dig through the insulation and drywall in order to finally make into the room where Jesus was teaching.
Over the years I’ve heard and read many descriptions of how the men dug a hole through this roof. I did hear an interesting explanation this week that I’d never heard before. The commentator explained that many houses of the day were built around a courtyard. During the colder months a temporary cover was placed over the courtyard to help hold in the heat. If that were the case, the men were only making a hole in what would be taken down in a few months anyway.
Whatever kind of roof it was, the men still had to go through some labor to do it. They carried the man to the house. When they saw they couldn’t not get close enough to even see Jesus they carried him up to the roof. And then, having made a whole in the roof lowered their friend down in front of Jesus. They were certainly determined in their efforts. They were not going to be turned back by a few people or any obstacle such as a roof. They knew how debilitating his paralysis was. They knew too how they would have wanted to have been carried to Jesus if it had been them confined to a mat. There was nothing that would stop them when there was this hope that Jesus could heal him.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 5:20)
Whose faith did Jesus see? He saw the faith of the man’s friends. Perhaps it included the man’s faith, but it was also the faith of his friends. And then, Jesus made the most outlandish claim. Jesus declared that the man’s sins had been forgiven. While we can forgive each other for offenses against us there is only one who can forgive sins and that is God. For Jesus to declare this man’s sins forgiven was to make himself equal with God which was blasphemy. This explains the response of the Jewish leaders.
It’s interesting that Jesus would forgive the man’s sins. How many other times did Jesus forgive a person’s sins before forgiving them? This is the only time. He came to be healed and the first thing Jesus does is forgive his sins. Not all sickness is tied to sin but some is and this man’s must have been. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a need to pronounce his forgiveness.
Bill Wilson, a Christian physician, was head of the psychiatric department at Duke University. One of his patients was a Vietnam veteran whom he said had been nonfunctioning for years. In the course of his Vietnam duties he had been responsible for the deaths of many people. The hospital staff felt convinced that his illness was the result of his inability to forgive himself. One day Dr. Wilson came in and asked to see this particular patient. He went into this poor man’s room, sat on the bed and said, “I want to tell you that your sins are forgiven.” “What did you say?” asked the patient. Dr. Wilson continued, “I have the authority to tell you through Jesus Christ that your sins are forgiven.” Dr. Wilson said that the exchange marked the beginning of the man’s healing. Dr. Wilson performed a miracle of healing, not as a psychiatrist, but as a Christian. His guilt had made him sick.
Because atheists don’t believe in God they don’t believe in sin. However, they understand the power of guilt. But they can’t offer forgiveness so they try to do away with guilt. There are many who with this whole problem of guilt. They have failed or hurt family or friends and cannot find forgiveness. The only answer is Jesus because only Jesus has the power to forgive. Dr. Wilson was not forgiving the man’s sins; he was only relating to him what Jesus already did for him.
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:21)
They were flabbergasted. Jesus was not only saying this but he was saying it openly in front of lots of witnesses. Didn’t he know the punishment for blasphemy was stoning. However, if Jesus is God then it’s not blasphemy.
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?” (Luke 5:22-23)
Which do you think is easier to say? Most would answer that it’s easier to say the man’s sins had been forgiven. If I claim to heal a man who can’t walk it would be easy to verify if my statement was true. If the man can walk it’s true but if he can’t then I’m just making it up. However, there’s no way to prove whether or not the man’s sins had actually been forgiven.
The Jews would have answered that both were impossible because only God could do either. Only God can forgive sins and only God can take a paralyzed man and make him able to walk again. Both are impossible for people but not for God and thus not for Jesus.
24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” (Luke 5:24)
The “Son of Man” is an interesting term. Those trying to deny divinity of Jesus say this means Jesus was simply claiming to be human. However, that’s not what he was saying. Jesus didn’t come up with the phrase, it is actually term found in Psalms, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Here’s just one reference.
13 In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)
It’s clear from the things said about this man that he is no ordinary person. He has power and authority only God has. Jesus, by healing the sick and forgiving sins was claiming power only God has because he is God. Then, to prove it he healed the man. He instructed this man who couldn’t walk to get up and walk. Jesus doesn’t claim that God has healed him but that he has healed him. “I say to you.” Jesus was not only healing the man but the healing validated his ability to forgive the man. Jesus was claiming abilities only God has. This just completely demolishes any argument that Jesus never claimed to be God. He never said, “I am God.” Instead, he claimed to do what only God can do.
In John 8 the Jews accuse Jesus of being demon possessed. When he defended himself they accused him of claiming to be greater than Abraham.
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” 58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. (John 6:57-59)
Why were they trying to stone him? They understood that Jesus was claiming to be God which was blasphemy and the punishment for blasphemy was stoning. Those who say Jesus never claimed to be God have never read the Bible.
25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. (Luke 5:25)
There’s no way for us to know how long the man had been unable to walk. If it had been for any length of time the man’s muscles would have atrophied. I’ve told some of you the story of a guy that roomed down the hall from me at Johnson. One year he spent hours working out in the gym lifting weights and building his muscles. Some time that summer he broke his left arm. He had just gotten his arm out of the cast when school started. Because of the two months he was unable to use it his left arm was smaller than it was before he had started lifting weights. That’s what happens when we don’t use our muscles. It would have been the same with the muscles in his legs. This man had been unable to walk. When Jesus healed him, the man was no longer paralyzed and his muscles were strengthened. He was able to stand and walk. Jesus heals completely.
26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” (Luke 5:26)
The reaction of the people was amazement and awe. Remember, awe is fear mingled with admiration and reverence. They claimed they had seen remarkable or unexpected things. That’s because they were expecting to see only man. They weren’t expecting to see God come in the flesh. They weren’t expecting to have God be with them. And so they were amazed and will with awe.
Our expectations are important. Do we expect God to meet with us as we gather to worship and open his word? Do we expect God to hear our prayers? Do we expect God to answer them?
