Jesus’ Healings
JESUS’ HEALINGS
LUKE 5:12-26
Why do you think it was important that Jesus healed the man as well as forgiving his sins?
Verses 12-16. In this story the Lord both disregards and conforms to the regulations of the Law. He touches the leper, an act which was forbidden, but he bids the cleansed man show himself to the priests (Leviticus 14). He conformed when love permitted. When love demanded something deeper than formality, he brushed formality aside.
The reason for the Lord’s request in 5:14 is found in Mark 1:45. The Lord sought to avoid a mass movement and an epidemic of emotional enthusiasm. He sought to lay his foundations firmly in the rank and file of the land and in understanding, dedicated lives. Is not this still the better way?
5:17-26. The gathering of the religious leaders was part of the process mentioned by Mark, the spurious or hostile interest which he had sought to avoid. Enthusiasm which lacks tact and obedience can harm the work of Christ.
The experts had come to criticize; the prejudiced, in most situations, can find food for their prejudice. The advice of the practical Peter, and an armful of rope from his boat, may lie behind the drastic methods of the four friends who brought the sick man to Christ. Unorthodox methods are not always wrong, but should not be sought for their own sake. Let us use the door if it is there. Applicable, is it not, to evangelism?
The whole story shows that the Lord recognized the link between a troubled soul and a broken body. Most of our ills can in some way be shown to arise from disturbance in the spirit, and there is no deeper disturbance than sin, a nagging conscience and corrupted thought.
Read Matthew 9:2-8 and Mark 2:1-12. Note the minor differences in words and detail, remembering always that more words were said than those reported, and that what was said was in Aramaic. Even the basic Greek is itself a translation.
Note 5:17-26: Luke’s theme, unfolded in ordered sequence, is the self-revelation of Christ. The Messiah who has demonstrated his lordship over sickness, demons and nature, now shows his authority in forgiving sin.