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A Man of Miracles
But though
he had done so many miracles before them, A verse-by-verse study in Luke 5 (by Carl
Hagensick) Jesus was
indeed a man of miracles—healing the sick, raising the dead, walking on water,
turning water into wine. These were but a few of his mighty works. All were
intended not only to demonstrate his power, but especially to illustrate his
coming kingdom. Three of these miracles, interspersed with other narratives,
are found in the fifth chapter of Luke.
Lessons by
the Seaside—Luke 5:1-3 And it came
to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood
by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the
fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered
into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust
out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the
ship. What more
tranquil spot could there be for the lessons Jesus taught than by the seashore?
While the Gennesaret (the Sea of Galilee) can be quickly roiled by stormy
winds, it is usually calm, quiet, and peaceful. The sloping banks on its
northern shore—and it is there this narrative occurs for that is where the home
docks were for the fishing firms of Peter, Andrew, James, and John—rise in a
steady curve, forming a natural amphitheater with excellent acoustics. The choice
of Peter’s ship is suggestive of the leading role Peter was to play throughout
the pre-Pauline New Testament. His quick impetuous disposition naturally suited
him for the leadership position he was to fill. The time was
early morning for they had just returned from fishing all night and were busy
washing their nets to have them ready for the following night. Jesus had not
chosen his apostles from the idlers who were out of work, but men who were not
only occupied in a profitable trade but probably were owners of their own
fishing business. Rowing back
a short distance from shore gave Jesus better eye contact with his audience.
His position of preaching from a sitting position was normal for that time,
even when addressing such great crowds as on the mount of beatitudes (Matthew
5:1, ASV). The
popularity he enjoyed in the first year of his ministry is evident from the
crowd pressing upon him to hear his message. His message was revolutionary and
the multitudes loved it. We read of its appeal in these words: “The law and the
prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and
every man presseth into it” (Luke 16:16). This
narrative does not inform us of the content of his sermon, but we can be sure
it was the usual theme of his kingdom and the character qualities necessary to
enter into it.
The Draught
of Fish—Luke 5:4-11 Now when he
had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down
your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have
toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will
let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude
of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which
were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and
filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he
fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O
Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the
fishes which they had taken: and so was also James, and John, the sons of
Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not;
from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to
land, they forsook all, and followed him. Jesus’
ministry was bracketed by the capture of a large number of fish on two
occasions—the one recorded here near the beginning of his work and that found
in John 21:1-11 after his resurrection. Perhaps this is symbolic of the two
tasks Jesus would have his disciples accomplish: fish for faithful Jews during
the Jewish harvest, and for both Jews and Gentiles during the Gospel age. The amount
of fish in this first instance was so great the nets broke. So it was with the
message of the Jewish law; it broke under the strain of the gospel message. In
fact, this chapter closes with two parables with a similar lesson. This does
not appear to be the first call to these faithful disciples. The original call
to Peter, and probably to John also, is found in John 1:35-42. The time between
these two calls was probably used to prepare these men for the work they were
to do with Jesus during the first advent. Now they were to be
activated—“henceforth thou shalt catch men.” During these
months of training the apostles remained in their fishing business. Now they
were called away from that to devote their full time to working with the Master
in the gathering of the faithful in Jewry into the embryonic Christian faith. Before they
could be sent forth however, they needed to come to a recognition of their own
unworthiness. Impetuous Peter expressed the thoughts they all may have had:
“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” Peter’s self-confidence melted in the
face of the miracle by the far greater fisherman than he.
Cleansing
the Leper—Luke 5:12-16 And it came
to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who
seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I
will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. And he
charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer
for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But
so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came
together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. And he withdrew
himself into the wilderness, and prayed. As in many
other cases, the leper’s healing was a result of his faith. His was a faith
worth emulating. When besought by troubles, how simple the prayer, “Lord, if
thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” This is not a demand of faith, but a
simple request based on the principle of having his will done as to whether to
aid or to withhold aid—“Lord, if thou wilt.” The
commission to tell no man was not so much to keep the matter quiet as to bring
the testimony of the miracle directly to where Jesus wanted it delivered, to
the priest. This was not only as a witness to his powers, but to show the
priests that he recognized their position and the propriety of the healed leper
going to them to be pronounced clean. Notwithstanding, word of the miracle
quickly circulated and his fame spread quickly abroad. Jesus was a man
of prayer. He desired constant communication with his father although the
burden of many of his prayers is undisclosed. We might assume that this prayer
was how to handle his sudden popularity. Perhaps his prayer expressed concerns
that he not be overtaken with pride over the acclaim accorded him by the
populace. Perhaps he was concerned over the fact that the multitudes followed
him more for his miracles than for his message. Likely, it was a measure of
both concerns that occupied his mind.
Healing the
Palsied—Luke 5:17-26 And it came
to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and
doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee,
and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they
sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could
not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they
went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into
the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy
sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason,
saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God
alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them,
What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven
thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man
hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I
say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And
immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, 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
to-day. Among those
pressed into the crowded house in Galilee were many Jewish leaders. They may
have been a delegation appointed to check out the rumors of the miracles of
Jesus. They were not only local officials, but from the southern reaches of
Judea and the capital city of Jerusalem. The miracle of the palsied man was
well designed to illustrate the principle of divine healing. Palsy is a
poor description of the disease. Paralysis, rather than some such disease as
Parkinson’s, is the thought of the Greek word. There is no statement of faith
on the part of the victim when Jesus is approached. It is rather the faith of
his friends that is rewarded. In treating the miracle as a parable, Pastor
Russell comments: “The various difficulties under which humanity labors called
diseases, illustrate sin in various respects; for instance, palsy or paralysis
represents a condition of sin in which the individual loses his power—sometimes
merely becoming impotent, in the sense of helpless; at other times, in
combination with this may come an insensibility of conscience, a deadness
to all principles of righteousness, such as the apostle describes as ‘past
feeling.’ In this condition are quite a good many at the present time; they are
not only helpless as respects all ability to go to the great Physician, but
additionally they are devoid of any desire, any appreciation of their need;
they have no feeling on the subject.”—Reprints, p. 2584. The roofs of
houses in the middle East were used for many functions. They were used much as
porches in our day, to gain some fresh, cool air in the evenings. They also
were handy areas to dry grain and washed or dyed clothes. These roofs were
accessed both by steps from the outside of the house and by a ladder from the
inside. The hole where this ladder penetrated was covered with tiles to keep
out the rain and dirt. The friends
of the palsied man, finding the house overflowing its capacity, ascended the
outer stairs and removed the tiles covering the opening for the ladder. It was
through this aperture that they let the palsied man down into the crowded room.
This was perceived by Jesus to be an act of faith on the part of the invalid’s
friends. On the basis of this he said, “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.”
How much easier it would have been for Jesus to merely heal the man of his
infirmities. Jesus, however, had two lessons to convey—one to the paralytic and
one to the scribes and Pharisees. To the
leaders of Israel who challenged his right to remit sins, he was equating the
removal of sin with the healing he was about to perform. Sickness, after all,
is merely a concomitant of the death sentence for sin. All mankind gets ill and
eventually dies from one form or another of what has been termed “Adam-itis.”
Each act of healing was setting aside a portion of the penalty for sin
originally pronounced on the human race in the Garden of Eden. To the invalid
there was a further lesson. While there is no record that he exercised personal
faith in being brought to Jesus’ feet, now he would have to demonstrate his own
faith. He not only had to believe that his limbs were strong enough to bear his
weight, but he was bidden to carry his cot as well. It must have been tempting
for his friends to desire to help him up or at least carry his bed, but Jesus
wanted him to do it himself.
The Call of
Levi—Luke 5:27-32 And after
these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the
receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up,
and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there
was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But
their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do
ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto
them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Levi, or
Matthew as he is later known, was one of the last disciples to be called.
Luke’s placement of Matthew’s selection is suggestive of a connection between
the miracle of the palsied man and the call of Levi. Perhaps the association
lies in the healing of the man, not for his own faith, but for the faith of his
friends. Likewise Levi, as a tax collector, may not have been a religious and
faithful Jew and Jesus may well have selected him, not for what he was, but for
what he would become. The change
of name from Levi to Matthew, “a gift from God,” is supportive of this thought.
Sinners brought to repentance are miracles of Jehovah’s grace, and thus “a gift
from God.” Levi’s instantaneous response, like that of the palsied man picking
up his bed, shows an immediate leap of faith. Celebrating
his conversion he arranges for a feast at his house. It is noteworthy that all
the guests appear to be mostly publicans and sinners. These probably
represented the class of individuals with whom Levi was acquainted. The use of
the name Levi here, instead of his converted name of Matthew, further
emphasizes the lesson of this narrative. The scribes
and Pharisees, observing Jesus attending this feast, accuse him of associating
with a sinner class. His response illustrates the theme of the chapter. Most of
the healings of Jesus were performed upon the disapproved classes. These were
the ones he termed “the sick who need a physician.” The Pharisees, righteous in
their own eyes, did not consider themselves either sick or as sinners who
needed to repent. In the words of one, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican” (Luke 18:11).
Jesus and
John—Luke 5:33-39 And they
said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and
likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? And he said
unto them, Can ye make the children of the bride-chamber fast, while the
bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be
taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. And he spake also
a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if
otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of
the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles;
else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall
perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No
man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old
is better. Knowing that
the Israeli populace had great respect for John the Baptist, Jesus was next
queried about his life style and the more ascetic customs of John. His answer
is in three parts. First, aware that it was common knowledge among the Jews
that John had identified him as the Lamb of God, he uses the illustration of a
marriage. There is much feasting and celebration in the presence of the
prospective groom. But he predicted a time when he would depart —they knew not
that it would be to heaven. Then would come the time for the friends of the
groom to mourn and fast. The two
parables that close this chapter further illustrate the differences between the
Jewish and Gospel dispensations. Their lessons are similar, though not identical.
Garments represented that which clothed a man. Both the Jews and the Christians
had spiritual garments—these were the justification their respective covenants
afforded. To the Jew, the Law Covenant could only offer a justification through
works. The justification of the Christian’s covenant of grace is one that comes
by faith alone. This could not be applied as a patch on the Jewish garment, for
their covenant relationship was entirely different. The one covenant was by
works, the other by grace. These covenants produce two types of children. The
works covenant produces earthly seed while the grace covenant produces
spiritual seed. The
wine-skin parable is a similar but different lesson. The wine represents
doctrines while the skins picture the organizational structures that contain
these doctrines. Old doctrines are naturally preferred because they are
familiar and comfortable. They hold no challenge for change. But the new is
more invigorating and much superior. As the guests at the Cana wedding discovered,
the latter wine was better than the former. This new
wine, or doctrine, seeking to train co-leaders in Christ’s kingdom, must be
taught by the acquisition of principles. The law doctrines, informing men of
rights and wrongs, could be taught by memory and rote. Thus the old system of
Levites and instructors in righteousness must be replaced by the more
democratic system of church government selected by the individual congregations
to assist in their mutual search for absolute truth. The workings
of Christ, the Man of Miracles, are only included in small part in this
chapter. The whole of his teachings and his works are meant to prepare the ones
heeding them to be kings and priests with him to rule a thousand years. May our
individual searches lead us to that all-important end. |