seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Luke 5:1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy.[b] 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.”
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
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.”
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. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
17 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. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 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.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
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?”
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’? 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.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”
34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”
a. Luke 5:1 That is, the Sea of Galilee
b. Luke 5:12 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
Ok.... I am in Luke, the third Gospel. Accordingly.... this is not the first time I have read the new skin... old skin stuff. But it's the first time I understood it.... the reason the good people don't accept Jesus.... the way they have been doing things has been working.... in their minds. They are wealthy, healthy, and their friends think they are wise. So they don't need this guy Jesus.... but He is entertaining. While the tax collectores, hookers, whores and theives.... they are willing to step out and take a chance.... and Jesus is offering them the chance to change things up.... and they are willing to throw their nets over the other side of the boat.
This is from the blueletterbible.org site.
The multitude pressed around Him to hear the word of God: The large crowd is testimony to the increasing popularity of Jesus as a teacher. The crowd was so big that Jesus got into one of the boats and taught the multitudes from the boat.
One of the boats, which was Simon's: Simon must have felt privileged to have Jesus teach from his boat. We can also be sure that Simon listened to this teaching all the more attentively.
Do not be afraid: In the grammar of the ancient Greek, this is literally stop being fearful; it calms an existing fear. Peter was afraid of Jesus in the sense of holding Him in such great awe, but Jesus tells Him to put away that fear. God wants to relate to us on the principle of love, not the principle of a cowering fear.
They forsook all and followed Him: Jesus chose unlearned, unlettered men, but He taught them. You don't need fancy degrees and education to start out in ministry, but you must enroll yourself in the University of the Word.
A man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus: The condition of leprosy is a model of sin and its effects. Just like sin it is a contagious, debilitating disease that corrupts a man and makes him essentially dead while alive.
Lepers were universally scorned by society and religion; they were especially despised by the Rabbis, who saw their state as the particular judgment of God.
In Jesus' time rabbis spoke about how badly they would treat lepers. One boasted that he refused to buy even an egg on a street where he saw a leper, another bragged that he threw rocks at lepers when he saw them.
He charged him to tell no one: Why did Jesus often command people to be somewhat secretive about their healing? His desire was to keep down the crowds until the proper time for His formal revelation to Israel, which was an exact date as prophesied in Daniel 9.
In addition, Jesus' miracles (though they did give testimony to His ministry) were not primarily calculated to make Him famous or a celebrity. Jesus healed to meet the needs of specific individuals.
But go and show yourself to the priest: Jesus does command the man to give a testimony to the priests, and what a testimony this was! The Mosaic Law prescribed specific sacrifices to be conducted upon the healing of a leper, and the priests had to "blow the dust" off that portion of their law (Leviticus 14).
Who can forgive sins but God alone? There was no error in the thinking of the scribes and Pharisees. It is true that only God can forgive sins. Their error was in failing to see that God was right there among them in the person of Jesus.
This reminds us that only God can solve our sin problem. We can't even forgive ourselves, because we don't have the power and authority to forgive ourselves. We must be persuaded of God's forgiveness in our lives.
He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi: So far, Jesus has handled a paralytic, a leper, and a demoniac. Now He is ready for the worst of the group-a tax collector.
Tax collectors were despised as traitors and extortioners. As a class they were excommunicated from the Jewish faith.
He left all: "This must have meant a considerable sacrifice, for tax collectors were normally wealthy. Matthew must have been the richest of the apostles." (Morris)
And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, "The old is better": Just because people are more comfortable with the old, they assume that it is better. The epitaph on the tombstone of many a dead church reads: "We never did it that way before."
I'm so sorry these postings are so long. A chapter in the Bible is a little much to have to take on at one time.... but it does seem to give me a different view.... out of the weeds... more into the overview. I've listened to so many sermons about fishing from the other side of the boat. The last time I posted about fishing from the other side of the boat.... I read that the reason they fished from one side rather than the other was a fear of sea monsters. It was a big lake.... and there were storms in the lake.... it has it's own weather out there. Maybe that was right.... at the time... but the message I'm getting this morning is.... do something different to kick start your knew life.
I can just see the priest who met the guy healed by Jesus. I bet that priest was amazed. As a matter of fact... I wonder if the guy had to prove he had leprosy in the first place. If the ignorant human mind can't wrap around a topic.... it causes the human to discount it. I bet when that guy walked up to the priest and told him that he was cured of Leprosy... the priest's response was something like "yeah right... it's not nice to lie to your priest". Maybe the guy had to take a witness to back up his story of being cured of leprosy.
I remember being in a church in Lothian, MD. The Methodist Church had just decided that they would allow gay people in church. The preacher in that church was livid. He was not going to allow the defamation of the church. His whole life he had been taught exclusion by the church. Thieves, murderers, whores, hookers, abortionists, and liars were welcome.... they would hear the Word and come to Christ.... he preached.... but not gays. Apparently that was the sin of all sins.... and that preacher didn't even want them in the church. Apparently..... Matthew and his gang were not good enough for the priests in the days of Jesus. I bet the gay people really had to hide back then.... Messianic Jews were not well liked either.... so they were in good company.....
Me me me.... it's all about me.... it's all about how life could be better for me..... that's what drove the Pharisees, Sadducees, teachers, priests, rich people, poor people and sick people. The crowds wanted to be healed.... the crowds wanted to see a healing..... Jesus was an oddity.... a new way......
