GET TO JESUS
LUKE 5:12-26
I. Leper (5:12-16)
Mt. 8:1 [ESV]. When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.
A. Hope (12)
1. Description (full of leprosy)
Vincent
stated, “Leprosy was known among physicians under three forms: the dull
white, the clear white, and the black. Luke means to describe
an aggravated case.”
David
Smith explained, “The leper was an outcast. He had to live apart. Even as of old
he had been banished from the camp of Israel, so in later days he was not
suffered to enter a walled town. He had to rend his garments, go bareheaded,
wear a covering over his mouth, and cry: ‘Unclean! Unclean!’”
• In the Bible, leprosy (picture of man’s sin) was an infectious disease characterized by sores, scabs, and white shining spots beneath the skin.
• The Law required lepers to be isolated from the rest of society (Lev. 13:45-46).
• Lepers wore mourning clothes, left the hair in disorder, kept the beard covered and cried “Unclean! Unclean!” (Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
2 Kg. 5:1 [ESV]. Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
2. Devotion (falling upon face)
3. Desperation (begged)
4. Decision (willing)
B. Healing (13)
1. Compassion (stretched hand)
Lk. 10:33 [ESV]. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
David Smith said, “He had no hope in man, but he had hope in the Divine Physician. Had Jesus been a Rabbi, He would have recoiled in disgust and indignation.”
“When R. Eleazar saw a
leper, he hid himself.” When Risch Lakisch saw one, he pelted him with stones,
crying: ‘Away to thine own place, lest thou pollute others!’”
2. Contamination (touched)
3. Confirmation (spoke)
4. Conversion (immediately)
• Plead (Mt. 8:5)
• Petition (Jas. 4:15)
• Power (Mk. 10:26)
• Purify (Lk. 7:22, 17:14-17)
C. Hide (14-16)
1. Regulation (purification)
• The ceremony (picture of Christ’s sacrifice) performed outside the camp restored lepers with the people (Lev. 14:3-9), and the ceremony in the tabernacle seven days later restored lepers to worship (Lev. 14:10-32).
• The priest provided two birds in the ceremony. The priest killed one over running water and set the other free.
• The priest tied cedar and hyssop to the living bird by a scarlet band. The live bird was dipped in the blood of the slain bird and the running water.
• The dead bird represented past deadness, the freed living bird restoration to life. (Fausset’s Bible Dictionary)
Lk. 17:14 [ESV]. When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.
Robertson
said, “The command to report to the priests was in accord with the Mosaic
regulations and the prohibition against talking about it was to allay excitement
and to avoid needless opposition to Christ.”
2. Restriction (publish)
• Command (Mt. 9:30-31)
• Circulate (Mk. 5:20, 7:36)
David Smith stated, “His self-willed course was a grievous error. It issued in the very consequence which Jesus had foreseen.”
“The disobedience of the
healed leper, albeit perhaps well meant, had this immediate consequence, that it
brought the mission in Galilee to an abrupt and premature conclusion.”
3. Restoration (prayer)
Robertson
wrote, “The more the crowds
came as a result of the leper’s story, the more Jesus turned away from them to
the desert regions and prayed with the Father.”
II. Lame (5:17-26)
A. Crowd (17)
1. Preaching
2. Pharisees
3. People
4. Power
B. Cripple (18-20)
1. Friends
a. Bed
b. Brought
c. Broke
Edersheim
wrote, “The roof itself, which had hard beaten earth or rubble underneath it,
was paved with brick, stone, or any other hard substance, and surrounded by a
balustrade which, according to Jewish Law, was at least three feet high.”
Robertson
explained, “They climbed up a stairway on the outside or ladder to the flat tile
roof and dug out or broke up. . . the tiles (the roof). There were thus tiles. .
. of laths and plaster and even slabs of stone stuck in for strength that had to
be dug out.”
• Concern
• Creativity
• Caution
• Cost
• Confidence
2. Faith
G.
Campbell Morgan stated, “My own conviction is that in that plural pronoun there
was included his own faith, together with that of the men who brought
him.”
Jas. 5:15 [ESV]. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
3. Forgiveness
Lk. 7:48 [ESV]. And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
G.
Campbell Morgan said, “The supreme revelation is that of Christ’s authority in
the matter of sin.”
Stagg
wrote, “The authority of Jesus. . . begins with the forgiveness of sins.”
Herschel Hobbs explained, “The order of Jesus’ words is significant. He forgave the man’s sins before He healed his body.”
“First, Jesus’ primary
mission was related to man’s sin. Second, this man’s physical condition may have
been due to his spiritual need. Third, Jesus posed a situation by which to prove
His authority to forgive sin. Fourth, by the scribes’ claim that only God had
such authority, the indirect result was their own unwilling testimony to the
deity of Jesus.”
C. Critics (21-26)
1. Proof (Son of Man– Dan. 7:13)
2. Problem
3. Pallet
Acts 3:6 [ESV]. But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!"
4. Praise
Lk. 18:43 [ESV]. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
• Presence of Jesus
• Teaching of Scripture
• Concern of friends
• Breakdown of barriers
• Salvation of sinners
• Murmuring of opposition
• Miracles of deliverance
• Glory of God