Psalm 8:1
My Shepherd met me in His green Pastures and laid me down in Luke 5. Verse 17 has always intrigued me:
Luke 5:17 ¶ 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.
The Mind of the Spirit tweaked the interest of the spirit of my mind with the clause: “And the power of the Lord was present to heal them” (Luke 5:17b). How have I read this verse hundreds of times and not noticed the last word them? I always stopped at heal.
I have often reflected on, desired, and prayed that God’s power would be present to heal. For I thought the power of the Lord was present to heal any who would come into the assembly sick. Indeed, one such was brought to the assembly, and Jesus performed a wonderful miracle of healing upon him (Luke 5:18-26).
The doctors of the law and Pharisees gathered from “every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem.” Every town? Wow! This was a large gathering of the most prestigious men of God in Israel. Such an assembly was unlikely to have come together by accident. Maybe Jesus’ presence there happened to coincide with a planned convention of Pharisees and Doctors of the Law in the same neighborhood. But I think these men heard about Jesus, enquired where they might find Him, and arranged to see Him for themselves.
In any case, the word them that concludes verse 17 points to these Pharisees and Doctors of the Law. The power of the Lord was present to heal them. Jesus did not heal the sick of the palsy immediately. First, Jesus declared his sins forgiven (Luke 5:20). This hit the target exactly where Jesus was aiming: “The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” (Luke 5:21). Then Jesus used His power to heal the physical disease of palsy (pralysis, often accompanied by involuntary tremors), to teach the Pharisees and Doctors of the Law an important lesson.
As I walked with Him beside the still waters, I reflected on the Lesson Jesus taught all of us that day. The power of the Lord was present to heal these Pharisees and Doctors of the Law, who didn’t see themselves as sick.
Jesus pointed out their soul-sickness: unbelief! “Why 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 might know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine. house” (Luke 5:22-24). To the astonishment of all in the house, the sick in body was healed, and he went home glorifying God (Luke 5:25-26). But even more astonishing is that Jesus could not find one among all the well-known scribes and Pharisees, indeed, none among the Doctors of the Law, that He would extend an invitation to follow Him. But as soon as he left the house full of sin-sickened sinners sitting in their pride and sin, He went forth and found a despised publican, named Levi (Matthew), and said to him, “Follow me” (Luke 5:27).
Jesus attended a feast prepared for Him by the hated Publican (a Jew who served as a tax collector for Rome). The scribes (Doctors of the Law) and the Pharisees observed Jesus enter the Publican’s house. They noted that among the guests were other publicans (Luke 5:29). These “holy men of God” forgot the miracle Jesus had done, having missed the lesson of that miracle, that the greater healing was forgiveness of their sins. They criticized Jesus and His disciples, asking: “Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?” (Luke 5:30).
Jesus delivered the message to the Doctors of the Law and the Pharisees again: “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 9:31-32). And the Doctors of the Law and the Pharisees missed it again! They could not see themselves as in “need” of repentance, or of the forgiveness the Son of man came to provide. They would cling to the old wineskins of the Law and refuse to be made new (Luke 5:36-39; see 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”). He came to heal them. But they would not be healed!
In the valley, Jesus drew close to me, and the nearer He got, the more my soul was humbled. I rejoiced to hear Him say to me, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). I thought of the Doctors of the Law and the Pharisees who missed the call because of their pride, and of Levi, a pitiful publican, a sinner, who understood Jesus’ message, and received the call: Follow Me! (Luke 5:27). Jesus reminded me that it was by the Gospel of Matthew (Levi) that He extended to me His call! Selah! Like Levi, I “left all, rose up, and followed him” (Luke 5:28).
At the table, my Shepherd spoke to me of many things. I thought of my own oft-repeated prayer that the “power of the Lord” would be “present to heal.” I thought of Conner and prayed, and Jesus spoke to me of the sickness He has exposed in hearts through Conner’s affliction and of the many who have been healed, while we wait for Conner’s physical healing to be granted.
He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed close as we went into the harvest.
Praying for revival! 🙏
Going live asap:
0 Comments