Submitting to Jesus' Authority Brings Blessing

Scripture Reading

Luke 5:1–26 NKJV

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, 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 and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him. And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him. And He charged him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.” However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, 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 today!”

I. When Obedience Brought Greater Service

Now I think we have to see Simon as knowing Jesus already here. John tells us of his first encounter with Jesus. Thus Jesus doesn’t just pick some random guy; he asks someone who is already a disciple to do more.

Now Jesus is not a fisherman; he’s a carpenter. And Simon has been fishing on this lake his whole life. He knows what is normal; since he has already tried fishing all night and it hasn’t worked, he knows by experience that you’re normally better off just coming back a different day. Yet he has enough respect for Jesus’ authority that he is willing to ignore his own experience and skill to give it one more final try.

But what about Simon’s reaction?

He knows what is normal. This huge catch does not happen.

He knows that one who can do this must be from God; thus, he catches up in knowledge to what the demons know in the last chapter. This is the Holy One of God.

He also knows that he is not Holy, he is a sinner.

The sinful cannot coexist with the holy; for a sinful man to come into contact with the Holy God is extremely dangerous.

Thus, he’s terrified. This man is holy, so he is dangerous.

But Simon’s admission of his sin is itself repentance; God loves the repentant sinner, so Jesus does not reject him. Instead, he rewards him with more effective service.

Simon just caught fish before - he only earned a living. A decent, normal living for the time in which he lived; a respectable living. But only a living, not a truly significant life.

Simon will now “catch men,” meaning that he will now become an apostle and make disciples of Jesus. He will go from merely earning a living to a life of truly eternal significance. What a blessing!

II. When Submission brought Healing

In our second miracle we find Jesus somewhere (Luke may not have known where, as he only says “a certain city.”), nor do we know when in his ministry this took place. Luke places the story here because it’s another example of submission to Jesus’ authority.

Leprosy was a debilitating skin disease, however, the chief problem with it was the social ostracism. Now there is a modern disease that is commonly associated with leprosy; and to be fair, modern leprosy would have been called that then, too. However, the Biblical leprosy can encompass other skin diseases since modern medicine uses different standards than the Law of Moses. What’s important is that the leper would be unclean and therefore banned from society. He’s desperate for cleansing so he can be part of society, have a job, and friends, again.

The key phrase is “if you are willing.” the Leper believes Jesus can heal, but he does not know if Jesus wants to heal. He does not demand healing, rather, he asks for it. He is desperate, but will submit to Jesus’ decision regardless of what it is.

Jesus, of course, is willing; but he also touches him. Now normally to touch a leper was to become unclean yourself; but with Jesus, that touch provided cleansing. Since he’s a leper, the poor man hasn’t felt a warm, human touch in perhaps years. Jesus’ actions show a compassion for the sick man.

But why tell no one? because Jesus’ healing isn’t just for the sake of healing. It’s to prove he is who he claims to be. So people need to know he can heal, but too much popularity as a healer detracts from what he is actually here to do - he is here to offer the kingdom to Israel. In this location and time, Jesus has entirely too much reputation as a healer, so it’s starting to get in the way of his ministry.

But if that’s the case, why show himself to the priest?

He’s still under the law, and Jesus asks him to obey it. Lepers who experience cleansing were required to offer a sacrifice Lev 14:2-9; plus there were some final sacrifices on the eighth day.

Leviticus 14:2–9 NKJV

“This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, and shall stay outside his tent seven days. But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows—all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.

But it’s also for a testimony to them. Jesus may have been wildly popular with the people, but the priests largely hated him. So they were desperately in need of convincing that Jesus was the Messiah. Having to process the healing of a leper would provide them with indisputable proof that Jesus was who he claimed to be. it would either convince them or leave them without excuse.

However, the leper spread it to everyone, thus actually making Jesus’ ministry more difficult by excessive popularity.

III. When Faith unlocked forgiveness

We find Jesus often seeking time with God away from the crowds; time to pray. If it was good enough for the Son of God, it ought to be good enough for us.

Now houses in the first century were made of mud brick; the roof was flat and made of wooden beams overlaid with straw and covered with mud. Most houses had stairs up to the roof, and people would spend a fair amount of time there, especially when it was hot out. So it was pretty easy to go up the side stairs, dig through the roof with their hands, and let the guy down.

Jesus “saw their faith.” how do you see faith? he saw the trouble the paralyzed man’s helpers took to get to him. Their actions showed they really believed Jesus could heal. But Jesus chooses to make a point here. He instead forgives the man’s sins.

The reaction of the Pharisees is that only God can forgive sins. On this point they are quite right. I can forgive a sin you have committed against me personally, but I cannot forgive sins in general. But in every sin God’s law was violated, and so every sin is also an offence against God. For Jesus to claim to forgive sins is a claim to deity.

Jesus defends his actions with logic. It’s much easier to say the words “your sins are forgiven,” since who is going to know if it really happened? But if you say “rise and walk” and nothing happens, everyone will know you’re a phony. Thus, if Jesus can heal the man, then he has proven that God is on his side, thus, he proves he really can forgive sins. And if that is true, then he proves he is God, since only God can do that.

Incidentally, in actual fact it’s much harder to forgive sins than to heal paralysis. Jesus could heal paralysis with a word; it cost him his life to forgive sin. But that doesn’t change the fact that at the moment Jesus said it, it was much harder to say “rise and walk.”

The reaction of the crowd is suitably astonished. They only say “we have seen strange things,” and glorify God. So they don’t really understand what just happened, but they do know that it was amazing.

Conclusion

Jesus continues to demonstrate his authority over nature, but this section there’s a new idea. Jesus demonstrates his authority over people, too. He appointed Simon as one of his special disciples. He acknowledged he was sovereign in choosing to heal the leper. Most of all, he claimed divine authority to forgive sins.

But the humans in the story all in some way submitted to Jesus’ authority, and received a blessing. Simon acknowledged Jesus as the Holy One, and received greater purpose. The leper acknowledged Jesus ability and right to heal, and received cleansing. The men with the paralytic showed they believed Jesus could heal, and the paralytic received forgiveness of sins, in addition to healing.

We also get a hint of those who reject his authority. Jesus wants to limit the spread of his miracles because people believe them enough as it is; he wants them to follow God and his teaching, not just as a healer. But Peter has the work of persuading men to receive Jesus, those who as yet do not accept him. He gives the leper the purpose of being a testimony to the priests who do not accept Jesus. We encounter the Pharisees, and they are skeptical of Jesus; while they have correct theology, they are not willing to consider the blindingly obvious evidence in front of their eyes. Jesus obviously can do things that only God has the right to do, so he cannot be a blasphemer. There’s only one alternative - this man was and is God. But that choice would limit the power of the Pharisees, who derive their authority from teaching the people. So in spite of the irrefutable evidence, they remain unconvinced.

We still have that choice. Will you believe him and submit to his authority, or will you deny the irrefutable evidence that he really is God, and really does have the right to tell you what to do and how to live? If you have, then you will find, like Peter, that God will give your life a renewed purpose. I can’t promise that the Christian life will be easier; it may very well be harder. But it will be an infinitely better way of living than you ever could have done otherwise.