The Source of Jesus’ Obvious Authority
Luke 5:12-16
February 11, 2018
We are going to do things a little different this morning.
We’re going to try and kill two birds here with one stone.
On one hand we want to examine the text and extract the point.
But this morning, as we do that,
We are ALSO going to have a little lesson on how to study the Bible.
This morning we are confronted with a familiar story
About a miracle which Jesus worked in cleansing a leper.
It is a miracle recorded in all three of the synoptic gospels
(which is true of several of the miracles we see in this section).
Because this miracle is brief one, I think it affords us an OPPORTUNITY to not only look at the story, but also HOW TO STUDY IT.
One of the most common mistakes I think people make when studying the Bible (and one I used to make all the time) is that they
Tend to read the Bible like history instead of like theology.
That is to say, they learn to pick out the facts of the story,
But don’t work as hard to get the point of it.
They tend to forget that men like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not just giving you the facts about Jesus, but they were also preaching to you a point about Jesus.
A greater understanding of truth comes
When you not only grasp the facts, but also the point.
Let me show you.
Matthew 8:1-4 “When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
• Matthew includes this story immediately after The Sermon on the Mount
• And as the first of several miracles Jesus performed in chapters 8 & 9 where He is chronicling Jesus’ power over things like demons, sickness, nature, sin, and death.
Mark 1:40-45 “And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.”
Mark there already added to Matthew’s story.
• Mark adds that the reason, saying that Jesus was “Moved with compassion”
• Mark also adds that the Jesus commanded the man to tell no one
• And that the man specifically disobeyed that command
• The result was that the ministry of Jesus was hindered due to the crowds
• And that Jesus was forced to stay in the unpopulated areas
And then we read Luke’s version again:
Luke 5:12-16 “While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
So quickly we see that Luke also adds the command to tell no one.
However
• Luke doesn’t mention that the man failed to obey Jesus.
• Nor does Luke blame the man for Jesus retreating into unpopulated areas.
• Luke reveals that Jesus retreated into the wilderness for the purpose of prayer.
Now, let me give you the quick “How To” Bible study lesson.
Because we have a story recorded by 3 authors,
And because it is the same story with a common miracle
Then we know that there are GENERAL truths which all 3 reveal.
What are some of those GENERAL TRUTHS?
(and we’ll come back to them in a moment)
1) Jesus obviously has authority over leprosy
2) Jesus obviously has a willingness to help the afflicted
3) The Lepers humility was obviously important to all 3 writers
Those are general truths that we can glean
And certainly we don’t want to miss those.
However because all 3 writers include some different information
There are also some SPECIFIC TRUTHS which we don’t want to miss
As they reveal to us the main point of each writer.
Let me explain.
Suppose we were going to tell the story of you coming to church this morning.
On the little subheading (like you have in your Bible) it might read:
“Peggy Goes To Church” or “Leo Goes To Church”
And one writer says:
Peggy arose at 5:30 in the morning and cooked breakfast for Tommy, she then started a load of laundry, and then took a shower. After the shower she ironed Tommy’s shirt, straightened up the living room, and put a pot of beans on for lunch. She then put on her jacket, faced the cold, got in her car and made the 10 mile journey to Spur and went to church.
Obviously the story is about Peggy going to church,
But the emphasis is on the obstacles Peggy had to overcome to get here.
Point would be PEGGY’S DEVOTION
Another writer says:
Peggy got up, got dressed, and went to church, arriving early so she could practice the piano, drink coffee, straighten out her brother Leo, fellowship with the women, and go to seduce all the children with candy. And then Peggy attended worship where she played the piano before listening to the sermon.
Same story about Peggy going to church,
But the focus isn’t on what it took to get there,
Instead it’s on what she did while she was there.
Point would be PEGGY’S SERVICE
And even another writer could say:
Peggy went to church where she fell under extreme conviction for the large amounts of unconfessed sin in her life and laying prostrate at the altar she begged God’s forgiveness and then having received peace she went home.
Again, same story but still a different point.
Point would be PEGGY’S UNBELIEVABLE AND ENORMOUS SIN
DO YOU SEE WHAT I’M GETTING AT?
We have the same thing going on in the fact that
God appointed there to be more than 1 gospel account of Jesus.
• In each of these stories there is the GENERAL MESSAGE which is clear in all
3 accounts, and you must see that.
• What we also want is the SPECIFIC MESSAGE, and I would also tell you that
the specific message is the one that often requires the most work yet also
yields the most reward.
We want to know the basic facts
AND we want to know the point Luke is making.
• Matthew recorded the inspired word of God and yet was not compelled to
reveal that Jesus’ command not to tell anyone was disobeyed or ineffective.
• Mark recorded the inspired word of God and was compelled to speak of the
leper’s disobedience.
• Luke also recorded the inspired word of God and HIS MESSAGE WAS
DIFFERENT FROM BOTH.
WE WANT TO KNOW WHY?
So our question must be, not only “What is the GENERAL point?”
But also “What is the SPECIFIC point?”
But let’s look at this story together.
And let’s begin by looking at THE GENERAL POINT.
(12) “While He was in one of the cities, behold there was a man covered with leprosy;”
We are just reinforcing what we already know about the ministry of Jesus.
• He was committed to preaching the gospel to every city and village.
• He came to proclaim the truth of the kingdom.
• He came to offer grace to beggars
• He came to offer forgiveness to criminals
• He came to offer sight to blind
• He came to offer rest to captives
That was His main purpose and so that is what He is doing.
His ministry has led to Him to yet another city.
And from Luke’s perspective the city doesn’t matter,
It’s just Jesus doing here what He’s done in countless other cities.
THE DISTINCTION here comes in the fact that He is approached by “a man covered with leprosy”
AND THIS IS ALSO IMPORTANT.
On one hand leprosy could easily be thrown into the category of sicknesses and diseases and we could talk about Jesus’ ability to heal the sick.
And certainly that would be a true and accurate message.
Sickness is the result of the sin curse which this world is under.
Jesus came to reveal His authority over sin
And His ability to usher in the kingdom of heaven
So it is important to reveal that
He can conquer all of sins various consequences.
No matter if that is demonization, sickness, unruly nature, even death.
JESUS CAN UNDO IT ALL.
And certainly leprosy can be thrown in that category
As a sickness which Jesus healed.
On the other hand leprosy paints a much greater picture than even that.
Leprosy is a chronic illness that has never been fully understood.
And in Jesus day it was highly contagious.
• You could spread it with your breath,
• You could spread it by touching common objects.
And it has really only been with medical advances
That we have really understood what leprosy does.
It appears to rot the flesh and make fingers and toes fall off.
What it essentially did was cause nerve damage
And numb the physical sense of pain.
But what that meant was that it pushed the body
Into a sort of self-mutilating condition.
Because of numbness you are more susceptible to cuts and wounds and infections, etc.
Physical pain is a tremendous warning
That keeps you from doing something truly destructive,
And if that warning is removed,
You can do serious damage to your body before you even realize it.
One man wrote of leprosy:
“The disease which we today call leprosy generally begins with pain in certain areas of the body. Numbness follows. Soon the skin in such spots loses its original color. It gets to be thick, glossy, and scaly…As the sickness progresses, the thickened spots become dirty sores and ulcers due to poor blood supply. The skin, especially around the eyes and ears, begins to bunch, with deep furrows between the swellings, so that the face of the afflicted individual begins to resemble that of a lion. Fingers drop off or are absorbed; toes are affected similarly. Eyebrows and eyelashes drop out. By this time one can see the person in this pitiable condition is a leper. By a touch of the finger one can also feel it. One can even smell it, for the leper emits a very unpleasant odor. Moreover, in view of the fact that the disease-producing agent frequently also attacks the larynx, the leper’s voice acquires a grating quality. His throat becomes hoarse, and you can now not only see, feel, and smell the leper, but you can hear his rasping voice. And if you stay with him for some time, you can even imagine a peculiar taste in your mouth, probably due to the odor.”
(MacArthur commentary, page 7)
And so with leprosy what you actually have is a disease
That numbs the body to its own natural warning system,
And thus the body self-destroys.
It is a particularly cruel disease.
That in and of itself would be enough to pity this man who came to Jesus.
But aside from the disease you need to understand HOW IT WAS VIEWED.
Being sick was one thing.
You could be sick and still get sympathy from others.
But if you had leprosy there was no such sympathy.
Those with leprosy were viewed as those STRICKEN BY GOD.
And that with good reason
Remember when Miriam challenged Moses?
She was made leprous.
Remember when Gehazi became greedy for Naaman’s money?
God made him a leper.
Remember when Uzziah insisted upon offering the sacrifice?
God made him a leper.
And so leprosy was often viewed as a supernatural punishment
Or consequence upon a person.
It was a rotting disease that you brought on yourself.
And if that is why if you had leprosy, you weren’t considered sick,
You were considered UNCLEAN.
Leviticus 13:45-46 “As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ “He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.”
Lepers were not treated with sympathy,
Lepers were TREATED AS OUTCASTS,
And this was a command from God.
• One Rabbi spoke of throwing rocks at lepers to keep them away.
• Another said, “I would not buy an egg off a street that a leper had walked down.”
And so not only was your body destroying itself,
You were also seen to have brought this on yourself,
And were banished from all fellowship from your fellow man.
THAT MAKES LEPROSY A PHYSICAL PICTURE OF SIN
Leprosy was a disease that would numb your body until your body ended up destroying itself.
• Sin is a disease that will numb your conscience until your soul
ends up destroying itself.
Leprosy was a disease thought to be brought on oneself because of choices they made in life.
• Sin is a disease that is also brought on oneself because of choices
that are made.
Leprosy separates man from man.
• Sin separates man from God.
So it is easy now at this point
To understand in a general sense what all of the writers are doing.
They are all revealing an encounter
When Jesus was up against the most terrifying disease of the day
And one which illustrated the rotten effects of sin like no other.
ANOTHER THING THEY ARE REVEALING
Is the humble state in which this leper approached Jesus.
“and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Obvious to us again is the very important point about the humility in which we come to Christ.
• Jesus came to heal people who are beggars and who knew it.
• Jesus came to forgive people who are guilty and who knew it.
• Jesus came to give relief to people who are burdened and who knew it.
We find in this leper that same mandatory humility
That has been seen in the people that Luke has highlighted for us.
Everyone who comes to Christ comes in that same type of humility.
We are all leprous beggars, inflicted the soul-rotting disease of sin
And in desperate need of the Savior’s touch.
You have to know that.
ALSO REVEALED
Is the faith which the leper brought to Christ.
“If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
He has already come at great personal risk
To even be brave enough to venture into town and approach Jesus.
He must have at least assumed that Jesus WOULD BE WILLING
Or else he would not have come at all.
What is clear is that he was certain Jesus WAS ABLE.
And again as sinners when we come to Christ,
We come in humility, but we also COME IN FAITH.
You must believe that CHRIST CAN
And that CHRIST WILL when you approach Him for salvation.
So this is a tremendous GENERAL picture
Of the type of person who comes to Jesus for salvation.
• Do you see yourself as a spiritual leper?
• Do you see the rottenness of your soul?
• Do you mourn the foul condition of your heart?
• Have you grieved your exile from the company of God and the fellowship of the saints?
Those are the necessary attributes of the one who rightly comes to Christ.
This leper is a tremendous example of how sinners come to Christ.
ALSO REVEALED
Also in a general since we see the great power and compassion of Jesus.
(13) “And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.”
Now we are all well-aware that Jesus has ability to heal with a word.
• He didn’t touch the demon-possessed man when He cast out the demon.
• He didn’t touch Peter’s mother-in-law when He drove out her fever.
• He didn’t touch Peter’s fishing net before the great catch of fish.
His physical touch was not a pre-requisite for healing,
And yet here He did the unthinkable and “touched” this leper.
Not only does this demonstrate the compassion of Jesus as Mark pointed out, but what a demonstration of the POWER of Jesus.
If anyone else touches a leper they get defiled.
If Jesus touches a leper the leper gets cleansed.
Even while walking this sin-infested earth, Jesus remained undefiled
The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 7:26 “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;”
And for those of you who have been with us on Sunday nights studying the ACTIVE OBEDIENCE of Jesus, you know why that is so important.
• It is the righteousness of Christ which is credited to us,
• If He was in danger of becoming defiled by this world
• The last thing we would want is for Him to go around touching lepers.
But Jesus was absolutely incorruptible.
Even while living on this earth, He remained pure and holy.
And certainly His POWER OVER the uncleanness and sin effects of this world is made clear.
“And immediately the leprosy left him.”
This was not some sort of psychosomatic healing
Like is so commonly claimed today.
This was instant – This was verifiable – This was total.
And that is why He told this now cleansed leper
To go and bear testimony the way in which God had prescribed.
(14) “And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make and offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
This was the proper steps of verification.
• It would have been the examination of a priest which would have declared this
man unclean,
• And only the examination of a priest could now declare him clean.
But Jesus knew exactly how to have this miracle verified as authentic.
Send this guy back to the priest that condemned him.
Jesus had authority to reverse the curse of sin
And it needed to be verified and proclaimed.
NOW AGAIN, THOSE ARE THE GENERAL POINTS that are obvious in all 3 gospel accounts.
• You see Jesus’ Power
• You see Jesus as Savior
• You see the necessary humility required to be saved.
Don’t miss those points.
But also, don’t be lazy in your study.
Luke writes a slightly different story than those other gospel writers
And it is worth our diligence to find out why.
This difference in the story comes in verses 15-16
HERE IS THE SPECIFIC POINT
(15-16) “But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
Matthew doesn’t include this at all.
• That reveals to us that Matthew’s sole purpose was to demonstrate the power of Jesus and to reveal Him as the rightful Messiah.
• Matthew focuses on THE POWER OF JESUS
Mark includes this story, but also blames it on the disobedience of the leper who instead of obeying Jesus “went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.”
• And it seems that Mark really wants you to realize the enthusiasm of the leper.
• Certainly it was misguided enthusiasm, but you can’t dispute his excitement.
• Not only did he spread the story, but “to such an extent” that even hindered the ministry of Jesus and made it difficult for him to come into town.
• So Mark focuses on THE RESPONSE OF THE LEPER
LUKE DOESN’T INCLUDE THAT.
The response of the leper is not Luke’s priority.
Luke goes in a different direction.
• Luke focuses on THE RESPONSE OF THE CROWD
• And THE RESPONSE OF JESUS
Now the crowd’s response is not new to Luke’s gospel.
We’ve already recognized how their excitement has been building.
After casting out the demon
Luke 4:37 “And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.”
After healing Peter’s mother-in-law
Luke 4:40 “While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them.”
After all the healings in Capernaum
Luke 4:42 “When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them.”
Even as He entered the region of Galilee
Luke 5:1 “Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;”
This is hardly new information here regarding the crowd.
Luke is just reinforcing that truth that
JESUS FRENZY is at an all-time high.
The crowd is enamored with Him because He has authority.
• If Jesus were nothing but talk we’d know it by now.
• This crowd is a great witness that Jesus has power.
• Now the crowd might indeed be missing the main point, but they do make a
credible witness that Jesus’ authority is legitimate.
Certainly Luke reinforces that truth.
It’s the next truth that Luke introduces
That is a little more curious to us.
(16) “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness to pray.”
That is the verse I think we have to settle on
If we want to obtain Luke’s unique perspective on this story.
I suppose the main question we can ask here is: WHY?
Why did Jesus so often pull away and pray?
And as soon as we ask this question,
We have to also acknowledge that the Bible doesn’t tell us.
Now certainly we can GAIN SOME INSIGHT just by looking at some of the things JESUS TAUGHT US ABOUT PRAYER.
Things like:
Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
• Obviously Jesus could have been praying for Nazareth or any of the others
who rejected His message.
During the Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 6:6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
• This would at least explain why Jesus retreated to a deserted area to pray. He
simply wanted to seek God, not put on a show of piety.
We remember the parable of the persistent widow
Luke 18:1 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,”
• This reveals the level of Jesus’ faith.
• He prayed because He believed the Father was at work through Him.
Speaking to the disciples in the garden:
Luke 22:40 “When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
• Certainly there is a calling upon God for grace and strength to do the things
asked for.
I don’t think any of those are far-fetched notions as to
Why Jesus would pull away and pray during the height of His ministry.
AND CERTAINLY WE COULD SAY,
If Jesus felt it necessary to stop and pray
Then we are fooling ourselves if we don’t think it necessary for us.
But more than any of them, I think Luke is making this point:
THAT JESUS KNEW WHO HE WAS SERVING
Do you remember the passage Jesus quoted in Nazareth to reveal His mission?
Luke 4:18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,”
“He anointed Me” “He has sent Me”
Now look at how Luke wrote this.
“large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. BUT Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
LUKE DOES NOT SAY: “large crowds were gathering…AND Jesus Himself would often slip away…”
• That would imply that the two truths are somewhat unrelated.
• Just two basic things that were happening.
LUKE DOES NOT SAY: “large crowds were gathering…THEREFORE Jesus Himself would often slip away…”
• That would imply that the size of the crowd drove Jesus to pray.
• As though the crowd overwhelmed Him or as though He needed some peace to get away from them.
But that’s not what Luke says.
Luke says, “large crowds were gathering…BUT Jesus would Himself often slip away…”
Luke writes it as a peculiarity.
It is written as though Jesus often did what was NOT EXPECTED.
The arrival of those crowds looked like the epitome of success.
This is everything you ever wanted.
The crowd arrived.
And yet Jesus leaves!
From a modern day perspective He is doing ministry all wrong.
TODAY – THE CROWD IS SOVEREIGN
Church growth books tell you that:
• You have to have a facility that makes the crowd comfortable
• You have to play music that attracts the crowd
• You have to meet when it is convenient for the crowd
• You can’t meet longer than the crowd wants to meet
They all basically say the same thing – THE CROWD IS SOVEREIGN
Oh, don’t get me wrong, they spiritualize it
Because after all “Every person represents a soul!”
And that is how they justify doing anything they can to gain a crowd.
But Luke reveals that Jesus has a different focus.
In Jesus’ ministry the crowd is not sovereign. God is.
Jesus was in the service of the Father, not the service of the crowd.
Furthermore Jesus sought the Father over the crowd.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
When Jesus stepped on the scene,
The first thing we were amazed about was that He would make such outlandish claims.
• Remember how Nazareth was shocked by this and even Capernaum?
• That He would make claims like being able to forgive and such…
• And so the first response to Him was that He was out of His mind.
But that response couldn’t last long because He quickly put His power and authority on display.
• After casting out that demon…
• After healing Peter’s mother-in-law…
• After all of those other healings…
• After that great catch of fish…
• After cleansing this leper…
You really can’t call Him crazy anymore.
It is obvious that He has authority.
Even the leper revealed that the mindset on Jesus has shifted.
The leper said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Jesus’ authority is now obvious to the people.
BUT WHAT IS THE NEXT QUESTION GOING TO BE?
• Where did you get this authority?
• By whose power are You doing these things?
Luke 20:2 “and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?”
And what you will begin to see is that
The mood is about to shift in Luke’s gospel
And people are going to STOP DOUBTING HIS POWER,
And they are going to START QUESTIONING HIS SOURCE.
Later Jesus will call Matthew and while eating at his house:
Luke 5:30 “The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”
Then Jesus will be confronted by the legalistic disciples of John the Baptist.
Luke 5:33 “And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”
In chapter 6 they’re going to question His keeping of the Sabbath.
Luke 6:1-2 “Now it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
And it goes on from there.
In chapter 7 they’ll call Him “a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”
You see where the skeptics are headed.
Luke cuts them off at the pass.
JESUS IS IN THE SERVICE OF ALMIGHTY GOD.
And anyone watching His life can see that nothing is as important to Him as spending time with the Father.
• If all Jesus cared about was deceiving Israel into following Him…
• If all Jesus cared about was gaining popularity…
• If all Jesus cared about what starting a movement…
Then why is He always abandoning the crowd in favor of prayer?
It’s just another point that is solidified in our minds regarding Jesus.
• He is here (just as He said) in service of the Father.
• It is the Father who anointed Him
• It is the Father who sent Him
And if you reject Him, then it is not just Him,
You are also rejecting the Father
And the only offer of salvation you will ever receive.
Jesus is the One with Authority.
• He said He can save
• He has proven He can save
• And He received this power and authority from God
He deserves our trust and submission.
