Encountering Jesus will challenge us to see that He came to earth so that He could bring those who were far from God back to God...

This week, we have been looking at an encounter that a traitor tax collector named Levi had with Jesus that is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Wednesday, we looked at the reality that Levi responded to Jesus invitation to follow Him by leaving everything behind and began to follow Jesus.

We looked at the reality that this invitation would have been unheard of by any other Rabbi to call such a man to follow him as a student. What would have been viewed as being strange or odd would be why Jesus would want such a person like Levi around Him as His disciple. What would have been strange or odd would be that Jesus would want to hang out with a traitor like Levi.

We looked at the reality that there was something about Jesus that made people who were far from God comfortable enough to hang out with Son of God. Levi and his tax collector and sinner friends hung out with Jesus at a dinner party that Levi had so that his friends could meet and hang out with Jesus.

We looked on as another group of people, called the Pharisees, who were the self righteous religious leaders of the day, responded to Jesus invitation by grumbling and murmuring under their breath in disapproval. These self righteous religious leaders responded to what they were seeing by disengaging.

We talked about the reality that while those who were far from God felt comfortable hanging out with the Son of God, those who thought that they were close to God often felt totally uncomfortable hanging out with the Son of God. Jesus made insiders feel like outsiders while making outsiders feel like insiders when it came to how He related and engaged them.

Today, we see Jesus respond to the conversation that he overheard between His disciples and the Pharisees with a timeless reality about what happens when we encounter Jesus, which we see in Luke 5:31:

 And Jesus answered and said to them, "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

Jesus responded to the self righteous religious people of His day and their criticism with a metaphor to explain his actions; "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick”. You see, a physician, whose whole purpose is to cure physical ailments, does not spend a lot of time while he is at work seeing healthy people.

And we intuitively know this to be true, don’t we? I mean, you usually do not go to the doctor because you want to, do you? You usually don’t say “I know what I’ll do today; I like going to the doctor so much that I’ll make an appointment to go today, even though I am healthy”. No, almost always, we go to the doctor because we have to. We have to go because we are ill, or have been ill, or need a check up to prove we are not ill.

Jesus then takes this metaphor and applies it to his actions and to the Pharisees religious lack of action when it came to those who were far from God. Jesus explains that just like a physician, His focus was on those who were far from God and who were separated from Him. When Jesus states that He did not come to call the righteous, He is revealing for us the reality that Jesus did not come to invite those who are right before God.

Instead Jesus states that He came to earth to call sinners. Jesus entered into humanity to call those who were far from God and were outsiders back to God. You see, Jesus did not enter into humanity to see those who were insiders and who were close to Him; Jesus entered into humanity to rescue those who were outsiders and who were furthest from Him.

Jesus entered into humanity to invite those who were far from God to repentance, In other words, Jesus entered into humanity to invite those who were far from God to respond to His invitation to experience forgiveness and a relationship with Him to change the trajectory of their lives that was moving away from Him back towards Him. 

Because it is here, in this event from history from the life of Jesus involving a traitor tax collector, that we see revealed for us a timeless truth that can occur when we encounter Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Encountering Jesus will challenge us to see that He came to earth so that He could bring those who were far from God back to God.

Just as it was for Levi the tax collector, just as it has been for humanity throughout history, encountering Jesus will challenge us to see that He came to earth so that He could bring those who were far from God back to God. Encountering Jesus will challenge us to see that Jesus is comfortable hanging out with those who are far from God while making self righteous religious people who think they are close to God but judge those who are far from God very uncomfortable.

Just as it was for Levi, encountering Jesus will challenge us to see that Jesus invites those who are far from God to change the trajectory of their lives that is moving away from Him back toward Him so as to follow Him. Just as it was for Levi, encountering Jesus will challenge us to see that Jesus came to earth to rescue those who were outsiders and who were furthest from Him. And just as it was for the traitor Levi, encountering Jesus will challenge us to see that Jesus came to earth to provide an opportunity for the traitor race of humanity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for.  Traitors like me. Traitors like you.

So here is a question to consider: if you were to find yourself in the event from history, who would you be? Or better yet, if those who knew you best were to put you into this event from history, who would they so you would be?

Would you be Levi? Would you be one of the tax collectors or sinners who were outsider who were far from God? Or would you be one of the Pharisees, the self righteous religious person who thinks they are insiders when it comes to God? If you were to find yourself in the event from history, who would you be?

And are you responding to Jesus and His challenge to see that He came to earth so that He could bring those who were far from God back to God? How are you responding to Jesus and His challenge to see that He entered into humanity to invite those who were far from God to respond to His invitation to experience forgiveness and a relationship with Him to change the trajectory of their lives that was moving away from Him back towards Him?

Because, as we see from Levi’s encounter with Jesus, encountering Jesus will challenge us to see that He came to earth so that He could bring those who were far from God back to God.

Self-Righteous People and Jesus...

This week we are looking at an encounter that Jesus had with a man named Levi, who was a Jewish tax collector that worked for the Roman Government. Yesterday we looked on as Jesus responded to seeing Levi sitting at the tax collector booth, by approaching him and saying “Follow Me”. Now when a rabbi or teacher asked someone to follow him, this was a call to follow the rabbi as his disciple.

Jesus called this tax collector, who was so despised that he had a separate category for himself, to follow Him. Levi responded to Jesus invitation to follow Him by leaving everything behind and began to follow Jesus. To be asked to follow a rabbi was a great honor. But Jesus was no ordinary rabbi; Jesus was performing miraculous signs that people had never seen. Jesus, at this point in His life, was viewed as a rock star or celebrity in the region.

Plus Jesus wanted him to follow Him: Jesus wanted to hang out with a tax collector and sinner like him. This invitation would have been unheard of by any other Rabbi to call such a man to follow him as a student. What would have been viewed as being strange or odd would be why Jesus would want such a person like Levi around Him as His disciple. What would have been strange or odd would be that Jesus would want to hang out with a traitor like Levi.

Levi, after being invited to follow Jesus as His disciple, responded to that invitation by inviting all of his tax collector and sinner friends over to his house for a dinner party to meet and hang out with Jesus. Levi responded to Jesus invitation by providing an invitation for his tax collector and sinner friends to meet and hang out with Jesus. And what is so interesting is that his tax collector and sinner friends accepted the invitation.

You see, there was something about Jesus that made people who were far from God comfortable enough to hang out with Son of God. While Jesus never lived a life that was marked by selfishness and sin, people who were far from God felt comfortable enough to engage and interact with the Son of God.

Today, we will see that as Levi’s house filled with those who were far from God, others were attracted to what was happening. We see this in 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?"

Luke tells us that while the tax collectors and sinners were drawn to and felt comfortable hanging out with Jesus, there were others who were not quite as comfortable. Another group of people, called the Pharisees, who were the self righteous religious leaders of the day, responded to Jesus invitation by gathering together and grumbling at Jesus disciples outside the home of Levi.

Now this word grumbling, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to express oneself in low tones of condemnation. In other words, these self righteous religious leaders responded to what they were seeing by grumbling and murmuring under their breath in disapproval. These self righteous religious leaders responded to what they were seeing by disengaging.

And so often that is what self righteous religious people do, isn’t it? As self righteous religious people so often do, the Pharisees viewed these tax collectors and sinners who were far from God as “unclean”. And just like self righteous religious people, the Pharisees would not enter into the house and engage those who were far from God; instead, they called Jesus disciples out of the house to ask why Jesus would consider associating with such people. “Why is your teacher hanging out with tax collectors and sinners? Doesn’t he know who they are? Doesn’t he know that Levi lives there? Doesn’t he know who he is?”

You see, what I find so fascinating is that while those who were far from God felt comfortable hanging out with the Son of God, those who thought that they were close to God often felt totally uncomfortable hanging out with the Son of God. You see Jesus made insiders feel like outsiders while making outsiders feel like insiders when it came to how He related and engaged them. Jesus, however, overheard the conversation between His disciples and the Pharisees and responded with a timeless reality about what happens when we encounter Jesus.

We will discover that timeless truth on Friday...

An Encounter with a Traitor...

At the church where I server we have launched into the new year by looking at various encounters that people had with Jesus that are recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. And as we look at these encounters with Jesus, we are going to discover several timeless truths that will have the potential to powerfully impact our lives today.

This week I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where left off last week. And as we jump back into the next section of this account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke, we are going to discover another timeless truth that can occur when we encounter Jesus. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Luke 5:27:

After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me."

Luke brings us into this section of his account of Jesus life by providing us the context for the event from history that we are going to look at this morning. After miraculously healing a paralyzed man who had been let down through a hole in the roof of the home where Jesus was speaking, Jesus and his disciples left the house and began walking down the street in the city of Capernaum, which is located in what is now Northern Israel.

Luke tells us that as they walked down the street they came to a booth where Jewish people were required to pay taxes. And at that table sat a man named Levi who was manning the tax booth. Levi was a Jewish man who was a tax collector that worked for the Roman Government.

Now Jews who were tax collectors were hated by their fellow countrymen for two reasons. First, these tax collectors were hated because they would often charge higher taxes than necessary in order to make a profit. Since the Roman Government did not care what these tax collectors charged as long as they received what was due them, many tax collectors became wealthy by charging over and above what the Romans asked.

Second, Jewish tax collectors were hated and were viewed as traitors because they were working for the enemy. I mean, imagine how you would feel if Mexico invaded and conquered the United States and began to charge large taxes that you would have to pay to the Mexican government. And imagine if your neighbor began to work for the conquering and ruling Mexican government as a tax collector. Imagine giving your money to your neighbor, who gave part of that money to the Mexican government and kept part of it for himself.

Now, if that were the case, how would you feel toward your neighbor? That is how Jewish people felt toward people like Levi. As a matter of fact, Jewish people so despised tax collectors that they had a separate category for them. There were tax collectors and there were sinners. There were those who sinned and then there were tax collectors.

Luke then explains that when Jesus saw Levi sitting at the tax collector booth, He said to him “Follow Me”. Now when a rabbi or teacher asked someone to follow him, this was a call to follow the rabbi as his disciple. So Jesus here is calling this tax collector, who was so despised that he had a separate category for himself, to follow Him.

Now can you imagine what the rest of the disciples response to Jesus invitation to Levi to follow Him would be? Can you imagine Peter, for example “Jesus, I don’t think that is a good idea; I mean he is a tax collector; he is the enemy”? Luke then reveals for us how Levi responded to Jesus invitation in verse 28:

  And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.

Here we see Luke explain that Levi responded to Jesus invitation to follow Him by leaving everything behind and began to follow Jesus. Levi responds to Jesus invitation by leaving his tax booth and job to follow Jesus. Now you might be thinking to yourself “Well Dave that just seems weird. I mean why would you just get up and quit your job to follow Jesus? To just get up and leave your job because a rabbi asks you to follow him just seems strange? I mean at first glance that seems odd, doesn’t it?

While it may seem strange at first glance, it would not have seemed strange to the crowds at Capernaum. You see, Rabbis were the most respected members of Jewish society. So to be asked to follow a rabbi was a great honor. But Jesus was no ordinary rabbi; Jesus was performing miraculous signs that people had never seen. Jesus, at this point in His life, was viewed as a rock star or celebrity in the region.

And this was probably not the first time that Levi had seen or heard about Jesus, they both lived in the same small town. Plus Jesus wanted him to follow Him: Jesus wanted to hang out with a tax collector and sinner like him. This invitation would have been unheard of by any other Rabbi to call such a man to follow him as a student.

What would have been viewed as being strange or odd would be why Jesus would want such a person like Levi around Him as His disciple. What would have been strange or odd would be that Jesus would want to hang out with a traitor like Levi. Well, if that strikes you as strange or odd, just look at what happens next, as we see in verse 29:

 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

Levi, after being invited to follow Jesus as His disciple, responded to that invitation by inviting all of his tax collector and sinner friends over to his house for a dinner party to meet and hang out with Jesus. Levi responded to Jesus invitation by providing an invitation for his tax collector and sinner friends to meet and hang out with Jesus.

And what is so interesting is that his tax collector and sinner friends accepted the invitation. You see, there was something about Jesus that made people who were far from God comfortable enough to hang out with Son of God. While Jesus never lived a life that was marked by selfishness and sin, people who were far from God felt comfortable enough to engage and interact with the Son of God.

If you are a follower of Jesus, here is a question to consider: Could the same be said of you? Do people who are far from God feel comfortable enough around you to want to hang out with you?

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine the scene that is occurring at Levi’s house. Imagine watching as Levi’s house began to fill up with all his tax collector and sinner friends and their girlfriends. Imagine the sounds of salty language and music filling the room as Levi’s tax collector and sinner friends began to engage in conversations. Imagine the smells of food and drink wafting through the home. Imagine Jesus engaging in conversation with Levi and his friends. Can you picture the scene?

Tomorrow, we will see Luke explain that as Levi’s house filled with those who were far from God, others were attracted to what was happening...

Encountering Jesus will challenge us to look past our physical health so that we can deal with our spiritual health...

This week we are looking at an event from history that is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Wednesday we looked on as  Jesus responded to a man’s request to be healed from leprosy by miraculously healing the man from leprosy. Jesus then called the man who had been healed from leprosy to follow the commands of the Law in Leviticus to let the Jewish religious leaders know that the Messiah had arrived. Jesus wanted the man to focus on his spiritual health before telling anyone about the miraculous change in his physical health.

And as Jesus continued to travel throughout the cities of northern Israel, Jesus continued to be followed by large crowds. And one day, in the context of these crowds, an event from history occurred that Luke records for us in Luke 5:17:

 One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

Luke tells us that one day, Jesus found Himself in a home in the city of Capernaum teaching. Luke explains that as word spread that Jesus was going to be teaching, the house where Jesus was teaching quickly filled to capacity. And as the crowds cramped into the house, Luke tells us that there were some distinguished guests in attendance at the house.

You see, at this point in Jesus life, word had spread throughout the Jewish nation about Jesus teaching. And word had also spread about Jesus and His miraculous healings. Word had spread from a local priest in northern Israel that Jesus had miraculously healed a man who had been covered in leprosy.  And as word spread about the teaching of Jesus and the miracles of Jesus, the religious leadership of the Jewish people traveled from Jerusalem to northern Israel to check out Jesus.

When Luke explains that the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing, he is letting us know that this event in history is not simply about human teachers comparing themselves with one another. Instead this event from history is going to be about God revealing His miraculous powers through Jesus to these human teachers.

Luke then explains that as word spread around the region that Jesus was teaching in a home in Capernaum, some men who were carrying on a bed a man that had been paralyzed were trying to get to Jesus. These men wanted to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus in hopes that Jesus would miraculously heal him. However, by the time they got to the home where Jesus was, there was no more room. Not only could they not get into the same room with Jesus; these men could not even get into the front door of the home where Jesus was at.

Luke tells us that these men, upon discovering that they could not get their friend into the room where Jesus was at, decided to climb up onto the roof of the home. Then, once on the roof of the home, these men found some rope and lifted their paralyzed friend up onto the roof with them. These men then found some tools and began to tear off the roof of the home in order to create a large enough space to be able to drop their friend down in from of where Jesus was at. Finally, these friends tied their ropes to the four corners of their friend’s stretcher and slowly and carefully let their friend down through the hole in the roof that they made so that he would end up in front of Jesus.

Now can you imagine what that must have looked like? Can you imagine sitting in here this morning with so many people in this room that there was not even room to walk? Can you imagine hearing a ruckus out in the foyer while Jesus is talking as people are trying to wrestle and wedge their way into this room with no success?  Can you imagine listening to Jesus and all of a sudden you hear the sound of footsteps on the roof. Can you imagine trying to listen to Jesus talking as you hear the sound of tools beginning to pound on the roof?

Can you imagine trying to listen to Jesus talking as you see parts of the roof begin to come off? Can you imagine trying to listen to Jesus talking as you see some guys begin to poke their heads through the hole in the roof that they had made to make sure that they were in the right spot? “No not here, we need to move over there. We need to make the hole over there.” Can you imagine trying to listen to Jesus talking as you begin to see a man on a stretcher appear in the hole in the roof? Can you imagine trying to listen to Jesus talking as the man on the stretcher begins to be let down into the middle of the room?

Can you imagine trying to listen to Jesus talking as you hear the grunts and groans of the men who were letting the paralyzed men down through the hole in the roof? “Hey, slow down, we need to go at the same pace so he doesn’t fall off the stretcher. Careful, careful, almost there, just a little further.”

How much faith would you have to have to take off work so you can carry your paralyzed friend to see Jesus?  How much faith would you have to have to not take no for an answer when they told you that you could not get into the home? How much faith would you have to have to climb up on the roof? How much faith would you have to have to tear off the roof of a home that is a total stranger? How much faith would you have to have to let your paralyzed friend down in a stretcher into a room, in spite of the glares that you have received as a result of disturbing Jesus sermon?

If you were the paralyzed man, how much faith would you have to have to ask your friends to take you to see Jesus? If you were the paralyzed man, how much faith would you have to have to allow your friends to put you on a roof? If you were the paralyzed man, how much faith would you have to have to allow your friends to use ropes to drop you down through a hole in the roof? How much faith did this paralyzed man and his friends have in Jesus ability to do the miraculous and physically heal this paralyzed man? Luke then reveals how Jesus responded to the confident trust that these men had in His ability to miraculously heal the man who had been paralyzed in verse 20:

 Seeing their faith, He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."

Seeing their confident trust in Him to provide a miraculous physical healing, Jesus bends down, looks into the eyes of the man who was paralyzed and simply says “Friend, your sins are forgiven”. Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in this event from history as the man who has been paralyzed. Let’s take a minute and put ourselves in his shoes.

You asked your friends to bring you to Jesus so that He could miraculously heal you. Your friends have spent an incredible amount of time and effort to get you to Jesus to that you could have the opportunity to be miraculously healed and be able to walk again. And when you finally get past all of the obstacles and get to Jesus, Jesus simply looks at you and says “your sins are forgiven?”

Do you think that that is what the paralyzed man expected to hear? Do you think that that is what his friends expected to hear? I mean if you were the paralyzed man, wouldn’t you be like “well Jesus that sounds great but I was really hoping that you would make me be able to walk again. I was really hoping that you would heal my physical condition. I was really hoping that you would heal me physically, I mean that is why my friends went to all this trouble”.

Now here is the thing: how often can we find ourselves tempted to act just like this paralyzed man and his friends?  How often can we find ourselves focused on what is going on with us physically instead of what is going on with us spiritually? How often can we find ourselves focused on our physical health while ignoring our spiritual health? How often can we find ourselves investing a great deal of time and effort into our physical health while spending virtually no time and effort into our spiritual health?

You see, while the paralyzed man and his friends were focused on their physical health, Jesus was focused on their spiritual health. Luke then reveals for us how the religious leaders in attendance responded to Jesus statement in verse 21:

 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"

Luke tells us that as the Jewish religious leaders who were present heard Jesus words, they began to carefully consider and ponder those words. And in their minds, theses religious leaders clearly questioned Jesus words. Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" In other words, these religious leaders began to think to themselves “Who does this guy think he is? I mean this Jesus is denigrating and defaming God with what he is saying.

After all, only God can forgive sins, so surely this man does not think he is God, does he?” However, as these religious leaders carefully consider and pondered Jesus words, they were not prepared for what was going to happen next, as we see in verse 22:

 “But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

To which the Jewish religious leaders were probably thinking to themselves “how does he know what we are thinking?” Jesus continues:

“But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,"-- He said to the paralytic-- "I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home."

Now to fully understand what is happening here, we first need to understand what Jesus means when He uses the phrase “the Son of Man” here. When Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, Jesus is using the phrase to identify Himself with the promised Messiah that was predicted and proclaimed in Daniel 7:13.

While many of us today are not familiar with what Daniel 7:13 said, the Jewish religious leaders who He was speaking to would have been very familiar with Daniel what 7:13 said,. So here is what Daniel, over 500 years before Jesus birth, said about the
Messiah:

"I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. "And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

So when Jesus says that He is the Son of Man, He is telling the Jewish religious leaders, along with the crowds listening, that He was the Messiah that had come from God as God in a bod to usher in the kingdom of Heaven here on earth. Jesus was proclaiming to the Jewish religious leaders and the crowds that had gathered to hear Him teach that, as the Messiah, as God in a bod, He had the power and the authority to deal with the spiritual condition of this man who was paralyzed.

And to make sure that the Jewish religious leaders and the crowds knew that He had the authority to deal with the spiritual condition of the paralyzed man, Jesus commanded the paralyzed man to get up and walk. Jesus commanded the man who had to be carried from his home on a stretcher to Him to pick up his stretcher and return home. Luke then records for us what happened next in verse 25:

Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.

Now can you imagine what that must have looked like? Can you imagine the scene as a man who had been paralyzed suddenly finds the strength in his legs to be able to get up and walk? Can you imagine the scene as his friends watched their friend get up and walk? Do you think that the owner of the house was focused on what happened to the roof of his house at this point?

Luke tells us that the man who had been paralyzed responded to the miraculous activity that had occurred in his life by following Jesus command to pick up his stretcher and to head on home. And as the man who had been paralyzed headed back home with his friends, Luke tells us that he went home glorifying God. Now this phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in literally means to influence one’s opinion about another so as to enhance the latter’s’ reputation.

As this man and his friends traveled back home, they announced all that Jesus had done for them in a way that enhanced the reputation of God to all who heard what Jesus had done. Luke then concludes this event from history by revealing how those who witnessed Jesus miraculous activity responded to all that they saw and heard in verse 26:

 They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen remarkable things today."

Luks tells us that the crowds who had cramped into the home to hear Jesus teach responded to Jesus miraculous activity in the life of the paralyzed man by being struck with astonishment. In other words, the crowds responded to the miraculous activity that they had witnessed by being in a state of such profound amazement that they were beside themselves.

And as a result of being beside themselves in amazement, Luke tells us that they crowd began glorifying God. The crowds responded to the miraculous activity that they had witnessed by enhancing the reputation of God. Luke also explains that those in the crowd were filled with fear. In other words, the crowd was filled with alarm and fright as a result of what they had seen.

Luke then reveals that the crowd was filled with alarm and fright because of the reality that "We have seen remarkable things today." You see, the crowd recognized that they had witnessed something that was out of the ordinary. The crowd recognized that what had occurred was way beyond their expectations and was wonderful in nature. The crowd recognized that they were witnesses to God’s transformational and miraculous activity in the world through Jesus.

And it is here that we discover a timeless truth that can occur when we encounter Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Encountering Jesus will challenge us to look past our physical health so that we can deal with our spiritual health. Just as it was for the man who had been covered with leprosy, just as it was for the man who was paralyzed, just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, encountering Jesus will challenge us to look past our physical health so that we can deal with our spiritual health.

 Just as it was for the man who was covered in leprosy, encountering Jesus will challenge us to focus on telling others what Jesus is doing for us spiritually so that those around us can hear about Jesus activity in our lives. Just as it was for the man who was paralyzed, encountering Jesus will challenge us to focus on what is going on with us spiritually instead of simply stopping with what is going on with us physically. Just as it was for the man who was paralyzed, encountering Jesus will challenge us to invest time and effort into our spiritual health instead of stopping and being satisfied with only investing our time and effort with our physical health. And encountering Jesus will challenge us to look past our physical health so that we can deal with our spiritual health because while we may find ourselves focused on our physical health, Jesus is focused on our spiritual health.

So how are you responding to Jesus and His challenge to look past our physical health so that we can focus on our spiritual health? Are you focused on what is going on with you physically instead of what is going on with you spiritually? Are you focused on your physical health while ignoring our spiritual health? Are you investing a great deal of time and effort into our physical health while spending virtually no time and effort into your spiritual health?

Because, as we see from this encounter with Jesus, Encountering Jesus will challenge us to look past our physical health so that we can deal with our spiritual health.

Touching the Untouchable...

At the church where I serve we are looking at various encounters that people had with Jesus that are recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. And as we look at these encounters with Jesus, we are going to discover several timeless truths that will have the potential to powerfully impact our lives today.

This week, I would like for us to pick up where left off last week. After inviting Peter to follow His way instead of our way, Jesus and His disciples began to travel throughout the northern region of what is now modern day Israel. And as Jesus and His disciples traveled throughout the cities of the region, Luke records for us an encounter that Jesus had with an individual that reveals for us a timeless truth that occurs when we encounter Jesus. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Luke 5:12:

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."

Luke brings us into this event from history by explaining that as Jesus traveled throughout the cities in Northern Israel, he was approached by a man who was covered with leprosy. Now to understand the significance of what is happening here, we first need to understand what leprosy is.

Leprosy is a slowly progressing, contagious, and incurable skin disease characterized by scabs or crusts and white shining spots appearing to be deeper than the skin. So when Luke states that this man was covered in leprosy, he is saying that this man was covered, from head to foot with infectious scabs and crusty lesions that may or may not have been oozing with puss.

Now, in the Jewish culture of the first century, leprosy left its victims in a place that rendered them unclean. In other words, a person with leprosy was not allowed to participate in the life of the community of the Jewish people in any way. Instead, a person with leprosy lived separated from the community as an outsider and an outcast for the rest of their lives, or until they were healed.

The problem was that no one was ever healed of leprosy. In the Bible, the only people who ever recovered from leprosy were those who were miraculously healed by God. In spite of that reality, this man who was an outsider and an outcast approached Jesus, fell on his face and implored Jesus saying "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."

In other words, this man pleaded with Jesus to heal him from his physical suffering because he believed that Jesus had the ability to heal him from his physical suffering. You see, this man had heard the word on the street about Jesus. This man had heard that Jesus had the ability to do the miraculous.

And because of that reality, this man took the risk to approach Jesus to plead that Jesus would do the miraculous in his life. Luke then reveals for us how Jesus responded to this man’s request in verse 13:

 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."

Luke tells us that Jesus responded to the man’s request to be healed from leprosy by miraculously healing the man from leprosy. But here is a question to consider: Do you think that Jesus had to touch the man that was covered in leprosy to heal him from leprosy? I mean couldn’t Jesus just have healed him from leprosy without touching him? Don’t you think that Jesus could have just said “You are healed” and the man would have been healed? After all who wants to touch someone who is covered head to foot with scabs and crusty lesions?

Of course Jesus could have healed him without touching him. But this morning, Jesus chose to touch the man covered with leprosy. Jesus chose to use the power of touch to connect with a man who probably had not been touched in years. You see, Jesus was willing not only to heal this man from a lifetime of suffering, Jesus wanted to connect with this man who had been an outsider in a way that would result in him feeling like an insider.

Luke tells us that after miraculously healing the man who had been covered with leprosy, Jesus commanded the man to tell no one. And if that was not strange enough, Jesus commanded the man "But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." In other words, Jesus commanded the man to travel to see the local priest in accordance with God’s command to the Jewish people that is recorded for us in the Law, which are the first five letters that are recorded for us in the Bible today.

In a section of a letter in the Old Testament called the book of Leviticus, in Leviticus 14, God had given the Jewish people specific commands concerning how to handle a person who had contracted leprosy. As part of those commands, if a person who had contracted leprosy was believed to be healed from leprosy, that person would participate in a week-long process to evaluate whether or not they had in fact been healed.

As part of the process, the person who had been healed from leprosy would make two sacrificial offerings of worship to the Lord. Then if the leper was in fact determined to be healed from leprosy, the person that was healed would offer a third sacrificial offering of worship to the Lord for being cleansed, or healed by the Lord. And it is this offering that Jesus is commanding the man whom he had healed from leprosy to make to the Lord after showing the priest and going through the process to authenticate that he had been in fact healed by Jesus.

Now a natural question that arises here is “why did Jesus send him to the priest first instead of to his family and his friends? And why did Jesus command the man to not tell anyone else what had happened to him? I mean, you would think that Jesus would want everyone, and not just the priest to know what He had done. And don’t you think the man would want to let his family and friends know that he had been healed”? So what is going on here?

The reason why Jesus commanded the man that he healed from leprosy to tell no one but to only show the priest that he had been healed from leprosy was due to the fact that this miracle was only for the priest to demonstrate that the Messiah had come. Remember, the only people in the Bible who had ever been healed from leprosy were those who were healed by God. Only God, or a prophet of God, ever healed someone who was a leper.

So Jesus here is calling the man who had been healed from leprosy to follow the commands of the Law in Leviticus to let the Jewish religious leaders know that the Messiah had arrived. Jesus wanted the man to focus on his spiritual health before telling anyone about the miraculous change in his physical health. However, news of Jesus miraculous activity was not easily contained, as we see in verse 15:

 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.

Luke tells us that word began to spread of Jesus miraculous activity in the lives of people that resulted in the miraculous healing of people. And as word spread, Jesus began to have “rock star” status among the people of the region. Large crowds began to follow Jesus to hear the message and teachings of Jesus. And the large crowds began to bring more and more people who were suffering physically in hope that Jesus would miraculously heal them physically.

However, Luke tells us that “Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” But why would Jesus do that? I mean didn’t Jesus want the attention that came from miraculously healing people? Why would Jesus slip away? 

You see, while large crowds gathered because they wanted Jesus to heal them physically, Jesus slipped away because He did not come to earth to be viewed as someone who was simply a physical healer. Jesus slipped away because He did not want to be viewed in a way that would distract Him from His greater mission.

However, as Jesus continued to travel throughout the cities of northern Israel, Jesus continued to be followed by large crowds. And one day, in the context of these crowds, an event from history occurred that we will look at Friday...

Encountering Jesus will challenge us to follow the way of Jesus instead of our own way...

This week we are looking at an encounter that Jesus had with a man named Peter that is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Wednesday, we looked on as Jesus basically said to Peter “Peter, take the boat out to deeper water and call all your fishing partners off of the shore to join us as we go fishing. Call your partners to start casting their nets in the deeper water for a catch”.

We looked on as Peter basically said to Jesus “I am a fisherman and you are a preacher who used to be a carpenter. I know the way I am supposed to fish. I am the expert and you are just along for the ride. I have already helped You out a lot today. But I will do what You have asked even though it is a total waste of time”.

We talked about the reality that we can find ourselves acting just like Peter. “Jesus, I know the way I am supposed to live my life. I am the expert and You are just along for the ride. My way is better; I am comfortable with my way, my way seems to be working alright for me.” How often can we find ourselves acting just like Peter?

We looked on as Peter and his fishing buddies caught so many fish that it began to sink their boats. We looked on as Peter recognized that he was a witness to the miraculous power of God that had been displayed through Jesus. As Peter stood before Jesus, Peter saw the stark contrast between his selfish and rebellious activity and Jesus miraculous activity. And Peter recognized that he did not deserve to be in the presence of Jesus. Peter responded to being in the presence of someone who could only do what God could do by responding in astonishment and awe at the acknowledgment of his unwillingness to do what God had called him to do.

Today we will see Luke reveal how Jesus responded to Peter in the second half of Luke 5:10:

And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear

You see, the reason why Jesus said “do not fear" to Peter is because it was clearly evident that Peter was afraid. Peter was afraid because Peter recognized the miraculous power and activity of God through Jesus. But notice what Jesus says next to Peter:

from now on you will be catching men."

Now what is so interesting here is that the phrase catching men, in the language that this letter was originally written in literally means to catch alive or to spare life. Jesus basically says to Peter “Peter do not be afraid because from now on I want you to do something different with your life. Instead of catching fish so that you can kill them I want you to go after men so that you can catch them and save them from death. I want you to leave the life that you are now living that provides for people physically and materially to live a life that will result in you sparing the lives of many spiritually for all eternity.”

Jesus called Peter to leave the way that he was living to follow the way of Jesus. Now this morning, imagine yourself as Peter. As you sit in a boat filled with fish with the person who you know is the reason why your boat is filled with fish, how would you even begin to process all that you have seen and heard? What would you be thinking at this point? What would you be feeling? How would you respond? We see Peter’s response in verse 11:

 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Luke tells us that as soon as Peter, James, and John reached the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus. No time to take care of the boats full of fish. No time to fix the nets. Instead they left everything to follow Jesus.

Now doesn’t this information help make Matthew’s recording of these events make more sense? I mean, why wouldn’t you follow Jesus? Peter, James, and John’s families were probably like “don’t worry about the fish, you guys need to follow that guy, because we have never seen anything like this happen before. We’ll take care of the fish. Heck we’ll take care of the fish because this amount of fish will take care of us for a long time.”

You see, Peter, James, and John recognized in that moment that there was a way that was way better than their way. Peter, James and John recognized that while their way may have been comfortable; while their way may have been familiar; their way was not the better way. And in that moment, Peter, James and John made the decision to respond to Jesus activity in their life to follow the way of Jesus instead of their way.

And it is here, in this event from history from the life of Jesus, that we see revealed for us a timeless truth that has the potential to powerfully impact our lives today. And that timeless truth is this: Encountering Jesus will challenge us to follow the way of Jesus instead of our own way. Just as it was for Peter, just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, encountering Jesus will challenge us to follow the way of Jesus instead of our own way.

Just as it was for Peter, encountering Jesus will challenge us when it comes to how we think we are supposed to live our lives. Just as it was for Peter, encountering Jesus will challenge our belief that we are the experts and that Jesus is just along for the ride. Just as it was for Peter, encountering Jesus will challenge our belief that our way is a better way to live our life. Just as it was for Peter, encountering Jesus will challenge us to see that while our way may be comfortable; while our way may be familiar; our way is not the better way. And just like Peter encountering Jesus will challenge us to make the decision to respond to Jesus activity in our lives by following the way of Jesus instead of our way.

So how are you responding to Jesus and His challenge to follow His way instead of your own way? Are you responding to Jesus challenge to follow His way instead of your own way by rejecting Jesus way for your own way? Are you responding to Jesus challenge to follow His way instead of your own way by rejecting Jesus way to instead live a life that is comfortable and familiar, even though you sense that Jesus way is the better way?

Or are you responding to Jesus challenge to follow His way instead of your way by making the decision to respond to Jesus activity in your life to follow the way of Jesus instead of our way. Because, as we see from Peter’s encounter with Jesus, encountering Jesus will challenge us to follow the way of Jesus instead of our own way.

Fishing with Jesus...

This week we are looking at an encounter that Jesus had with a man named Peter that is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Yesterday, we looked on as Jesus as swelling crowds pressed closer and closer to Jesus in an attempt to hear what Jesus was saying.

However, as the large crowd pressed closer and closer to Jesus, two things happened. First, as the large crowd pressed closer and closer to Jesus, the crowd muffled the message that Jesus was proclaiming to the crowd. Second, as the large crowd pressed closer and closer to Jesus, Jesus found Himself being pushed closer and closer to the very edge of the Sea of Galilee. Soon Jesus was going to run out of dry land and be run into the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus responded to what was happening by getting in Peter's boat, and asked him to take Him out so that He can give a sermon. Peter who had already heard Jesus preach before in a synagogue in Capernaum and had watched Jesus demonstrate His power as He healed his mother-in-law, felt that the least he could do to respond to Jesus activity in his life was to allow Jesus to use his boat as a platform.

At some level, Peter felt like he needed to pay Jesus back for what Jesus had done for his family. So Peter let Jesus use his boat and tried not to fall asleep as Jesus talked to the crowd. However, Peter was not prepared for what Jesus would want him to do next, as we see in verse 4:

 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets."

Luke tells us that Jesus, after finishing His sermon, turned to Peter and commanded Peter to “put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." However, to fully understand what Jesus has commanded here, we first need to understand a few things. The first thing that we need to understand is that the “your nets” here is plural.

So Jesus command to Peter, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Peter, take the boat out to deeper water and call all your fishing partners off of the shore to join us as we go fishing. Call your partners to start casting their nets in the deeper water for a catch”.

Now that leads us to the second thing which we need to understand, which is how Peter and his fellow fishermen would have fished in the first century. In the first century, just like today, fishermen would fish at night because that was the time when the fish would come near the surface to feed. So Peter and his partner fishermen would cast their nets over and over again into the water to catch fish that had come up to the surface. Fishing was back breaking and exhaustive work.

But it is not night. Instead, by now, it is the middle of the day in the heat of the desert. And as a result, the fish have retreated to the deeper waters. In addition, your nets are designed for shallow night fishing and not deep sea day fishing.

Now imagine yourself as Peter. You have been up all night and have stayed up past your bedtime to help out Jesus, because He had helped you out earlier. And if that was not enough, now Jesus wants you to call your fishing buddies back out into the deep water after they had already cleaned their nets to go deep sea fishing with shallow water nets. Then you are going to have to re-clean the nets that you have just cleaned.

Now you are Peter. What would you be thinking at this point? How would you respond? You would probably respond like Peter did in verse 5: "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets." In other words, Peter is like “I am a fisherman and you are a preacher who used to be a carpenter. I know the way I am supposed to fish. I am the expert and you are just along for the ride. I have already helped You out a lot today. But I will do what You have asked even though it is a total waste of time”.

Now here is a question to consider: How often can we find ourselves acting just like Peter? How often do we react this way to the way of Jesus? I mean let’s be honest. Isn’t that how we can react to the way of Jesus? “Jesus, I know the way I am supposed to live my life. I am the expert and You are just along for the ride. My way is better; I am comfortable with my way, my way seems to be working alright for me.” How often can we find ourselves acting just like Peter? However, what Peter was not prepared for is what would happen next, as we see in verse 6:

 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

Now can you imagine what this would have looked like? Can you imagine the look on Peter and his fellow fishermen’s faces when they skeptically first began to throw their nets into the water? Can you imagine how the look on Peter and his fellow fishermen’s faces changed as they began to bring in their nets?

Can you imagine the look on the faces of the fishermen in the other boat as they rushed over to help Peter as his nets began to break? Can you imagine the look of joy that turned to concern as their boats began to sink due to the large catch of fish? Can you imagine what thoughts were running through their mind as they tried to explain what defied explanation?

After all, these are expert fishermen; this is what they do for a living. And now they are left with boat full of fish that were caught with nets that should not have reached where the fish should have been at? I mean, how would you respond if you had been Peter? We see how Peter responded in verse 8:

 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.

Luke tells us that Peter, James and John responded to what had happened by being seized with amazement. You see, these three men were overcome with awe in what they had experienced. These three men were astonished by the unexplainable event that they had witnessed. The fish that had been taken hold of by their nets had left them in a place where they had been taken hold by a state of amazement.

And as Peter attempted to wrap his mind around what had happened Luke tells us that he fell down at Jesus feet and uttered an amazing statement: "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" You see, Peter recognized that he was a witness to the miraculous power of God that had been displayed through Jesus. As Peter stood before Jesus, Peter saw the stark contrast between his selfish and rebellious activity and Jesus miraculous activity.

And Peter recognized that he did not deserve to be in the presence of Jesus. Peter responded to being in the presence of someone who could only do what God could do by responding in astonishment and awe at the acknowledgment of his unwillingness to do what God had called him to do.

Friday, we will discover how Jesus responded to Peter...