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Scripture Reading: Luke 5:1-39; 6:1-11
In 5:1—6:11 we have a record of five cases: the attracting of the occupied (Luke 5:1-11), the cleansing of the contaminated (Luke 5:12-16), the healing of the paralytic (Luke 5:17-26), the calling of the despised (Luke 5:27-39), and the breaking of the deformed sabbatical regulation for people’s satisfaction and liberation (Luke 6:1-11). We should not regard these cases merely as records of what happened to different persons. Actually all these cases portray a single person.
After the Lord Jesus performed a miracle related to fishing, Peter said to Him, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord!” (5:8). Immediately following, we have the case of the cleansing of a man full of leprosy, the cleansing of a contaminated one. Peter was not only an occupied person but also a contaminated person. Spiritually speaking, the same is true of us all. Furthermore, in addition to being occupied and contaminated, we are paralyzed, despised, and under the bondage of the deformed regulations.
The cases 5:1—6:11 portray the spiritual condition of every fallen human being. Before we were saved, we were occupied. We were also lepers, sinful people, in need of cleansing. In addition, we were paralytics, those unable to walk or do anything according to God. Therefore, we were in need of the Lord’s healing.
No matter what a person’s occupation may be, when he is called by the Lord and released, he immediately realizes that he is sinful. When people are busy with their occupation, they may think that they are very good. But when they are released from their occupation to follow the Lord, they realize that they are sinful. Furthermore, after they are cleansed, they realize that they are paralyzed with respect to God and the things of God. They are not able to walk in God’s way. But after they are healed, they come to see that they are “tax collectors,” despised persons considered to be of no value. Eventually, they understand that they are under the bondage of certain regulations and are in need of both satisfaction and liberation.
After we are freed from our occupation, cleansed from our leprosy, and healed of our paralysis, we become in the Lord a person of value, for now we have Him as the new clothing to cover us outwardly and as the new wine to fill us inwardly (Luke 5:36-39). Following this, we are released from the binding regulations. As a result, we become persons fully saved by the Man-Savior.
As we read 5:1—6:11, we should not consider these cases as separate from one another. Instead, we need to regard all these cases as describing aspects of the condition of a single person. In particular, these cases are a portrait of the spiritual condition of every fallen human being.
In each of these cases we can see the human virtues of the Man-Savior and also the divine attributes expressed in His human virtues. Consider the case of the cleansing of the leper. Luke 5:12 says, “And it came about that as He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, Lord, if You will, You can cleanse me.” The Lord “stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed! And immediately the leprosy left him” (v. 13). In this case the Lord acts in the highest standard of morality. Here we see that the Man-Savior sympathized with the leper. According to the Old Testament, a leper was not to be touched by anyone. In order to keep others away from him, a leper was required to cry out, “Unclean, unclean!” Hence, a leper was altogether isolated. But the Man-Savior stretched forth His hand to touch this leper. The Lord’s touching the leper reveals His human virtue.
His divine attributes were expressed in the cleansing of the leper. It is impossible for any human being to cleanse a leper. Therefore, the One who cleansed this leper must be God.
In the Lord’s sympathy we see His human virtue, and in the cleansing of the leper we see His divine attribute. He was the genuine God-man. As man He was filled with the human virtues, and as God He had the divine attributes that enabled Him to cleanse the man’s leprosy. In this case the Lord’s human virtues express His divine attributes.
According to the scriptural examples, leprosy comes from rebellion and disobedience. Miriam became leprous because of her rebellion against God’s deputy authority (Num. 12:1-10). Naaman’s leprosy was cleansed because of his obedience (2 Kings 5:1, 9-14). All fallen human beings have become leprous in the sight of God because of their rebellion. But the Man-Savior has come to save men from their rebellion and to cleanse them from their leprosy.
A leper, according to the law, was to be excluded from the people because of his uncleanness. No one could touch him (Lev. 13:45-46). But the Man-Savior touched the one full of leprosy. What mercy and sympathy! By His one touch, “immediately the leprosy left him.”
A leper portrays a typical sinner. Leprosy is the most contaminating and damaging disease, isolating its victim both from God and men. To cleanse the leper signifies to recover the sinner to the fellowship with God and with men. It is significant that the leper was not only healed but cleansed. The one with leprosy not only requires healing as those with other diseases; he also needs cleansing, as from sin (1 John 1:7), because of the filthy and contaminating nature of the disease.
In the case of the healing of the paralytic (5:17-26), we also see the Lord’s divine attributes expressed in His human virtues. In 5:20 He said to the paralytic, “Man, your sins have been forgiven you!” When the scribes and Pharisees heard this, they began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (v. 21). The Lord Jesus exercised His divine authority to forgive the paralytic’s sins and His divine power to heal him. But in this case we also see the exercise of the Lord’s kindness, which is a human virtue. Therefore, in this case also the Lord’s human virtue expresses His divine attribute.
Luke 5:24 says, “In order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins — He said to the paralyzed one, To you I say, rise and pick up your cot, and go to your home.” The Man-Savior was the very God incarnated, not regarding equality with God a thing to be grasped. He was outwardly in the likeness and fashion of man, but inwardly He was God (Phil. 2:6-7). He was the Man-Savior and the God-Savior as well. Hence, He had not only the ability to save sinners, but also the authority to forgive their sins. In this incident, He forgave the paralytic’s sins as God, but asserted that He was the Son of Man. This indicates that He was the true God and a real Man, possessing deity and humanity. In Him, men can see both His divine attributes and His human virtues.
In 5:27-39 we have the case of the calling of a despised tax collector named Levi or Matthew. Verse 27 says, “And after these things He went out and beheld a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, Follow Me.” The tax office was a tollhouse, where Matthew collected taxes for the Romans. Matthew was one of the tax collectors (Matt. 10:3), probably in a high position, a man who was condemned, despised, and abhorred by the Jews (Luke 18:11; Matt. 5:46). Yet he was called by the Man-Savior and was later chosen and appointed as one of the twelve apostles. What mercy!
Luke 5:28 says of Matthew, “And leaving all, he rose up and followed Him.” It seems that this was the first time the Lord met Matthew. There must have been some attracting power with the Lord, either in His word or appearance, that caused Matthew to follow Him.
We have pointed out that the Jewish people despised the tax collectors because they were collecting taxes for the Roman imperialists. They were considered traitors, and the Jews were disgusted with them and despised them to the uttermost. Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus came to one of these tax collectors and called him.
With the calling of Matthew there was no miracle. When the Lord Jesus came to Peter, He attracted him from his occupation by means of a miracle. But He did not perform a miracle when He came to Matthew. His willingness to come to Matthew was a great mercy.
The Jews stayed away from the tax collectors, regarding them as worse than lepers. Therefore, Matthew must have been surprised when the Lord Jesus came to him. Perhaps Matthew said to himself, “Who am I that this One should come to me? I am a tax collector, a despised person. Who would care for me? Yet Jesus comes to me and tells me to follow Him.”
In the Lord’s calling of Matthew we see the high standard of His human virtue. Perhaps the Lord said to Himself when He was about to call Matthew, “Yes, this one is a tax collector. But he is still a human being, and I will not reject him or give up on him. Rather, I shall come to him, contact him, and call him. I call not only the occupied ones, but also the despised ones.”
Luke 5:29 says, “And Levi made a great reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them.” The Lord’s calling of Matthew must have touched his heart. Immediately, Matthew held a great feast in His honor.
The money used for this feast might have been gained by Matthew unrighteously. This means that the great reception held for the Lord Jesus in Matthew’s house might have been financed with unrighteous money. Some of the Jews could have said, “Why does Jesus attend this feast? Doesn’t He know how Matthew got the money to pay for it? Matthew extorted money from us, and now he uses this money to have a feast. This feast is not righteous.”
The Lord Jesus is not only righteous; He is also merciful. According to James 2:13, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” We need to exercise mercy to those who are despised and in a pitiful condition. The Lord was merciful toward Matthew, and His mercy must have deeply moved Matthew’s heart. Otherwise, he would not have prepared a feast for the Lord. Matthew must have been happy and full of rejoicing. It was an excellent opportunity for him to invite a large crowd of tax collectors and sinners to eat with the Lord Jesus. In His response to the situation, we see the human virtue of the Man-Savior.
In 5:30 the Pharisees and the scribes murmured at the Lord’s disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” The Lord Jesus replied, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but those who are ill. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (vv. 31-32). Here we see that the Man-Savior ministered as a physician, not as a judge. The judgment of a judge is according to righteousness, whereas the healing of a physician is according to mercy and grace. If the Lord had visited these pitiful people as a judge, all would have been condemned and rejected. None would have been qualified, selected, and called. But the Lord came to minister as a physician; that is, He came to heal, recover, enliven, and save.
The Lord’s word here implies that the self-righteous Pharisees did not realize their need of Him as a physician. They regarded themselves as strong. Hence, blinded by their self-righteousness, they did not know that they were “ill” and in need of healing.
In 5:36-39 the Man-Savior, speaking in parables, goes on to speak of a new garment and new wine. He implies that He is present to cover the despised ones with a new garment and to fill them with new wine. This new garment is Christ as our righteousness to cover us outwardly, and the new wine is Christ as eternal life to fill us inwardly. Only God can cover us with righteousness and fill us with eternal life. These are the deeds of the divine Being. Therefore, in this case also we see the divine attributes expressed in the Man-Savior’s human virtues. He ministered in His human virtues with His divine attributes.
In 6:1-11 we have two cases of the Lord’s breaking the deformed sabbatical regulations. He did this for the sake of people’s satisfaction and liberation. Sabbath regulations were given in the Old Testament. However, the Jewish religionists misused these regulations and caused them to become deformed. Hence, when the Lord Jesus came as the Man-Savior, He cared for man, not for the deformed regulations. For the sake of man, He purposely broke the deformed sabbatical regulations.
The first case of breaking these regulations is recorded in 6:1-5. “It came about that on a Sabbath He was going through the grainfields, and His disciples were picking and eating the ears of grain, rubbing them in their hands” (v. 1). Some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” (v. 2). Profaning the Sabbath was a serious matter in the eyes of the religious Pharisees. To them, it was not lawful for the Lord’s disciples to pick ears of grain and eat them on the Sabbath. According to their meager knowledge of the Scriptures, they cared for the ritual of keeping the Sabbath, not for the hunger of the people. The Man-Savior, on the contrary, cared for the satisfaction of His followers.
In 6:5 the Lord said to the Pharisees, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” This indicates the Man-Savior’s deity in His humanity. He, the Son of Man, was the very God who ordained the Sabbath, and He had the right to change what He had ordained concerning the Sabbath.
A second case of the Lord’s breaking the deformed sabbatical regulation is found in 6:6-11. Here the Lord restores a withered hand. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand! And he did, and his hand was restored” (v. 10). Exercising His compassion, the Man-Savior restored the withered hand. Here His compassion and His power to heal are a merging of His human virtue with His divine attributes. Therefore, once again His divine attributes are expressed in His human virtues. In these two instances the Lord broke the deformed sabbatical regulations for the sake of people’s satisfaction and liberation. In 6:1-5 He cared for His disciples’ satisfaction. In 6:6-11 He cared for the liberation of the one with the withered hand.
In 5:1—6:11 we have a composite picture of fallen human beings. A fallen person is occupied, he is a leper, he is a paralytic, he is despised, and he is under bondage. According to the record in this portion of the Gospel of Luke, such a person is attracted from his occupation by the Lord Jesus, and he is cleansed from his leprosy, healed of his paralysis, uplifted from his despised condition, and freed from hunger and bondage. This is a picture of what has happened to us. We all can testify that we were such persons. We have been attracted away from our occupations and we have been cleansed, healed, uplifted, satisfied, and freed. This is the Man-Savior’s ministry in His human virtues with His divine attributes. This matter is an underlying principle followed by Luke in writing this Gospel.
