Luke 5:12-31

12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.
14 Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."
15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
31 Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Points of Interest:

• ‘reached out his hand and touched the man’—Jewish ritual cleansing rules (what we now know as kosher laws) prohibited contact with lepers (Numbers 5:1-3), probably out of a desire to minimize the spread of contagious skin diseases. People with leprosy were considered ‘unclean,’ or ritually impure, and required to wear a special uniform, to live outside of town, and to warn people who approached them not to touch them (Leviticus 13:45-46). Anyone who touched someone with leprosy was also considered unclean until it could be demonstrated that they had not caught the disease. Being unclean had very serious religious and social consequences: social contact was limited and participation in the normal religious ceremonies was not allowed. So, Jesus’ choice to touch the man is unusual, bold, compassionate, and could be considered reckless. From other healing stories, it seems that Jesus could heal the man without touching him. By healing through touch, Jesus addresses the man’s need in two ways: he physically heals the man of the disease, and he welcomes the man back into society; this is likely the first human contact the man has had since he caught the disease. Touching the man also turns the normal rules on their heads: usually when an unclean person touches you, you become unclean; but when Jesus touches an unclean person, the unclean person becomes clean. With Jesus, instead of an ever-spreading uncleanness, an ever-spreading cleanness becomes possible.

• ‘show yourself to the priest . . . as a testimony to them’—the priests were responsible for officially inspecting people and declaring them clean or unclean (Leviticus 13 and 14). Jesus suggesting that this healed leper go to the priest is more or less analogous to recommending today that someone who thinks they have been miraculously healed go see their doctor. Jesus might have a few reasons in mind for making this suggestion: to confirm the healing and make it official; to demonstrate to the priests that he is working with them, not against them; and to give these experienced professionals a chance to see and celebrate something unexpected.

• ‘Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed’—Jesus spends his days surrounded by the pressing needs of the crowd, but he also values these quieter times by himself with God. Luke doesn’t tell us why Jesus withdraws alone, but I would guess it is to rest and be refreshed, to be equipped by God for his work, and to be guided by God.

• ‘Pharisees and teachers of the law’—these are the religious experts. They’re probably here to check out the new kid in town: to see how Jesus measures up and to figure out whether he’s on their side.
The Pharisees are one of the major religious/political parties of the day, especially known for their scrupulous attention to the Jewish law. Their main project is to apply the general rules of the law clearly, exactly, and specifically to contemporary life.
The teachers of the law are experts on traditional interpretations of the Jewish scriptures.
Pharisee is a party, and teacher a job; so, you could be a Pharisaic teacher of the law, or you could be a Pharisee who is not a teacher of the law, or you could be a teacher of the law who is not a Pharisee—sort of like you can be a Democrat without being a member of Congress and you can be a member of Congress without being a Democrat.

• ‘When Jesus saw their faith’—Jesus could see cutting in line and destruction of private property, but instead he sees faith. It’s obvious to Jesus, because of the great effort they all go through, that these men truly believe that if they just get their friend into Jesus’ presence, something good will happen. Jesus rewards them for that faith.

• ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven’—this is probably unexpected to everyone. I imagine the paralytic and his four friends were hoping that Jesus would heal the man of his paralysis. It seems likely to me that they’d be disappointed with Jesus’ response, either because they figure Jesus is just saying something pious to cover his inability to heal or because they’d rather have healing than forgiveness.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law are completely shocked by Jesus. He is not at all what they would expect of a rabbi: he’s not referring to previous great rabbis as the source of the teaching; he’s not really even teaching at all, but healing people instead; and he goes beyond healing to claim the power to forgive sins.

• ‘the Son of Man’—this becomes Jesus’ preferred title for himself. To a certain extent, it’s a very humble title, simply meaning, ‘human being.’ By using it, he’s identifying himself with all of us. But it is also a subtle reference to one of the more famous Messianic prophecies, in which Daniel predicts the coming of a holy king who would be ‘like a Son of Man’ (Daniel 7:13-14)

• ‘I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—Jesus points out that it’s equally impossible to heal someone as to proclaim forgiveness without power from God to back it up. Since no one has accused him of blasphemy for healing people, why would they all of a sudden be in an uproar now? To demonstrate that he does indeed have genuine authority behind his words, he heals the man.

• ‘Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house’—throwing a party like this would be a fairly normal way to show gratitude.

• ‘a large crowd of tax collectors and others’—naturally, Levi invites his friends and associates to this party. As I mentioned in the discussion of John’s preaching, the tax collectors are essentially the gangsters of the day. The people Levi knows are other gangster-types, and the people who would hang out with them. Imagine a seedy nightclub, or a big party at a drug lord’s compound. That’s more or less the scene here—probably cleaned up some in honor of their special guest, but the same cast of characters. Again, this is not quite what would be expected of a rabbi.

• ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick’—Jesus has been doing a lot of healing of people who are physically sick. He’s been healing them out of a genuine desire to see them well, but also as a metaphor for an even more primary mission: to forgive sinners. Just like doctors heal sick people, Jesus forgives sinners. He’s a sin doctor. This puts Peter’s exclamation, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ in a new light. By calling Peter to follow him, Jesus is not saying, ‘Oh, Peter. Don’t get down on yourself; you’re not that bad.’ Rather, he’s saying, ‘Of course, you’re sinful, Peter. That’s why I’m calling you. If you come with me, I can help you with that.’ He has the same attitude toward the tax collector and his friends. The Pharisees think of sinners as people to be avoided. Peter fears that he will be punished for his sins. But Jesus draws near to sinners, for the sake of healing them, not punishing them.

Taking it home:

• For you and your family: Jesus looks at our faults and mistakes as sickness he wants to heal, rather than as failings that must be punished. Ask Jesus to take care of your sins today. Jesus is a sin doctor. Ask him to point out any sin-sickness in you, to diagnose the cause of the sin, to heal you, and to give you the prescription you need to stay in good spiritual health.

• For your friends: Jesus shows the leper that he is both willing and able to heal his sickness. In other words, Jesus is both good and powerful. Do your friends have a harder time believing in his goodness or his power? Try asking him to demonstrate whichever one they need most, just like he did for the leper.

• For our city: In this passage we see Jesus caring for people who are left on the outside of society. Ask Jesus to especially care for the people in our city who are similarly isolated. Ask him to give them what they need to feel welcomed and loved.