On Line Bible Study - for the Week April 5-11, 2010

Lesson 434

Luke 5: ¹⁷One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. ¹⁸Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹When 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.

²⁰When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

²¹The 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?"

²²Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ²⁴But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." ²⁵Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. ²⁶Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."

This is the first time Luke mentions "pharisees" in the Gospel. As noted in Luke 5:15, the word about Jesus was spreading. The religious leaders were beginning to take notice. And notice the phrase at the end of verse 17 - the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. This story of healing will move from gifted teacher to power to heal to authority to forgive sins. Darrell Bock points out that something is happening in the gospel that deserves particular attention: Jesus is being presented in a way that requires a decision on our part - is he "ultimately a teacher, a prophet, a Messiah, or someone much greater?"

The scene is one that is presented by Matthew and Mark as well. Houses in Palestine often had two stories, with the roof serving as the second story, not unlike a roof-top patio. An external set of stairs led to this portion of the house. With the crowds watching, we might wonder why they did not simply part to let the crippled man in. The point of this part of the story is to indicate the extremes to which the paralyzed man's friends were willing to go to bring him to Jesus.

I'm tempted to digress for a moment and consider the stories we hear, one most recently in Queens, NY, where crowds watch or pass by as a person in distress languishes or bleeds to death in front of them. The point in this gospel story is not the apathy of the crowd, but the determination of the man's friends. Still, the "crowd" tends to concern itself with its own issues, often becoming blind to the needs of our neighbors.

The story does intensify the question: What did the friends - and the paralyzed man - expect Jesus to do? Jesus was teaching. Their presence was an intrusion in several ways - not just in terms of the effort they made to come through the roof, but also in terms of their expectations of Jesus - from "teacher" to "healer".

Jesus notes their faith (another "first time" in this gospel - the first time faith is mentioned). And now the story takes the twist - from healing, to forgiveness. Forgiveness? But only God can forgive sins!

We pay heed to great teachers. We are grateful for those among us who can heal us. But what do we do with one who pronounces absolution over us? How do we characterize one who tells us they have the authority to forgive sins? The final line in this section is a mouthful; remarkable things indeed ... and they don't yet know the half of it.

On Line Bible Study - For the Week March 29 - April 4, 2010

Lesson 433

Luke 5: ¹²While 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." ¹³Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴Then 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." ¹⁵Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

Scholar Darrell Bock calls this a "Miracle of Authority". It is a miracle with some interesting questions. One of the questions I find myself asking has to do with the difference between how Luke and Mark tell this story. You may recall when we discussed this scene in Mark that Jesus takes a rather harsh tone to the man. Some translations (NIV, for instance) suggest that Jesus was "indignant" with the man's approach to Christ - If you are willing ... In Luke, there is no hint of acrimony or indignation in Jesus' tone.

One of the characteristics of Luke's gospel in general is a positive tone.

Another question: What about the issue of ritual cleanliness? We know the leper is "unclean". As soon as Jesus touched the man, he too was "unclean". And yet note the command to go show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices ... Jesus presents us with what seems to be a contradictory approach - complete abandon when it came to rituals, and faithful adherence to tradition. How does one do that? How does one honor the changes required to stay current with emerging cultures while retaining ones' traditional moorings?

Is Jesus (according to Luke) above the need to be made clean himself? If so, what does that say about his authority? But when you think about it, how could Jesus heal the man if he was not somehow above the vicissitudes of life? In a way, the stories about Jesus take on a similar characteristic, apparently unconcerned with the problems of twenty-first century logic.

A leper was ostracized. Is it wrong to segregate someone with a communicable disease? Think of the extremes people were taking when faced with the recent scare over H1N1 ("Swine Flu"). Masks were out in force, and sales of hand sanitizer soared. No cough went unnoticed, and every sneeze was seen as a threat to national security! Signs were everywhere posted, some approaching a confrontational quality - "If you are sick, STAY HOME!" Indeed, we have our own way of making people walk the streets shouting "Unclean! Unclean!"

My experience tells me religious people are no less easy to frighten than anyone else. Our faith notwithstanding, we are quick to isolate those we perceive to be a threat to us. And then, along comes this Jesus ... What do we make of one who apparently had both the confidence and the authority to look illness square in the face and not be put off by it? As I read this story I see why Bock calls it one of "authority". It's not only the healing of the leper that has to happen here; the frightened bystander is in need of every bit as much "saving" as the sick person.

It's a new day ... but so many things are just as they always have been!

On Line Bible Study - For the Week March 22-28, 2010

Lesson 432

Luke 5: ¹One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, ²he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."

⁵Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." ⁶When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. ⁷So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" ⁹For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." ¹¹So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

We have spent quite a bit of time looking at Luke 4. Perhaps that chapter can best be summarized with these words from Darrell Bock: Jesus is presented as one with authority to defeat the evil forces that can dominate humanity. His teaching is the indication that the kingdom of God is at hand - and that he is not just talking about it; he is demonstrating it with authority and power. As we move into the next chapter the theme is expanded.
In Chapter 5 Jesus' teaching is not only for the benefit of the crowd; it is also for the purpose of recruiting disciples. (Parenthetically, it is interesting to note the similarities between this story in Luke and stories in Mark 1:16-20 and John 21:1-14.)
Several points are of interest. First, the people are hungry for the "word of God". We aren't told explicitly what that means, but another way to translate the phrase would be to say that the people were listening to the word from God. This is an important phrase for Luke, for it suggests that divine revelation is coming through the teachings of Jesus - and later, through his disciples.
Note that Jesus, though not a fisherman, seems to know more about when and where to fish than the professionals. Is this to suggest that Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves?
Notice Peter's disclaimer - I am a sinful man! Perhaps; but that is now a lame excuse and no longer a valid reason for not doing the work of God. God not only forgives sinners; God calls them to be involved with kingdom work.
The fact that Jesus gets into Peter's boat and addresses him may be Luke's way of justifying Peter's status in the church.
A final observation: from Peter's boat Jesus casts the net, fishing for disciples. He manages to land three big ones - Peter, James and John.

On Line Bible Study - For the Week March 15-21, 2010

Lesson 431

Luke 4: ³¹Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. ³²They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.

³³In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ³⁴"Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"

³⁵"Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

³⁶All the people were amazed and said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!" ³⁷And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

Luke puts a lot into this fourth chapter. It began with Jesus being tempted by the devil - led by the Spirit into this time of testing, Luke presents Jesus as one who has been through the fire and emerged unscathed. The Evangelist then brings Jesus to Nazareth in Galilee where Jesus proclaims the good news as recorded by Isaiah - and says this good news is now fulfilled. This did not sit well with the locals. Though they acknowledged that Jesus did have a kick to his presentation - Verse 22 tells us all spoke well of him... perhaps what is meant is not so much that they respected what he had to say; they did appreciate, however, the power and authority in how he said it. But they were so upset that they ran Jesus out of town.

And so, now Luke brings Jesus to Capernaum - the neighboring community. (If you read this chapter carefully you will see that Jesus has apparently already been to Capernaum. He has a reputation from his work there that preceded him to Galilee. Is there a chronological glitch in the gospel at this point? Or is Jesus, in fact, returning to a place that was more welcoming to him?)

As chapter four began with Jesus facing off with the devil, so now the battle continues. St. Luke wants us to see that the primary battle is between the cosmic forces of good and evil. Two things to note here:

First - the problem in our own time. Scholar Darrell Bock suggests that unless we accept the world view of Jesus day with regard to the spirit world, the accounts would be lies. I wonder about that comment. Must I perceive the world as did the ancients in order for this story to have its intended meaning for me? I think one of the great challenges in every age is to appropriate the essence of the gospel message in ways that are contextually relevant.

A second consideration: Notice the question the demon asks of Jesus: Have you come to destroy us? There seems to be a clear connection between the demon and the man he possesses. To destroy one is to destroy the other.

Regardless of our world view, it seems we have the same challenge today - we have a symbiotic relationship with so much of what is evil. To rid us of the evil could mean the downfall of our economic system, our politics, our networks of social services, our personal lifestyle. Can we be rid of the demons that possess us without it destroying us?

In this sense, Jesus is the Savior, the Liberator, the true Lord. Luke wants us to know that Jesus can free us from what possesses us without destroying us or depriving us of the essence of our own personality.

Next time we will head into chapter 5.