Luke 5:12-16
Jesus, the Lord Who Cares
Jesus was well into His ministry by this time. By comparing the
events that Luke recorded with the other gospel writers, we can get a
more complete picture of Jesus’ movements.
1.Jesus stepped onto the scene around Jordan, where John was
baptizing. Jesus was baptized.
2. Afterward, Jesus went to pray for 40 days and nights and was
tempted of the devil.
3. The Jesus came back around Jordan, where John pointed Him out,
and called a few disciples.
4. He traveled with some to Cana where He performed His first
miracle.
5. Jesus and some disciples went to Jerusalem for the Passover
\\#John 2:23\\, cleansed the temple.
6. Nicodemus came to Jesus.
7. Around that time, Jesus and John’s disciples baptize around
Jordan.
8. Then \\#Matt 4:12\\ John was arrested.
9. This in part caused Jesus to travel toward Galilee through
Samaria where He met the woman at the well.
10. Jesus traveled on into Galilee, coming to Nazareth.
11. Jesus taught and healed in Capernaum, healing Peter’s mother-
in-law and many others.
12. \\#Matt \5:1-7:29\\ Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount.
13. \\#Matt 8:1-4\\ Tell us that it was as Jesus was coming down
from the mountain, after that message, that He came across
this man.
It appears to me that Luke is now giving us a general introduction
to Jesus.
1. \\#Luke 4:30-37\\ Jesus, Lord over sickness and demons.
2. \\#Luke 5:1-11\\ Jesus, the personal Lord
3. \\#Luke 5:12-16\\ Jesus, the Lord who cares
I. Some thoughts:
A. Luke will use the word "certain" 42 times in this Book.
1. \\#12\\ "a certain city" - It seems to be Luke’s way of
leaving out more detailed information. He probably could
have told us what city Jesus was in but chose not to do
so. I believe the Holy Ghost wants us to be able to
consider, "This man might be in MY city."
2. \\#17\\ "on a certain day" - I also think it might be
Luke’s way of skipping around. He did not say "on the
next day" or "and after this" as if he were keeping
things in order. It was "on a certain day," some day
that He remembered but not necessarily the next day.
B. This will also be Jesus’ first time of telling the people He
helped not to tell anyone.
Luke 5:14 …tell no man…
1. We do not know why Jesus told the people this.
2. The most common belief is that He was attempting to
prolong His ministry by keeping His miracles from the
scribes and Pharisees.
3. If that was the reason, then Jesus’ ministry had already
gained their attention and dislike.
C. Jesus upheld the Old Testament law.
Luke 5:14 …but go, and shew thyself to the
priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according
as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
1. At least until Jesus died and perhaps until He rose, the
Old Testament law was in place.
Ga 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law,
2. Remember the battle between Jesus and Satan.
a. Jesus was not fighting as God but as a Spirit-filled
Man.
b. There were rules He had to follow.
c. One of this was that He was under the same law to the
same extent as man was.
d. In all of Jesus’ ministry, He will NOT break the law.
II. The Lord who cares.
A. The power of Jesus.
1. \\#13\\ "BE THOU CLEAN."
a. Man comes to Jesus with leprosy.
b. "If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean."
c. He had heard of Jesus’ power.
2. To understand the power of Jesus you must first understand
the picture of the disease.
a. According to Easton’s Revised Bible Dictionary, the
word "LEPROSY" means a "smiting," a "stroke," because
the disease was regarded as a direct providential
infliction.
b. In other words, it was regarded as a judgment direct
from God for sin.
(1) Leprosy was the AIDS of that day.
(a) Not everyone who gets it is living a sinful
life, but both its inception and primary
means of spreading is through sin.
(b) That is the image that the Bible gives us of
leprosy.
(2) We have three Bible cases where it was just that.
(a) Miriam - \\#Numbers 12:10\\
(b) Gehazi - \\#2Kings 5:20-27\\
(c) Uzziah - \\#2Chron 26:16-21\\
c. When Jesus spoke away the leprosy of this man, He
demonstrated the power to speak away the sins that
had caused the leprosy. \\#Matt 9:1-8\\
3. What had leprosy and sin brought to this man?
a. Leprosy, like sin, started small but spreads across
the whole bringing pain and disfiguration.
\\#Lev 13:1-59\\
(1) Leprosy began as a small white spot.
(2) Gradually it would spread bleaching the hair
white as it ate away the skin, leaving white
scales behind.
(3) Wherever the leprosy had been, the disease
would disfigure the body, leaving sores and
swelling.
(4) From the skin, the disease ate inward to the
bone, literally causing the extreme parts of the
body to fall off.
(5) I imagine that when leprosy first started, the
commandment for dealing with the disease seemed
rather server. After all, "It’s just a small
spot!"
(6) The commandments for dealing with leprosy were
not based on the size it was at the beginning,
but on the destruction it would inflict at the
end.
b. Leprosy, like sin, can moved slowly.
(1) After a person was infected with leprosy, it
would take from 2 to 10 years and as long as 20
years before skin lesion and nerve damage to
become apparent.
(2) Until recently, most people did not jump head
long into sin; but gradually waded out into it.
(3) Because so many generations have been living away
from God, many of today’s generations do jump
directly in.
c. Leprosy, like sin, forced its victims into isolation
\\#Numbers 5:1-5\\.
(1) Leprosy was contagious, spread by body fluids
such as coughing or sneezing.
(a) Victims had to leave home, including their
family and friends.
(b) They could not touch anyone.
(2) Sin is also very contagious and divides and
separates people from family and friends.
d. Leprosy, like sin, ostracized its victims.
(1) This was the requirement of God.
(a) Required to go with cloths rent and a mantle
around the face as an outward symbol of who
they were. \\#Lev 13:45\\
(b) They were required to announce their
presence to anyone who neared them by
calling out UNCLEAN!
(2) Why did God require this?
(a) Because while we may not see the effects of
sin on the outside, God always does.
(b) And because separation from sin is the only
inoculation.
e. Before the 1940s, there was no cure for leprosy.
a. Like sin, curing leprosy required a direct touch
from God.
b. It is interesting that God put a sacrifice in the
law for leprosy’s cure! It could only happen by
a miracle!
http://www.medicinenet.com/is_leprosy_hansens_disease_contagious/
page2.htm
B. \\#13\\ The passion of Jesus
1. Jesus’ Willingness
Luke 5:13 …If thou wilt….
Luke 5:14 …I will…
a. Contrary to what this world believes, God does not
delight in suffering, heartache, death, pain, hell,
misery, tears, loneness, confusion, sorrow,
alienation, or judgment.
b. That’s why He hates sin. Sin is the source of all
those things.
c. The reveals a completely different kind of God.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
2Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness; but
is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance.
Isaiah 30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait,
that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore
will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon
you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed
are all they that wait for him.
Psalms 86:15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of
compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and
plenteous in mercy and truth.
2. Jesus’ Touch
Luke 5:13 And he put forth his hand, and touched
him….
a. A touch was not necessary for healing.
b. But the touch was necessary for compassion!
Are you cursed tonight? Jesus came to die for you. Do you feel that
God hates you? He doesn’t. He sent Jesus to die for you.
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