Luke 5:1-26

Study Date -

Study Type - Adult Lesson

Fellowship - Friday Night Salt and Light

Series - Luke 2015-16

Book - Luke

fishers of men, healing, James, Jesus forgives sin, John, leper, paralytic, Simon Peter, sons of Zebedee


Last time we looked at Luke’s account of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum. We know from that account that Jesus had already met Simon, later called Peter, because we saw in Luke 4:38-39 that Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever while he was visiting Simon’s house. As we pick up the story here in Luke 5, we see Jesus calling Simon and his partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee as His disciples.

Recall from Luke 1:1-4, Luke stated that his purpose was to set forth “an orderly account” of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for “Theophilus.” To the modern mind this might imply a strictly chronological account. But we have already seen that Luke, and the other synoptic gospel writers, Matthew and Mark, differ significantly in the order that they present the episodes in their reports. This shouldn’t overly concern us, and is certainly no grounds for questioning the veracity of the stories themselves, upon the substance of which the synoptic gospel writers all largely agree. It was more important to all of them to recount the stories in a logical fashion, grouping similar ideas together, than is was to recount the episodes in strict chronological order.

Furthermore, we must remember that the gospel accounts circulated orally for many years (in the case of John over 50) among the brethren before these witnesses wrote them down. Consequently, it is not surprising that the eyewitnesses upon whom Luke and the other gospel writers relied as their sources did not recall or agree on exactly what order the reported events occurred. It is nevertheless striking that all of the accounts are largely in agreement as to their substance, which tends to lend more credibility to the stories themselves.
Jesus must be pleased that for the most part the people he taught these lessons seemingly “got it,” at least to the extent that they recounted them accurately to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Remember that of these three, only Matthew was himself an eyewitness, and even he wasn’t present on the day spoken of here in Luke 5.

Luke 5:1-11 (Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20)

1So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
Matthew and Mark also report episodes in which Jesus sat in a boat to teach, although Luke is the only one who reports such teaching on the same day as His calling of Simon, John, and James. Jesus may have used this teaching device more than once. It makes good sense. Once news spread of the miracles and healings Jesus was performing, the crowds surrounding Him must have been considerable, with people gathering from miles around to witness “the show.”
But Jesus didn’t come to Earth to perform signs and wonders. He came to preach the Gospel of salvation through faith in His atoning death on the cross, and more importantly His eternal defeat of sin, death, and Hades by His resurrection. Because of the large crowds, Jesus made use of natural surroundings so that His voice might carry His teaching to as many as possible. Thus we see him here putting out in Simon’s boat a short way from shore so that the crowd might gather around without pressing in too closely and muffling His voice.
The name for the Sea of Galilee – Γεννησαρέτ Gennēsaret – given here is the Greek form of one of the Hebrew names for the lake – כִּנְּרוֹת Kinnᵉrôwth, meaning harp – so called, perhaps, because the lake looks somewhat like a harp when one looks down on it from above. Unfortunately, Luke does not report for us here the content of Jesus’ message on that day, but provides instead our first encounter with one of the most beloved characters in the Word of God – Simon (Peter).
Why is it that we admire Simon (Peter) so much? On the one hand, once he had gone through a few trials, Peter became the Spirit-filled evangelist we see proclaiming the Gospel powerfully and courageously before the Sanhedrin.
Acts 4:8-12
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
We also admire his childlike faith in stepping out of the boat to join Jesus walking on the water, and then calling out to Jesus to save him when his faith proved too weak for the task.
Matthew 14:25-30
25Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
28And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
We deeply admire Peter’s faith and strength, yet we also recognize his weakness in the face of adversity. We see Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane impetuously stepping forward to defend Jesus with his sword, yet only a few hours later outside the house of the High Priest where Jesus had been imprisoned, denying he even knew Jesus at all. Rather than despising Peter for his weakness, we admire him all the more, because we recognize so much of our own character in him – both the strength and faithfulness to which we also aspire in serving our Lord, and the weaknesses which we also recognize in ourselves and are ashamed of.
As we see here, Simon also clearly felt his own unworthiness in the presence of the holy Son of Man, when he asks Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” How reminiscent this is of Isaiah’s desperate outcry when he recognized his own despicable nature in the presence of the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 6:1-7
1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The LORD of hosts.”
6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
Praise God that just as the seraph purged Isaiah’s sinfulness with a burning coal, Jesus has purged Peter’s sin and ours by the washing of His own blood. Hallelujah!
Another important lesson we can glean from this passage is the blessing God gives in response to simple acts of faith and obedience. Simon, John, and James were all professional fishermen. No man knew better than they how to coax a living from the waters of the lake. Yet Simon, clearly recognized Jesus’ power over His creation, and acted by faith in obedience to Jesus’ direction despite his own misgivings.
Luke 5:4-5
4When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
We will do well, and be blessed of God if we do the same in simple faith.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Before leaving this passage, consider the powerful testimony of the three fishermen’s response to Jesus’ call.
Luke 5:10b-11
And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
In response to their faith and obedience, Jesus had just blessed the three of them with a reward representing the normal yield of perhaps weeks or even months of their labor. Yet all three of them left everything behind, including this rich bounty, to follow Jesus without even being asked. Think of the millions of souls who have come to saving faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the testimony of these three devoted men over the course of the last two millennia!

As I studied this passage, and the calling of Matthew we’ll look at later, I was struck by the suddenness and certainty of these men’s calling by Jesus, and the fullness of their obedience to it. That naturally got me thinking again about the nature of the calling of God.
While we were studying Philippians some time ago, we took a look at the question of predestination (Calvinism) versus free choice (Arminianism). We find scripture in support of both positions in God’s Word. Clearly, Peter, James, John, and Matthew were called out directly by Jesus along with the other 8 original disciples – including, by the way – Judas Iscariot, the son of perdition who clearly did not respond to this call by repentance unto salvation in Christ Jesus. Some relevant passages spring to mind.
Romans 8:28-30
28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
This passage clearly speaks of predestination. It merits a closer look. First note the phrase “the called” in verse 28. This is the rendering we find in the KJV and NKJV, and the way I’ve always memorized this verse. But looking more closely, we find something very interesting. Of all the English translations I had available to me, the KJV and NKJV are the only ones that translate the Greek word κλητός klētos as “the called.” All the others translate it as “called,” and they are more correct, since the word is an adjective rather than a noun. Furthermore, it can mean not only called, but also invited, called to, appointed, or divinely selected, all of which clearly point toward the idea of pre-destination.
The Greek word κλητός klētos is also very closely related to παράκλητος paraklētos, the word Jesus used in referring to the Holy Spirit which was to be given.
John 14:16
 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever
This word, translated “Helper” here, is formed from the Greek prefix παρά- para-, meaning together or beside, and κλητός klētos, so the combination literally means called, selected, appointed, or divinely selected with.
On the other side of the coin, for the call of God to have practical effects, whoever has been called needs to respond to the calling. We see this unanimous and wholehearted response on the part of all four of these disciples. Indeed, Jesus spoke of this in the verse before his promise of the Helper.
John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.

What could the Lord do with us if we were to step out in faith boldly like these men did? Make no mistake. Total devotion is exactly what Jesus has called us to.

Luke 9:61-62
61And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
62But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 10:37
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
The call to serve Jesus is a difficult one demanding that we forsake everything, perhaps (as in the end James and Peter did) even sacrificing our very lives. Yet in response to obedience in faith, the promise of Jesus is…
Matthew 19:29
“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.
_____________________________
Luke 5:12-16 (Matt. 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45)
12And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
13Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him. 14And He charged him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.”
15However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
The three accounts of this miraculous healing are virtually identical. Of course we know that leprosy was a devastating, fearful disease in the ancient world. Lepers had to live isolated from the rest of society for fear of spreading the disease. The Word of God gives explicit direction (Leviticus 13 & 14) concerning the diagnosis of leprosy, the quarantine of lepers, and the procedures Jesus speaks of here for restoration of healed lepers into society.
Under the Law, the responsibility for diagnosis, and for the ritual cleansing and restoration of healed lepers lay with the priests. Of course, Jesus – the author of the Law – had full authority to pronounce the lepers He healed to be clean under His Law, to say nothing of the supernatural power to heal them in the first place. But remember what Jesus Himself said in the Sermon on the Mount concerning His relationship with the Law of Moses…
Matthew 5:17-18
17“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Furthermore, Jesus uses this healing, as He so often did, to teach a lesson – to the cleansed leper, to the priests, and to us. First, notice that the leper in this story came to Jesus in faith knowing that if Jesus’ will was to heal Him, then he would indeed be healed. James reiterates the call to pray in faith for healing…
James 5:14-15
14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Notice also that the prayer in faith is also integral with Jesus’ forgiveness of sin. We’ll see more concerning this idea when we study Jesus’ healing of the lame man in the next passage.
Second, note that Jesus touched the leper, affirming His willingness to heal him, and he was immediately healed. The Word of God gives many examples of healing by the laying on of hands. Indeed, Jesus Himself healed many by touching them, but there’s nothing magical about this laying on of hands. Jesus did not need to touch someone in order to heal them, or even be in the same location. Consider the example of the centurion’s servant…
Matthew 8:5-13
5Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
7And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
8The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
It is the will of the Great Physician in response to prayer of faith that performs the healing, not the act of laying on hands, or anointing with oil.
The significant point about Jesus’ touching this leper when He healed him was that Jesus fearlessly touched the leper in ministering to him. Today, we know that leprosy isn’t nearly as contagious as it was thought to be in ancient Israel. Nevertheless, if a person touches a leper in ministering to them, there is a significant risk of contracting the disease through this personal contact. Jesus made it a point to touch the leper in order to demonstrate for us that effective ministry will sometimes involve personal risk. Nevertheless, He reassures us…
Mark 8:35
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
This is one of the truly magnificent aspects of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus never asks us to do anything in His service that He is unwilling to do Himself. Of course the ultimate demonstration of this principle is His willingness to go to the cross. We need to be sure to rebuke anyone who proclaims that the Jews killed Jesus, or the Romans killed Jesus, or even that you and I killed Him. He makes it very clear that no one took His life from Him, but He laid it down voluntarily in submission to the Father’s will…
John 10:14-18
14I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
Furthermore, remember that this self-sacrifice was in Jesus’ plan of salvation from before the beginning when He created the World and everything in it by the very power of His Word. Pondering deeply upon that concept can only fill our hearts with awestruck wonder. All He needed to do to avoid the suffering of the cross was to simply remain silent on the day of creation.
Lastly, after Jesus healed the leper, Jesus directed him to present himself to the priest and make the offerings called for in the Law of Moses for the cleansing of lepers (Leviticus 14). This was important for the leper in order to show his gratitude to God for the healing, and as a lesson to us to give God the proper gratitude and glory for the works He performs in our lives. But this presentation and ritual cleansing were also to be done as a testimony to the priests themselves. Indeed, the Law of Moses made specific provisions for the priestly cleansing of lepers, and no doubt the priests had all received meticulous training in these details of the law.
Yet until Jesus came, there had rarely been a call to put these procedures into practice. Apart from Moses and Miriam, both of whom the Lord first afflicted with leprosy and then miraculously healed as a demonstration of His power, the only other person I can think of who was healed of leprosy was Naaman the Syrian who was not a Jew, and went on his way back to his home after being healed (2 Kings 5).
It must have come as a great shock to the priests when this leper healed by Jesus showed up at the temple to offer his sacrifice and receive ritual cleansing from them. No doubt they would have had to look up the notes from their training before they could proceed. Certainly, there would have been a great deal of talk among themselves regarding the Galilean carpenter who could perform such a miracle. Certainly, apart from obedience to the Law, stimulating this discussion was part of Jesus’ purpose in sending the healed leper to them.
Before we move on, note that Jesus models for us one of the keys to a fruitful life of abiding in Him here at the end of this passage…
Luke 5:15-16
15However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
This life of ministry to which we have committed is a long-distance race, not a sprint. God has placed us into and kept us in this broken world for His good pleasure, to do His bidding. The world in which we move as sojourners is full of noise, business, temptation, and distraction. In order to fulfill our calling, we must cleave to our Lord. We accomplish this in two ways…
1)    in the study of His Holy Word, and
2)    in diligently and continually seeking His face in prayer.
It is absolutely essential that we spend time alone with our Lord, day-by-day, hour-by-hour, and moment-by-moment. Apart from the practical aspects of bringing our supplications before Him, and seeking His guidance, it is essential to our spiritual wellbeing to offer our praises and thanksgiving to Him, and to simply be silent in solitary communion with Him. Without the empowerment that can only come through a habit of solitary prayer, we will quickly grow weary and ineffectual in our serving Him through ministering to our brethren…
Hebrews 12:1-2
1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
_____________________________
Luke 5:17-26 (Matt. 9:2-8; Mark 2:1-12)
17Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
20When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 24But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
25Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”
Almost every Christian is well familiar with this passage, but we need to remember the admonishment of…
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
As I sat down to parse this passage, I was doubtful I would find anything new. Then God showed me something I had never seen before in it. Notice who Luke says in verse 17 that God’s Spirit was present to heal – none other than the Pharisees and teachers of the law!
Jesus certainly healed the paralytic and forgave His sins. That is, of course, a wonderful miracle. But the real work Jesus came to do that day was in the hearts of the teachers and Pharisees who were present. We tend to think of these men as villains. Indeed, many if not most of them had turned as the ultra-Orthodox Jews of today, away from worshipping God – the author of the Word which saves us – to worshipping the Word itself. Their devotion to the letter of the Law of Moses, had blinded them to the Truth foretold by the prophets who stood in their midst – their Messiah, Jesus.
But we must not forget that the sect of the Pharisees made up the majority of the Jewish population of Jesus’ time. Most of these were ordinary people, not the rulers. Some of them were still redeemable, having hearts just tender enough to hear the Truth straight from the Messiah’s own mouth. It was these whose hearts were touched and converted by Jesus through the miracle of healing this paralytic.
Once again, as we have seen so often, Jesus chose to heal this particular man in response to an act of faith – this time, not the faith of the one who was healed, but the faith of those who loved him enough to bring him to Jesus however they might. This is a powerful testimony for us. We must never grow weary or despondent in our petitions for those we love. Consider Paul’s admonition to those married to unbelievers…
1 Corinthians 7:12-16
12But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. 13And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. 14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. 16For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?
Those who have unbelieving or apostate children should consider the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15). The boy’s father never gave up on him despite his having abused the father’s good graces, and squandered all the father had worked to give him. We must never give up our intercession for our unsaved loved ones, knowing that Jesus Himself also intercedes for us and for them continually before the Father in the face of the evil one’s accusations…
1 John 2:1
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Jesus, of course, recognized that the paralytic’s true need was salvation by the forgiveness of his sins. We see Him granting this forgiveness in response to the faith of the man’s friends.
Luke 5:20
When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
The Pharisees and teachers of the Law who were present correctly observed that no one but God has the authority to forgive sin. They were most certainly right in saying that anyone but God claiming authority to forgive sin is uttering blasphemy…
Luke 5:21
And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Logically, this correct observation left only two options open. Either Jesus was a blasphemer deserving of death for claiming to usurp the authority to forgive which belongs solely to God, or Jesus is in fact God, fully vested with that authority. In healing the paralytic’s physical malady, Jesus demonstrated that He – being God – also has authority to fulfill all mankind’s most important need – the forgiveness of our sins…
Luke 5:24
But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
This essential lesson was well received by all who were present – the teachers and Pharisees included.
Luke 5:26
And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”
_____________________________

Leave a Comment

three × 3 =

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.