Warning. I might judge you! Yep!  If you drive a large, black pick-up truck with over-sized tires, and chrome-colored, diesel exhaust pipes that rise out of the bed of the truck on both sides of the cab, with a noisy engine that makes all the children within a half-mile cry, I might judge you as a total jerk. This would be especially true if you rode up alongside me while I was cycling, gunning your engine in order to blow diesel smoke all over me while you drove off in great glee!

But maybe, just maybe, not everyone who owns such a truck would do such a thing. Maybe they should not all be judged. It’s not a moral evil to have such a device. I can’t see why you’d want such a thing, but then you might not understand why I drive old cars and cycle on country roads.

Judging others just plain feels good! It puts you (in your own mind at least) on the higher level. You just know that you see life in a way that is better than the other fool.

But judging violates one of the greatest of timeless truths. One tends to get back what one gives. Being gracious to others tends to lead to others being gracious to us.

I love the illustration that Jesus uses about the plank in one’s own eye, whereas there is merely a speck in the eye of another. Not dealing with our own specks means that, over time, they turn into a splinter, then a shaving, then a wedge, then a board, and finally a plank – that is unknown to the host eyeball. Critical people, unchecked, tend to grow larger in their judgments. And in the process, they become more oblivious to their own issues.

We need to be aware of this human proclivity toward self-righteousness. There is no more ineffective person than a hypocrite. We may need to ask others to tell us what they see in our eyes, and then be willing to undergo some ocular surgery.

Luke 6:37 – “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Today’s passage contains what is probably the most well-known proverbial type of quote from the Bible, yet likely also the most difficult to apply: Do to others as you would have them do to you.

You’ve got to be kidding! Really? Do that?  It goes against everything that is natural. One of the reasons I did not go further as a baseball pitcher beyond my college years is that I couldn’t apply something like this! If a guy went sliding into second base with his spikes up, I’d remember his number and then hit him in the head with a rising fastball the next time he came to the plate. He earned it! He deserved it!

Yet that is the way most folks live life … from injustices in the office, to rude drivers who need to be taught a lesson, to the crazy relative that shakes the family tree, to the annoying, fellow church member who wrongly irritated us in some way. They deserve to have whatever rebound in their face, and we can make it happen.

This is not the way God deals with us, however. We deserve his judgment as enemies of God and the result of his wrath upon our sin. But he has given us the payment of the blood of Christ with the open-ended offer to have our sin debt paid. And having received such grace, why should we not be conduits of that grace to others – even those who wrong us and are enemies by definition?

There is something tremendously disarming about applying this principle. I’ve done it far too few times in my life. But I can specifically recall several occasions where I became aware of some church person who was calling for head in similar fashion as Herodias and her daughter requested of Herod about John the Baptist; and rather than fight back, I have looked for ways to show extreme kindness – applauding them and their family for anything good I could genuinely affirm, inviting them to lunch as my guests, etc.  On these occasions, they simply don’t know what to say or how to respond. You can hear the bullets falling out of their weapons and hitting the floor. Again, I’d like to say this is what I’ve most often done; but honestly, I have more frequently dropped them with a two-seamer in the earhole of their batting helmet, figuratively speaking.

The reason we can confidently extend such grace and kindness that flies counter to every natural proclivity about justice is because we can trust God for ultimate justice and reward for ourselves. It may not happen in this life. The kindness extended may be seen as weakness and the opportunity for the enemy to double-down on their attack. But that’s OK. God knows, and that’s all we need to know.

It is all about kingdom-focused living. It is the bigger picture, the greater reality.

Luke 6:27 – “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

When I am confused or concerned about something that has happened, I often seek to understand it comparatively within a broader context. And this is not merely my competitiveness running amuck. I simply want to grasp whether the situation at hand is within the range of typical results or expectations.

For example, after my several knee surgeries, the second and third days were rather … ugh … unpleasant, brutal even. And I’m OK with that, if that is the way it is supposed to be. But if it not supposed to be that bad, then I’m going to be really concerned. I just need calibration.

Or another example: occasionally one of the boys would come home from taking a big test at school and give a rather concerned, negative report as to how well they thought they performed. Maybe they were surprised at the content and what was an unusual emphasis upon something they deemed to be of minor import. And I would invariable ask what other students were saying about the test. Did they have the same take on it? If so, maybe the result won’t be so bad. But if everyone else was raving about how easy was the exam, then I’m getting concerned. It’s about seeking calibration.

As followers of Christ, it is helpful to have some calibration on living this life in a fallen, sinful, imperfect world. And that is what we have in today’s passage from the basic content of Jesus’ teaching to his disciples (not just the 12, but the large crowd that followed him). This section is often called the “blessings and woes.”  It teaches that the bad things aren’t as bad as they seem, nor are the good things as good as they seem; and all of that is because there is a bigger picture than just this world.

One can be blessed and have inner contentment and happiness even in the context of problems like poverty, hunger and sadness. This is because all of these things are temporary and the reward in the kingdom of God is so much greater and eternal. These issues will pass away, and God’s enabling strength is sufficient to endure them.

As well, when the people of this world persecute Christ’s followers in words and deeds, this too should not throw one off of the path of feeling blessed. If fact, it is rather normal behavior when calibrated in light of the big picture of things. Not only is this true in Christ’s day and in the ages to follow of those who name Jesus as Lord, this was the experience of godly people in the past – such as the prophets in Israel who were persecuted for their faithfulness in proclaiming truth. It has always been this way, but great is the reward in the kingdom for those who endure and persevere.

On the flipside, for those who trust in earthly measurements of success and thereby reject the message of Christ, they will find that their temporary riches, food abundance and merriment produced merely by the measurements of this world will not suffice in the long run. And being spoken of well is simply a repeat of the accolades given to the false prophets of the past.

How’s all of this for calibration? It is Jesus taking their minds and eyes away from the microscope to look rather at the majesty of the sky – the bigger picture that includes God’s kingdom.

There is timeless truth in this teaching. We daily read of the horrid persecution of Christians in other parts of the world. And as a class of people, we are not highly favored even here in America by the masses of the people in places of prominence. That’s OK; it is normal. Remember the bigger picture. You’re a child of the creator king!

Luke 6:17 – He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

20 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

Serving here now in the latter innings of my ministry career, I can risk being very open about some things that have happened in my life, or not happened. At the beginning, in my Texas years, I had one experience of being overlooked for a position in a church when another, truly less capable person was surprisingly given the job. Soon after, I was granted a position that was so much better, and to this day I look back and marvel about why in the world that church would hire such a young novice like me.

I joke from time to time about my collection of “silver medals” … occasions when I finished in second place, also popularly termed by Dale Earnhart as “the first loser.”  It happened to me several times before I came to Tri-State in 1994. And I can now tell you also that on two occasions some years ago I finished second in lead pastor searches by rather large churches. But looking back now, both of those churches have thrived under the leadership of the men selected, and I can say that I am in every way tremendously thankful that God did not send me to those places but allowed me to be in Hagerstown for all of these years.

God opens and closes doors. He has a place in the vineyard for all who love and serve him. Sometimes it is prominent, other times it is supportive and far from the spotlights. But there is joy in both places. There are no losers.

Today’s passage simply lists the names of the 12 disciples that Jesus chose, after a full night of prayer, to especially be with him and to be further designated as apostles. This would mean that they were not only followers, but those who would be sent out on mission.

The choosing of the 12 apostles will be our theme this coming Sunday. Being brief today, let me make the major point that these were not necessarily the guys with the greatest resumes. There was a lot of clay in the feet of these men. You would expect the Messiah to choose religiously-trained individuals or those who had accomplished great things in life to especially round out his A-team. But actually, these are pretty average people … probably like you and me, and that is greatly encouraging.

When called by God and empowered by him, average people can be extraordinary servants in specific places in the Lord’s vineyard. There is a challenge for the New Year!

Luke 6:12-16 – One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

I grew up in a generally healthy church environment, as you often hear me talk about the positive influence it had upon me from an encouraging, multi-generation church that promoted our growth as children and teens. However, there were also some legalistic elements, such as appropriate clothing for church (suits and ties, etc.) and hair length (don’t begin to look like the hippies!). And I recall bringing some friends from school (who were non-churched) and being criticized by some adults that my friends were too sloppy looking with long hair, etc. … rather than being pleased that they were actually at church and being exposed to the gospel they needed. These folks missed the main point.

And that is what happens in today’s passage. The Pharisees, rather than seeing that the Lord of the Sabbath was with them, chose to criticize what they deemed inappropriate deeds on this day – eating grain, and healing.

The rubbing of grain (allowed by the Law for individuals to do in a neighbor’s field) constituted, in the legalistic thinking of the Pharisees, the work of threshing on the Sabbath. And the man with the withered hand would appear to have been possibly placed in front of Jesus to tempt him to heal on this day. This would give these religious leaders a reason to accuse him.

Jesus sees through all of this, relating himself and his disciples to a story about his ancestor King David and his men – a story in which there was no condemnation. And Jesus teaches that to not do good on the Sabbath when it was able to be done was tantamount to doing evil. He embarrasses them in front of everyone, and for this we see the ratcheting up of intensity to begin to devise some plan to get rid of this Jesus character.

We can’t just do anything we want to do, doing it the name of serving God, even though it is clearly a wrong thing to do. It is never right to do wrong in order to do right. But at the same time, many Christians have missed major ideas by nitpicking about morally indifferent ideas that are merely matters of taste or preference. Over my six decades in churches I have seen preferences about things like music styles, Bible translations, formal or casual clothing, sanctuary or multi-purpose room construction, exegetical or topical sermon series, etc., etc., etc., etc., cause otherwise good people to miss the big idea of the work God was doing. Don’t be like that.

Luke 6:1 – One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

“We’ve never done it that way before.”

This is the cry of those who are unwilling to change, those who like things just the way they are.

That would be a description of the Pharisees and religious leadership in Israel at the time of Jesus. Life was good. They were in charge. They were successful and revered. Why change anything?

This passage today about a confrontation of words between these Jewish leaders and Jesus likely did not happen right on the heels of the previous passage about Levi. Rather, Luke probably includes it at this juncture to continue the point he was introducing about the differences that would fester ultimately into all that would take Christ to the cross.

The accusation is that the followers of John the Baptist and of the Pharisees were very strict about fasting and praying. By comparison, the disciples of Jesus seemed to be always eating and drinking, hence not truly godly or spiritual or righteous (also casting shame upon their leader).

Jesus will answer by saying that the old ways, from before his coming, and his way as the Messianic King simply cannot mix. It was truly an apples and oranges kind of thing. He uses three illustrations:

First, when the friends of a bridegroom are with him, that is not a time of fasting, but of rejoicing.

Secondly, a patch of new cloth that is yet to shrink would not be wise to put on an already-shrunken piece of cloth. It does not match, and when it shrinks it will rip an even larger hole in the older garment.

Thirdly, when new wine is put into old skins, the fermenting will cause it to expand, burst the skins, and all will be lost. The application is that a new time has come (pictured by new wine in new wineskins), but the Pharisees are like people who will only be happy with the same old wine.

The fisherman disciples, by following Jesus, would be doing something beyond just catching fish, they would be catching souls for the kingdom. Levi, by following Jesus, would be enriched and fulfilled in ways that far exceed the accumulation of wealth in this temporal world. But the Pharisees, by not following and accepting Jesus, would be like folks merely satisfied with old, old wine.

This is some of the beginning teaching that speaks of one of the biggest ideas of them all in terms of following Christ. To trust Jesus and to go on with him will result in finding true wealth and enduring satisfaction in this life and the next. In this path is reward that never perishes.

The enigma is that by giving up and losing all, one truly gains everything. The disciples chose wisely, the Pharisees chose poorly. How are you choosing?

Luke 5:33 – They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”

34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”

36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”

Perhaps you have heard someone say when making a prediction, “I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet, but I predict that ________.”  I like to embellish that by saying, “I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet, and I work for a non-profit organization, but I predict that _______”  That’s actually hilarious in my estimation, but most people don’t laugh when I say it. They need to lighten up!

Today, we talk about tax collectors. I’m not a tax collector, but I am the son and the grandson of tax collectors. It’s true. Both my father and his father before him served in our rural New Jersey township as the local property tax collectors (for over 40 years total). It was an elected position and a part-time job. What it meant at that time is that people came to our house to pay their taxes, most often in cash. On an average day, we probably had six or seven people knock at the door and come inside to make payments. They would come during dinner, late at night, early in the morning … you never knew when someone would show up. And they would frequently sit for long periods of time and complain about what they had to pay. My father tried to tell them that he had nothing to do with assessing the amounts due, he was simply the guy who collected and did the accounting. But that didn’t often stop the grousing.

In the times of Jesus’ sojourn on earth, tax collectors worked as agents of the Roman government. The Romans had an amount they expected to receive, and tax collectors were well-known to add their own personal fees and additions to that figure. The Romans didn’t care, and the tax collector had the authority of Rome behind their extortion. It was quite a racket and scam! Tax collectors were seen as the worst of the worst in terms of selling out to the gentiles, thereby being the greatest of sinners. Frankly, that viewpoint was a supportable position in many ways.

So Levi (Matthew) is not an expected type of person who would identify closely with a genuine religious teacher by following him as a disciple. How would you react if on Sunday I introduced a known drug dealer in Hagerstown as having come to know the Lord, with me announcing also that he was going to be joining the elder board of the church next week?

The Pharisees and teachers would never associate with such a person, and they would be very confident in the purity of their position. So seeing Jesus attending a dinner at the home of Levi, along with his extortionist associates, was more than they could accept. This was clearly wrong, as they voiced their opposition to the disciples of Jesus.

And as so often happened, Jesus dropped them with one brief utterance… “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Let’s fill that out by adding all of the inferences… “It is not (those who are self-deceived into thinking they are) healthy who need a doctor, but (those who internally understand and admit that they are) sick. 32 I have not come to call the (ones who arrogantly believe themselves to be) righteous, but (those who know within themselves that they are hopeless) sinners to repentance.”

This pattern of Jesus’ association with down-and-outers has always been a challenge for us to apply in our modern context. To what extent should we be willing to be associated with people who have sinful patterns of life and who frequent untoward places with a sketchy environment? There is reason for certain cautions and considerations about propriety. But I’m pretty sure I can safely say that most of us have erred over the years of our faith by overly shying away from taking the gospel to people deeply engaged in the allures and darkness of this sinful world.

Many people from our church will soon be serving for our annual week at the REACH cold weather shelter for the homeless. And each year, many of our folks are surprised at the way they can serve and be a blessing by building a relationship with some of the most unfortunate and disenfranchised people imaginable.

Additionally, as many of you at TSF have heard me in recent months talking about a new partnership with multi-cultural, inner-city churches, this involvement will likely draw us into some closer ministry connections with people whom we may otherwise never meet or associate with. We will need wisdom, yet these people need Christ … desperately. Pray for us; serve with us. We might just see God use us to bring some “Levi” types of people into the Kingdom.

Luke 5:27 – 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.”

We have been going through a challenging and unusual time within our church family. So many have suffered a number of difficult physical situations, from cancer diagnoses to a whole host of spinal and back issues, not to mention other besetting and even life-threatening conditions. It is bad enough to see people whom we love go through these complications in the modern era of medicine, let alone imagine how horrendous such medical issues would have been 2,000 years ago. Resources like Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Maryland Medical Center were not just an hour down the highway.

Along with seeing so many grave diagnoses, we must also be faithfully quick to say with praise and thanksgiving that we have witnessed a significant number of divine interventions, granting successes to medical efforts and applications. But 2,000 years ago, this would not have been at all common. People did not largely bounce back from series maladies … like paralysis, for example.

But along comes a religious teacher who has a growing reputation for healing people of terrible physical problems. It is almost too much to believe. Believing required the mental content that this man was more than just another man with great talent, he had to be directly divine.

Human ingenuity always amazes me, because I have so little of it when it comes to how to make practical hands-on things happen … like how to lower a paralyzed person through the roof of a house without him dropping and dying from a head injury.

OK… I debated about adding this story, but it actually is kinda funny. Over 20 years ago my father-in-law passed away in Texas, and after a memorial service at his church we had the task of taking his ashes back to their ranch to bury him at the place he had built into a masterpiece. The actual burial plan fell to me to facilitate!  You’ll probably be glad to hear at this point that I’ve never buried anyone before (or since). And this was kind of like burying a car battery in size, shape and weight. So I used a posthole digger to dig a hole in the soft East Texas sand – that part was easy to do. With two ropes crisscrossing under the urn, thus with four ends, I reasoned my brother-in-law and I could gently lower it into the hole with great dignity. After some appropriate words, we began the descent. Within a foot of lowering, a corner of the box caught upon the side of the hole, and it slipped off the ropes and hit the bottom with a loud “thump.”  I was terrified and devastated. The collection of about a dozen grandchildren all ran to look into the hole at what happened. The moment was salvaged by my mother-in-law breaking out into a laugh of hilarity. I wanted to say, “Sorry Roy for dropping you!”  But, I couldn’t. Having so often dropped the other end of the board when we were building something (he built our entire 2500’ square foot colonial home in New Jersey), he probably would have thought it appropriate that I dropped him into his grave.

Back to the story … fortunately, the paralytic’s friends were more capable than Roy’s son-in-law, as they removed some roof tiles and lowered their good buddy immediately in front of Jesus. What a statement of faith and devotion by all of them!

A part of this story that is often forgotten is that the immediate crowd who prevented the friends from a more standard meeting with Jesus was that there was a collection of top-dog religious folks from all over Galilee, Judea, AND Jerusalem. The reputation and legitimacy of this Jesus character needed to be investigated. This is the first occasion that Luke mentions this leadership in Israel – a theme that will be critical to understanding the presentation of Christ to the nation as their Messiah.

Obviously, the man needed healing from paralysis; but what does Jesus say first?  “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”  Hey, we’re talking medicine here, not religion!  So that was an odd first statement. And we may rightly note that it was uttered more for the onlookers than the paralytic, who along with his friends had definitive faith to do what they had done.

Jesus knew what the religious leaders were thinking … “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”   Jesus as much as says, “Yep, your answer in in your question… this is God who is forgiving and healing… just as the prophets said the Messiah would do.”

Saying something is easier than doing something. It is easier to say he could forgive sins, as how could that be proven? It was more difficult to heal, as the evidence – positive or negative – would be immediately evident. But the healing would give validation to the bold statement, and that was the point to be made. And the man is healed, picks up his mat and walks home. (And hopefully the friends repaired the roof.)

The people are amazed, evidently including even the leadership gurus. But that doesn’t mean they were willing to believe and follow and allow their cushy religious system to be entirely upset, as the rest of the story will prove.

Many people who are confronted with the truths of Scripture about the claims of Christ (along with the evidentiary changes that can be seen in the lives of people who have become his followers) remain unwilling to actually submit to Jesus and become a follower in faith. They cite the need for more evidence. And whereas it is reasonable to provide evidence and “give a reason for the hope” that we have, often the issue remains that, at the heart of the matter, they do not really want to believe and change their entire worldview and way of thinking about life. And for even those who have “entered in” through faith, there is often a reticence to completely yield and follow. More on that idea tomorrow …

Luke 5:17 – 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.”

Following the ministry of Jesus can be a bit confusing. On one hand is his definitive effort to travel widely and preach the Kingdom of God to as many people as possible. Yet on the other hand we often see Jesus – as is today’s passage – putting a damper on spreading the news about healings, etc.

We can understand this by referencing the modern phrase – “needing to keep the main thing, the main thing.”

The healings were particularly dramatic, especially as in this case of the cleansing of a leper. The disease was dreadful, both in appearance and what it meant for the victim in terms of social and religious isolation. A sudden reversal of leprosy was indeed quite extraordinary and the stuff of exclamatory notice and reports near and far.

As we always recall about miracles, they were primarily for the purpose of authentication of the message and the messenger. The masses of the people in Israel, along with the religious leadership and hierarchy, were to see this display (along with hearing the teaching) and welcome the coming of the Messiah. Instead, the religious leaders resented the threat to their “deep state” authority, and the people were quick to envision Jesus as a political and social revolutionary. Christ needed to keep the focus on the main thing – the coming of the promised Kingdom by the acceptance of the promised King.

Of special note in this passage is that Jesus tells the leper to go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.  It was exceedingly unusual for the priests to see someone cleansed from leprosy. Such an event would/should signal that something extraordinary was happening.

The clamor for Jesus to heal and to do miraculous deeds spread, along with his fame. It was necessary for Christ to retreat from time to time from all of this – to refocus on the mission and to pray. And that is not a bad admonition for us to consider. Like Jesus, we need to retreat occasionally and refocus with God – to be sure that we are keeping the main thing, the main thing.

Luke 5:12 – 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.

Though it may be strange to have a passage on the calling of the disciples as a devotional on Christmas Day, actually it makes great sense. Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and we who have trusted in him have become his disciples. So the outgrowth of the incarnation is that Christ would accomplish his finished work and build his church. And we are his followers to serve by leaving behind the things of this world to be involved more importantly in Kingdom purposes.

This was clearly not the first time that Peter and Andrew had been with Jesus. Apparently they were essentially part-time followers, still being involved with their fishing enterprise. The crowd around Jesus had pressed in closely so that not all could hear. Therefore, Jesus gets into Simon Peter’s boat and goes out a bit from shore. Now he could be more easily seen, and his voice would echo off the water and be heard by all.

Hey, there’s nothing I’d rather do than go fishing after finishing a sermon!  (Actually, that’s not really true.)  Simon, being an experienced fisherman, knows that this is a futile effort at this time of day. They had fished all night without success, and there was no way the fish would be near enough to the surface in the daytime. But, to humor the carpenter dude whose preaching he loved, out they go into the deep waters of the lake.

Fish, fish, and more fish. The boats are sinking under the weight. This makes no sense naturally. It could only be because Jesus is there. The full realization of who Christ is lands fully on Simon, and he too begins to sink under the weight of his sinfulness.

Leaving the fish for someone else to deal with, they drop everything and follow Jesus. Can you do that? Could you do that? You are not likely to get called upon to drop it all, but you may be called upon to let go of more than is comfortable. But as I always say, the person is yet to be found who regrets giving up anything to follow the Lord. God is never in debt to us.

Luke 5:1 – One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, [Sea of Galilee] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He 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.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So 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.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and 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 fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.