Luke 5:33 “Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?” Fasting was a common religious practice in the time of Christ. It was seen as a show of extreme devotion. It confused the Jews that…
Luke 5:32 “”I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” It is tempting to modify this verse. We tend to want to make it say ‘those who think they are righteous’ because that is a more accurate picture of Jesus’ theology. But, to get the complete picture, modification is not…
Luke 5:31 “Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Jesus here identifies the fact that mankind has a problem. Many people will miss the truth of the gospel and fail to be saved simply because they do not believe that…
Luke 5:30 “And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” In the ancient world, eating and drinking with a group of persons amounted to recognizing the legitimacy of that group. It was a form of racism or class distinction to…
Luke 5:29 “Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.” Jesus was apparently happy to attend this feast. Levi (Matthew) was worshiping the Lord by doing this. He also gave the Lord Jesus an opportunity…
Luke 5:28 “So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.” Those ‘leave all’ moments are what makes faith so powerful. Many people live their entire lives without a ‘leave all’ moment. They never make any changes, but stick only with what is safe and easy. But safe and easy is predictable. Jesus asks…
Luke 5:27 “After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” There were some to whom Jesus said this that offered excuses and did not follow. But, Levi, who is Matthew, offered no such excuses. The publican, as…
Luke 5:26 “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!” We can understand the amazement, but why the fear? Well, though it is easy to imagine being amazed by Christ’s miracles and teaching, it is still hard to put ourselves in…
Luke 5:25 “Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.” Hesitation and worship are incompatible. We should be immediate and extravagant with our worship. The paralyzed man needed no lesson on that. He was ready to offer the praise to…
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.” Some have said that Jesus never actually claimed to be God. Obviously,…