July 7

This is the first calling of the Disciples.  Mark has this incident in chapter one. Luke, as we have discussed earlier, begins by including much of Jesus’ background, credentials, infancy, so it is not until ch.5 that the first “Calling” shows up in Luke. A couple subtleties that are worth noting in the story: nothing happens for Peter until he obeys Jesus and gets into deeper water as instructed.

 [‘want something to happen with you in the Spirit for Jesus’ sake? -get in deeper with Him.]

The catch was so great, they couldn’t haul it all in/nets tore. They hadn’t committed to Jesus…yet. Note that in the post resurrection parallel scene – the nets didn’t tear! John 21:6-11.  And notice that Peter/James/John – future GIANTS in Christendom, followed Jesus immediately. When Jesus calls, do not dawdle     !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jesus then encounters a severely leprous man who worshiped Jesus and pleaded and asked according to if Jesus was willing.  It’s a rather touching attitude this man has. When Jesus healed him and told him to keep quiet about this, he was merely trying to slow the tidal wave of the crowd morphing into a bandwagon to make Jesus the Messiah King – [as they were shouting for on Palm Sunday. a couple years later]

Jesus healing the paralytic that the four friends brought on a stretcher is a very pivotal miracle in terms of chronology, importance, and theological revelation.  All through history, theologians have a perception of forgiveness and how/who/why it happens to whom. This is an earthquake of a revelation that forgiveness is granted by way of Jesus. period. To any who were skeptical he verified and qualified his claim by declaring and healing the paralysis. The room was packed, the testimony echoed through the countryside – eventually across the world. Healing AND salvation (a unified blessing) is granted from the same source. The remainder of Scripture must be seen in the shadow of this knowledge that Jesus is the final authority on such heavenly blessings!

Note that when Jesus called Matthew he is calling an employee of Rome out of his occupation. Matthew is Jewish, yes, but this makes a statement that could be discussed on end for quite some time.!

As for the question of fasting – let’s just say this: cut the piety, when Jesus is here it’s party time, yeahhhh

6 – Jesus asserts that HE was the Lord of the Sabbath.  That grated upon the Pharisees because they had a misappropriated fetish acting hyper-“obedient” in regards to the Sabbath. The Sabbath laws that had been created by the Sanhedrin/Scribes/Pharisees to give a false show of piety were worse than ridiculous. They were acting like God was some ogre about the Sabbath and that wasn’t true. So Jesus waltzes into their world, verifies His divinity and then starts seeming to be sac-religious about the man made parts that were added to the law….and this caused quite a stir. He was upsetting their applecart and doing it deliberately.  Then He heals a man’s hand [on the Sabbath] while making a teaching session out of it. He was cutting the core of the matter about their phoney Sabbath laws and they were livid.

Then the 12 are named in a list. And Luke tells of Jesus healing a multitude as power went out from Jesus. Luke very purposefully mentions Jesus’ power. And it’s also vital to note that the Disciples are watching this up close; Jesus powerfully healing a very large number of people.

Next we come to Jesus giving what became the most famous sermon of all time. Matthew gives the fuller version in 5,6,7. Luke here has it in a portion of 6.  The Beatitudes, the Golden Rule, rewards in heaven, a great reckoning is to be had that will have the poor be rich, the hungry satisfied, the sorrowful rejoicing ( and a great vice versa!)  Luke has this “great flipping” as a motif in his gospel.  He is intent to prove that things in heaven are different than here on earth. Loving enemies is historical. No one talked like this before. Not being judgmental – He wanted Believers to be accepting, nurturing, loving encouraging souls not critics of everything.  Jesus also wanted people to be pure in heart and productive, and to build their lives upon Him and what He taught.  Not bad advice is it?!