Questions and Answers

The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" (Luke 5:21 NASB)

The news about Jesus had spread widely through Galilee. People had heard about His miracles and were coming to be healed. Other, like the scribes and Pharisees, were coming to see for themselves and to have firsthand knowledge with which to evaluate the stories they had heard. 

From the start, Jesus had not made a secret of his divinity, but He had focused more on ministry and teaching. This talk of forgiving sins was new and shocking. For scribes, who considered the name of God so holy that they washed their bodies before writing the name YHWH (not just once, but every time they wrote the name), saying something that sounded like a blasphemy was horrific. It is interesting to me that these men did not have the same response of those in Nazareth, who were filled with rage and very nearly threw Jesus off a cliff. Instead, these men questioned what they had heard. Who is Jesus? Who can speak such a blasphemy?  It sounded like a serious offense to God, but they did not make a move against Him. 

There are three ways to respond to Jesus's statement. Either you embrace it completely, reject it outright, or you seek verification of the truth of the statement. We see from this verse that, on this day, the scribes and Pharisees did not reject His words completely.  They were shocked and uncertain, but they didn't stone Him and they didn't walk out. 

What we, who are so familiar with the Word of God, sometimes forget is that there is nothing inherently wrong with questions, including questions about the truths of Christ and Scripture. Our Lord can handle questions and provide conclusive answers to those questions, as Jesus will demonstrate in the next few verses. The freedom to ask questions and find answers can make the difference between a life of faith and a life of doubt. 

Today, pray that our loved ones will seek until they find answers to all their faith questions and that God would provide competent assistance as they seek. Pray that they can find the answer to every question in Christ alone. 

The faith that brings Healing

And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. (Luke 5:18 NASB)

The word translated here as "paralyzed" is paralyō and is most often used to indicated "paralysed or weak on one side".  The most common cause of one-sided paralysis is a stroke, which more commonly occurs in middle-aged and older people. This was likely an older man who was paralyzed as a result of a stroke. 

The word for "men" doesn't clarify the relationship of the men to the sick man, but the same story is related in Matthew and Mark, where we learn that there were four men. We also know that the four men initiated the visit to Jesus, not the paralyzed men, because Jesus said He was responding to the men's faith when He healed him. 

Take those facts and consider how this must have happened. The paralyzed man was lying on his mat, as always. The four men (sons, maybe?) had already made up their minds when they approached the man about going to Jesus, who was said to perform miraculous healings. This man did not have faith that Jesus could heal him, but that didn't matter to the four men. They were taking him to Jesus anyway.  They each took a corner, lifted him on his mat, and off they went. These men were so sure that Jesus could and would do a miracle that they hauled him through the streets of Capernaum and straight to the place where Jesus was teaching. 

The paralyzed man was powerless to change his condition. He did not believe Jesus could change it either. He believed he was stuck in this very weakened, difficult condition. The men, however, had such faith that Jesus could heal him that they carried him on his bed, despite his protests, all the way to where Jesus was teaching. They believed Jesus could and would heal him. They knew he did not have to stay the same. 

We are all either the sick man without faith, the men with more than enough faith to bring the ones we care about to Jesus, or the bystanders waiting to see what happens. Which are you?  Do you believe that Jesus can heal those you love? Will you bring them to Jesus? You can bring them straight to Jesus through your prayers, and have confidence that the Great Physician can and will heal them. Can He heal their wounds? Yes! Will He heal if your faith is great enough? Yes. Sometimes He heals this side of eternity and sometimes He heals on the other side, but He always heals.  

Today, use the faith you have, whether mustard-seed sized or the size of a mountain, and bring those you love to Jesus in prayer. Present them and their needs to Him. When He moves, you and your loved ones will be so glad you did. 

Deep water faith

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." (Luke 5:4 NASB)

(This is another passage that I have just seen in a new way. It might be my favorite of all!)

When Jesus sent Simon Peter back to the deep water, it was to do a certain task AND to have a certain result. His task was two-fold. He was to move into deep water and let down the fishing nets. The certain result was to receive the catch. Shallow water is easy, isn't it? There is very little risk there, but very few fish. It's a low risk investment, but also low yield. Deep water is different. It brings risk, not the least of which is capsizing and drowning. Deep water is risky, but oh what a yield is possible there! It's where the fish live. 

What we need to understand is that, when Jesus calls us to "deep water faith", he has the endpoint in sight. He sent Simon to the deep water knowing the fish he would gather in his nets there. In that same way, when He calls us to "deep water faith", He knows the endpoint, the reason for which He is sending us. At any point in his journey into the deep, Simon could have turned back. Even as the nets were being dropped, he could have remembered all the empty casts from the night before, pulled back on the nets, and turned for home. No one would have blamed him. It's likely that no one would have questioned him. After all, he was a professional fisherman and Jesus was not. It took pure faith in Jesus to stay in the boat and on the water. Had he turned back early, however, he would have missed the catch. 

In our own walk of faith, it is easy to remember all our failures, decide that what Jesus asks of us is pointless, and simply move back to "shallow water faith". We could give up our hoping and trusting, but to what benefit? There is no significant gain in the shallows. The blessings and the yield are in the deep water. Perhaps you have had times of uncertainty, doubt, fear. Maybe you feel as if your loved one is "too far gone" and that God can't or won't change them. Take heart. Simon only needed that one more cast to gain the catch of a lifetime, and it was the cast for which Jesus sent him to the water in the first place. Don't give up now. Trust that our heavenly Father knows the endpoint. He knows what He can do, and what He will do. Keep trusting. Keep praying. Keep waiting. 

Pray today for faith to persevere in the deep. Pray too for the cast that yields a harvest too wonderful to believe. Pray that our loved ones will quickly welcome the Savior into their lives and join us in "deep water faith".