The Bible for beginners for 17 July 2008

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

Luke, Chapter 5, verses 1-16

¹ Christ teacheth the people out of Peter's ship, ⁴ in a miraculous taking of fishes, showeth how he will make him and his partners fishers of men, ¹² cleanseth the leper, ¹⁶ prayeth in the wilderness

¹And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

²And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

³And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

⁴Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

⁵And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

⁶And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

⁷And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, 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 was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

¹⁰And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

¹¹And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

¹²And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

¹³And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.

¹⁴And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

¹⁵But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.

¹⁶And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Read more:Luke, Chapter 5

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5

5:1 Mat 4:18; Mar 1:16.

5:6 Their net brake - Began to tear.

5:8 Depart from me, for I am a sinful man - And therefore not worthy to be in thy presence.

5:11 They forsook all and followed him - They had followed him before, Joh 1:43, but not so as to forsake all. Till now, they wrought at their ordinary calling.

5:12 Mat 8:2; Mar 1:40.

5:14 Lev 14:2.

5:16 He withdrew - The expression in the original implies, that he did so frequently.

NOTES

The leper whose encounter with the Lord Jesus is recounted in today's passage from Luke's Gospel displays both boldness and humility. Under the law, he has no right not only to approach people, but even to...

The leper whose encounter with the Lord Jesus is recounted in today's passage from Luke's Gospel displays both boldness and humility. Under the law, he has no right not only to approach people, but even to enter settlements. Since leprosy is contagious, the law prescribed cutting off all contact between a leper and the rest of the world. Apart from the medical aspect, contact with a leper or even with his belongings was considered defilement, a source of ritual impurity. Yet he came into the town, despite the danger of being stoned, because meeting the Teacher from Nazareth was a matter of life and death for him. In essence, this was his only chance, his only hope, because no one knew how to cure leprosy; yet Israel's history knew of cases in which it had been healed through the prayers of prophets.

And so this leper makes his way through the town, trying not to attract attention, and finally reaches Jesus. Here there is no longer room for boldness: in the deepest possible act of reverence, he falls face down before Jesus and says, ‘If You will, You can make me clean.’ The precise meaning of the Greek phrase is ‘if You will, You have the power to make me clean.’ For this miraculous and incredible healing to take place, only Jesus' will, His desire, is needed—nothing more. In this way the leper confesses Jesus to be Someone greater than merely a teacher or a prophet: he confesses His omnipotence.

Apparently there were no witnesses to this scene other than the apostles; otherwise, a scandal would inevitably have broken out. The Saviour would have had to leave this little town in haste if any Pharisees had seen what He did: for any teacher, any rabbi, even speaking to a leper would have been defiling, and any Pharisee's first action would have been to drive him out of the town. That is precisely why the leper says ‘if You will’: he humbly acknowledges that his desperate action is unlawful. But Jesus bends down—the leper is still lying on the ground—and touches him with His hand! This gesture is a remarkably vivid icon of God's mercy. Like a drop of water, it reflects the whole revelation of the New Testament. And Jesus' words, so simple and ordinary in themselves, ‘I will; be clean’, sound at this moment like the commands of the Almighty in the first days of creation: ‘...for He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it came to be’ (Ps 33:9). And the leper's humility, trust and boldness become an image of our salvation.

We strive toward God and try to find communion with Him in prayer. This longing of the soul for God is so beautiful that few words on earth are capable of describing it. But can we deliberately, by an act of our own will, deny ourselves...

To understand Peter’s state of mind, imagine sitting at a computer and trying to load the webpage you need, but it will not load. You have spent the whole night at it and tried every possible browser, all to no avail. Then suddenly...

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