Introduction
A couple of weeks ago we were studying chapter 4 and the story of when the Lord Jesus went into the synagogue in Nazareth and read from the prophet Isaiah about God’s Spirit-Anointed King who will proclaim and provide peace and freedom for God’s people. And after reading from the prophet Isaiah, the Lord Jesus rolled up the scroll, sat down, and announced that those words had now been fulfilled in their presence. They had been fulfilled, because he is God’s Spirit-Anointed King and he had come to set his people free from our sin and misery in this life and to give us everlasting life in the new and better world to come.
And so, afterwards he set a man free from his misery by driving out an evil spirit from him. And then he set free Simon Peter’s sick mother-in-law by driving away her fever. And he set free lots of other people by healing them of their sickness and by driving away their demons. And so, he set those people free from their misery in this life.
And he did the same for the leper and for the paralytic whom we read about last week. The leper came to him and asked if the Lord was willing to cleanse him from his leprosy. And the Lord was willing; and he took away his leprosy. And then some men brought a paralytic to him to be healed. And the Lord healed him so that he was able to get up and pick up his mat and walk away. Both miracles show that the Lord sets his people free from our misery.
But those two miracles also highlight for us that he sets us free from our sins. The first one highlights it because leprosy symbolised sin. Cleansing the man from his leprosy signifies how the Lord cleanses sinners from our guilt. And then, when the friends brought the paralytic to the Lord Jesus, the Lord not only healed him, but he also declared that his sins were forgiven.
The Lord Jesus is God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King who came into the world to proclaim and to provide freedom, because he frees us from our sin and he frees us from our misery.
And in last week’s passage, we also read how the Lord enabled Simon Peter and his companions to catch such a large number of fish that their two boats began to sink because of the weight of the fish. And the point of that miracle was to make clear to Simon Peter that he must always listen to the Lord Jesus, even when he thinks he knows better. Simon Peter and his friends were fishermen. They probably assumed they knew more about fishing than the Lord Jesus did. But when they listened to him, and did what he said, the result was the greatest catch of fish they had ever seen. And Simon Peter needed to learn that lesson, because the Lord called him to become one of his Apostles and to catch men and women and children for the Lord and to bring them into his kingdom by preaching the good news of salvation.
The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s Spirit-Anointed King, who came to set his people free from our sin and misery and who extends his kingdom, not by force, but by persuasion as the good news is proclaimed. And he continues to set his people free today, by forgiving them their sins and by relieving their misery in all kinds of ways. And what he begins to do in our lives, he will bring to completion when he comes again, because when he comes again he will renew us completely in body and soul and he will bring us into the presence of God where there will be no more sin or sorrow or sadness, because the former things of this world will have passed away.
Before we move on to this evening’s passage, let me make a comment about verse 17 of Luke 5, where it says that the power of the Lord was present for Christ to heal the sick. The power of the Lord was present. Isn’t that an interesting expression? Since the Lord Jesus is God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, we might assume that, of course, the power of the Lord was present, because isn’t he the Lord? Isn’t he God? Of course, God’s power was present with him, because he’s God. That’s what we might assume.
But I think this verse confirms something I’ve said before. The Lord Jesus Christ is God the Son. He is the Second Person of the Trinity. As God, he is omnipotent. He is all-powerful. There’s nothing he cannot do as God. However, when God the Son came to earth, he came to earth as one of us. He came to earth as a human being. As God, he is all-powerful. However, when he came to earth as one of us, he was not all-powerful, because he became like us in every way, apart from sin. And that means, he was as weak and powerless as we are; and, when he was born, he needed Mary to hold him up.
But he also possessed the Holy Spirit, didn’t he? At his conception, he received the Holy Spirit without measure or limit. And because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in him, he was able to heal the sick and perform miracles. As I said a couple of years ago when we were thinking about the incarnation and Christ’s relationship to the Holy Spirit, every time the Son of God performed a miracle, he was acting through his human nature; and he was acting by the Spirit of God. Let me say that again: every time the Son of God performed a miracle, he was acting through his human nature; and he was acting by the Spirit of God. And so, the Son of God reached out his human hand and touched a leper. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, he made the leper clean.
And, of course, since he came to earth as one of us, then he did what we have to do, which is that he depended on his Father in heaven for help. One of the features of Luke’s gospel is the way Luke records for us again and again how the Lord Jesus spent time in prayer. So, Luke told us that he was praying at the time of his baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended on him. In verse 16 of chapter 5, Luke told us that he often withdrew to lonely or solitary places where he prayed. In today’s passage, we read that he went out to a mountainside to pray. In fact, he spent the whole night praying to God. And Luke will continue to mention his prayer life. As one of us, he depended on his Heavenly Father for everything.
And so, he set an example for us to follow, because we too are dependent on our Heavenly Father for everything: for daily food; and for daily forgiveness; and for daily protection from the Evil One. And, like our Saviour, we can go to our Heavenly Father in prayer to ask him for what we need each day.
And we can also go to our Heavenly Father in prayer to ask him to work through Christ our King and by his Spirit in the lives of people around the world so that they are set free from their sin and misery in this life and receive the hope of everlasting life in the new and better world to come.
Having said that, let’s turn to this evening’s passage which can be divided into four parts. In the first part, the Lord calls Levi the tax-collector. In the second part, there a controversy over fasting. In the third day, there are two controversies over the Sabbath Day. And in the fourth and final part, the Lord calls the apostles. And so, the passage begins and ends with Christ’s call. And we begin with Christ calling Levi.
5:27–32
Luke tells us that the Lord went out and saw a tax collector named Levi. Levi is known in the other gospels as Matthew. Levi, or Matthew, was sitting at his tax booth, where he collected taxes from the people. And the Lord called Levi to follow him. And Luke tells us that Levi got up; left everything; and followed him.
In the very next verse we’re told that Levi held a great banquet for the Lord at his house. And that tells us that leaving everything should not be taken literally to mean that he left absolutely everything he owned and became a pauper. After all, it seems that he kept his house and he kept the means to throw a banquet with many guests in attendance. So, leaving everything must mean that he left everything on his tax booth: his pens and papers and whatever money he had collected that day and so on. It also means he left his job in order to follow the Lord.
Of course, the Lord does not normally call his people to leave their job when they enter his kingdom. For instance, the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7 that ‘Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.’ So, Paul asks: ‘Were you a slave when you were called?’ If so, don’t let it trouble you, says Paul. And so, the Lord does not normally call his people to leave their job when they enter his kingdom, unless, of course, their job is sinful. Instead he calls us to serve him in our daily lives and in our place of work by honouring him in all we do and say. And that tells us that when the Lord called Levi to leave his work, this was not a call to believe, but a call to ministry. The Lord was calling Levi to be a preacher like Simon Peter; and eventually he would become an apostle.
Levi then held this banquet for the Lord and a large crowd of tax-collectors and others were eating with them. No doubt Levi invited his former colleagues and his friends to this party in honour of the Lord. And Luke tells us that some Pharisees and teachers of the law were watching what was going on. And they complained to the Lord’s disciples. They wanted to know why the Lord Jesus was willing to mix with tax collectors and sinners.
You will know that tax collectors were despised in those days, because they worked for the Romans. And that meant they were regarded as collaborators with the enemy. And they were also regarded as thieves, because they charged more tax than was required and made themselves rich. And when the Pharisees and teachers of the law referred to ‘sinners’, they were probably referring to people who did not live according to the law of the Lord. All of us are sinners, but the Pharisees are probably referring to people who lived scandalous lives. And it seemed to the Pharisees and teachers of the law that the Lord Jesus should not be associating with such people. If the Lord really was someone sent from God, then he should separate himself from these unholy people.
That’s what they thought. And so the Lord explained that he’s like a doctor. Just as a doctor has to visit the sick in order to help them, so he has to go to tax collectors and sinners in order to help them. And a doctor helps the sick by freeing them from their illness. And the Lord helps sinners by freeing us from our sin and misery in this world. And he does that by calling sinners to repentance. That is, he calls them to give up their sins and to seek God’s forgiveness.
And the Lord comes to us today in the preaching of his word and he calls us to repent. He calls us to leave behind our sins and to give up all that is wrong in our lives. He calls on us to turn from these things and to seek God’s forgiveness. And because Christ gave up his life to pay for our sins and shortcomings, God is prepared to pardon us and to cleanse us from all our guilt. And indeed, he not only pardons us for our sins, but he also gives us the help we need to live a new and better life in this world while we wait for Christ to come again.
5:33-39
Before moving on to the next two sections — and the controversy over fasting and the controversies over the Sabbath Day — I should say that the complaining of the Pharisees and teachers of the law recalls the way the Israelites complained in the wilderness in the days of Moses.
I’ve said before, that the life of Christ parallels the life of the Israelites in those days. So, just as the Israelites were in a sense baptised in the Red Sea, so the Lord Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan. And just as the Israelites were tempted in the wilderness for 40 years, so the Lord was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. And there have been other parallels as well, including here. So, just as the Israelites grumbled and complained about Moses, so the Pharisees and others grumbled and complained about the Lord. In the first part of today’s passage, the Pharisees complained that he was mixing with tax collectors and sinners. In this part of today’s passage, some complained that his disciples did not fast like John’s disciples did and like the Pharisees did. Surely if they were serious about their religion, surely if they were truly devoted to God, they would show it by fasting often?
Fasting, however, was only required by the law of the Lord on the Day of Atonement each year. People certainly fasted on other occasions, but it was not a requirement of the law. And so, the Lord’s disciples were not breaking the law by not fasting as much as the others did.
However, it didn’t seem right to these complainers. Here’s the Lord Jesus and his disciples and they’re eating and drinking in Levi’s home. They’re having a party instead of fasting. That doesn’t seem right to them.
But, as I’ve said, fasting was not required by the law of the Lord; and eating and drinking is not forbidden to us. The Pharisees and teachers of the law needed to learn that the only thing God opposes in this world is sin. As Paul says in 1 Timothy, everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. Everything created by God is good; and is to be received with thanksgiving. And the only thing we should reject is sin.
And so, the Lord and his disciples were enjoying God’s good gifts. But these complainers didn’t like it and opposed them. And so, the Lord took the opportunity to explain something important to them. He asked them: can you make wedding guests fast when the bridegroom is present? Whereas in our day the bride is the focus of attention at a wedding, in those days the groom was the focus of attention. And so, when the groom was present for the wedding, it was time to celebrate with him. And when the groom is taken away, then the people can fast. And the Lord is comparing himself to the groom. He’s the groom and while he’s present with his people on earth, it was time for them to rejoice. But the time will come when he will be taken from them: he’ll be taken away to be killed and to be buried. That’s the time for fasting and for weeping and sorrow. And his disciples were sorrowful when the Lord was taken from them and crucified and buried.
But then, after the Lord’s death and burial, there came the resurrection. And when the Lord came to his disciples, they rejoiced and were glad because he was alive. And Christ comes to us today in the preaching of his word. And while, for part of the service on Sundays, we confess our sins and weep over them, we can also rejoice and be glad because Christ our Saviour is alive and he has freed us from our sins by his blood; and he’s present with us by his Spirit to minister to us and to help us. And so, we can rejoice and be glad, because the Saviour is with us in all his saving power.
And the Lord went on to tell the people the parable of the patch from a new garment which is sown onto an old garment. But that’s no good, because the new garment is ruined and the new patch won’t match the old. And then he told them of the new wine which was put in old wineskins. But that’s no good, because the new wine will give off gases which will burst the old wineskin. The new wine will be wasted and the old wineskin will be ruined.
And the point he’s making is that the old and new don’t fit. The old and the new don’t fit. In fact, it’s more than that, isn’t it? He says at the end that people prefer the old to the new. So, the old and the new don’t fit, and some people prefer the old and they don’t want the new.
And he’s talking about the Pharisees and teachers of the law, isn’t he? They prefer their old ways. They prefer their old rules about what’s right and what’s wrong; and about who is right and who is wrong. They believed that they were in the right; and that the tax collectors and sinners were in the wrong. But the Lord has come to do something new. And this new thing he has come to do doesn’t fit with their old rules and their old ways, because he had come to give up his life on the cross to pay for our sins and to make peace for us with God. And because of what he has done, even tax collectors and sinners and others who have lived a sinful and shameful life can be declared right with God through faith in Christ the Saviour. And since that’s the case, fasting can be replaced with rejoicing. And instead of condemning sinners, we can tell them the good news of great joy that Christ the Saviour has come to call sinners to repent and to find life and peace and joy in his name.
6:1–11
And after that controversy over fasting, there are two controversies over the Sabbath Day. The Lord’s disciples were picking some ears of corn as they walked along the road one Sabbath Day. Picking corn like this was permitted in God’s law. But as far as the Pharisees were concerned, this meant they were working on the Sabbath Day, because in their judgment picking a few ears of corn meant that they were harvesting crops, which was forbidden on the Sabbath.
Now, the Lord could have argued with them that picking a few ears of corn for a snack is not really work. And he could have said to them that, because of their many rules about what you could and couldn’t do, they had turned the Sabbath Day into a burden, when God intended it to be a blessing for his people. He could have argued with them along those lines. But instead, he reminded them of a story from the Old Testament when King David went into the Tabernacle and ate the Bread of the Presence which normally only the priests were allowed to eat. But David was able to eat that bread, because he was the king. And since he was the king, then he had the authority to take the bread. And the point the Lord is making is that he is the king. That’s what the phrase, ‘Son of Man’ means. In Daniel 7 we read about ‘one like a son of man’, who came before the throne of God and received authority and glory and sovereign — or royal — power over the nations. And here’s the Lord Jesus saying that he’s that Son of Man. In other words, he’s God’s Great King. And since he’s God’s Great King, then he’s Lord over the Sabbath and it’s up to him to determine what his disciples can and can’t do on the Sabbath Day.
And on another Sabbath, the Lord was teaching in a synagogue. And there was a man with a withered hand. And you wonder whether he had been placed there by the Pharisees and teachers of the law, because Luke tells us that there were looking for a reason to accuse the Lord Jesus. So, perhaps they had placed him there to trap the Lord Jesus. And here’s the trap: when the Lord sees this man with a withered hand, will he heal him? If he heals him, then they can accuse him of being a lawbreaker, because healing on the Sabbath is surely a form of work.
But the Lord knew what they were thinking and he asked them a question. Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil; to save life or to destroy it? And, of course, the answer is obvious, isn’t it? The answer is obvious, even though they were unwilling to answer him. But the obvious answer is that it’s lawful to do good on the Sabbath Day. In fact, doing good is not only lawful, but it’s required. God commands us to do good to one another. And so, the Lord of the Sabbath commanded the man to stretch out his hand. And when he did so, his withered hand had been completely restored.
The man was healed on the Sabbath Day, which was that weekly day of rest which points backwards to the time of the creation when God rested from this work of creating the world. But it also points forward to the eternal rest which all of God’s people will enjoy in the presence of God in the new and better world to come, where we will be freed from our sin and misery completely and where there will be no more withered hands or anything else to spoil our peace and rest. The Lord Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath in the sense that he’s able to determine what we can and can’t do on the Lord’s Day. But he’s also Lord of the Sabbath in another sense, because he’s the one who gives us the hope of eternal peace and rest in the new heavens and earth. And as the Lord of Eternal Rest, he gives it to all who trust in him.
6:12–16
And so, we come to the fourth and final part of today’s passage. Luke tells us in verse 12 that the Lord went out to a mountainside to pray. And he spent the night praying to God. He needed God’s help for what he was about to do, because what he was about to do was to appoint his twelve apostles.
The Greek word for apostle comes from the verb ‘to send’. Apostles, therefore, are those who are sent. When the time was right, the Lord was going to send them out into the world to preach the good news of salvation for all who believe. And the Lord chose twelve of them. Their names are listed here. Luke refers to Levi as Matthew in verse 15. He also mentions Judas the son of James. That’s probably another name for Thaddaeus, who is mentioned by Matthew and Mark in their gospels. The list of apostles also includes Judas Iscariot, who would betray the Lord. After Judas killed himself, Matthias was chosen to replace him. You can read about him in Acts 1. And then, Paul eventually became the thirteenth apostle, when the Risen Lord Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and called him.
But the choosing of the twelve apostles recalls what happened in the wilderness in the day of Moses. At that time, God commanded the twelve tribes of Israel to arrange their tents around the Tabernacle. So, whenever it was time to set up camp, they were to arrange their tents to form a square around the Tabernacle, with three tribes on the east and three tribes on the south and three tribes on the west and three tribes on the north. And in the centre of the camp was the Tabernacle, which was God’s tent or dwelling-place.
In those days, all of God’s people gathered around the Tabernacle. And here in Luke’s gospel, the Lord Jesus chose twelve men to be his apostles. And the twelve apostles were, in a sense, the beginning of God’s people in the New Testament and beyond. But whereas God’s people once gathered around the Tabernacle in the wilderness, God’s people now gather around the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone who believes in him becomes a member of God’s people. They are added to the church. And from his throne in heaven, the Lord Jesus will continue to add men and women and boys and girls to his church until he comes again. He gathers them to himself through the preaching of his word in the power of his Spirit. He calls sinners everywhere to leave behind their sins and to come to him for rest. And when we come, he sets us free from our sin and misery and he fills us with the hope of eternal rest in the new and better world to come.
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