Day 22: What do you see & hear? (Luke 5:12-26)
Today’s Passage: Luke 5:12-26
“David, that’s not the point!” A phrase more than occasionally thrown my way. I hear things, read things, even see things through my own lens and filters. And I often miss the point.
In this section of Luke, I have wrestled with the healings. People come and beg for healing (v. 12). Others climb up on and disassemble a roof (v. 19). Part of me thinks of the people I have prayed with, and the times I feel like I have begged Jesus—and his answer has been “not now.”
I have endured listening to preachers say, “You just need more faith” and my response has been “Ugh.” And I have my own theological point of view about it. Yet today, I don’t think that is the point of the text.
It can be hard. When we are confronted with not merely words, but real physical facts, our minds naturally begin to ask, “But what about…” It is no different for the religious of his day. We read of their complaints. Those who believe they have cornered the market on God. Jesus understands. He challenges them. He demonstrates his authority again—arise and walk, and so the man does.
What is the point? We are barely into the story of Jesus. Luke’s point is to present all that Jesus is doing. Why? He told us. He has done a careful study of Jesus, and he wants us to meet Jesus.
I expect he knows we will struggle. I expect he knows we will have questions. Yet, he wants us to understand how extraordinary Jesus really is (v. 26) in order that we might decide for ourselves about him.