READING IN LUKE 4,5
READING IN LUKE 4,5
Luke 4: 33 - 14; Luke 5: 1 - 16.
Toward the end of chapter 4 we have two notable cases of human suffering: the man who had the spirit of an unclean devil and Simon’s wife’s mother, who was sick with a great fever. They represent certain spiritual maladies which necessitate the power of the kingdom. The Lord was going about doing good; He was undoing the works of the devil. It is noticeable that Satan’s power was apparent in the synagogue. This was a terrible testimony to [p. 25] where man was religiously. But the Lord came “healing all who were oppressed with the devil, for God was with him”.
The case of fever was in the house — not in the synagogue. It seems to point to the effect of sin in man in the sphere of his natural relationships. It is a state which is marked by excitement and irritability. Both maladies characterise man in the flesh, the first having reference to the sphere in which God should dominate, the second pointing to man in his natural relations.
Feverishness often shows itself in Christians. You see many people excited and irritable; in this state they are very trying, for they make every one about them uncomfortable. It is often epidemic! Martha in Luke 10: 40, seems to have been affected by it. She complains against the Lord. There were signs of it very early in the assembly, in the murmuring in Acts 6. The Lord stood over this woman, Simon’s wife’s mother, and rebuked the fever and it left her. He deals directly with the evil; He rebuked the demon, and here He rebukes the fever. It is because men are affected by the evil that the Lord deals with it here; later on He will relegate it to its own place. To the demon’s question, “Art thou come to destroy us?” Jesus answers, “Hold thy peace, and come out of him”. Further, it says that He “rebuked the fever; and it left her”. Being healed, the woman took her normal place; she served them.
“Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them”, verse 40. That is most touching. At the close of the day the Lord is untiring in His service of grace, and there was power there for universal healing and deliverance. Such is the kingdom of God as presented in this gospel. The Lord is seen here as specially connected with it;
He says, “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also; for therefore am I sent”. Such is Luke’s point of view. Chapter 4 is the Lord’s position here among men; He was there in connection with the kingdom, and the character of His ministry in this respect is indicated.
In chapter 5 we have outlined the effect of the light of grace that was shining in Christ on the soul of the believer. The Lord takes a position in Simon’s ship. He would get close to Simon. The Lord would cause the light to shine into Simon’s heart; his conscience had to be reached. It is a fishing scene. In the Lord’s mind men were the fish, and the lake represented the sphere in which the fish were. The Lord had been in Simon’s house and had healed his mother-in-law, but as yet he had not been reached and convicted of his true state. In Matthew 13 the bearing of Christ’s position in the ship is wider; here His immediate object is Simon. The chapter sets forth how the believer is led on under the ministry and teaching of grace. First, he is convicted of his sinfulness, then he is cleansed, then he is relieved of the governmental effects of sin, getting power, and, finally, he follows the Lord and makes an entertainment for Him in his house.
What is immediately in view in the opening of the chapter is the conviction of Simon; the ships and nets allude to Judaism. There was abundance of fish, but the net brake and the ships were sinking. The old order of things was utterly unavailing as meeting the requirements of the ministry of grace; hence the necessity for the new bottles. In John 21 we have another fishing scene, and the fish are all brought to land; and, as if to point out the contrast, we are told that, “though there were so many, the net was not rent”. John 21 depicts what is connected with Christ in resurrection, and hence all is perfect; there is no mishap. The fish are brought to land.
[p. 27] But although the instruments in Luke 5 were imperfect, the circumstances served as an opportunity for the light of grace to shine. A divine Person was there as Man; it was none other than He who had command of the resources of the deep. God Himself was present, active in goodness, and the light of this shone into Simon’s soul. Simon fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord”. This was the expression of inward conviction; not as we often say, “Lord”. The Lord used Simon’s everyday circumstances as a means of reaching him. Simon was caught, as it were. The Lord was the true Fisherman. He says to Simon, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men”. How evident Luke’s point of view is here!
Conviction and repentance are brought about by the goodness of God. What happened in the presence of Simon here was a testimony to this. The earth is the Lord’s and its fulness, and the fishes of the sea are here given in abundance; this was divine goodness, and it produced the desired effect in Simon. Although Simon felt his sinfulness, and asked the Lord to depart, he did not depart: he fell down at Jesus’ knees. The light that exposed him was the light of divine goodness, and so it attracted him. It is ever thus with the sinner into whose heart shines the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
When a man is convicted and realises his sinfulness, he feels utterly unfit for the society of those that are holy as God’s people. He is a leper, whose place is outside the camp. Hence the man full of leprosy is but Simon continued; only he is introduced to set forth another side of the truth, namely, cleansing. The man besought Jesus, saying, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will:
be thou clean”. Leviticus 14 develops, in type, the means and order of the cleansing of the leper; here the truth is briefly presented as fitting into the moral course of instruction which the chapter affords. As cleansed, the believer is qualified for the society of God’s people on earth. As a leper he had to dwell alone; but now he can take his place among the saints. The only thing that should cause our isolation from the saints is sin; but as a fountain of cleansing is opened up for us, we should avail ourselves of it and not remain lepers. The Lord sent the cleansed man to the priest as a testimony. Of old the priest was in charge of the sanctuary. In Christianity, thank God, priests are not wanting who can discern that the leper is cleansed, and they rejoice in the work of grace.