#27 Luke 5:12-16 Jesus Reached Out His Hand

On July 11, 2021 by

 

Joy:
Episode#27 Luke 5:12-16

Welcome

Amy:
Welcome to The Christgazing Podcast. We are so glad you’re here. I’m Amy Burgin.

Joy:
I’m Joy Burgin

Amy:
Christgazing is the act of looking steadily and intently at Christ. This podcast is one tool to help us do just that. Each week we savor one passage from the Bible as Joy reads it several times and creates stillness after each reading to consider who God is and what he wants us to know about him.

We are in a series that takes us through the book of Luke focusing on what Jesus said and did when he walked the earth. In today’s episode, we meet a man with advanced leprosy. In Bible Times, lepers were separated from society and religious leaders could be especially heartless toward them. In the Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred Edersheim cites an accounting of a Rabbi who “boasted, that he always threw stones at them to keep them far off, while others hid themselves or ran away.” 

Pour Out Your Heart to God

Amy:
Before Joy reads the passage to show us how Jesus responded to lepers, take the next minute to pour out your heart to God whether it be thanksgiving, forgiveness, bitterness, or fear. Whatever is on your mind, take a few moments to name it and bring it to the Lord.

[Pause and pour out]

What Does This Passage Say About God?

Joy:
I’m going to read today’s passage two times. As I read, consider the question, What does this passage say about God?

Luke 5:12-16 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
 
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
 
Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
 
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
 
Again?
 
Luke 5:12-16 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
 
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
 
Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
 
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Take the next few moments to answer the question, what does this passage tell you about God?

[Pause and know]

What Does This Passage Say About People?

Joy: As I read the scripture again, consider the question: What does this passage tell you about people?

Luke 5:12-16 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
 
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
 
Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
 
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Take the next minute to answer the question: What does this passage tell you about people?

[Pause and know]

Lord, What Would You Have Me Know or Do Today?

Joy: As I read for the last time, ask God the question, “Lord, what would you have me know or do today in response to this passage?”

Luke 5:12-16 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
 
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
 
Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
 
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Take time to ask God, “Lord, what would have me know or do today?”

[Pause and listen]

Blessing

Joy:
Christgazer, the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. May you keep your face turned toward Jesus today, experience his willing and powerful touch, and become more like him.

One Response

Amy:
False religious leaders like to tell the world who God is with their boasting and throwing of stones. They take God’s name in vain. But Jesus shows us who God really is. Hebrews 1:3 says  “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” 

Closing

Amy:
I like to read multiple translations of the Bible but unless stated otherwise, all scripture quoted in this podcast comes from the New International Version (the NIV). First published in 1978, it was translated straight from copies of the old manuscripts written in Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew by a team of 15 Bible scholars from various denominations. Joy and I will be back again next week to go Christgazing together. Until then, don’t forget, when you put your trust in Christ, you are one in whom he dwells and delights, a dearly loved child of God. You are royalty in his strong and unshakeable kingdom. Though trouble abounds, Christ prevails and so do you.

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