Luke 4:28. What was it that filled the Jews with such wrath?
As Jesus said, the fact that a prophet is not accepted by his own people. Also, the fact that He had claimed to be the fulfillment of the day’s reading from Isaiah. Then as a crowning piece of misunderstanding, Jesus was claiming that non-Jews could receive blessings from God! And that, in fact, these Gentiles were often more deserving of these blessings! It was more than they could bear at one sitting.
Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15. Is there a difference between the “Gospel” and the “Gospel of the Kingdom”?
I have good news for those who follow the fads of the church. No, there is no difference. Jesus, John, even the disciples, announced that the Kingdom was at hand. Indeed, the King was at hand. The King who would bleed and die for the sins of man. The King who would raise them from the dead, even as He would rise. Such good news. The Gospel and the Gospel of the Kingdom are one and the same. Those saved by His blood shall enter the Kingdom of God, now, and forever.
Luke 5:8. What brought on Peter’s response?
First, the text says he was shocked. This person, who at first seemed like an ordinary man, even an ordinary Rabbi, just wanting to help, turns out to be so much more. Peter recognizes immediately that Someone Heavenly is in his dirty fishing boat, alongside his dirty companions and his dirty self. The idea of it all penetrated quickly and deeply. He was no company for a god. This Person must leave, and not expose him any further.
Matthew 8:4. Tell no one? Why?
Those who disobeyed His request, and this happened frequently, give us the answer. Their spreading of the news about Jesus created a problem that seems to be the opposite of ours. We can’t get people to come. He couldn’t get people to stay away in sufficient numbers for Him to work effectively. The crowds came and smothered Him with needs. Besides that, and maybe more to the point, these crowds were going to make the current religious rulers so jealous as to inquire about, then challenge, then stop, His work.
Luke 5:24. Why did Jesus say, “Your sins are forgiven” first?
Jesus got their attention by claiming to forgive sins. But it is easy for someone to just “say” that sins are forgiven. How do we know they were, reason the Pharisees? Jesus answers their question by doing something they can see, and declaring that to do one is as simple as to do the other. They had just acknowledged that only God could forgive sins. Jesus gave them a demonstration of that forgiveness, coupled with a physical healing for icing on the cake. Only the hardest of hearts could ignore what was happening.
Luke 5:34-35. When the bridegroom is taken away there will be fasting. But isn’t Jesus with us still, in His Spirit?
When Jesus was here, He was to be the center of attention. The fullness of His Presence did all the work that needed to be done. His own fasting and prayer and solitude with the Father did the works. These men were only watching for now, and being His assistants. No need to fast.
When His body was taken to Heaven, a new chapter emerged. Now they, individually and corporately, were to be the Body of Christ. They would be doing the works. Christ would work in them, and often cause them to fast and be alone with the Father. Same Jesus doing the same works. Same power coming the same way: prayer and fasting. Only now, it is us. Christ in us. The idea is to be so filled with Jesus that He alone is seen in us.
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