You Are First Place With God

Scripture (s): Luke 5:17-20

One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."

Commentary:
Here is, I. A general account of Christ’s preaching and miracles, v. 17. 1. He was teaching on a certain day, not on the sabbath day, then he would have said so, but on a week-day; six days shalt thou labour, not only for the world, but for the soul, and the welfare of that. Preaching and hearing the word of God are good works, if they be done well, any day in the week, as well as on sabbath days. It was not in the synagogue, but in a private house; for even there where we ordinarily converse with our friends it is not improper to give and receive good instruction. 2. There he taught, he healed (as before, v. 15): (Henry, 1996)

And the power of the Lord was to heal them—eµn eis to iasthai autous. It was mighty to heal them; it was exerted and put forth to heal them, to heal those whom he taught (we may understand it so), to heal their souls, to cure them of their spiritual diseases, and to give them a new life, a new nature. Note, Those who receive the word of Christ in faith will find a divine power going along with that word, to heal them; for Christ came with his comforts to heal the broken-hearted, ch. 4:18. The power of the Lord is present with the word, present to those that pray for it and submit to it, present to heal them (Henry, 1996),

Or it may be meant (and so it is generally taken) of the healing of those who were diseased in body, who came to him for cures. Whenever there was occasion, Christ had not to seek for his power, it was present to heal. 3. There were some grandees present in this assembly, and, as it should seem, more than usual: There were Pharisees, and doctors of the law, sitting by; not sitting at his feet, to learn of him; then I should have been willing to take the following clause as referring to those who are spoken of immediately before (the power of the Lord was present to heal them); and why might not the word of Christ reach their hearts? But, by what follows (v. 21), it appears that they were not healed, but cavilled at Christ, which compels us to refer this to others, not to them; for they sat by as persons unconcerned, as if the word of Christ were nothing to them. They sat by as spectators, censors, and spies, to pick up something on which to ground a reproach or accusation. How many are there in the midst of our assemblies, where the gospel is preached, that do not sit under the word, but sit by! It is to them as a tale that is told them, not as a message that is sent them; they are willing that we should preach before them, not that we should preach to them (Henry, 1996).

These Pharisees and scribes (or doctors of the law) came out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem; they came from all parts of the nation. Probably, they appointed to meet at this time and place, to see what remarks they could make upon Christ and what he said and did. They were in a confederacy, as those that said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah, and agree to smite him with the tongue, Jer. 18:18. Report, and we will report it, Jer. 20:10. Observe, Christ went on with his work of preaching and healing, though he saw these Pharisees, and doctors of the Jewish church, sitting by, who, he knew, despised him, and watched to ensnare him (Henry, 1996).


Reflection:
Jesus did not allow the Pharisess, or the doctors of the Jewish church to interfere with fulfilling his kingdom purpose. He was never too busy to stop what he was doing to listen to the voice of faith; even if he was in the middle of a massive crowd that was demanding of his attention. Jesus had a heart for the people. There was nothing, or no one, that could stop Jesus from fulfilling his purpose of taking care of those that God had given him to. He will never say that he is too busy. He will never say come back later. He will never make us feel that we are second, third or fourth place with him. He always puts us first, just like He did at calvary. He gave his best for us, because he loves us; and will never put us last. We are his, and he is ours. Let us remember  how much he loves us, because he first loved us.

References:
Henry, Matthew. "Commentary on Luke 5." . Blue Letter Bible. 1 Mar 1996. 2010. 30 Mar 2010.

http:// www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_view.cfm?
AuthorID=4&contentID=1646&commInfo=5&topic=Luke&ar=Luk_5_17

Blue Letter Bible. "Gospel of Luke 5 - (NASB - New American Standard Bible)." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 30 Mar 2010.  http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Luk&c=5&t=NASB

Higgins, S. (2010). You Are First Place With God. Devotions For Thought. Higgins Publishing. Http://www.devotionsforthought.blogspot.com, http://www.higginspublishing.com