HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1293
L UKE 5
page 923
Jesus Casts Out a Demon
31 Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in
Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue
every Sabbath day. 32 There, too, the people
were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with
authority.
33 Once when he was in the synagogue, a man
possessed by a demon—an evil* spirit—cried
out, shouting, 34 “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come
to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy
One of God!”
35 But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet!
Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the
demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd
watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.
36 Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess!
Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his
command!” 37 The news about Jesus spread
through every village in the entire region.
Jesus Heals Many People
38 After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus
went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s
mother-in-law very sick with a high fever.
“Please heal her,” everyone begged. 39 Standing
at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left
her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal
for them.
40 As the sun went down that evening, people
throughout the village brought sick family
members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every
one. 41 Many were possessed by demons; and
the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they
knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and
refused to let them speak.
Jesus Continues to Preach
42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an
isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere
for him, and when they finally found him, they
begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied,
“I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom
of God in other towns, too, because that is why
I was sent.” 44 So he continued to travel around,
preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.*
The First Disciples
One day as Jesus was preaching on the
shore of the Sea of Galilee,* great crowds
pressed in on him to listen to the word of God.
2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s
edge, for the fishermen had left them and were
washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the
boats, Jesus asked Simon,* its owner, to push
5
4:33 Greek unclean; also in 4:36. 4:44 Some manuscripts
read Galilee. 5:1 Greek Lake Gennesaret, another name for
the Sea of Galilee. 5:3 Simon is called “Peter” in 6:14 and
thereafter.
it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and
taught the crowds from there.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to
Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let
down your nets to catch some fish.”
5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard
all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you
say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this
time their nets were so full of fish they began to
tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in
the other boat, and soon both boats were filled
with fish and on the verge of sinking.
8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said,
“Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful
man.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of
fish they had caught, as were the others with
him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons
of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid!
From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”
11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy
12 In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with
an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw
Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are
willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”
13 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am
willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the
leprosy disappeared. 14 Then Jesus instructed
• Healing
LU K E 5:12-13
The leper asked to be healed, and Jesus
healed him. Many people since have
asked the Lord for healing yet died from
their sickness. Why? We may never know,
this side of heaven, why God heals some
people miraculously, as he did this leper,
but allows others to remain sick or infirm.
However, Scripture does give some insight
into this puzzle. Often, God’s power is
demonstrated through our weakness
(2 Corinthians 12:8-10). Some wounded
people have served God much more
effectively than they may have served him
had they been made whole. Sometimes
our faith is not developed enough, or we
refuse to take steps of action toward our
own healing. Sometimes we are wounded
as a result of sin; although God forgives,
the consequences remain. God gives us
what is best, but often it is not until we
look back that we understand his actions.