One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Tuesday, March 22nd
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As you can see, the land in Canaan is an important part of the Lord's plan for Israel and for the plan of salvation. Two and a half of the tribes settled for land on the East of the Jordan River, while the other divied up the land based on the amount of people in their tribes.
The land was important because:
1. It was the promise God had made to Abraham and then to Moses.
2. It would be the land where Jesus would be born and the church would be born.
3. It needed to be purified of idols. This is why the instructions to purify the land from all idolatry and evil practices was so important. God knew if the Israelites allowed these evil practices to continue that eventually the Israelites would be corrupted by these pagan nations.
This became true of Israel’s history. They did not fully drive out the Canaanites, and though they possessed the land, the corruption of the Canaanites continued among Israel until eventually God allowed Israel to be driven out of the land in exile. - Guzik
Jesus' mission was to bring God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We know one of the particular emphases in Luke is the inclusion of people on the margins of society. Nowhere was this more relevant than people who were lepers. Lepers were considered unclean and wrongly thought to be contagious. When they walked into the public square they had to yell out, "unclean"!
This particular leper fell to his knees and begged Jesus to heal him saying, "Lord if you are willing you can make me clean." The man showed two very important qualities that Jesus will talk about quite a bit. First, he was humble. Second, he believed Jesus could do whatever he wanted. He believed in the authority of Jesus, thus believing Jesus was God.
Finally, Jesus says he was "willing". This shows the compassion of Jesus and how he honored the man's humble faith.
The next story was about a paralytic man. Not only did he believe Jesus could heal him, but his friends did as well. They showed so much faith that they went on the rooftop and found a way to lower the man through it. Instead of healing the man Jesus said first, "Son, your sins are forgiven!' Why did he say this before healing him?
We see the answer when the Pharisees jump down Jesus' throat calling him a "blasphmer" for saying these words. But Jesus tells them that with the same authority he heals sickness and casts out demons, is the same authority he has to forgive sins. He can't have authority in one area as the Son of God and not the other.
Having made his point to them, he told the man to pick up his mat and walk. The man picked up his mat to everyone's amazement and left praising God. One wonders what the Pharisees thought after Jesus so thoroughly put them in their place. We know one thing for sure, it didn't cause them to believe in Jesus.
Finally, Jesus calls another disciple, Matthew, the tax collector. Once again Jesus calls an unlikely character to be one of the twelve disciples, who he would rely on to carry on His message after he died and was resurrected.
The theme in this whole chapter is that Jesus can use anyone and often uses people who you would not expect. Jesus showed there was no outcast who didn't have equal access to him, and his kingdom power. Today he shows that his healing power extended to ultimate healing, the forgiveness of sins.
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