Luke 5:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

NIV: One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.

NASB: 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.

CSB: On one of those days while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and also from Jerusalem. And the Lord's power to heal was in him.

NLT: One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus.

KJV: And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

NKJV: Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Jesus is teaching a large group of people in His home in Capernaum (Mark 2:1). Although Luke already recorded the conflict Jesus experienced in His hometown (Luke 4:16–30), this is the first time he mentions antagonism between Jesus and the religious leaders, specifically Pharisees and scribes.

Judaism included several sects including Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes. Pharisees set themselves apart by strictly following the Mosaic law as well as the extra regulations found in the Oral Law, what we have now as the Mishnah. Jesus struggles with the Pharisees throughout His ministry; He praises their dedication to holiness (Matthew 5:20) but condemns the unscriptural burdens they place on people (Luke 11:46). The Pharisees, in turn, condemn Jesus' rejection of their traditions, including what they consider to be judicious regulations about the Sabbath (Luke 6:1–11), fasting (Luke 5:33–39), and unclean eating practices (Luke 5:29–32; Matthew 15:1–2). "Teachers of the Law" are scribes (Mark 2:6), lawyers of the Mosaic law who maintain and debate the Oral Law. Scribes can be of any sect; these happen to be Pharisees.

After Jesus had healed the man with leprosy, He told him to go to Jerusalem and talk to the priests (Luke 5:14). The priests are mostly Sadducees and follow the Scriptures but not the Oral Law. They should be able to recognize Jesus, who can heal leprosy and make people clean, as being empowered by God. As the religious leaders with the most authority and prestige, they should set the tone for the nation and lead the people in following Jesus.

But the man healed of leprosy didn't go to Jerusalem. He spread the news around Galilee (Mark 1:45) and drew the attention of judgmental legalists from all over the Jewish territories. The Pharisees should have understood that a man with divine power to make another man ceremonially clean also has authority to declare sins forgiven (Luke 5:21). Yet the Pharisees only see a threat to their control over the people.

"Lord" is from the Greek root word kyriou. In general, it means "master," but in the New Testament most often refers to Jesus as an authority figure. This phrase could be misunderstood to suggest that Jesus is not God, or that God is giving power to the man Jesus. That's not the purpose of the statement; this is not a definition of Jesus' nature. Rather, this introduces the miracle He is about to accomplish and asserts that this is God-power, not coming from any other source. At another time, Jesus has a much longer conversation about this with the Pharisees from Jerusalem (Mark 3:22–30), which Luke also mentions (Luke 12:10).

"On one of those days" literally means "as it happened," Or "as it came to pass." It refers to one of the days Jesus was teaching and acts as a general introduction without the commitment of a specific time frame.

Luke 5:17–26 records Jesus' second miracle after the first call of His disciples. He has already touched a man with leprosy (Luke 5:12–16). Now, He declares a paralytic's sins are forgiven. The scribes and Pharisees question Jesus' authority; even after Jesus heals the man, separation between His followers and His detractors continues to grow. Luke follows the pattern of connecting Jesus' provocative actions with His calls to His disciples until all twelve are chosen (Luke 5:27—6:16). The healing of the paralyzed man is also in Matthew 9:1–8 and Mark 2:1–12.

Luke 5 continues Jesus' Galilean Ministry (Luke 4:14—9:50). The passage alternates calls to discipleship with miracles and teachings which demonstrate what discipleship entails. Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, and their business partners, James and John, to follow Him and make more disciples. Then Jesus makes a man with leprosy ceremonially clean. He forgives the sins of a paralytic. After He calls Levi to follow Him, Jesus celebrates instead of fasting. This draws critical questions from the crowd. The religious leaders consider Jesus' actions blasphemous. His message of forgiveness, faith, and repentance cannot be contained by their tradition.

Jesus has already proved He can expel demons, heal ailments, and reveal the kingdom of God (Luke 4:31–44). In this chapter, He begins to separate His followers from His detractors. This begins with calling the first five disciples and emphasizing faith and repentance over religious tradition. He will drive home the point by treating the Sabbath as a blessing rather than a burden (Luke 6:1–11). After formally inviting the Twelve to follow Him, Jesus will explain to a crowd what discipleship looks like and invite them to build their lives on Him (Luke 6:12–49). In chapter 7, Jesus champions Gentiles and the marginalized.