20250302 Luke 5:12-6:11 “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness”
Tim Keller wrote a booklet called, “The Freedom of Self-forgetfulness.” In it, he argues that our problem is not that we have a too high view of ourselves or a too low view of ourselves. Rather, our problem is that we think too much of ourselves.
Our text has six episodes. In each Jesus provokes the religious by not behaving as expected. He touches a person with leprosy (5:12-16). He announces the forgiveness of sins (5:17-26). He eats with sinners (5:27-32). His disciples do not fast (5:33-39). Twice he challenges expectations on the Sabbath (6:1-5, 6-16). The first three units address our low view of self, the second three address our high view of self. The first three units invite us to take our eyes off ourselves in our lowliness and find our identity in Christ’s cleansing and forgiveness. The second three episodes remind us not to rely on our own ability to comply to a religious code but to rely on Christ and his work.
This account is shocking by OT standards! Jesus touches the person with leprosy. Then, rather than Jesus becoming unclean as the law indicates, the person with leprosy becomes clean.
According to Lev 13:45-46, people with leprosy were to cry out, “Unclean, unclean!” to alert others to stay away. They were outcasts. Alienation, shame, disgust, and fear marked their existence. Jesus touches the person with leprosy. We can wonder when the last time a non-leper touched this person.
A warm embrace communicates I’m so glad you are alive. Living without these interactions is dehumanizing. I had heard a phenomenon of people who go more regularly to the hairdresser. It’s not about the haircut, but experiencing human touch, care, and attention. The gentle handling of hair and a scalp massage is soothing and therapeutic. This is needed for those who do not experience much physical touch in their daily lives.
Jesus touches the person with leprosy and says, “be clean,” and he was clean. Jesus did not have to touch him. He could have said it from afar. But he touched him.
An awkward application for the church is the following. May there be handshakes, holy, culturally appropriate kisses, hugs, and fist bumps. Jesus touched the untouched. As the church, the body of Christ, we practice physical touch. In appropriate ways, with people’s consent, we communicate to those who feel unworthy, Jesus welcomes you.
Body image issues are common. It can be our weight, acne, a scar, or an odd body part, or even a traumatic event that makes us feel uncomfortable in our own bodies. Jesus touched the person with leprosy, so I hope that the least we can do as a church is provide hugs for those who need a hug.
Jesus offers what only God can grant, so the religious leaders charge him of blaspheme. They accuse Jesus of claiming to be equal with God. So, Jesus proves that he can forgive sins, and so by extension that he is equal with God. He says, saying “your sins are forgiven,” that’s easy. Everyone can say those words and there is no way to prove whether someone’s sins are forgiven or not. To show them that he has the authority to forgive sins, he says something harder. He tells the paralytic, “Get up and walk.” This is harder because a visible miracle must follow. When the paralytic man gets up and walks, this miracle shows that Jesus has authority to heal and forgive sins. The text ends with the healed man praising God in Lk 6:25 and the crowd glorifying God in Lk 6:26.
Brennan Manning was born in 1934. He grew up with feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness from an early age. After serving in the military in the Korean War, he returned deeply affected by the horrors he witnessed and became a priest. He continued with an intense sense of inadequacy and self-doubt. He felt unable to measure up to his own expectations or what he thought God demanded of him.
Despite his outward devotion, Manning’s inner turmoil led him to alcoholism. He began to believe that he wasn’t worthy of God’s love, that he was simply too broken and flawed for redemption. His drinking led him to eventually leave the priesthood. He fell into a pattern of shame and isolation, convinced that he was beyond forgiveness. He found himself in a cycle of drinking, regret, and self-loathing. He felt far from the grace he had once preached about.
At his lowest point, Manning sought treatment. He experienced a profound moment of clarity. He realized that the gospel message was not just for the “righteous” but for people exactly like him—the broken, unworthy, and lost. In this moment, he encountered the overwhelming love of God, not as something he had to earn, but as an unconditional gift. This is true for all of us who cry out to God in our inadequacy. He forgives sins.
In the first century, in Israel, taxes did not go to the Jewish officials, but to the invading Roman government. Tax collectors were Jews who worked for the enemy. Their salary was everything they collected in excess to what they owed the Romans. This created a great incentive to collect more than required. The Jews considered these tax collectors like traitors who abused their fellow brothers.[ii]
Jesus shocked by eating with sinners. Jesus teaches that the same way the healthy do not need a doctor and so the righteous will have no need for him. He is with sinners, because he came to call them to repentance. Of course this is everyone, but the self-righteous reject their need for a savior. Jesus shows what it might look like to call others to repentance.
These texts teach us that no matter who we are, if we wanted Jesus to, he would touch us, he would offer us the forgiveness of sins and he would enjoy a meal with us. Today, He does the touching and meals through his church. There will be a day in which we will feast in his presence.
This is true, independent of our skin, the depth of our sins, or how society treats us. This is true if we grew up in church and are discouraged, or not a Christian and seeking. This is true for all people, because this is who Jesus is and what he came to do. The more we focus on ourselves and how bad/unworthy we are, the less we look to Jesus, and see his goodness. We must take our eyes off ourselves and look to Jesus.
Jesus changes the practice of fasting. He informs our practice of fasting. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. There is no need to fast in the presence of Jesus. His presence provided what fasting seeks, God. It is such folly to fast in the presence of Jesus that it is akin to rejecting God. The pharisees focused on fasting and they missed the one they should be fasting for. Fasting was appropriate between Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is also appropriate now, between his ascension and return. It is not about the practice, but about the one we worship.
We need to be careful when we desire to be more disciplined in our devotion to God that we never lose sight of Him. Jesus does not want us to stop fasting, Sabbath observance, prayer, or Bible reading. We must do all things, not as religious duties, but as appropriate responses of worship of him.
Both the fifth and sixth units deal with the observance of the Sabbath in Lk 6:1-5 and Lk 6:6-11.
We should not conclude that the law is bad, fasting is bad, or that Sabbath rest is bad, but there is a bad way of being religious if our relationship with Christ is not the goal.
There is a trend in evangelical churches to practice only nine of the ten commandments. This is because the Sabbath command is the only command not explicitly repeated in the NT. Neglecting a Sabbath is a new phenomenon. For the first 1800 years of church history the church always kept one day a week Holy for Worship and for rest. In the last two hundred years that has changed. A day off per week is a gift and a command from God. The goal is Sabbath keeping is not to keep the Sabbath. We live for Jesus, and we rest for Christ’s sake. We rest because Christ gives us rest. We rest to worship the Lord. Our rest is a testimony to the world of our God's abundant provision. We do not have to work 7 days. We trust that our God provides.
In his book, “The Freedom of Self-forgetfulness” Tim Keller writes, “The essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.” What God has to offer humanity in Christ does not depend on us but depends on Christ! To the lowly, Jesus says, "let me be your identity.” In God's eyes, we are cleansed and forgiven. To those who perform and are good “at religion,” Tim Keller writes, “In Christianity, the verdict leads to performance. It is not the performance that leads to the verdict.” To those who feel unworthy, or to those who are good at religion, we need the same thing, Christ alone.
[i] https://www.webmd.com/balance/touch-starvation
[ii] They were considered among the worst kind of people. For this reason – often the gospels the word paired with tax-collector is the word “sinners” We have “sinners and tax-collectors” in Matt 9:10, 11:19; Luke 15:1; 18:9-14. This reflects how they were viewed by society.
Our text has six episodes. In each Jesus provokes the religious by not behaving as expected. He touches a person with leprosy (5:12-16). He announces the forgiveness of sins (5:17-26). He eats with sinners (5:27-32). His disciples do not fast (5:33-39). Twice he challenges expectations on the Sabbath (6:1-5, 6-16). The first three units address our low view of self, the second three address our high view of self. The first three units invite us to take our eyes off ourselves in our lowliness and find our identity in Christ’s cleansing and forgiveness. The second three episodes remind us not to rely on our own ability to comply to a religious code but to rely on Christ and his work.
First, Jesus lifts the lowly by cleansing and forgiving our sins in Luke 5:12-32 with the first three units.
The first unit is Lk 5:12-16, Jesus cleanses a person with leprosy.
Lk 5:12-16
In Luke 5:13, Jesus touches and cleanses a person with leprosy. In Luke 5:14, he tells the cleansed man to keep the commandments of Moses by showing himself to a priest. He also tells him not to tell anyone else, but word gets out, and Jesus’ fame keeps spreading.This account is shocking by OT standards! Jesus touches the person with leprosy. Then, rather than Jesus becoming unclean as the law indicates, the person with leprosy becomes clean.
According to Lev 13:45-46, people with leprosy were to cry out, “Unclean, unclean!” to alert others to stay away. They were outcasts. Alienation, shame, disgust, and fear marked their existence. Jesus touches the person with leprosy. We can wonder when the last time a non-leper touched this person.
Application:
In our individualistic society you do not have to be a person with leprosy to experience touch starvation.[i]A warm embrace communicates I’m so glad you are alive. Living without these interactions is dehumanizing. I had heard a phenomenon of people who go more regularly to the hairdresser. It’s not about the haircut, but experiencing human touch, care, and attention. The gentle handling of hair and a scalp massage is soothing and therapeutic. This is needed for those who do not experience much physical touch in their daily lives.
Jesus touches the person with leprosy and says, “be clean,” and he was clean. Jesus did not have to touch him. He could have said it from afar. But he touched him.
An awkward application for the church is the following. May there be handshakes, holy, culturally appropriate kisses, hugs, and fist bumps. Jesus touched the untouched. As the church, the body of Christ, we practice physical touch. In appropriate ways, with people’s consent, we communicate to those who feel unworthy, Jesus welcomes you.
Body image issues are common. It can be our weight, acne, a scar, or an odd body part, or even a traumatic event that makes us feel uncomfortable in our own bodies. Jesus touched the person with leprosy, so I hope that the least we can do as a church is provide hugs for those who need a hug.
In the second episode, we see that Jesus forgives sins in Lk 5:17-26.
Luke 5:17-26
In Luke 5:17-26, Jesus continues to do shocking things. To bypass a dense crowd, a paralyzed man is lowered through a roof to Jesus. The man was lying before Jesus, and on account of the people's faith said, “Man, your sins are forgiven.” They came for physical healing but Jesus shows the true healing humanity needs. Jesus forgives sins.Jesus offers what only God can grant, so the religious leaders charge him of blaspheme. They accuse Jesus of claiming to be equal with God. So, Jesus proves that he can forgive sins, and so by extension that he is equal with God. He says, saying “your sins are forgiven,” that’s easy. Everyone can say those words and there is no way to prove whether someone’s sins are forgiven or not. To show them that he has the authority to forgive sins, he says something harder. He tells the paralytic, “Get up and walk.” This is harder because a visible miracle must follow. When the paralytic man gets up and walks, this miracle shows that Jesus has authority to heal and forgive sins. The text ends with the healed man praising God in Lk 6:25 and the crowd glorifying God in Lk 6:26.
Application
When Jesus healed leprosy, he shows he can deal with our physical presence in the world. By forgiving our sins, Jesus deals with our inner turmoil, and make us right with God.Brennan Manning was born in 1934. He grew up with feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness from an early age. After serving in the military in the Korean War, he returned deeply affected by the horrors he witnessed and became a priest. He continued with an intense sense of inadequacy and self-doubt. He felt unable to measure up to his own expectations or what he thought God demanded of him.
Despite his outward devotion, Manning’s inner turmoil led him to alcoholism. He began to believe that he wasn’t worthy of God’s love, that he was simply too broken and flawed for redemption. His drinking led him to eventually leave the priesthood. He fell into a pattern of shame and isolation, convinced that he was beyond forgiveness. He found himself in a cycle of drinking, regret, and self-loathing. He felt far from the grace he had once preached about.
At his lowest point, Manning sought treatment. He experienced a profound moment of clarity. He realized that the gospel message was not just for the “righteous” but for people exactly like him—the broken, unworthy, and lost. In this moment, he encountered the overwhelming love of God, not as something he had to earn, but as an unconditional gift. This is true for all of us who cry out to God in our inadequacy. He forgives sins.
In the third episode, Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners. He shows that he came not for the righteous but to call sinners to repentance in Lk 5:27-32.
Luke 5:27-32
In Lk 5:27-32, Jesus calls Levi the tax collector to follow him. Then, Jesus shocks the religious leaders by eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners.In the first century, in Israel, taxes did not go to the Jewish officials, but to the invading Roman government. Tax collectors were Jews who worked for the enemy. Their salary was everything they collected in excess to what they owed the Romans. This created a great incentive to collect more than required. The Jews considered these tax collectors like traitors who abused their fellow brothers.[ii]
Jesus shocked by eating with sinners. Jesus teaches that the same way the healthy do not need a doctor and so the righteous will have no need for him. He is with sinners, because he came to call them to repentance. Of course this is everyone, but the self-righteous reject their need for a savior. Jesus shows what it might look like to call others to repentance.
Application
When we imagine what it looks like to call people to repentance, we might imagine a person who stands far off, pointing their finger and calling people out in a humiliating way. In our text, Jesus enjoys table fellowship with those he calls to repentance. This is the way of Jesus. Let’s have meals with people we disagree with.Conclusion
These three units reveal Jesus’ posture to the lowly and outcasts. We should not conclude that Jesus therefore accepts us just as we are and that no one can ever point out our sin. This text shows God’s loving kindness and acceptance of sinners. Jesus cleanses, offers the forgiveness of sins, and he calls people to repentance.These texts teach us that no matter who we are, if we wanted Jesus to, he would touch us, he would offer us the forgiveness of sins and he would enjoy a meal with us. Today, He does the touching and meals through his church. There will be a day in which we will feast in his presence.
This is true, independent of our skin, the depth of our sins, or how society treats us. This is true if we grew up in church and are discouraged, or not a Christian and seeking. This is true for all people, because this is who Jesus is and what he came to do. The more we focus on ourselves and how bad/unworthy we are, the less we look to Jesus, and see his goodness. We must take our eyes off ourselves and look to Jesus.
Second, we will look at how to live for Jesus. Jesus teaches the self-righteous how to properly observe the law in Luke 5:33-6:11.
In the fourth unit, Luke 5:33-39, the topic is fasting.
Luke 5:33-39
There is nothing bad about fasting but fasting can also highlight self-righteousness. In Lk 5:36-39, Jesus explained why his disciples are not fasting when he is with them. He contrasts new and old. We should not mix a new garment with an old garment to avoid the tearing of the new. Nor should we put new wine into an old wineskin to prevent it from bursting. New wine must go in a fresh wineskin. In these analogies, Jesus is the new garment and the new wine.Jesus changes the practice of fasting. He informs our practice of fasting. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. There is no need to fast in the presence of Jesus. His presence provided what fasting seeks, God. It is such folly to fast in the presence of Jesus that it is akin to rejecting God. The pharisees focused on fasting and they missed the one they should be fasting for. Fasting was appropriate between Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is also appropriate now, between his ascension and return. It is not about the practice, but about the one we worship.
Application
Fasting is a wonderful, embodied practice. Fasting reveals our idols or what controls us. Fasting shows how much we look to food for soothing instead of God. In temporarily avoiding other forms of comfort, fasting trains us to depend on God. In this way, fasting is an act of worship. We fast to set aside worldly and bodily satisfaction to enjoy God.We need to be careful when we desire to be more disciplined in our devotion to God that we never lose sight of Him. Jesus does not want us to stop fasting, Sabbath observance, prayer, or Bible reading. We must do all things, not as religious duties, but as appropriate responses of worship of him.
Both the fifth and sixth units deal with the observance of the Sabbath in Lk 6:1-5 and Lk 6:6-11.
Luke 6:1-5
In Lk 6:1-5, the pharisees ask Jesus, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” According to Lk 6:1, Jesus’ disciples had been collecting food in a field on the Sabbath because they were hungry. Jesus gives them the example of king David eating something normally forbidden. Jesus shows that if you put rules before people, you miss the whole point. Then, he goes one step further. While they focus on rule keeping, he draws their attention to himself. He says, “the son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.” While the pharisees are worried about law keeping, they missed that the disciples are at the service of the law giver himself.Luke 6:6-11
In the second account on Sabbath in Lk 6:6-11, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue and there is a man with a paralyzed hand. According to Lk 6:7 the religious leaders wanted to see if Jesus was going to keep the Sabbath or do a good deed. As soon as we ask, “Should I obey God or do a good thing,” we are deep trouble. Our religion is worthless. When we focus on our ability to “master a religious system,” and lose sight of God, we go astray.Application
In the second set of three unites, we see people concerned for honoring God by keeping his law. Most of us will at times fall in this tendency. Ambiguity can lead to anxiety. Law keeping seems clear. It is black and white. It is a tangible list of things to do that we think will make us right with God. If law keeping does not flow from love of God and is not motivated by the love of people, we miss the whole point. The Pharisees fasted but failed to celebrate the coming of Jesus. The Pharisees kept the Sabbath but failed to see they prevented people from meeting their needs. They focused so much on law keeping, that they failed to promote good on the Sabbath.We should not conclude that the law is bad, fasting is bad, or that Sabbath rest is bad, but there is a bad way of being religious if our relationship with Christ is not the goal.
There is a trend in evangelical churches to practice only nine of the ten commandments. This is because the Sabbath command is the only command not explicitly repeated in the NT. Neglecting a Sabbath is a new phenomenon. For the first 1800 years of church history the church always kept one day a week Holy for Worship and for rest. In the last two hundred years that has changed. A day off per week is a gift and a command from God. The goal is Sabbath keeping is not to keep the Sabbath. We live for Jesus, and we rest for Christ’s sake. We rest because Christ gives us rest. We rest to worship the Lord. Our rest is a testimony to the world of our God's abundant provision. We do not have to work 7 days. We trust that our God provides.
Conclusion
We saw that Christ elevates the lowly and humbles the proud. Christ offers the forgiveness of sins to those who feel hopeless. He calls us to look to Him and not our sins. When it comes to law keeping, Jesus also shows that he is the goal of religion. If our religion causes us to miss a relationship with Him, it leads us astray. We need to rely on Christ, not our law keeping.In his book, “The Freedom of Self-forgetfulness” Tim Keller writes, “The essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.” What God has to offer humanity in Christ does not depend on us but depends on Christ! To the lowly, Jesus says, "let me be your identity.” In God's eyes, we are cleansed and forgiven. To those who perform and are good “at religion,” Tim Keller writes, “In Christianity, the verdict leads to performance. It is not the performance that leads to the verdict.” To those who feel unworthy, or to those who are good at religion, we need the same thing, Christ alone.
[i] https://www.webmd.com/balance/touch-starvation
[ii] They were considered among the worst kind of people. For this reason – often the gospels the word paired with tax-collector is the word “sinners” We have “sinners and tax-collectors” in Matt 9:10, 11:19; Luke 15:1; 18:9-14. This reflects how they were viewed by society.
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