Great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed

 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

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.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"

- Luke 5:12-26

 Yesterday we read that, as the multitude pressed about Jesus to hear the word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.  Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land.  And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.  When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."  And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.  And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men."  So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  Leprosy, says my study bible, was one of the most dreaded diseases of Jesus' time.  It brought not only tremendous physical suffering, but also meant total banishment and isolation from society.  It is also seen as a symbol of our sin.  To touch a leper was prohibited, but Jesus' heals the man by touch.

And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."   Jesus is respectful of the Law, and sends the man to a priest as is required for his re-entry into the community.  My study bible notes the commentary of Cyril of Alexandria, who writes that Jesus gives this command in order to convince the priests by a tangible miracle that He is superior to Moses.  The priests hold Moses to be greater than Christ, but Christ heals a leper immediately and with His own divine authority.  When Miriam (Moses' sister) was struck with leprosy, Moses had to seek mercy from above, and even then she was only healed after seven days (Numbers 12:10-15).

However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  It's important to understand Jesus' humanity and also His discernment and constant connection to the Father.  He withdraws often into the wilderness for prayer.   So should we do likewise, as we all need time alone for prayer and to take rest in prayer.

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.   Matthew's Gospel sets this passage in Capernaum, calling it "His own city" (Matthew 9:1).  By now Jesus' fame is so well-spread, that those authorities have come from all over Israel to His "headquarters" (most likely the family home of Simon Peter) to hear Him.

Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  Here is a faith exhibited not only in the paralytic but even in his friends, who help him with every effort to get to Jesus.  My study bible says that this particular miracle shows us that faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  Faith, in fact, is collective as well as personal -- a notable reality of the Kingdom -- for the faith of this paralytic's friends helped in his healing.  The acts of these friends can be seen as similar to those who pray for others in all situations; even our prayers for the dead are considered to be effective appeals to the mercy of God.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"   There are three signs of Jesus' divinity exhibited in today's passage.  First, He knows the secrets of hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Second, He forgives sins, which is a power that belongs to God alone.  And finally, He heals by the power of His word.

It's important to note that Jesus rests and withdraws for prayer, and that He does so often and into the wilderness.  That is, into a deserted place away from people.  We all need this.  If even Jesus, the Christ or Messiah, needs this for Himself, one can only imagine how badly we need it, not only for direction in our lives, and guidance, but even for proper rest and withdrawal from a busy, social life.  There are multitudes coming to see Jesus.  His ministry has reached a place where it may be seen in modern terms as "successful," but what we really learn is how word about Him has spread, and how much He is in demand.  All sorts come to Him now for healing, and to hear Him as well.  By worldly standards, we are often set to think that as much work as one can do as possible is simply the one and only really "good" thing.  We might even think in terms of "doing good" in the world, good works, healing and preaching, that we would admire Jesus for being so busy all the time, and responding to all the needs and demands that come to Him from the world.  But that's not really the example that Jesus sets here.  The Gospel tells us not only that He would withdraw away from people, into the wilderness, and to pray, but even that He would do so often.  We can't quite get it into our worldly heads and understanding that this, too, is part of ministry, part of healing the world.  It's that divine connection with God, with the Kingdom of heaven, that we find in prayer and withdrawal from social life that functions not just as a sort of reset button, not just as refreshment and renewal, but that in fact creates the conditions within which we are able to serve God.  To dwell within this place of relationship, to abide in Him (and in the Holy Trinity) is to live in a place from which we are capable of bringing God's love into the world and all that means for the world, as embodied in Jesus Christ.  To withdraw into the wilderness isn't merely a response to the demands put upon Him in terms of needing rest.  It is, on the contrary, a place for Christ to go in order to direct His ministry from here, to conduct it as He needs to, to respond to the conditions of the ministry as He is called to do, and to discern what He needs to do going forward.  And we should take this all to heart for our own lives as Christians and as followers of Christ.  For us, taking rest "in Him" becomes a way to find ourselves and find direction for what we do with our lives, as well as personal renewal.  To sit contemplatively in a church service may function for us the same way, renewal that is available in those times of "collective faith" that my study bible speaks of.  All of this is reinforcement of the Kingdom in the world, the place in which we wish to dwell, and it is not merely a response to busy-ness and a demanding life.  Rather, it is the place where we may nurture the seeds of the Kingdom, renew our direction and intentions, forgive what we need to forgive, and spend time with God in the embrace of God's love and grace.  What we should understand is that in the terms of the holy, this is the place where beauty is, and where we may become a part of it and abide in it, and be a part of it in the world.  Let us follow and learn from His example, for all gifts come from there.