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 of Him by 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 Him to hear the word of God, Jesus 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.  At Christ's time, leprosy was one of the most dreaded diseases in the world.  My study bible notes that it brought great physical suffering as well as complete banishment and isolation from society.  It also figures in Scripture as a symbol of our sin.  It was forbidden to touch what was considered unclean; but Christ is Lord of creation and all healing.  To the clean, nothing is unclean; see Romans 14:14, Titus 1:15.

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."  My study bible cites Cyril of Alexandria, who comments that Christ gives the command to go and show yourself to the priest 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 was struck with leprosy, Moses had to seek mercy from above, and yet 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 of Him by their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  With great demand comes also a need for solitude.  Let us consider how Jesus illustrates for us our own need to be alone in withdrawal for prayer.   This kind of solitude is necessary for our deeper relationship to God, for our own healing, and for connecting with the source of all true healing on every level of being.

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!"   We can note that in the healing of the leper, Jesus told the man to present himself to the priest (this would be in order to get a certificate that he may once again participate in the community), and here the Pharisees and teachers of the law from all throughout Israel are present to see Christ.  This is the first time they make their appearance in the Gospel, and Jesus' fame has obviously spread not only through Galilee, but He has been heard of elsewhere as well, including Judea and Jerusalem.  My study bible comments on this particular healing that it shows that faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  Faith, it says, is collective as well as personal, as illustrated in the fact that the friends of the paralytic helped in his healing.  There are three signs of the divinity of Jesus shown here.  First, He knows the secrets of hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Second, He forgives sins, a power which only belongs to God.  Third, He heals by the power of His word. 

It's quite interesting that while the story of the healing of the paralytic is an illustration of the power of collective faith -- of those who may pray for us when we cannot help ourselves, the Pharisees and teachers of the law function in the story as an obstacle to faith.  All they can seem to do is to criticize Christ.  But Christ's power is stronger.  It is somehow through their criticism that Jesus responds with an illustration of His enormous power to heal.  He responds with a stronger act, a greater authority.  In every confrontation, Jesus is not afraid to use His power and authority to manifest what is necessary as response.  This is the first time the Pharisees and teachers of the law make their appearance in the Gospel, and it's not really a good appearance; they are cast in a negative light.  We are also given a glimpse of Christ's divine power:  that He knows the hearts of human beings.  He knows what they are reasoning in their hearts.  It's not that they are wrong, it's just that they overlook the good.  Jesus responds precisely because of the faith of the people who are with the paralytic, his friends who go to such great lengths to let him down through the roof.  Jesus does not proclaim Himself Messiah, and He doesn't announce His divinity.  But He does defend the power and authority of God, at work in His ministry, which they don't recognize.  He tells them, "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."   Jesus uses this title, Son of Man, for the first time.  Son of Man is a title which comes from the book of Daniel (see Daniel 7:13-14).  It is specifically used by Jesus seemingly to refer to the Incarnation; His identity as both human and divine.  After His Resurrection, He will later declare to the apostles that they, too, have the power to forgive sin, but this is after the gift of the Holy Spirit is given, and in the understanding that they as such act in accordance with the Spirit and the will of God, and in particular in their roles as stewards of His Church on earth and guardians of His flock (see John 20:21-23) after He is gone.  In that sense, it is Christ's power and authority which He Himself extends as part of His gifts to humankind, and within the living Church on earth which must act in His name.  All of this is lost on those who have no sense of the commitment of faith to Christ within the power and authority that are at work in His ministry.  This is what they cannot perceive, and it is precisely what Christ will refuse to "prove" by extraordinary works of miracles on demand.  Only through the will of the Father in carrying out His ministry will Christ work to reveal His identity as Son of Man.  And within that particular understanding we must come back to Jesus' withdrawal from the demands even of the faithful who are around Him.  It is most significant that we pay attention here in this reading to the fact that Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  In a time when there is constant attention demanded of us for externals:  how hard we work, how many achievements we have, even how much of a presence we have on social media, the need for time for withdrawal for a truly faithful and spiritual person is more profound than ever.  If everything comes through faith, and through our connection with Spirit (as in the giving of the Spirit to the disciples), then we desperately need time for prayer to make this connection.  "Good works" simply aren't the whole story, and faith is not just a nominal acceptance of a particular value system or even a particular article of what we believe to be fact.  Faith is an active, abiding, ongoing exercise of trust; that is, trust in Someone, in a relationship and communion.  And there is only one way to strengthen that, to keep it alive and active and here and now for precisely this moment.  That way is to do just what Jesus does, to often withdraw where there will be no personal disturbance from whatever else and whoever else demands our attention, and to pray.  In ancient times, the earliest monastics withdrew to the deserts for just this purpose.  Let us find our place to do this as well, for we must follow the same purpose, and learn from Christ just as much -- if not more -- right here and now.