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. (Luke 5:17 NASB)
We are just beginning the story of the paralytic whose friends brought him to Jesus. To set the stage, Jesus was preparing to teach, and a crowd was assembled. News had spread throughout the land about Jesus and there was speculation that He might be the Messiah. There was talk of His miracles and His healing power.
We will see that some people had come for healing, and some to hear the man they hoped was the Messiah. Pharisees and teachers of the law had also traveled (on foot) from Jerusalem, Judea, and every village in Galilee in order to hear Him that day. They were not like the murderous crowd in Nazareth, but they were not disciples, either. Most likely, they had come together at an agreed upon time to "check Him out".
There were several kinds of people in the crowd that day. There were skeptics, critics, disciples, and seekers. There were also likely those who just wanted to be entertained by some miracles. Some would leave unchanged, but there were a few who would embrace the truth of Christ and be transformed. We approach Jesus in much the same way today. Some of us are antagonistic towards faith, and some will follow Christ with blind faith in the unseen. Others are earnestly seeking truth and will embrace it with every fiber of their being when truth becomes clear to them. That's the one I want to be. What about you? Where are you in the crowd around Jesus?
Today, pray that we and our loved ones will clearly see Christ and His truth, find the answers to all our questions in Him, and follow Him unreservedly and enthusiastically.
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