In the two preceding passages, Jesus silenced his inquisitors. First, it was the Pharisees’ spies who asked him an entrapping question about the Roman tax. Second, it was the Sadducees who posed a theoretical scenario to disprove the resurrection. Neither were successful. Jesus stumped them both and silenced them all.
Tag Archives: Scribes and Pharisees
A Time for Every Matter
Reminding us that Luke’s orderly account to Theophilus was originally written as one, long narrative, our passage begins today with the words, “After this,” tying the passage to the previous. Before, Jesus was teaching, and the crowds grew larger and larger. Jesus witnessed the heroic efforts of a paralyzed man’s friends. Jesus witnessed faith and forgave sins. Jesus confronted the unbelief of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus healed the paralyzed man, commanding him, “rise, pick up your bed and go home,” and “amazement seized [the crowd] and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen extraordinary things today’” (Luke 5:17-26). All of this was before, but after this, Jesus went and found a tax collector named Levi and said, “Follow me.” And he did.
