Who are the people?

Objective: To give the lifegroup an understanding of the types of people that Jesus reached

Read Luke 5

Areas to cover:

1. Examples of people that Jesus touched.
2. What do we think we can learn from each of these examples?
3. What is God saying to you through these examples? What is God's will for you?

What kinds of people do you think Jesus reached out to?

Outsiders.
Who’s felt like an outsider before?
Imagine feeling that way all the time. There are people who are always on the edge of society, who never feel like they fit. Think of somebody that you would be surprised to see in church today, or in a nice restaurant. It could be somebody with a severe disfigurement, somebody experiencing extreme poverty, maybe a drunk. It could be somebody who’s dressed inappropriately or has a highly contagious disease, somebody that you would not only be surprised to see, but somebody that would make you very uncomfortable. (Can we all think of at least 3 people we know that fall in this category?)

If you took that and multiplied the shock factor, you would come close to understanding how surprising it is that Jesus chose to reach out to these people.

In Luke 5, we read about three shocking people - outsiders - that Jesus chose to love and to serve. Let’s look at them and try to understand why it was so surprising.

Luke 5:12-13 – Who does Jesus meet?
Leper
Jesus met, touched, and healed a leper.

Leprosy was a powerful and highly infectious disease. (The Greek word was used for various diseases affecting the skin – not necessary leprosy. There were a number of skin conditions - psoriasis, lupus, ringworm, as well as Hansen’s disease - that back then would have been called leprosy.)

Everybody knew that this man’s body was full of leprosy. He lived away from his family and everybody. If people approached him, he would have to cover his mouth and yell out a warning that he was unclean. His family would probably leave out food for him, but stay clear when he came to collect it. Nobody had touched him in years. This was the ultimate outsider, a social outcast.

The leper comes to Jesus. By all rights, Jesus should have kept his distance to remain clean and to stay safe. He could have healed this man from a hundred meters away. To touch him would have been to risk becoming contaminated himself.

The heart of the story is the shocking action that Jesus took in verse 13. “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.” Jesus touched a man who hadn’t been touched in years. As Jesus reached out and touched the man, you can bet that everybody in the crowd gasped. Jesus reached out to the ultimate social outcast and proved that there is no such thing as an untouchable person.

Who in your own circle might be considered an outsider?
E.g. Friend X who doesn't have the same hobbies as the rest of us

Paralytic
The second encounter Jesus has is with a paralyzed man. The common view back then - of both lepers and of paralytics - would be that the illness and disability was a sign of God’s displeasure. We live today in a society that views those with physical disabilities in a much healthier way than before, but back then, this man would have been somewhat of an outcast. He can’t even get to Jesus on his own. Jesus looks at this man and not only heals him, but forgives his sins as well. He gets more than he bargains for.

Leper/Paralytic: Who in your circle might be considered to have displeased God?
E.g. Friend with alternative lifestyle? Friends who have not forgiven themselves for something?

Tax Collector
Then there’s a third encounter to cap it off. We read in Luke 5:27-28: “After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.”

Back in the day, tax collectors were extortionists, shaking people down for as much money as they could manage, keeping some of it for themselves before they remitted the rest. They were collaborators with the enemy, the foreign occupying government that went against their religion. They were unclean, because they were always in contact with Gentiles. They were also very rich, which would make people resentful. They were rich because they had dirty money.

So imagine Jesus going to this guy and saying, “Follow me.” Then picture this guy throwing a party with all of his shady friends. “Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them” (Luke 5:29). There are a few things we need to notice here. Levi is throwing a party that is costing quite a bit of money, and he’s doing it with dirty money, proceeds of his tax collecting career. How would you feel about that? (Imagine if you saw a well-known pastor in your community partying with secret society members)

Second, he’s invited his tax collecting buddies. Of course, who else would he invite? They stuck together, because nobody else would have anything to do with them. You have a room full of shady characters. Third, Jesus eats with them. In that culture, eating with people implied acceptance of them. The Pharisees, some of the religious people of that day, wouldn’t even eat with the average person, never mind tax collectors. They were afraid of being contaminated. The food might be unclean, and it might not have been tithed appropriately. Jesus is invited to this party, and he goes.

So look at the people Jesus embraces, who see him as good news. He embraces outsiders. Not just any type of outsiders, either.

He touches the most untouchable type of person. He forgives and heals someone with a disability. He invites an extortionist to follow him. It was scandalous. He ate with the wrong people. He touched the wrong people. He reaches out and touches people on the very edge of society. Jesus is good news to outsiders, to the very people who don’t belong and don’t fit. Jesus even says that’s what he’s here for.

In Luke 5:31-32, Jesus said: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

2. What do we think we can learn from each of these examples?

Lets have a think about this. The average person out there isn’t so sure Jesus is good news for them. Think about those who are modern day lepers - those who are on the fringes of society, people who are untouchable. Think about them - who are they today?

The homeless, those with AIDS, alcoholics, banktrupt, gangsters, those on drugs?
Those who are employed in immoral careers?
Think of the drug pusher, the pimp.

Jesus is good news to these people. Jesus might even go to their house, hang around their friends.

3. So based on what you've read above, what is God saying to you through these examples? What is God's will for you?