Daily Devotion

Our passage today, Luke 5:17-26, takes place in Jesus' adopted hometown of Capernaum during the first year of his ministry, often called the “Year of Popularity.” News about Jesus—his teaching and healing—was spreading and people were coming from all around to see this exceptional teacher and miracle worker.

Several years ago, while in New Delhi, India, I visited a leper colony. There are many forms of leprosy, but a common one attacks the nerves, preventing those affected from feeling pain. As a result, cuts, scrapes, and burns go unnoticed, become infected, and can cause parts of fingers— and even entire hands and feet—to rot away. Because leprosy often targets the limbs first, that day in New Delhi, I encountered people with no fingers or hands, and only partial feet. For those living with such a relentless disease, every day is a battle against pain, loss, and invisibility. At the end of the street stood the city’s garbage dump, a stark reminder of their desperate circumstances.a

In Luke’s orderly account of Jesus’ life and ministry, the focus has shifted from preparations for Jesus’ coming to the beginning of his public ministry. After being rejected in his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus goes to Capernaum, another town in the region of Galilee, where he teaches and heals. In today’s passage, Luke tells how Jesus begins to form his team of disciples, starting with the calling of Peter, the outspoken disciple who would become a key leader in the early church.

After preaching in the synagogue in Capernaum and healing a man possessed by a demon, Jesus went to Peter’s house for some much-needed rest. However, the day would be anything but quiet or uneventful.

Weekend Recharge!

Weekend Recharge!

We see the power of God’s Word revealed in Jesus. As we reflect on his early ministry in the region of Galilee, we can only imagine what it must have been like to hear the Word himself proclaim the Word of God. In today’s passage, we are given a glimpse of one of those remarkable moments.

Previously, we considered a specific time when Jesus taught in his hometown synagogue. On that occasion, he read from Isaiah 61:1–2 which describes the coming of the Messiah. Everything seemed to be going well until Jesus said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Luke tells us that, at first, “all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’”

In Luke’s carefully researched and orderly account of Jesus’ life, he records that our Lord’s ministry began in his hometown of Nazareth, a small town in the northern region of Israel known as Galilee.[1] The name “Galilee,” meaning “circle” in Hebrew, was used by Jewish rabbis  to describe this area encircled by Gentiles.