#35. Luke 5:15-16 THE GROWING FAME OF JESUS

Introduction:

In our previous text Jesus instructed the man He had cleansed of leprosy

to go to the priests and to offer to the Lord certain sacrifices which had

been commanded under the law of Moses. In doing so the man would give a

testimony that would leave men without excuse for continuing to reject Jesus

as the Christ, the Savior of men. The priests had earlier examined this man

and had proclaimed him to be a leper. They would now examine him again and

would proclaim him to be free from his leprosy. Therefore when they would

learn that it was Jesus who had cleansed the man from his leprosy, they

would be without excuse if they continue to reject Jesus as the Christ.

Likewise all who would hear of this event would also be without excuse if

they should continue to reject Jesus as Savior. Thank God, not all rejected

Him. Many received the testimony that had been given and accepted Jesus as

the Christ and trusted Him as Savior. In our text today, we see the fame of

Jesus grow tremendously.

I. The spreading of His fame of Jesus

V. 15, "But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him..." The

fame of Jesus had already begun to spread. He was already the topic of

conversation on almost every tongue throughout the land. Luke says that

after the healing of the leper, His fame spread so much the more. They

talked about Him with a great deal more interest. Those who were favorably

impressed with Jesus were much more outspoken in their conversations with

others. They spoke with virtually every body they saw about Jesus and

expressed to them their enthusiasm about the greatness of this man. They

praised Him highly and honored Him openly and enthusiastically to others.

On the other hand those who opposed Him also spoke more strongly against Him

and said all manner of evil against Him. However, that is not what Luke is

talking about here. Luke makes it clear in this verse that as far as the

masses of common people were concerned, the sentiment of the people was

overwhelmingly in favor of Jesus. Jesus was at this time extremely popular

with the great masses of common people. It was chiefly the Jewish

leadership who spoke out against Him and they were

vastly outnumbered.

Everywhere you went people were talking about Jesus. It was Jesus,

Jesus, Jesus! They were praising the name of Jesus. That is the one name

that was on every lip. But I want you to keep in mind that it is a name

that has a specific meaning. The very word, Jesus, is very meaningful. We

use the word all the time and seldom think of the meaning. In fact, it is

possible that some in this congregation do not even know what the word

means. But those people knew. The people in that day who were talking

about Jesus so much enthusiasm knew.

The word, Jesus, comes from the Old Testament word, Joshua. Literally,

the word, Jesus, as found in the New Testament, is the Old Testament word,

Joshau, spelled out in the Greek language. In our English translations of

the Bible it came from the Old Testament Hebrew through the New Testament

Greek and then into our English language. But the important matter is not

how we got our modern spelling of the word. The important thing is the

meaning.

The word, Joshua, in the Old Testament, is used in two different ways.

It was often used as a verb to mean "Jehovah saves." This is the meaning

that was intended when this name was given to the Old Testament character,

Joshua. This was the Joshua who was an assistant to Moses and who succeeded

Moses as the leader of Israel. When his parents gave him his name, they

were praising Jehovah God and saying that Jehovah saves men.

However, the word, Joshua, as used as a noun, means "Jehovah, the

Savior." This is the meaning that rightly applies to Jesus, the son of

Mary. The name Jesus, as given to Him by instruction from God the Father,

and was intended not only to call attention to the fact that Jehovah God

saves men, but it was intended to point out that Mary's Son, Jesus, is

Jehovah God, the Savior. Jesus is Jehovah God, the Savior. His name has

that very meaning.

Now let me remind you that while people of today here in our land may

not be familiar with the meaning of the name, Jesus, the people of that day

were. They knew what the word meant. At the first, they would think that

this name was given to Him merely to remind everybody that Jehovah God is

all powerful and that Jehovah God saves. But in view of the miracles that

Jesus was doing, some of the people were beginning to get the point. This

man who has healed the sick, caused the dumb to speak, made the lame to

walk, and now has healed even the dread disease of leprosy, is actually

Jehovah God, Himself. He is Jehovah God the Savior. He is the Christ of

God. He is the Emmanuel spoken of in prophecy. He is God with us. He is

Jehovah God dwelling in human flesh. He is Jehovah God the Savior.

(V. 15), "...and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be

healed by him of their infirmities." The result of all this increase of

talk about Jesus was that even greater number of people came to the city to

see Him. Luke does not tell us what city they came to. Presumably it was

the city where the leper had been healed. They flooded into this city in

droves.

It is not likely that all the people realized that Jesus is Jehovah God,

the Savior, but they did recognize Him as a man sent from God. Luke says

that they came for two purposes. First, they came to hear Jesus speak.

There was a ring of truth to all that He said. What He spoke was the truth

of God and they wanted to hear the truth of God that He had to present..

That is commendable. That is as it should be.

Furthermore, Luke said that many of them came to be healed. Many of

them were afflicted with dread disease and they were convinced that Jesus

could heal them from their disease. I don't blame them for coming to Jesus.

If I had been living in that day and I were afflicted with some terrible

disease, I would do my dead level best to comet to Jesus. I would ask Jesus

to heal me of my disease. Who can blame them for coming to Jesus?

Let me say that the motive of these people was a lot better than those

who came to Jesus in some of the cities where He traveled.. Some had come

to Jesus just to watch Him perform miracles. They wanted the excitement of

watching Him perform miracles. Some, after the miraculous feeding of the

multitude, came to Jesus just in order to be fed. They came hoping that

Jesus would miraculously feed them. They liked all that good eating and

hoped that Jesus would do it again and again and again..

But these people that Luke speaks about in our text had a more noble

motive than that. They sincerely wanted to learn the truth of God and those

who were diseased desperately wanted to be healed.

V. 16, "And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed." It

may seem puzzling at first to us why Jesus would leave the city where such

great crowds were gathering and would go off into the wilderness. Luke does

not give us the answer to that question. What Luke does say would lead us

to believe that He merely wanted to be alone in prayer. However, Mark tells

us that the reason that He left the city and went to the wilderness is that

the crowds were too large and too disorderly. Jesus could not effectively

minister to that mean people at one time. They virtually mobbed Him every

time He showed up in public. They were not an unfriendly mob. To the

contrary. They were an extremely friendly mob, but they were a mob never-

the-less. The crowds were so jam packed in around Him that it actually

became dangerous for some of the people He was trying to help.

So Jesus went out into the wilderness not too distant from the city.

Luke says that there He prayed. The idea is that He did spend some time

alone in prayer with God the Heavenly Father. But this does not mean that

He altogether stopped ministering to the people. It does not mean that He

stopped preaching and teaching to them the truths of God. Nor does it mean

that He stopped healing those who were diseased. Mark tells us that the

people continued to come to Him even out in the wilderness and that He

continued His preaching and teaching and healing of the people. But the

difference is that they came in smaller groups and at a slower pace. He had

time for His own personal prayer-life with God the Father and He could more

effectively minister to those who came to Him without putting anyone in

danger of being trampled by a mob.

II. The reason for His fame

I want you to think with me for a moment why the fame of Jesus grew.

Jesus was a carpenter, but He was not famous for any kind of carpentry work

that He did. I am confident that He always did a good job with whatever He

built. Also I am confident that if He had chosen to do so, He could have

become famous for constructing great buildings.

Jesus did not become famous for any military activity on His part. Many

men have become famous because of their military prowess. Joshua of the Old

Testament is an example. Joshua is considered to be one of the great

military geniuses of all time. Yet if Jesus had chosen to take any kind of

leadership role in military action, there is no army in all the world that

could have withstood Him.

Jesus did not become famous because of any sports record that He has

achieved. Many men have become famous because of their achievement in the

field of sports. Even in the time f Jesus here on earth sports events were

very popular. In fact the world Olympics were already being held on an

annual basis. Yet if Jesus had chosen to compete in the Olympics there is

no question as to who would be the winner. There is no way in the world

that any man could have successfully competed against Him.

Jesus did not become famous because of any scientific discovery. Many

men have become famous for some scientific discovery that they have made.

Yet if Jesus had chosen to use even a small portion of His infinite

knowledge, He could have astounded the scientists of the world with His

achievements. He still could today. Even the most modern and knowledgable

scientist knows but pitifully little compared to the infinite knowledge of

nature. Jesus is the One who made it all. He knows all the laws of nature.

Jesus did not become famous because of the worldly riches that He had

amassed. The truth of the matter is that He was not rich. He had become

poor for our sake. He had not a place of His own to lay His head. Yet if

He had laid claim to that which is rightfully His, He would have had a title

deed to every strip of land in the whole world. He would have had every

piece of money in the whole world in His own personal possession. He could

have owned all the oil, all the timber, all minerals, everything. The

cattle of a thousand hills are his.

What Jesus was famous for was His ability to preach and teach the truths

of God so that men could understand what He was talking about and could

have assurance that He was right in what He said. There was no man in all

the world who could speak with such great power and authority as Jesus.

Jesus was famous also for coming to the rescue of those who were

afflicted with all manner of diseases. He was famous for healing the sick.

He was famous for helping those who were in need. If a blind man was

brought to Jesus, Jesus would make him to see. If a lame man was brought to

Jesus, Jesus would make him to walk. If there was one sick with a high

fever, Jesus would drive the fever away. If one was possessed with demons,

Jesus would drive the demons out. If one was a leper, Jesus would heal

him even from the leprosy. Those are the thing that made Jesus famous.

His fame spread far and near in Galilee. His fame spread throughout all

Judea. His fame spread to Jerusalem, the capitol city of Israel. At the

time of His death, He was known throughout all the lands of Galilee, Judea

and even Samaria. Even secular historians wrote about Him. In three short

years He had become a national figure. He was known throughout the nation

and in some of the foreign countries.

III. The continued growth of His fame

Then at the end of those three years, Jesus was taken and brutally put

to death. He was put to death by crucifixion. You would expect that within

a few years His name would be forgotten and few, if any, would be able to

recall anything about His life.

But not so. The fame of Jesus has continued to grow through the years.

Today the name of Jesus is known not only throughout Galilee Judea, but

throughout the entire world. Today the mighty deeds that Jesus performed

during His personal ministry are known in every nation and in every city.

The wondrous things that Jesus has done is told in song, sermon, and

writings of men in every language under the sun.

To some degree, He is famous also for His resurrection from the grave.

To some degree, He is famous for His ascension into heaven. He traveled

from earth to heaven without a space ship.

To some degree, He is famous for the promise of His return. To some

degree He is famous for the prophecy of His defeat of the Anti-Christ. To

some degree He is famous as the future King of the world during the

millennium. But the chief reason for His fame today is still the good that

does for men, women, boys and girls. He take the sin sick soul that is

headed for the fires of hell and He saves that soul and puts that soul on

the road to heaven. He takes the burdened heart that is burdened down will

all manner of heartaches and fears and He gives that heart peace and joy

beyond measure. Jesus specializes in keeping sinners out of the fires of

hell. He specializes in lifting the great burdens that crush the soul. He

specializes in saving all who will repent of sin and trust in Him. He saves

the small and great, the rich and the poor.

One of these days His fame will be even greater than it has ever been in

all the history of the world. One of these days in the near future, God

will make Him to sit upon the throne in Jerusalem and He will rule the

world. Col. 1:18 says that God the Father intends for Jesus to have the

preeminand let Jesus

lift those burdens and take those burdens away. I wonder if there is not

someone who will just cast all your cares upon Him and let Him help you with

that heavy, heavy load. Come this morning and repent of your sin. Come

this morning and ask Jesus to save your soul. Come this morning and let

Jesus lift your heart and let Him lead you in living a righteous life. I

wonder if there is not some Christian here this morning who will not just

surrender your life to Him and let Him have His way with your life. I

wonder if there is not someone here today who will come forward and present

yourself to this church to work for Him and life for Him. If so, then while

our musicians come and lead us in the singing of a hymn, please step forward

and come.