Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 15 "WHAT DREW THE MULTITUDES TO JESUS?"
Day 188 – Luke 15
Text: Luke 15
WHAT DREW THE MULTITUDES TO JESUS?
What drew the crowds to Jesus? Luke noted some of the things that must have drawn the multitudes to Him:
1. It was the way Jesus spoke.
People noted “the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth…” Luke 4:22
2. It was the power and authority that Jesus wielded.
There was no mistaking His “authority and power” (Luke 4:36) with which He commanded evil spirits to come out of those they possessed.
3. It was the healing power of Jesus
“A great multitude of people… came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases.” Luke 6:17
WHAT DREW JESUS TO THE MULTITUDES?
You could add lots of other reasons why the multitudes were drawn to Jesus. However, we must ask ourselves another question. What drew Jesus to people? This was something that puzzled the Scribes and Pharisees.
Luke painted a picture of an almost typical day in the life of Jesus in the following words.
“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners
drew near to Him to hear Him.”
Luke 15:1
The Pharisees and Scribes never understood Jesus. Luke recorded what may be called their “standard response” as they noted the type of people who flocked around Jesus.
“This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:2
What drew Jesus to tax-collectors and sinners? For the life of the self-righteous Pharisees and Scribes, they just couldn’t figure Jesus out at all. All they could do was to “complain” against Him (Luke 15:2).
THE MISSION STATEMENT OF JESUS
Right from the start, Jesus expressed His understanding of the Divine Mission that His Father had given Him. This Mission Statement of Jesus was taken from Isaiah 61:1-2.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach the Gospel to the poor,
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Luke 4:18-9
What drew Jesus to the multitudes? Let’s try and answer this question in the following way:-
1. It was because Jesus understood God’s Mission for Him.
2. It was because He was so filled with the Spirit of the Lord.
3. It was because of His sense of compassion for the poor, the broken-hearted, the captives, the blind and the oppressed.
4. It was because He believed that the Gospel of the Kingdom that He proclaimed would bless the hearts of all who would receive His message.
The Pharisees and Scribes could never understand the Mission of Jesus because they lacked all the above. They did not even understand God very well at all, in the first place. They were certainly not filled with the Spirit of God. They despised the poor and the sinful. They did not believe in the Gospel of Jesus and had no message to share with the masses!
CORRECTING A VERY WRONG ATTITUDE
Jesus had to give an answer to His detractors. He knew of course that it would be difficult for the Pharisees and Scribes to fully understand Him. Nevertheless, He tried to open their understanding concerning people caught up in sin.
Once again, Jesus took to speaking in parables. That He chose parables as His means of instruction reminds us of what He had said on an earlier occasion. His words are worth reading again,
“To you it has been given to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of God,
BUT to the rest it is given in parables,
That ‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’ “
Luke 8:10
Jesus sought to explain why He could not, and would not, reject anyone who came to Him. His heart beat with love and compassion for erring, sinful souls.
“The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives,
but to save them.”
Luke 9:56
Perhaps the Pharisees and Scribes would be challenged to re-think their theological position. However, even if they did not understand Jesus or agree with Him, those who heard the parables Jesus told would be cheered in their hearts.
Through the parables Jesus told, we catch another beautiful picture of our Saviour. “But we see Jesus…”