Big Idea: Jesus brings not only physical healing and social restoration but also spiritual liberation by the forgiveness of sins.

Understanding the Text

These two episodes develop Luke’s portrait of Jesus the healer, a theme that was alluded to in 4:23 and spelled out in 4:40, and that will remain a prominent feature of his ministry throughout the time in Galilee and on the road to Jerusalem. In 4:40 we learned of Jesus’s ability to heal “various kinds of sickness,” and here that bald statement is filled out by a focus on two specific physical complaints. The first is particularly striking because of the deep-seated fear of “leprosy” and the belief that it was humanly incurable.

In this section we are told of Jesus’s strong popular following but at the same time of the beginning of offi…