Luke 5:15

Luke 5:15, in plain English

Word about Jesus only spread faster. Huge crowds came both to hear Him teach and to be healed of their diseases.

Why it's here

The more Jesus tried to keep things quiet, the more people talked. His miracles were too extraordinary to keep secret.

Who's speaking

Luke summarizes the growing momentum of Jesus' ministry.

Where it sits in the story

You can't hide what God is doing. Despite Jesus' instructions for secrecy, the news kept spreading because lives were being changed. Authentic transformation is the most compelling testimony there is.

The scholarly reading

Despite Jesus' command for silence, the logos ("word/report") about Him spreads further (diērchomai mallon), creating a pattern where attempts at secrecy paradoxically increase publicity.

Language and setting

The growing crowds seeking both teaching and healing create increasing tension between Jesus' proclamation mission and the popular demand for miracles.

Voice

Luke provides a summary editorial note about Jesus' expanding fame.

Significance

The messianic secret proves impossible to maintain. Jesus' deeds speak louder than His instructions for silence, and the crowds multiply in response to reports of His healing power.

13Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

14“Do not tell anyone,” Jesus instructed him. “But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

15But the news about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

16Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.

17One day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. People had come from Jerusalem and from every village of Galilee and Judea, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick.

Read all of Luke 5 — Peter hauls in a miraculous catch, a leper is cleansed, and a paralyzed man is lowered through a roof. Jesus is rewriting the rules of who belongs.