Conflict Looming - thoughts on Luke 5:17-39

Over the Christmas season, our church (Toowoomba Community Baptist Church) engaged in an advent series based on Luke 1 and 2.  Three things struck me at the time as I put the series titles together:

1. The clear claims Luke makes (1:1-4) to having put together a thoroughly reliable historical record of the 'life and times of Jesus'.  
2. The numerous Old Testament references made by Dr Luke as he seeks to make clear to the reader the messianic claims of Jesus
3. The structure and symmetry of the stories he has selected to include in his account (two angelic visits, two miraculous babies are born, two visits to the temple)

Subsequently, I have been reading further in Luke using the SU guide, Encounter with God and the the notes prepared by Fran Beckett.  Again, the carefully structured narrative is clear. After the information about John (3:1-19), the genealogy of Jesus (3:21-38) and the record of the temptations faced by Jesus in the desert, we come to a series of episodes which focus on the response of the people to his ministry.

Apart from a less than welcoming reception at Nazareth, the overwhelming picture is one of celebrity - people are amazed at his teaching, crowds gather to hear what he has to say, the sick brought for him to touch them.  His fame spreads far and wide.

And then suddenly in 5:17, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law appear for the first time.  The theme of celebrity is replaced by the theme of conflict:

1. There is conflict over his claim to be able to forgive sins (5:17-26)
2. There is conflict over the company he keeps (5:27-32)
3. There is confict over the conduct of his disciples (5:33-35)

Luke is clearly recording how Jesus stakes his messianic claims -his diety, his mission to the marginalised, his authority beyond the law.  No wonder he tells them that old wineskins and old garments are inadequate descriptors - it's time for a radical change.  The scene is set for escalating conflict with the guardians of tradition and religion!
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