and having descended with them, he stood on a level place, and a crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all Judaea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;
Jesus has prayed all night and named the twelve. Now He comes down and stands where a huge crowd can reach Him. Two questions follow. Where did this happen? And why does Luke gather such a crowd before the sermon that comes next?
Some older translations say "the plain." Readers have used that word to argue that Luke reports a different sermon from the one Matthew sets on a mountain. The word itself says otherwise.
I know well that godly men have argued from "the plain" in Luke 6:17, against the "mountain" in Matthew 5:1. They feel a difficulty about the two accounts giving the same discourse, at the same place and time, and this is how they solve it. But the clear evidence of both forces us to reject that solution. Luke's language does not mean "a plain." It means a level place or plateau on the mountain. The Lord went up it to pray all night, before calling the chosen twelve. Then He came down with them, far enough to meet a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of the people out of all Judea and Jerusalem. It was clearly the same discourse. But the Spirit acted not as a mere reporter — that is not the way inspiration works — but as an infallible editor, for the distinct design of each Gospel.
Commentators differ here. Others hold that the setting was different, and that the Lord said much the same things more than once to different crowds (F. B. Hole).
The descent follows a night on the mountain. Luke's order is prayer first, then the choice of the twelve, then the coming down.
In Luke we find again here the dependent character of the Son of Man. He is all night in prayer before He chooses the twelve... In Luke 6:17 it should not be "the plain," but "a level place" — still on the mountain. Luke gives the substance of the sermon in its great moral principles. Note how His power appeared in the multitude (v. 17-19).
The verse names two groups: a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of people. They are not the same.
Whatever He draws people by, He gathers them round Himself to worship. He surrounds Himself with them. Then He comes down and stands in the plain. His miracles and their own needs draw the great multitude; they come to hear and to be healed. The company of the disciples were an inner circle. "All the crowd sought to touch Him." Luke does not say that they were converted; that is another thing. But living power went out of Him. It healed their physical misery and set them free from the power of Satan.
The places listed run from the far south to the northern coast. One commentator sees in that spread a glimpse of the day when Christ comes to bless the whole earth.
In the Lord coming down to the plain in verse 17 there is a picture of His coming to bless the earth at the introduction of the Millennium, but only a glimpse. His apostles, the company of disciples, and a great crowd of people came from Judea, Jerusalem, and Tyre and Sidon. They came to be healed of diseases and demon possession. All of it points to this great gathering in the Millennium (v. 17).
The people came for two things: to hear and to be healed. Luke puts the healing first.
"He healed them all" is the concise statement; no one went away with his disease still on him. Each one who had need shared in the healing power that went out from Christ. Sickness, in themselves or in others, no longer filled their minds. Now they could all listen to the teaching of the gospel without distraction. And teaching was needed.
The One who met all these needs had no home of His own. Commentators hold up that combination as the pattern for a believer.
He was a divine visitor to this world — a heavenly stranger among men. He had nowhere to lay His head while He was meeting their needs with all the resources of God. This is the ideal for a saint of God. He is independent of everything the world can give. Yet with an open heart and a generous hand he gives the world all the benefits and blessings of God. If he is only a heavenly stranger, he may shut himself away from people. If he is only a visitor to the world, he may get tangled up in its corruptions.
- Down — He came down from a night of prayer to a level place on the mountain, not to a plain. Dependence came first, then the descent.
- Near — He stood where a vast crowd could hear Him. An inner circle of disciples stood close by; an outer crowd came drawn by need.
- Wide — The crowd stretched from Judea and Jerusalem to the coast of Tyre and Sidon. One writer sees in that a glimpse of the day when Christ blesses the whole earth.
- Whole — He healed them all; no one left with his disease still on him.
- Heard — He relieved their bodies first. With minds free from distraction, they could take in the teaching they had come for.
and those that were beset by unclean spirits were healed.
A great crowd has come from Judea, Jerusalem and the coast around Tyre and Sidon. Luke says what brought them: they wanted to hear Him, and they wanted to be well. The verse names two kinds of misery — plain disease, and torment by unclean spirits. Both give way in His presence.
One writer sorts the crowd into two rings: an inner circle of disciples, and a far larger crowd drawn by His miracles and by their own needs.
Whatever He uses to draw people, He gathers them round Himself to worship. He surrounds Himself with them, and then comes down and stands in the plain. His miracles and their own needs draw the great crowd, and they come to hear and be healed. The company of the disciples were an inner circle. "All the crowd sought to touch Him." It does not say that they were converted, which is a different thing. But living power went out of Him. It healed the misery of their bodies and set them free from the power of Satan.
The power that healed lived in His own Person. He had become the centre where everyone seeking God now gathered.
He becomes the centre, and all who sought God must come to Him. He is also the starting point of the mission that carries out His love — the centre where divine power is shown in grace... In the plain the company of His disciples surrounds Him, and then a great crowd, drawn together by His word and His works. There was the attraction of the word of God, and He healed the diseases of men, and cast out the power of Satan. This power dwelt in His Person.
The verse keeps the two apart. Commentators note that many people resist this distinction, and that such cases did not stop with the ancient world.
Here again the text separates disease from possession by demons. Modern investigators are unwilling to admit this. One of them, Carpenter, points to the vast pile of evidence from the ages both before and after Christ, and says the idea of a special outburst of demonic energy in the time of Jesus collapses completely. But you only need to read a book like Mrs. Howard Taylor's memoir of Pastor Hsi to see how common such possession still is today in some places.
The same writer explains why Luke calls these spirits "unclean":
Luke 4:33 says "spirit of an unclean demon"; compare "unclean spirit" in Luke 6:18 and Luke 11:24. Lightfoot records that people made a distinction between spirits that caused disease and "evil spirits," which dealt in sorcery and were therefore called "unclean." Luke probably chose the word "unclean" to suit non-Jewish readers, since they recognised a difference between good and bad "demons."
Each person freed from an unclean spirit was evidence of a takeover. Someone had held these people a long time, and someone greater had come.
For a long time the strong one had spread his harmful, withering influence, and for a long time his goods stayed in peace. Now a stronger One had come and had conquered him. The Seed of the woman broke his power, and he could no longer keep what he held. Demons were driven out, even when they were a legion. The blind saw, the lame walked, lepers were made clean, the deaf heard, those who could not speak spoke, and the dead were raised.
One writer sees the scene on the level ground as new wine pouring out.
He comes down and stands with them on the plain. A great crowd came round Him to hear Him and to have their diseases healed. Then the new wine flows out. "All the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came out from Him." How one lingers over such a moment! We drink the new wine that gladdens the heart as we watch the tender beauty of grace. Power went out of Him and healed them all.
Everyone who came for healing got it. One writer sees here a small picture of the Millennium — the future age when Christ blesses the whole earth.
His apostles, the company of disciples and a great crowd from Judea, Jerusalem and Tyre and Sidon all point to this great Millennial gathering. They came to be healed of diseases and of demon possession. The blessing was on a large scale... He turned no one away — all were healed. What a contrast to the boasted healing campaigns run today by men (and women) who claim to be Christian! If two or three seem to be healed, there is loud advertising, but what about the many who are left unblessed?
- Drawn — the crowd came for two reasons named in the verse: to hear Him, and to be healed. He met both.
- Distinguished — the verse names two different miseries: disease, and torment by unclean spirits.
- Delivered — every spirit driven out showed that a stronger One had come. The strong man's long peace was over.
- Denied to none — He turned no one away, and all were healed, unlike healing campaigns today that leave most people unblessed.
- Not yet His — healing is one thing, faith is another. Power went out of Him, but the text does not say the crowd believed.
And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power went out from him and healed all.
The crowd around Jesus is not keeping a polite distance — it presses in, and everyone tries to touch Him. Two questions follow: where did the healing power come from, and why did touching Him work?
The healing power was not in the crowd's method. It was in the person they were reaching for. One writer says plainly where that power lived:
Luke 8:46 and 6:19: it is the power to heal that lived in Christ, and it became effective when the touch of faith was there.
This sets His miracles apart from every other display of power in the Bible:
The miracles of our Lord stand out from those of the Old Testament, and from those in Acts. He Himself stands out in the same way from the most faithful of the prophets and the other servants of the Lord. His miracles are unique. They are not only God stepping in through His servants. There is a power that belongs to Christ Himself. It is God in Him doing the works. This does not contradict in the least what our Lord says, that He did these things by the finger of God. He was always the dependent and obedient One, the perfect Servant. This veiled His own personal glory, but it did not deny it. So faith always recognizes Him not only as God's workman, but as having the power in Himself.
The crowd said nothing. They only stretched out their hands. Commentators read that silent reaching as real trust:
This effort to touch Jesus was proof of strong faith in those who looked for healing this way. The bold faith that stretched out weak hands to Him had no words at all. Yet it was real, as the Saviour knew, and He could never deny it. "He has filled the hungry with good things." The poor were weak, racked with pain, dying. They touched Him, the great Physician, trusting blindly like little children.
This scene comes right after a whole night of prayer and the choosing of the twelve disciples. One writer follows that order and reads the healing as what flows from it:
First we see Him all night in prayer to God. Then we trace some of this work: He chooses the twelve and links them with the outflow of grace. He comes down and stands with them on the level ground. A great crowd came round to hear Him and to find healing for their diseases. Then the new wine flows out. "All the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him." How we linger over such a moment, drinking the new wine that gladdens the heart as we watch the exquisite tenderness of grace! Power went out of Him and healed them all.
The verse says the power healed them all. It does not say they became His followers:
His miracles and their own needs draw the great crowd. They come to hear Him and to be healed. The company of the disciples were an inner circle. "All the crowd sought to touch him." Scripture does not say that they were converted, which is another thing. But living power went out of Him, healing their bodily misery and delivering them from the power of Satan.
The scale of it is the point. Every last person who reached Him got what they came for, and one writer draws a blunt comparison with modern claims:
The Lord coming down to the plain in verse 17 is a picture of His coming to bless the earth at the start of the Millennium. It is only a glimpse. The blessing was on a large scale. All sought only to touch Him, for this alone secured healing, because power went out from Him. None were denied: all were healed. What a contrast to the boasted healing campaigns that men (and women) who claim to be Christian run today! If two or three seem to be healed, there is loud advertising. But what about the many who are left with no blessing?
- Source. The power was not borrowed. It "lived in Christ" Himself, unlike the miracles worked through prophets and apostles.
- Contact. That power "became effective when the touch of faith was there" — wordless, weak-handed reaching still counted as real faith.
- Overflow. The healing follows a night of prayer and the choosing of the twelve. Grace flows out of the One who came down and stood among them.
- Limit. He healed every body, but Scripture never says the crowd was converted. The disciples around Him were a different, inner circle.
- Scope. "None were denied: all were healed" — a completeness that today's healing campaigns cannot show, and a test for their claims.