Luke 5:15 tells us that news about Jesus spread quickly, so that large crowds gathered to hear him teach and to receive healing for their illnesses. The verse describes the growing reputation of Jesus after he cleansed a man with leprosy, and it shows that people were coming to him in search of both truth and physical restoration. The writer is Luke, who records this as part of his account of Jesus’s ministry in Galilee, addressed to a reader named Theophilus.
But the report concerning him spread much more, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
Luke 5:15 (WEB)
What Luke 5:15 Means
The verse begins with “the report concerning him spread much more.” The word “report” points to word of mouth: people who had seen or heard about what Jesus had done passed the story along, and it reached more and more towns. The healing of the man with leprosy was not a private matter. It became known widely, and the verse says the spreading happened “much more,” meaning faster and farther than before.
Next, the verse says “great multitudes came together to hear.” Two reasons drew the crowds: they wanted to hear his words, and they wanted to be healed. Luke puts hearing first, which reminds you that Jesus was a teacher as well as a healer, and that the people sensed something important in what he said.
Finally, the verse says the crowds came “to be healed by him of their infirmities.” The word “infirmities” means weaknesses, sicknesses, or ailments of the body. The verse describes what people hoped for and what Jesus was willing to give. It does not promise that every person in every crowd would be healed in the same way, but it shows that Jesus met real human suffering with real help.
The Context of Luke 5:15
Luke wrote his Gospel to give an orderly account of the life and work of Jesus, and his readers were likely Gentile believers who needed clear and reliable information about him. The verse comes right after the healing of a man full of leprosy, who fell before Jesus and asked to be made clean. Jesus touched him and said, “I want to. Be made clean,” and the leprosy left him at once. Jesus then told the man to show himself to the priest, which fits the law of Moses.
Read this way, Luke 5:15 is not a stray note about popularity. It explains why the crowds grew after a miracle that Jesus asked the man to keep quiet about. Even with that request, the news spread anyway, and Jesus soon withdrew to a quiet place to pray, as verse 16 tells us. The surrounding story shows that Jesus’s compassion drew people in, and that his prayer kept him close to the Father.
Key Phrases in Luke 5:15
Matthew 4:23
Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.
(WEB)
This verse describes Jesus teaching, preaching, and healing across Galilee. It shows the same pattern found in Luke 5:15, where Jesus’s teaching and his healing ministry go together and draw people to him.
Mark 1:45
But he went out, and began to proclaim it much, and to spread about the matter, so that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, but was outside in desert places: and they came to him from everywhere.
(WEB)
This verse tells of the man healed of leprosy spreading the news widely, so that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. It is a parallel account that helps you see how the reputation of Jesus grew after the cleansing of a leper.
A Short Prayer From Luke 5:15
Lord Jesus, you were moved by the crowds who came to you with their sicknesses and their hunger to hear your word. I bring you my own weakness and the weakness of the people I love. Teach me to come to you with the same trust those first listeners had. Open my ears to your teaching, and heal what needs healing in my body, my heart, and my relationships. Draw me close to you as you drew them, and let my life point others toward your goodness. Amen.
