Luke 5
CHAPTER 5
The call of the disciples
Now it came to pass, while the crowd pressed upon him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. 2 And he saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. And he sat down and taught the crowds out of the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon: Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. 5 And Simon answered and said: Master, we toiled all night and took nothing, but at your word I will let down the nets. 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great many fishes; and their nets were breaking. 7 And they beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus' knees, saying: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was amazed, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken. 10 And so were also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon: Fear not. From this time forward you shall catch men. 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left all and followed him.
Jesus cures a leper and a paralyzed man
12 And it came to pass, while he was in one of the cities, that there was a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, saying: Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. 13 And he stretched forth his hand and touched him, saying: I will. Be made clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him, 14 and he ordered him: Tell no one, but go your way and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing according as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. 15 However, the report went around concerning him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. 16 But he withdrew himself into the desert and prayed.
17 And it came to pass on one of those days that he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who had come out of every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 And men brought on a bed a man that was paralysed; and they sought to bring him in and to lay him before him. 19 But not finding by what way they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went to the housetop and let him down through the tiles with his couch, into the midst before Jesus. 20 And seeing their faith, he said: Man, your sins are forgiven you.
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying: Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? 22 But Jesus, perceiving their reasoning, answered and said to them: Why reason you so in your hearts? 23 Which is easier to say: Your sins are forgiven; or to say: Arise and walk? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (he said to him who was paralyzed): I say to you, arise and take up your couch and go to your house. 25 And immediately, he stood up before them, picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God; and they were filled with fear, saying: We have seen strange things today.
The need for change
27 And after these things he went and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and said to him: Follow me. 28 And he forsook all, and rose up and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and of others that were dining with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying: Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners? 31 And Jesus answering said to them: They that are in health have no need of a doctor, but they that are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
33 And they said to him: The disciples of John fast often and make supplications, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees; but your disciples eat and drink. 34 And Jesus said to them: Can you make the wedding guests fast, while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them; then will they fast, in those days.
36 And he spoke also a parable to them: No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment, else he will tear the new, and also the piece from the new will not agree with the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wine-skins, or else the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilt, and the skins will perish. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wine-skins. 39 And no one having drunk old wine immediately then desires new wine; for he says: The old is good.
Commentary
5:5 Fishermen don’t like being told by carpenters what to do; they ‘know it all’ about their trade. So Peter had to humble himself to obey Christ’s word just as we do; it goes against the grain of our natural instincts.
5:10 Success in preaching, like (in this instance) Peter’s success in fishing, comes from obeying Christ’s word, being guided by that rather than our natural instincts. We may appear fools in the eyes of men by doing so.
5:16 If Jesus needed to make time to be alone with God, so do we. It may require us to set the alarm clock 10 minutes earlier each morning.
5:20 Jesus knew they wanted a healing. But first He forgave the man’s sins- to show that physical benefit from association with Him is secondary to the forgiveness of our sins. That is our primary and greatest need.
5:31 We are the sick, in need of healing. We will therefore never be ready or good enough for God. We shouldn’t delay being baptized or not serve God because we feel we are spiritually sick. It is for us that He died.
5:35 Are we fasting because we want Jesus, the bridegroom, to return? Fasting doesn’t only mean abstaining from food; fasting means forgiving people and trying to ease the weight of the burdens they carry (Is. 58:6).
5:39 Jesus here recognizes the basic conservatism of human nature; real change is so hard for us.
