Reflections on Luke 5

 

Luke 05 (Contemporary English Version)

1. Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, teaching the people as they crowded around him to hear God's message.
   
2. Near the shore he saw two boats left there by some fishermen who had gone to wash their nets.
   
3. Jesus got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to row it out a little way from the shore. Then Jesus sat down in the boat to teach the crowd.
   
4. When Jesus had finished speaking, he told Simon, "Row the boat out into the deep water and let your nets down to catch some fish."
   
5. "Master," Simon answered, "we have worked hard all night long and have not caught a thing. But if you tell me to, I will let the nets down."
   
6. They did it and caught so many fish that their nets began ripping apart.
   
7. Then they signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. The men came, and together they filled the two boats so full that they both began to sink.
   
8. When Simon Peter saw this happen, he knelt down in front of Jesus and said, "Lord, don't come near me! I am a sinner."
   
9. Peter and everyone with him were completely surprised at all the fish they had caught.
   
10. His partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were surprised too. Jesus told Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you will bring in people instead of fish."
    
11. The men pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything and went with Jesus.
    
12. Jesus came to a town where there was a man who had leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he knelt down to the ground in front of Jesus and begged, "Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to."
    
13. Jesus put his hand on him and said, "I want to! Now you are well." At once the man's leprosy disappeared.
    
14. Jesus told him, "Don't tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest. Offer a gift to the priest, just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed."
    
15. News about Jesus kept spreading. Large crowds came to listen to him teach and to be healed of their diseases.
    
16. But Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray.
    
17. One day some Pharisees and experts in the Law of Moses sat listening to Jesus teach. They had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. God had given Jesus the power to heal the sick,
    
18. and some people came carrying a crippled man on a mat. They tried to take him inside the house and put him in front of Jesus.
    
19. But because of the crowd, they could not get him to Jesus. So they went up on the roof, where they removed some tiles and let the mat down in the middle of the room.
    
20. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the crippled man, "My friend, your sins are forgiven."
    
21. The Pharisees and the experts began arguing, "Jesus must think he is God! Only God can forgive sins."
    
22. Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said, "Why are you thinking that?
    
23. Is it easier for me to tell this crippled man that his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up and walk?
    
24. But now you will see that the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins here on earth." Jesus then said to the man, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk home."
    
25. At once the man stood up in front of everyone. He picked up his mat and went home, giving thanks to God.
    
26. Everyone was amazed and praised God. What they saw surprised them, and they said, "We have seen a great miracle today!"
    
27. Later, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the place for paying taxes. Jesus said to him, "Come with me."
    
28. Levi left everything and went with Jesus.
    
29. In his home Levi gave a big dinner for Jesus. Many tax collectors and other guests were also there.
    
30. The Pharisees and some of their teachers of the Law of Moses grumbled to Jesus' disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with those tax collectors and other sinners?"
    
31. Jesus answered, "Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do.
    
32. I didn't come to invite good people to turn to God. I came to invite sinners."
    
33. Some people said to Jesus, "John's followers often pray and go without eating, and so do the followers of the Pharisees. But your disciples never go without eating or drinking."
    
34. Jesus told them, "The friends of a bridegroom don't go without eating while he is still with them.
    
35. But the time will come when he will be taken from them. Then they will go without eating."
    
36. Jesus then told them these sayings: No one uses a new piece of cloth to patch old clothes. The patch would shrink and make the hole even bigger.
    
37. No one pours new wine into old wineskins. The new wine would swell and burst the old skins. Then the wine would be lost, and the skins would be ruined.
    
38. New wine must be put only into new wineskins.
    
39. No one wants new wine after drinking old wine. They say, "The old wine is better."
    

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    Through the accounts of this chapter we see Jesus establishing His authority as well as His identity as God. In particular, His was showing His authority to call disciples to follow Him, to bring spiritual cleansing, and to forgive sin. It was through His teaching and demonstration of the miraculous that He sought to do this.

    
    

    Why would men who had only a passing acquaintence with Jesus give up their livelihood to follow Him fulltime? It was because they heard His authoritative teaching and saw His amazing works. In the case of Peter, James, and John, who were present at Lake Gennesaret when Jesus spoke to a large crowd pressing in on Him so much that He commandeered these fishermen's boat to use as a speaking platform. After they had heard His teaching, Jesus told them to cast their nets into the deep water of the lake for a catch of fish. He knew they had already fished this area all night without luck, which they mentioned when He told them to cast their nets. Peter's response is one from which to learn. Jesus' instructions didn't make sense to him when they had already fished the area all night and now that it was daytime fishing would be even harder. But he simply said to Jesus, "at Your word, I'll let down the nets." (5:5) Obedience does not require understanding, nor does faith. 

    
    

    Understanding is not requisite to either faith or obedience. Understanding is too often a barrier to both. Much of what we are instructed to do by God will be beyond our understanding or perspective. This is not necessarily because what He asks is too complex for us, but rather that it is outside our paradigm of thinking. We will miss much of what God has for us if we insist on understanding before responding obediently and by faith. On the basis of Jesus' miracle in producing more fish than their nets or boats could handle, these three fishermen were ready to leave "everything, and follow" Jesus when He said to them, "From now on you will be catching people!" (5:10) 

    
    

    The next two miracles described in this chapter address two additional aspects of Jesus' authority. The first of these two was the healing of a man with a serious skin disease. It was possibly leprosy. This was a condition for which the Mosaic law required strict segregation of the inflicted person since they were considered ceremonially unclean. When Jesus healed the man he did something the Jews rarely saw done with a skin disease. He not only healed the man, however, but also made him clean, a fact he then told the man to have verified by the priests. So Jesus' authority was then stretched to cleansing, signifying that He could bring cleansing to the nation of Israel.

    
    

    In the second of these two miracles Jesus established His authority over sin. The healing of a paralytic man brought to Jesus through the roof of a house in which Jesus was speaking is one of the better known of Jesus' miracles. As miracles go, this one was no more spectacular than any of His others. What was signifcant about the occasion was His forgiveness of the man's sin. It was also the issue that raised the ire of the religious leaders. They mostly ignored the healing but gave great attention to Jesus' statement about forgiveness. The scribes and Pharisees correctly attributed forgiveness of sin to God: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (5:21) This, of course, was Jesus' point. But if Jesus was making unfounded claims about Himself, which would be easier to get by with, a claim to heal a person or a claim to forgive their sin? Obviously, the claim to forgive sin would be easier to get by with since there was no outward evidence (except for a changed life which would take time to verify).  By verifying His claim to heal by healing the man, Jesus also verified His authority to forgive sin.

    
    

    Jesus' final act told of in this chapter not only spoke to His authority but also to the focus of His ministry - the spiritual and social outcasts. When the religious leaders criticized Jesus for eating at Levi's house with other tax collectors, Jesus told the religious leaders, "The healthy don't need a doctor, but the sick do." Therefore, He had come not to call "the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The religious leaders were concerned to associate only with those they considered well spiritually. He might have said, "I'll leave the spiritually healthy to you. My concern is for those who are sick spiritually." He would not have said this either, for He accused them later of being blind leaders of the blind. Neither were they spiritually healthy, but they were blind to this fact. If we are truly followers of Jesus, we too will be concerned for those who need spiritual healing.

    
    

    Many among those in the crowds following Jesus at that time were curiosity seekers. They were not as concerned about His true identity or authority as about the physical healing He could provide them. This dynamic has changed little over the centuries. Many in the present day crowds who carry the label "Jesus follower" (or Christian) also miss the point of Jesus' agenda. They are more concerned for His physical healing while His greatest concern is spiritual healing.