The Gospel of Luke
Chapter 5
Jesus has established that His ministry is one of redemption, the reclamation of humanity. He has clarified all this in His own mind and has met and mastered the greatest temptation possible. He has confirmed His great power in localized miracles, but now it is time for Him to pursue His public ministry—He must make Himself known to the world at large.
Jesus Shows His Power—Luke 5:1-16
Luke identifies the Sea of Galilee as the Lake of Gennesaret, a more Gentile designation. From the other Gospels, it seems that Peter, Andrew, James and John had followed Jesus somewhat, but had not wholeheartedly committed to a life of discipleship. Here, they certainly know Jesus and Peter is willing to put his boat at Jesus’ disposal—especially since he believes he is finished with it for the day. Jesus backed off from the shore so that His teaching would be heard by many—the sound traveling over the water to the crowds on the shore.
Jesus’ teaching here is not recorded for us—the point is what happens next. Jesus urged Peter to go farther out, to the deep water, and drop the nets for a catch. Peter objected that the entire night was fruitless to them. Unspoken are his objections to daytime fishing in this way—the shadow of the boats will scare the fish away and the net can be seen in daylight, while in the night the fish can be netted before they are alarmed. To appease Jesus, though, Peter agreed to string his nets again. The result was dramatic. The catch was so large that the nets were beginning to part and the sheer weight of the fish began to swamp the boats. Peter’s response to this was equally dramatic: he fell at Jesus’ knees (He was knee-deep in fish!) and urged Jesus to leave him as a “sinful man.” The term “sinful” is somewhat elastic in the New Testament. Sometimes it means truly wicked, but often it means, “irreligious, not much interested in spiritual things.” In this case, Peter seems to consider himself not worthy of Jesus’ attention because he has never been a particularly pious man.
The amazingly large harvest of fish stunned all the fishermen, including James and John who are identified as Simon’s “partners.” The Lord’s response is meant to encourage Peter. He calls on him to stop being afraid and realize that from this day forward, Peter will be “catching alive” men instead of fish. The four pulled their boats up on the shore and from that day began to follow Jesus exclusively. The power of the Lord over the elements of nature confirmed to their minds that He really is more than ordinary and that “Lord” is exactly the right way to address Him!
Shortly after that event, Jesus was in one of the numerous small towns that clustered around the Sea of Galilee and the region of Capernaum. His custom was to preach and teach in the various locations (Luke 4:44), so He would naturally continue to move from place to place. Here, though, He met a leper, a man suffering from some kind of skin disease that may (but not necessarily) have been true leprosy, a terrifying condition. Perhaps the man had heard reports of Jesus’ healings in Capernaum. At any rate, He begged Jesus to heal him and Jesus declared His willingness to do exactly that. In compassion, Jesus touched the man and healed him instantly. Jesus’ command to the man was to fulfill the requirements of the Law: to show himself to the priests for judgment and then to offer the required sacrifices as proof to all that he had been healed and was actually cleansed. However, the report about Jesus spread all over and great crowds came to Him to listen and to be healed of all kinds of sicknesses. Still, Jesus distanced Himself from the demands and spent time in solitary prayer. And this seems to have continued for a time .
Jesus’ Actions Stir Opposition—Luke 5:17-39
Luke opens the next phase with a vague “one day” reference. He does not intend to follow a carefully chronological timetable; he expects to show Jesus’ nature and accomplishment to Theophilus. Here, he notes that Jesus is teaching while Pharisees and teachers of the law, representing several factions from around Galilee, Judea and the city of Jerusalem, had come to sit and watch and listen. At this time, Jesus’ power to heal was on display.
Some men brought a paralyzed friend to be healed, but they couldn’t pass through the crowd clustered at the door of the house. Not to be turned away, they scrambled up the outside stairway to the roof where they opened the roof (probably setting aside tiles, then digging the dirt and stick roof aside until they had a good-sized opening). They lowered the man into the house and put him right in front of Jesus. On the strength of the entire party’s faith, Jesus pronounced the man’s sins forgiven. This reflected the widespread belief that people earned their suffering by their bad conduct. In the Old Testament, God had made it plain that if Israel obeyed Him, they would be blessed; if they disobeyed, they would be cursed. To many people of the time, personal difficulties meant the presence of sin and, therefore, God’s wrath. If the man’s sins were truly forgiven, he would be restored to health.
To speak this so plainly scandalized the Pharisees since only God could forgive sins! They considered Jesus’ words presumptuous and, therefore, blasphemy. They correctly concluded that only God could forgive sins, yet rejected the logical extension of that thought: if Jesus could forgive sins, then He is Divine! Jesus knew full well what they were thinking (even without supernatural ability, He must have seen their shock written on their faces!). He asked them a question of reasoning. Which is easier to say—“Your sins are forgiven”? That might be true, but it would not be seen by the witnesses! Or would it be easier to say, “Get up and walk?” The proof of that command would be seen if the man actually got up and walked! The conclusion Jesus pointed toward is clear: if He can do the more difficult thing (actually make the man walk!), He has power also to do the easier thing (declare sins forgiven). He gave the command and the man got up and walked. Everybody else was amazed and praised God and realized that they had seen something absolutely unusual.
After this, Jesus called Levi (Matthew) to follow Him as a disciple and Levi left his job at the tax collection station and came with Jesus. We often overlook how great a sacrifice this was: Peter, James and John could always return to fishing, but Matthew had no other life except to follow Jesus. In his joy, he invited others to his home for a meal and an introduction to Jesus. Again, this scandalized the Pharisees because to eat with someone implied full acceptance of the character and actions of the dinner guests—and these guests were icky! But Jesus rightly pointed out that they needed Him and so He went for them.
Not satisfied at all with Jesus’ religious practices, these Pharisees demanded of Jesus’ disciples why others fasted often—disciples of John and of Pharisees, for instance—while the followers of Jesus offered no such affliction to themselves. Jesus answered for the disciples here and declared that just as a bridegroom’s friends don’t fast during the wedding celebration, His followers were filled with joy while He was with them. He darkly hinted at a future time when they would fast, and then told a parable in two parts. New cloth sewed to an old garment would tear it to pieces, and new wine placed in old wineskins would burst the inflexible leather. The thought is that this new covenant with God through Jesus Christ cannot in any way be contained in the old covenant observances. And sadly, those who have placed their lives and conduct in the observance of the old covenant will not find the new covenant congenial to their sensibilities. They would prefer something more familiar even though it is inadequate. From the earliest days of Jesus’ ministry, opposition to Him was forming.