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Luke 5

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The Miraculous Catch of Fish 1–11

1
Now it came to pass, while the multitude 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 land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes out of the boat. ​
4
And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. ​
5
And Simon answered and said, Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing: but at thy word I will let down the nets. ​
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And when they had done this, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their nets were breaking;
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and they beckoned unto 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.
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But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. ​
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For he was amazed, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken;
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and so were also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. ​
11
And when they had brought their boats to land, they left all, and followed him. ​

Jesus Cleanses a Man with Leprosy 12–16

12
And it came to pass, while he was in one of the cities, behold, a man full of leprosy: and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ​
13
And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean. And straightway the leprosy departed from him. ​
14
And he charged him to tell no man: but go thy way, and show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. ​
15
But so much the more went abroad the report concerning him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed of their infirmities.
16
But he withdrew himself in the deserts, and prayed. ​

Jesus Heals a Paralytic and Claims Authority to Forgive 17–26

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And it came to pass on one of those days, that he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who were come out of every village of Galilee and Judæa and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. ​
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And behold, men bring on a bed a man that was palsied: and they sought to bring him in, and to lay him before him.
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And not finding by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and let him down through the tiles with his couch into the midst before Jesus. ​
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And seeing their faith, he said, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. ​
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And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this that speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? ​
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But Jesus perceiving their reasonings, answered and said unto them, Why reason ye in your hearts?
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Which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk? ​
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But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he said unto him that was palsied), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go unto thy house. ​
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And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his house, glorifying God.
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And amazement took hold on all, and they glorified God; and they were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to-day.

The Call of Levi (Matthew) 27–32

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And after these things he went forth, and beheld a publican, named Levi, sitting at the place of toll, and said unto him, Follow me. ​
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And he forsook all, and rose up and followed him.
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And Levi made him a great feast in his house: and there was a great multitude of publicans and of others that were sitting at meat with them. ​
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And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with the publicans and sinners? ​
31
And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are in health have no need of a physician; but they that are sick. ​
32
I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. ​

Questions About Fasting and the New Way 33–39

33
And they said unto him, The disciples of John fast often, and make supplications; likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink. ​
34
And Jesus said unto them, Can ye make the sons of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? ​
35
But the days will come; and when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then will they fast in those days. ​
36
And he spake also a parable unto them: No man rendeth a piece from a new garment and putteth it upon an old garment; else he will rend the new, and also the piece from the new will not agree with the old. ​
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And no man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine will burst the skins, and itself will be spilled, and the skins will perish. ​
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But new wine must be put into fresh wine-skins.
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And no man having drunk old wine desireth new; for he saith, The old is good. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Luke 5

Verse 1

the lake of Gennesaret — Limne, 'lake', is Luke's word for the water Matthew, Mark and John call 'the sea of Galilee' (John 6:1); Luke uses it again in 8:22–33. Gennesaret is also the land on its shore (Mark 6:53). The people 'pressed upon him to hear the word of God', and the call of the fishermen comes out of that teaching.

Verse 3

one of the ships, which was Simon's — Simon is already known in Luke: Jesus had entered his house and healed his wife's mother (Luke 4:38–39). 'Thrust out' is epanago, the verb of 'Launch out' in v.4. Jesus teaches from the boat sitting down, as he had in the synagogue (Luke 4:20), while the crowd stays on the shore.

Verse 4

Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught — 'Draught' (agra) is a catch of fish, found only here and in v.9. The sequence of a night without fish and then a word from him is repeated after the resurrection: 'that night they caught nothing', then 'Cast the net on the right side of the ship' (John 21:3–6).

Verse 5

Master, we have toiled all the night… at thy word — 'Master' is epistates, one set over others, used only in Luke, by the disciples (8:24, 45; 9:33, 49) and the ten lepers (17:13). 'Word' is rhema, a spoken word, as in Mary's 'according to thy word' (Luke 1:38). 'Toiled' is kopiao, to labour to weariness.

Verse 8

Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord — Luke gives 'Simon Peter' only here, and Simon has moved from 'Master' (v.5) to 'Lord' (kyrios). The response is Isaiah's: 'Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips… for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts' (Isa 6:5). 'Sinful' (hamartolos) is the word of v.30.

Verse 10

from henceforth thou shalt catch men — Zogreo, to take alive, occurs only here and in 2 Tim 2:26, where men are 'taken captive by him at his will'. The two 'partners' (koinonos) are James and John, the sons of Zebedee. The words 'Fear not' come from him who has just been called 'Lord' by Simon.

Verse 11

they forsook all, and followed him — 'Forsook' is aphiemi, to leave, which is also the verb of 'forgiven' in v.20. Levi does the same in v.28, 'he left all, rose up, and followed him'. Peter looks back on this in Luke 18:28, 'Lo, we have left all, and followed thee'.

Verse 12

a man full of leprosy — Only Luke says 'full of'; Matthew and Mark have 'a leper' (Matt 8:2; Mark 1:40). The leper's clothes were rent and he cried 'Unclean, unclean', dwelling alone 'without the camp' (Lev 13:45–46). He asks Jesus to 'make me clean' (katharizo), a cure the king of Israel put beyond man: 'Am I God, to kill and to make alive?' (2 Kgs 5:7).

Verse 13

I will: be thou clean — 'I will' answers the man's 'if thou wilt' in v.12 with the same verb (thelo), and 'be thou clean' repeats his own word, katharizo. The law counted the touch of uncleanness as defiling (Lev 5:3); here the leprosy 'departed' (aperchomai) from the man, and 'immediately'.

Verse 14

shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing — Leviticus 14 is 'the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing': he 'shall be brought unto the priest' (14:2), two live clean birds are taken (14:4), and offerings follow on the eighth day (14:10). 'Testimony' (martyrion) is the word of Mark 1:44. Verse 15 says that 'a fame abroad of him' still went out.

Verse 16

he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed — The Greek is a continuing form, he was withdrawing and praying, which points to a practice rather than one occasion. Luke records his prayer at his baptism (3:21), before choosing the twelve (6:12), before Peter's confession (9:18) and on the mount (9:28). Hypochoreo is used only here and in 9:10.

Verse 17

Pharisees and doctors of the law — Nomodidaskalos, teacher of the law, is used of Gamaliel (Acts 5:34) and of those 'Desiring to be teachers of the law' (1 Tim 1:7). The listeners come from Galilee, Judaea and Jerusalem. 'Power' is dynamis, the word of 'there went virtue out of him' (6:19); the Lord's power 'was present to heal them'.

Verse 19

through the tiling with his couch — Keramos, a clay tile, is found only here; Mark says 'they uncovered the roof' (Mark 2:4). Roofs were flat and used, with a battlement required by law (Deut 22:8); Peter went up on one 'to pray' (Acts 10:9). 'Let down' is kathiemi, the verb used of Paul 'let him down by the wall in a basket' (Acts 9:25). 'Couch' (klinidion) is a small bed.

Verse 20

Man, thy sins are forgiven thee — 'Their faith' is that of the bearers as well as of the man. Isaiah 43:25 has the LORD say, 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake', and the scribes' question in v.21 rests on words like these. Jesus says the same to the woman in Luke 7:48, 'Thy sins are forgiven'.

Verse 21

Who can forgive sins, but God alone? — The question states what Scripture says: 'Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity?' (Mic 7:18). 'Blasphemies' (blasphemia) is the charge raised at the trial (Mark 14:64, 'Ye have heard the blasphemy'). 'Reason' is dialogizomai, the verb of Mark 8:17 and Luke 5:22.

Verse 23

Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? — Both are said in words, and only the second can be seen. Psalm 103:3 puts the two together in the LORD's own acts, 'Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases', and Isa 33:24 says, 'the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity'.

Verse 24

the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins — This is the first use of 'Son of man' in Luke. It is Daniel's title (Dan 7:13–14), where 'there was given him dominion'. 'Power' is exousia, authority, as in Mark 11:28. The sentence turns in its middle, '(he said unto the sick of the palsy,)', to the command 'Arise, and take up thy couch'.

Verse 27

a publican, named Levi — Telones is a collector of tolls, and 'the receipt of custom' (telonion) is the tollbooth. Matthew names him Matthew (Matt 9:9), and Mark 'Levi the son of Alphaeus' (Mark 2:14). Publicans had come to John to be baptized (Luke 3:12). 'Follow me' (akoloutheo) is the verb of v.11, and in v.28 he 'left all'.

Verse 29

Levi made him a great feast in his own house — Doche, a reception feast, is found only here and in Luke 14:13, where Jesus says whom to call to such a feast. 'A great company of publicans' sat down with them. Luke 15:1 says 'all the publicans and sinners' drew near to hear him, and Zacchaeus is later 'chief among the publicans' (19:2).

Verse 30

Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? — 'Murmured' is gogguzo, the verb of Israel's complaining in the wilderness (1 Cor 10:10). 'Sinners' is hamartolos, the word Peter used of himself in v.8. The complaint is made to the disciples, not to Jesus, who answers in v.31; Luke 15:2 repeats it.

Verse 31

They that are whole need not a physician — 'Whole' is hygiaino, to be in health. The physician (iatros) is the one asked for in Jer 8:22, 'Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?' Matthew adds 'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice' (Matt 9:13). Luke is himself called 'the beloved physician' (Col 4:14).

Verse 32

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance — 'Repentance' is metanoia, a change of mind. The 'righteous' are those who take themselves to be so, as in Luke 18:9, 'trusted in themselves that they were righteous'. Luke 15:7 speaks of 'ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance', and 19:10 says he came 'to seek and to save that which was lost'.

Verse 33

Why do the disciples of John fast often — 'Often' is pyknos. The Pharisee in the parable says 'I fast twice in the week' (Luke 18:12). The one fast the law appointed was the day of affliction, 'ye shall afflict your souls' (Lev 16:29); Zech 8:19 lists four more fasts that were to become 'joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts'.

Verse 34

the children of the bridechamber… the bridegroom — The 'children of the bridechamber' are the wedding guests, and the bridegroom is Jesus himself. The picture is the LORD's own: 'as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee' (Isa 62:5). John the Baptist had said, 'He that hath the bride is the bridegroom' (John 3:29).

Verse 35

the bridegroom shall be taken away from them — Apairo, to lift away, occurs only here and in the parallels (Matt 9:15; Mark 2:20). Isaiah 53:8 says, 'He was taken from prison and from judgment'. Jesus later says, 'it is expedient for you that I go away' (John 16:7), and 'The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man' (Luke 17:22).

Verse 36

No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old — In Luke the new garment is itself cut for the patch: 'both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old'. Matthew has 'taketh from the garment' (Matt 9:16), Mark 'taketh away from the old' (Mark 2:21). 'Maketh a rent' is schizo, the verb of the temple veil 'rent in the midst' (Luke 23:45).

Verse 37

new wine into old bottles — 'Bottles' are skins (askos), as in Josh 9:4, where the Gibeonites took 'wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up'. The wine still working would 'burst' (rhegnymi) them. The 'new' of the garment is kainos, fresh in kind, and of the wine neos, young in age.

Verse 39

The old is better — Only Luke gives this saying, and the words are the drinker's own, 'for he saith'. 'Better' is chrestos, good or mellow, the word of 'he is kind unto the unthankful' (Luke 6:35) and 'my yoke is easy' (Matt 11:30). It explains why those content with the old, as in vv.30 and 33, do not 'straightway' desire the new.