Comments on Luke 5 v1-11 Jesus is doing some lakeside teaching when the crowd gets to be too much (v. 1). He sees some nearby fishermen washing their nets on shore (v. 2). He gets into a fisherman's boat and has him push off a bit to give him some room, and continues teaching (v. 3). When the sermon is over, Jesus has the fisherman, Simon, shove off to do some fishing (v. 4). Simon complains they've been fishing all night without a single catch, but at his bidding they will try again (v. 5). At this point Jesus apparently is back on shore and they leave him to fish. They go back to fishing and end up catching so many fish the nets begin to break so a second boat is summoned (v. 6). That boat and the second end up about ready to sink from the weight of the catch (v. 7). When they get back to shore Simon falls down at Jesus' feet because of the obvious miracle and confesses he is a sinner and unworthy to be in Jesus' presence (v. 8). All of the fishermen are stunned (v. 9), including two named James and John. Jesus says to them that they shouldn't be afraid and that from now own they will be fishing for people and not fish (v. 10). From that point on they, presumably the three identified by name, leave their fishing and follow Jesus. v5 Simon complains using practical logic, but he suspends his disbelief obviously considering Jesus to be more than just a teacher. v11 John and Simon came into contact previously with Jesus during John Baptist's ministry, cf. John 1:35-42. They must have been separated during Jesus' 40 days fast in the wilderness and his various travels, so now Jesus comes to recall them to the ministry. As they were connected to John Baptist's ministry, his group of disciples may also have been somewhat fractured with his imprisonment and subsequent execution. v12-16 Here we have Luke commenting upon one particular healing of a leprous person (v. 12-14), and the general impact healings such as this are having on Jesus' ministry (v. 15-16). During his travels, he comes upon a leprous man who confesses his faith to Jesus and asks him to heal him of the leprosy (v. 12). Jesus does heal him (v. 13), and instructs him to not tell people concerning the matter but only to make the requisite offering at the Temple (v. 14, cf. Lev. 13-14). However, the leper disregards Jesus' request and spreads the word around (cf. Mark 1:44). Soon after, people from all over are gathering to him to be healed (v. 15). In reaction to this he retreats from the crowds to the wilderness, choosing instead to commune with his Father in prayer (v. 16). The initial leper who is healed is humble and confesses his faith before Jesus heals him. However, as word gets out of these miraculous cures, people who have nothing on their mind except to be healed are searching him out in droves. The result is Jesus wants nothing to do with these people who are searching for physical healing only, so he avoids them by spending some time away from the towns. Jesus is not out for fame, popularity, or a personality cult, he wants spiritual converts. So when fame and popularity become a problem, he retreats. v13 Jesus permits himself to touch an unclean person. Such an act would render himself unclean according to the Law if he were not healing him. Also consider the compassion shown here by Jesus. A leper is someone who is shunned by all others, one who is loathed, cut off from society, resulting in little human contact. Jesus has compassion on the man to the point of extending himself and touching him as an act of mercy, a man who probably hadn't had physical human contact since contracting the disease. v14 "for a testimony unto them", Jesus tells the healed leper to fulfil the measure of the Law in Lev. 13:49. Jesus respects the Law and wants to see it fulfilled. But, he also wants "them" to be witnesses of the healing. The problem is we are not sure exactly who the "them" is. It is safe to assume the "them" is the Levitical Priests who would be involved in the healing, but we also have to wonder if the "they" is in reference to people in general who witnessed the miracle. The latter seems unlikely as Jesus apparently performed the miracle in relative privacy, otherwise his request to tell no one about it would be vain. Why would Jesus want the Levitical Priests to know about the healing? So they may know one is among Israel who is out to fulfil the predictions of Mal. 3:1-6. v17-25 Jesus returns to the ministry in Capernaum, after some time has passed, and word gets out he is back in public (cf. Mark 2:1). Many people gather to him, including Pharisees and teachers of the Law. Also present was the power of the Lord, so Jesus was healing people (v. 17). A man afflicted with palsy is brought to Jesus, and the only way they can get to him, because of the crowds, is to take apart the roof and let him down (v. 18- 19). Jesus is impressed with their apparent faith, and says the man's sins are forgiven (v. 20). When the Pharisees and teachers hear Jesus say such a thing, they conclude he must be blaspheming as only the Lord has authority to forgive sins (v. 21). But Jesus perceives their thoughts, and responds to them. He asks them whether it requires more authority to heal someone than to forgive sins (v. 22-23). And so they may know firsthand that he has power to both heal and forgive sins, he heals the palsied man, commanding him to take up his bed and walk. And the man does so, having been healed, and he glorifies God (v. 24-25). All of the people present are stunned at the miraculous healing and confess "We have seen remarkable things today!" (v. 26). The issue at hand here is that of authority. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law have gathered in with all of the crowds to see this much talked about Jesus. When they hear him say that a person's sin's are forgiven, they are justifiably surprised, as none can do that but the Lord. What they do not realize is Jesus is the Lord. So Jesus shows them he is not blaspheming at all by healing the man after he forgives him of his sins. Had Jesus been blaspheming, then he would not have been able to perform such a miraculous healing in the name of the Lord. Thus, Jesus, using their own words, proves in their own eyes that he is the incarnate Lord. If he were not, then they surely would have been correct in their accusation of blasphemy. Another symbolic undercurrent is that Jesus has power in earth and in heaven to heal both physically and spiritually. He heals the man's physical malady and because of his faith heals him spiritually as well. A final point to comment on is that this is Jesus' first public confrontation with the Pharisees. Nicodemus came to Jesus privately apparently on behalf of the Sanhedrin, and that did not go over well. The result is they are now actively, publicly going after Jesus. This first round is a remarkably conclusive one, which the Pharisees in general ignore. The conflict between Jesus and the two groups only gets more contentious from here on out. v17 "Galilee...Judaea...Jerusalem", word about Jesus is spreading far and wide among all of populated Judea, and people are traveling considerable distances to see him. It is safe to assume Jesus has become a well known character among all Judea at this point. v19 Their faith and convictions are strong enough to motivate them to overcome whatever obstacles are present to get this man into Jesus' presence. They know Jesus can perceive a man's faith, and so they have no fear of rejection. Jesus' reaction is obvious in the subsequent verses. v23 See the IV/JST on this verse in the footnote of the LDS edition KJV. It makes it clear the matter at hand is one of power, or in other words, authority. v25 "immediately he rose up before them", the same "immediately" we saw in v. 13. These healings performed by Jesus are presented as without any doubt miraculous. That the man rose up is indicative of him rising up from both his physical malady and symbolic of him transcending his sins. v26 "we have seen strange things today", a more literal translation provided by the AB is "we have seen things contrary to expectation". The people are seeing things that are not at all what they anticipated or can understand, further emphasizing the stunning nature of these miracles. v27-28 Jesus departs from the present setting and goes over towards the seaside with the multitude of people in tow (cf. Mark 2:13). In traveling, Jesus comes upon a Jewish toll collector named Levi sitting in the tollhouse, whom he summons to follow him. Levi, also known as Matthew, rises up and follows him. v29-39 Here we have the next installment of the Jesus vs. Pharisees battle with the Pharisees resorting to pure and simple fault-finding. In their last episode above the Pharisees had a seemingly legitimate complaint which Jesus corrected. Here, their complaint is simply pointless and is aimed at undercutting Jesus by trying to subvert his disciples. Levi makes a great feast for Jesus, and among the attendees are other toll collectors and various other people as well (v. 29). The Pharisees complain to Jesus disciples and ask why they are eating with toll collectors and sinners (v. 30). Jesus is aware of the Pharisees' complaints and responds that their ministry is to those who need to be called to repentance hence their present company (v. 31-32). Having been rebuffed, the Pharisees continue on in an effort to find fault by contrasting Jesus' disciples with those of John Baptist and the Pharisees who are outwardly seemingly more righteous (v. 33). Jesus responds that when one is with the bridegroom one rejoices with him, one does not mourn (v. 34). And the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away, then they will mourn (v. 35). Jesus, following suit with the Pharisees' lead on contrasts, goes on to contrast his gospel with the Pharisaic teachings in three parables: No one patches old clothes with new patches (v. 36), no one puts new wine in old bottle (v. 37), no one who has drunk old wine wants the new wine (v. 38). v30 "murmured against his disciples", a poor translation making sound like the Pharisees are complaining about Jesus' disciples. A better translation would be "murmured to his disciples". The Pharisees, having been rebuffed by Jesus are targeting his disciples for subversion. Apparently Jesus either overhears the Pharisees complaining to his disciples or they report to him what is going on. v31-32 Implicit in Jesus' response is that the Pharisees are doing nothing to help people repent, and is therefore calling them to repentance. They only want to keep company with people they consider "righteous", in other words, they have become elitist and self-righteous. v33 The Pharisees pick an outwardly visible activity that is easy to identify, fasting. Their implicit argument is Jesus' disciples are less righteous because they don't fast. v34-35 Jesus' response is couched in the metaphor of a wedding. He is saying that a wedding is a time to rejoice and not mourn. The underlying concept here is that fasting in the Jewish context is an act of mourning, contrition, humility, and penitence. Fasting is often connected with "sackcloth and ashes". They criticize Jesus' disciples for not fasting, and Jesus points out to them that it is not an appropriate time for fasting. Thus, their criticism based upon superficial observances is without substance. Why does Jesus use the metaphor of a wedding? Implicit in this is a clever reminder to the Pharisees that he is the Lord of the Old Testament, he is the Bridegroom spoken of by the Prophets (cf. Isa. 54:4-8, Isa. 62:4-5, Hosea 2:14-23, also cp. John 2). He proved this to them in the previous confrontation, and yet they have forgotten already. v34 "children of the bridegroom", a bad translation. A better translation would be "attendants of the bridegroom". v36-39 Playing on the Pharisees' attempt to draw contrasts, Jesus fires off three parables contrasting the new with the old. The new obviously representing Jesus' good news, and the old being the Pharisaic customs. The parables emphasize their incompatibility. If you put a patch of new material on old clothes it just makes the tear worse, so both the old and new cloth is ruined. If you put new wine in an old bottle the fermentation of the new wise will stretch the wineskin beyond capacity, as it has already been stretched to capacity the last time, and it will burst. The wine and the bottle will be wasted. Nobody who has drunk the old wine of the Pharisees will immediately like the new wine of the Gospel, they will prefer what they are used to. This last parable is the most biting of the three as it addresses not an incompatibility of doctrine or approach to religion, but the reaction of the person. Jesus is saying people who are accustomed to their ways find it difficult to change when they need to. The Pharisees have been presented with evidence and they are ignoring it in favor of the status quo. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.