Luke 5

Luke 5:8-26

8-11 Compare Matthew 4:19-22; Mark 1:20.

11 This is the marvelous manner in which He recalls them. In a few minutes He gives them a preview of the mission which they are to fill, and then summons them to go fishing with Him. Henceforth they will catch men.

12-14 Compare Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-44.

12 What a series of striking contrasts do we see in this scene! A loathsome leper with a vigorous and wholesome spirit, which does not doubt the Lord’s ability, yet leaves Him to work His will. Whoever should touch him would be defiled and unclean. Instead, the One Who touches him not only remains undefiled but cleanses the leper! The priests should have hearkened to the prophet like Moses. Instead they are given the testimony of an outcast! The cleansing of a leper included a beautiful type of the death and resurrection of Christ (Lev.14). Two birds were taken, one was killed and the other, dipped in its blood, was set free to fly into the heavens. Besides this, the priest must offer various sacrifices and anoint his ear and hand and foot and head with oil, a symbol of the spirit. This erstwhile leper must have made good use of this timely opportunity to testify to the priests at Jerusalem, during the days of his cleansing.

15-16 Compare Mark 1:45. 17-26 Compare Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12.

17 The fame of the Lord must have been very great at this time to gather so large and so representative a throng. Galilee alone had over two hundred villages, according to Josephus, and we may suppose that Judea had at least half as many. It is notable that, though He did not go about in Judea as He did in Galilee, the Judeans came to Him.

18 There is nothing unusual in the setting of this scene for an Oriental. To let down a bed through the steep roofs usually found in the West would be a feat in itself. But Eastern houses had flat roofs with battlements, easily accessible, often by a staircase on the side, and a place of continual resort. The roofing was readily removed, and this was often done in taking a corpse out of the house, for they had a superstitious fear of carrying a dead man through the doors.

20 A well man could hardly have pressed his way into the presence of the Lord in such a crowd, so what could a poor paralytic do? But the faith of the friends was far from paralyzed. It was very vigorous, indeed. It was manifested by their act. And it was this faith, rather than the pitiable paralysis of the patient, that challenged the attention of the Lord. Such faith was far more than sufficient for the healing of his body.

So He ignores his paralysis and addresses Himself to its cause. Disease is the result of sin. This is true racially rather than individually. As individuals, our sufferings are not confined to the result of our own sins, but spring from the most complex combinations of heredity and environment. In the kingdom health will be an effect, not a cause, and the basis will be the pardon of sins. The lesser is included in the greater.

24 Pardon is executive clemency based on authority. Only a high government official can pardon. Sin can be pardoned only by God and the One to Whom He delegates this authority. His mastery of paralysis proves that He can pardon sins. This proclaims Him the Son of Mankind, the coming One Who can banish both sin and sickness from the earth. This will not be fully accomplished until the final consummation.

Luke 5:27-6

21-28 Compare Matthew 9:9; Mark 2:13-14.

21 Human wisdom and expedience would have urged our Lord to choose for His apostles men of the highest character and reputation. Instead, He chooses those that were despised and abhorred. Not without cause were the collectors of revenue for Rome hated for their traitorous occupation and extortionate greed. John the baptist, in telling them to assess no more than what had been prescribed (313), pointed out their most reprehensible practice. They collected far in excess of the government’s requirements and kept the balance themselves. This opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow-countrymen was the only motive which could tempt a Jew into this hated occupation.

They were always classed with sinners. Our Lord does not seek to cover His call of Levi, or Matthew, as he is usually named. He goes right to the tribute office and takes him from his work. He does not wait until He can meet him elsewhere, or until he changes his occupation, or has been put on probation. It is evident that He wishes to impress the people with the fact that He came to call the unrighteous and sinners, in order to magnify God’s love and mercy rather than His justice.

29-82 Compare Matthew 9:10-13; Mark 2:15-11.

31 What subtle irony there is in these words! The Pharisees and scribes were foully diseased within in spite of their pious appearance. Yet their ailment was like some insidious plague that deadens the nerves to its presence. The truth remains, the Lord could not call those who thought themselves whole, however serious their real condition.

33-35 Compare Matthew 9:14-15; Mark 2:18-20.

33 How little did they realize the privilege of His presence! Not even John, let alone the Pharisees, could provide a spiritual banquet. Why should they have a physical feast?

36 Compare Matthew 9:16; Mark 2:21. 37-39 Compare Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22.

36 The Pharisees were trying to patch up their old cloak by tearing apiece from His new one. Their old skin bottles were empty and decayed. They had no joy and the forms which once contained it had become corrupted and decayed. The wine the Lord gave them was full of cheer and gladness, and could not find expression in fasting and asceticism. All this was said, doubtless, at the reception of Levi, to defend the feasting and the joy, and to dispel the gloom which they sought to cast over it.

1-5 Compare Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Deuteronomy 23:25:.

1 The somewhat enigmatical word second-first in the Greek has proved so inexplicable that many texts have omitted it, and few editors retain it. Many explanations have been offered, but most of them are based on conjecture. The solution seems simple. The Jews had several sabbaths besides the seventh day of the week. The fifteenth and the twenty-first of Nisan were sabbaths, being the first and last days of the festival of Unleavened Bread. When the weekly sabbath came on the sixteenth, two sabbaths would come together, one a “great day” (John 19:31) , and the next an ordinary sabbath.

To distinguish the fifteenth-sixteenth sabbath from the double sabbath a week later it was called the first, and to distinguish the second day from the first it was called the second-first (Leviticus 23:6:8). This was probably the day of His resurrection.

2 According to the law , the disciples had a perfect right to pluck the ears and eat them, though this is not legal in the Western world. The Pharisees do not object to that, but to the act of rubbing, which they interpreted as work unlawful on the sabbath day. If we tear off the mask, we shall find that they were breaking the law, not the disciples. It was probably the festival of Unleavened Bread. The disciples eating the grain as it came from the stalks, certainly ate unleavened bread! But, in the spiritual realm, hypocrisy is leaven (Luke 12:1), and they were guilty of hypocrisy, they were using leaven, at the very beginning of the feast, which was unlawful!

3 Though the disciples had committed no breach of the law, what if they had? The priests labor in the temple, David ate before God (1 Samuel 21:1-6), and they were in the presence of the Lord of the Sabbath HImself. If He is not offended, why should they be?

6-11 Compare Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6.