Luke 5

Jesus calls His first disciples through a miraculous catch of fish, then heals a leper and a paralyzed man, showing His power over disease and sin. He calls Levi the tax collector and eats with sinners, and answers questions about fasting with the pictures of a wedding feast, a patch and new wine. Throughout, Jesus welcomes the unworthy and brings something new.

Luke 5:1-3

Crowds press so close to hear God’s word that Jesus steps into Simon’s boat and teaches from just off the shore. The tired fishermen are washing their nets. Jesus uses an ordinary working boat as His pulpit, and He is about to enter Simon’s life as well.

BSA: pressing in (“pushing, laying upon”): The people were eager and crowding, hungry for what Jesus said.

See also: Matthew 4:18-22.

Luke 5:4-5

Jesus tells expert fishermen to fish again, in deep water, after a fruitless night. Simon objects honestly, yet obeys. His reason is simple: Jesus has said so. Faith here is not a feeling but doing what Jesus says, even when experience argues against it.

BSA: Master (“Teacher, one who guides and instructs”): Simon already treats Jesus as one whose instruction deserves obedience. because You say so (“at Your word, according to Your command”): His obedience rests on Jesus’ word alone, not on his own judgment.

Greek: Ἐπιστάτα (Epistata, G1988) — “master, overseer.” Luke alone uses this word for Jesus. It speaks of someone placed over you, whose orders you follow, which fits Simon’s obedient answer.

Luke 5:6-7

The result is far beyond what the nets and boats can hold. Nets begin to tear, partners must be called, and both boats nearly sink. Jesus’ word brings abundance that one person cannot manage alone, and it draws others into the work.

BSA: partners (“associates, fellow workers”): These men shared in the business, and they will soon share in the calling as well.

Luke 5:8-10

Seeing Jesus’ power, Simon sees himself as he is. He does not ask for more fish. He begs the Lord to depart because he is sinful. Jesus does not leave. He says, Do not be afraid, and gives Simon a new work: bringing people in.

BSA: sinful (“guilty, wicked”): Simon’s cry is about his moral condition, not just his weakness or tiredness. catch (“capture alive, gather”): Catching people means gathering them alive for life, not harming them.

Greek: ζωγρῶν (zōgrōn, G2221) — “catching alive.” The word means to take alive. Fish die when caught, but the people Simon will gather are brought into life.

See also: Isaiah 6:5.

Luke 5:11

After the greatest catch of their lives, they leave it all and follow Jesus. The miracle did not tie them to their business. It showed them that Jesus was worth more than everything they had.

BSA: left (“forsook, gave up”): They truly let go of their livelihood rather than simply adding Jesus to it.

Luke 5:12

A man covered with leprosy, who by the law lived apart from others, falls on his face before Jesus. He does not doubt Jesus’ power. He wonders only about His willingness, and he asks humbly.

BSA: willing (“if it is Your desire, if You wish”): He trusts Jesus’ power and leaves the decision to Jesus’ heart.

See also: Leviticus 13:45-46.

Luke 5:13

Jesus touches the man, something the law counted as making a person unclean, and answers his question directly: I am willing. The disease leaves at once. The touch shows tenderness, and the word shows authority.

BSA: touched (“made physical contact with, showing intimacy”): The man had probably not been touched in years, so this touch said that he was welcome.

Luke 5:14

Jesus sends the man to the priest, as the law of Moses required, so that his healing could be officially confirmed and he could return to normal life. The offering would be a public witness that God had acted.

See also: Leviticus 14:1-32.

Luke 5:15-16

Jesus’ fame grows and crowds gather, but He does not live for the crowd. He often slips away to lonely places to pray. His strength for public ministry comes from private time with the Father.

BSA: frequently (“often, as a regular practice”): Prayer was Jesus’ steady habit, not an occasional act.

Greek: ὑποχωρῶν (hypochōrōn, G5298) — “withdrawing, going quietly aside.” The form of the verb suggests a repeated habit, so Jesus kept stepping away again and again to pray.

See also: Mark 1:35.

Luke 5:17

Religious leaders have come from all over to watch Jesus. Luke notes that the Lord’s power was present to heal. The scene is set for a clash between those who sit and judge and those who come needing help.

BSA: power (“miraculous ability”): The healing is God’s own power at work, not a human skill.

Luke 5:18-19

Four friends will not let a crowd stop them. They carry their paralyzed friend up onto the roof, make an opening in the tiles, and lower him to Jesus’ feet. Their determination shows how much they believed Jesus could help.

BSA: lowered (“let him down, brought him down”): They went to great and costly lengths to put him right in front of Jesus.

Luke 5:20

Jesus sees the faith of the men, and He first speaks to the man’s deepest need: Your sins are forgiven. The man’s deepest problem was not his legs. Jesus calls him Friend, with great kindness.

BSA: forgiven (“released, left behind, sent away”): Sin is pictured as a burden sent away from the person. faith (“trust, confidence in God”): Their faith was shown in their action, as they trusted Jesus enough to go to great lengths.

Greek: ἀφέωνταί (apheōntai, G863) — “have been forgiven, sent away.” The form suggests the forgiveness is already complete. The sins are sent away and stay gone.

Luke 5:21

The scribes and Pharisees reason correctly that only God can forgive sins. Where they go wrong is in not recognizing who stands before them. Their charge of blasphemy unknowingly points to the question of who Jesus really is.

BSA: blasphemy (“evil words against God, slander”): They think Jesus is dishonoring God by claiming a power that belongs to God alone.

See also: Isaiah 43:25.

Luke 5:22-24

Jesus knows their unspoken thoughts. Anyone can say words of forgiveness, since no one can see whether they work. So He gives a visible sign, healing the man, to prove that He has real authority to forgive sins on earth.

BSA: authority (“power, dominion”): Jesus claims the right, not just the ability, to forgive. Son of Man (“the Messiah, God’s representative”): This was Jesus’ favorite title for Himself, pointing to the one given rule by God.

See also: Daniel 7:13-14.

Luke 5:25-26

The man rises at once, carries off the mat that had carried him, and goes home praising God. The crowd is stunned and fearful in the right way. They know they have seen God at work.

BSA: awe (“fear, reverence”): The crowd felt the holy respect people have when God draws near.

Luke 5:27-28

Tax collectors were hated as traitors who worked for Rome and often took more than they should. Jesus calls one, Levi, with two words: Follow Me. Levi rises, leaves his lucrative business, and goes. Jesus calls whom others reject.

BSA: left (“abandoned, forsook”): Levi walked away from his income, and he could not easily return to it.

See also: Matthew 9:9.

Luke 5:29-30

Levi celebrates by giving a banquet and inviting his own circle, tax collectors and others looked down on by the religious. Jesus sits and eats with them. The Pharisees complain, since sharing a table meant acceptance and friendship.

BSA: complained (“murmured, expressed disapproval”): The word suggests a low grumbling, kept at a distance from Jesus Himself.

Luke 5:31-32

Jesus answers with a plain picture: a doctor goes to the sick. He came to call sinners to repentance, which means a real turning to God. His words invite anyone who knows they need healing, and they challenge those who think they do not.

BSA: repentance (“a change of heart, turning from sin to God”): Jesus welcomes sinners in order to change them, not to leave them as they are.

Greek: μετάνοια (metanoia, G3341) — “change of mind, turning.” It means more than regret. It is a new way of thinking that leads to a changed direction of life.

See also: 1 Timothy 1:15.

Luke 5:33-35

People ask why Jesus’ disciples feast while others fast. Jesus compares Himself to a bridegroom at a wedding, a time for joy. Fasting would fit when He is taken away. This quietly points ahead to His death.

BSA: bridegroom (“the groom, husband”): Jesus takes a role the Old Testament gave to God Himself, which fits His claim to be more than a teacher.

See also: Isaiah 62:5.

Luke 5:36-39

Two pictures show that Jesus brings something new that cannot simply be patched onto old ways. A new patch ruins an old coat, and new wine bursts old stiff wineskins. The last verse warns how easily people prefer what is familiar, even when God brings something fresh.

BSA: new (“fresh, recently created”): What Jesus brings is truly fresh and does not fit into the old pattern. wineskins (“leather bags, containers for wine”): Skins stretched as new wine fermented, but old, hardened skins would burst.

See also: 2 Corinthians 5:17.