Luke 5
1 Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.
2 He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.”
6 When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking.
7 They beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”
9 For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken;
10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.”
11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.
12 While he was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face, and begged him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”
13 He stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately the leprosy left him.
14 He commanded him to tell no one, “But go your way, and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing according to what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”
15 But the report concerning him spread much more, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
16 But he withdrew himself into the desert, and prayed.
17 On one of those days, he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was with him to heal them.
18 Behold, men brought a paralyzed man on a cot, and they sought to bring him in to lay before Jesus.
19 Not finding a way to bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and let him down through the tiles with his cot into the middle before Jesus.
20 Seeing their faith, he said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
22 But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, answered them, “Why are you reasoning so in your hearts?
23 Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you;’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk?’
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, arise, and take up your cot, and go to your house.”
25 Immediately he rose up before them, and took up that which he was lying on, and departed to his house, glorifying God.
26 Amazement took hold on all, and they glorified God. They were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”
27 After these things he went out, and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and said to him, “Follow me.”
28 He left everything, and rose up and followed him.
29 Levi made a great feast for him in his house. There was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining with them.
30 Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do.
32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
33 They said to him, “Why do John’s disciples often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink?”
34 He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?
35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days.”
36 He also told a parable to them. “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old garment, or else he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
37 No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.
39 No man having drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
Luke 5 Commentary
Chapter Overview
Luke 5 shows Jesus calling people into a life reshaped by his authority and grace. At the lake of Gennesaret, an unsuccessful night of fishing becomes a revelation of his power. Simon Peter responds not with pride over the catch but with awareness of his sin, and Jesus answers his fear with a new vocation: he will now gather people for God.
The chapter then follows Jesus into situations involving impurity, disability, social rejection, and religious controversy. He cleanses a man suffering from leprosy, forgives and heals a paralyzed man, and calls the tax collector Levi. In each scene, Jesus does more than relieve an immediate problem. He restores people and reveals authority central to God’s saving work.
Opposition also becomes visible. Scribes and Pharisees question Jesus’ forgiveness of sins, his fellowship with tax collectors, and his disciples’ lack of regular fasting. Jesus does not dismiss holiness, repentance, or spiritual discipline. He explains that his presence changes the situation: the physician has come for the sick, and the bridegroom is with his guests.
Luke 5 therefore joins grace and discipleship. Jesus approaches those considered unclean or disreputable, yet his call is not permission to remain unchanged. Peter leaves his boats, Levi leaves his tax station, sinners are called to repentance, and familiar religious patterns must yield to the person and mission of Christ.
Key Themes
The lake of Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Jesus uses Simon’s boat as a place to teach, then tells experienced fishermen to return to deep water after a fruitless night. Simon honestly reports their failure but acts “at your word.” The catch begins with trust in Jesus’ command rather than confidence in favorable conditions.
The miraculous catch is not a formula promising material success whenever someone obeys. Its purpose is to reveal Jesus and prepare the disciples for their calling. The overflowing boats show abundance beyond human ability, but the lasting result is not a profitable business. The fishermen leave the catch behind to follow the One who provided it.
Peter falls at Jesus’ knees and confesses that he is sinful, as people elsewhere in Scripture become conscious of their unworthiness before divine holiness. Jesus answers, “Don’t be afraid,” and gives him a mission. Grace does not deny Peter’s confession; it prevents sin and shame from having the final word.
The phrase translated “catching people alive” suggests taking alive rather than killing. Ordinary fishing brings fish from life to death, but the disciples will gather people into life under God’s reign. The image does not authorize manipulation or coercion. Simon, James, and John leave everything because loyalty to Jesus now outranks possessions and previous plans.
The man in verse 12 is described as “full of leprosy.” Biblical leprosy can refer to several serious skin conditions, not only modern Hansen’s disease. Such conditions carried social and ceremonial consequences. Jesus touches the man, yet impurity does not overcome him; his holiness moves outward, cleansing and restoring the sufferer.
Jesus directs the healed man to the priest and to the offering commanded by Moses in Leviticus 14. The examination would publicly confirm his cleansing and restored status. Jesus is not treating the law with contempt. Soon afterward, as his reputation grows, he withdraws to deserted places to pray, showing that communion with the Father remains essential amid urgent need.
Pharisees and teachers of the law arrive from a wide area, signaling growing attention. The Pharisees sought faithfulness to the law and to traditions intended to guard it, but here their reasoning fails to recognize Jesus’ authority. Meanwhile, the paralyzed man’s friends refuse to let a crowded house stop them and lower him through the roof into Jesus’ presence.
Jesus sees “their faith,” including the visible trust of those carrying the man and possibly his own trust as well. Their faith is not a force that obligates Jesus. It is reliance expressed through persistent action and directed toward the person who has authority to help.
Jesus first announces that the man’s sins are forgiven. The passage does not teach that every disability results from a particular personal sin; Jesus never identifies the paralysis as punishment. He addresses the deeper human need and reveals that his mission includes forgiveness as well as physical restoration.
The scribes correctly understand that forgiveness ultimately belongs to God. Their mistake is refusing to recognize God’s authority at work through Jesus. Because forgiveness cannot be seen immediately, Jesus commands the man to rise and walk. The visible healing confirms the invisible claim that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.
“Son of Man” can emphasize Jesus’ humanity while also echoing Daniel 7, where a heavenly figure receives dominion from God. Luke will use this title in connection with Jesus’ ministry, suffering, and future glory. Here the healed man and the crowd glorify God, but the reader is invited to see that the greatest wonder is Jesus’ identity and authority.
Levi is sitting at a tax office when Jesus calls him. Tax collectors operated within a system associated with Roman rule and were widely distrusted because the work could involve exploitation. Jesus reaches Levi at the place defining his compromised identity, and Levi responds by leaving everything and holding a feast that brings his social circle into contact with Christ.
Levi is commonly identified with Matthew, the tax collector named in the parallel accounts. The Gospels sometimes use more than one name for the same person, though Luke does not explain the relationship. The narrative’s emphasis is the immediate transformation from tax booth to discipleship.
Eating with tax collectors and sinners communicated welcome and relationship. Jesus does not participate in wrongdoing or declare repentance unnecessary; he explicitly says he has come to call sinners to repentance. His physician illustration explains why he goes near those in need. Holiness is expressed through restorative mercy, not distance that makes restoration impossible.
The question about fasting contrasts Jesus’ disciples with those of John and the Pharisees. Fasting had an established place in Israel’s worship, grief, repentance, and prayer. Jesus does not reject it. He says the timing must correspond to God’s action: a wedding celebration is not the proper moment to behave as though the bridegroom were absent.
By calling himself the bridegroom, Jesus draws on Old Testament imagery for God’s covenant relationship with his people. His presence announces long-awaited joy. Yet the bridegroom will be “taken away,” an early hint of Jesus’ death. Afterward, fasting can properly express longing, dependence, repentance, and prayer while the church awaits the fullness of his Kingdom.
The new patch and new wineskins warn against treating Jesus as a small addition to an unchanged system. New cloth damages an old garment, and fermenting wine bursts brittle skins. Jesus fulfills Israel’s Scriptures, but the new covenant reality centered in him cannot be contained by religious habits that refuse his authority.
The images do not mean that the Old Testament or everything old is worthless. Jesus has just honored Moses’ command, and his mission fulfills God’s earlier promises. The contrast concerns structures hardened against what God is now accomplishing. Verse 39 then acknowledges that people accustomed to the old often resist the unfamiliar new work of Jesus.
Important Verses
Verses 4–11 move from obedience to revelation and calling. Simon trusts Jesus’ word, witnesses the catch, confesses his sin, receives reassurance, and leaves everything to follow. Discipleship begins with Jesus’ gracious initiative rather than the disciple’s qualification.
Verses 12–16 display compassion, holiness, and prayer. Jesus touches the unclean man, immediately cleanses him, directs him to the priestly process, and then withdraws to pray despite increasing demand.
Verses 20–24 connect healing with the authority to forgive. The Son of Man announces forgiveness on earth and supplies a visible sign that confirms an otherwise invisible claim.
Verses 27–32 explain why Jesus shares a table with outcasts. He calls Levi to leave his former life and describes sinners as sick people needing a physician. Grace seeks those in need and summons them to repentance.
Verses 33–39 show that spiritual practices must be understood in relation to Jesus. The bridegroom’s presence creates joy, his removal will bring a time for fasting, and his Kingdom cannot be reduced to a patch placed on resistant expectations.
Practical Applications
Obey Christ even when experience seems to argue against the next faithful step. Simon does not deny the failed night; he brings his disappointment under Jesus’ word. Christian trust is confidence that Jesus’ authority exceeds the limits visible to us.
Let conviction lead toward Christ rather than away from him. Peter’s awareness of sin makes him desire distance, but Jesus answers with grace and calling. The gospel invites repentant people to receive mercy and begin a transformed life rather than remain hidden in shame.
Bring people to Jesus with persistent, practical love. The paralytic’s friends combine faith with effort, creativity, and shared burden. Believers cannot guarantee another person’s healing or response, but they can help remove obstacles that leave suffering people isolated.
Practice holiness that moves toward restoration. Jesus touches the unclean and eats with sinners without approving impurity or sin. Christians should avoid both moral carelessness and self-protective separation that offers no truth, compassion, or path toward repentance.
Guard prayer when attention and opportunity increase. Jesus’ withdrawal shows that greater demand is not always a command to remain constantly available. Ministry without prayer can become driven by crowds, urgency, or self-importance rather than the Father’s purpose.
Allow Jesus to reshape familiar religious patterns. Disciplines, traditions, and institutions can serve faithful worship, but none should limit Christ to what is comfortable. The decisive question is not whether a practice is old or new, but whether it submits to Jesus and serves his Kingdom.