Luke 5 - Has Jesus Left Your Church?

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Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Lake Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee. It is also known as the Sea of Tiberias. It is the lowest freshwater lake in the world. Jesus was teaching the Word of God around the lake, and many people had gathered. He jumped into Simon Peter's boat, and asked him to push him out a bit. 

After his message, he asked Peter to go out into the deeper water and throw the nets out there. This was obviously early in the morning, because Peter said, "Master, we have been fishing all night and caught nothing!" But because it was Jesus asking, Peter threw out the nets anyway. 

Peter was with one of the other disciples and when they threw the nets out they caught so much fish, they had to call in other boats to hold all the fish. Otherwise they were going to sink. When Peter saw this, he realized that it was no ordinary man he was following. He fell down and said, "Go away from me Lord I am sinful man."

Why did this miracle make Simon say this? 

Jesus had already miraculously healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:38-39). Yet there was something about this miracle of the blessed catch that made Peter worship Jesus and surrender himself to Him.

Because Peter was such an experienced fisherman, and because he knew how unfavorable the conditions were, he knew all the more what a great miracle this was.

The miracle also called Peter to fear, because he knew he was in God's presence. This made him hyper-aware of his own sinfulness. So Jesus said to him, "Don't be afraid, from now on you will be fishing for men!" Luke says, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were with him too. And also their other fishing partners. We don't know who these men are, but I am sure they were never the same. 

Peter, James, and John formed Jesus' inner circle. They were the ones Jesus took on the Mount where he was transfigured before them. They got a glimpse of his glory. Today they got a glimpse of his glory too!

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

In the next town Jesus met a man with leprosy who fell down before him and said, "Lord if you are willing,  you can make me clean!"

The man expressed faith in Jesus in a couple of ways. One, he called him "Lord", which also meant "master". And second, he also believed Jesus could heal him of his disease. He said, 'You can make me clean", because lepers were seen as "unclean". It was bad enough to have the disease of leprosy, but with everybody viewing as "unclean", it was also very humiliating. 

When they were in public, they had to yell out, "unclean!" 

According to Jewish law and customs, one had to keep 6 feet (2 meters) from a leper. If the wind blew toward a person from a leper, they had to keep 150 feet (45 meters) away. The only thing more defiling than contact with a leper was contact with a dead body.

For these reasons leprosy was considered a picture of sin and its effects. It is a contagious, debilitating disease that corrupts its victim and makes him essentially dead while alive. Therefore society and religious people scorned lepers. Rabbis especially despised them, and saw lepers as those under the special judgment of God, deserving no pity or mercy. - Guzik

Jesus said, "I am willing!", and immediately the man was clean. I.e. Healed of his leprosy. Jesus commanded him not to tell anyone. Why? The word about Jesus might get out too quickly, and he still had a lot of work to do. He also told him to go to the temple and offer the sacrifice for temple purification according to the Law of Moses. This not only would be a testimony to the temple leaders, but also showed Jesus did not disregard the Law, or disrespect the temple. 

Regardless, word did get out and more and more people followed Jesus, listening to his message and receiving his healing. Note it was not only the word of Jesus, but the works of Jesus. They always went together, because Jesus wanted to connect the two. Jesus preached about the kingdom of heaven, then demonstrated what it looked like when it came to earth. 

The story finishes with Jesus going to a solitude place to rest and pray. We mu,st remember that Jesus was a man and after a day of ministry, he was physically and spiritually tired. It is a great model for us today. Jesus spent time with His Father, which fueled his ministry. 

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

Not only did the crowds come to see Jesus preach and heal, but the teachers of the Law and Pharisees also came from Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem. Judea and Jerusalem were quite a long distance away. The teachers of the law were also called "scribes". They were legal experts and interpreted the Law of Moses. 

Luke says the "power of the Lord was on him."  One would assume the power was always on Jesus, but this seems like some special impartation. 

Yet even in the ministry of Jesus there seemed to be times of a greater demonstration and reception of God’s healing work. - Guzik

Some men brought their friend, who was paralyzed, and when they were blocked from entering, they lowered him through the roof. They were bound and determined for the man to get an audience with Jesus. 

We can imagine how the friends on the roof felt. They went to a lot of trouble to see their friend healed of his paralysis, and now the teacher seemed to only be concerned with his spiritual problems. Jesus knew what the man’s real need was, and what his greatest need was. What good was it if the man had two whole legs, and walked right into hell with them? - Guzik

Jesus saw their faith and said something interesting before the man was healed. He said, "Friend, you sins are forgiven!" 

This was a bold statement made by Jesus so early in his ministry. Of course, this can only mean that Jesus saw himself as having the authority to forgive sins. If you or I said, "Your sins are forgiven", people might run from us as soon as possible. 

The religious leaders were completely offended and remarked, "“Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

To be fair, we really can't blame them. If Jesus weren't the Son of God, it would be blasphemy. But Jesus responds he could tell the man to pick up his mat for physically, but he had another agenda for teaching that day. Jesus was teaching our biggest need in our lives is the forgiveness of our sin.

In the end Jesus also said to the man, "Pick up your mat and walk!"

Although the man's ultimate need was for forgiveness, Jesus also brought him temporal, physical healing. As someone said, "100% of people who are healed still die!" But spiritual healing for our spiritual sickness is eternal. 

Once again they people were amazed at what they saw. 

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners

We know Jesus had called Peter, James, and John, who were fishermen. Now Jesus calls a tax collector named Levi to follow him. "Levi" is also called "Matthew". When Jesus saw Levi in his tax collector's booth he said, "follow me!" Immediately Levi got up and followed Jesus.

What did Levi take so little time to contemplate following Jesus?

All we can conjecture is that Levi had heard about Jesus, so when Jesus called him he was led by the Spirit to follow Jesus. There also may have been something in Jesus and that drew him to Jesus and compelled him to follow him immediately. However, this didn't mean it didn't take faith. 

“This must have meant a considerable sacrifice, for tax collectors were normally wealthy. Matthew must have been the richest of the apostles.” (Morris)

Some people take a long time to follow Jesus. They spend time looking at other religions and studying various things, before they come to the conclusion through the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus. Other people hear the gospel and know it is true and come to accept Jesus, as their personal Savior right away. 

Part of it is that we are all "wired" differently, as we will see with Thomas "the doubter". 

Matthew was so excited about his new friend Jesus, he invited a bunch of his tax collector friends to come a dinner to meet him. It was a large banquet with tons of his tax collector buddies. When someone comes to faith and experiences the power of Jesus' love for them, they can't wait to introduce their friends and family to him!

One reason Matthew gave the party was because he wanted his friends to meet Jesus. A saved man doesn’t want to go to heaven alone.

How are excited are you to introduce Jesus to Your friends? Would you invite them to your house if Jesus were coming to your house?

Meanwhile, the religious leaders questioned Jesus. Why would he eat and be at the same table as tax collectors and sinners. They always spent quite a bit of time and effort avoiding such people. They thought they were above the tax collectors and sinners. They must have thought they weren't even sinners. 

Jesus then says something really important. It is a brilliant comeback to the haughty leaders, 

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Once again Jesus connects physical and spiritual sickness. Just like the only way you can be cured of  a physical ailment is to ask for help from a physician. The only way you can be healed of sin is through the Great Physician, Jesus. The Pharisees didn't think they were sick, so they didn't think they needed Jesus. 

This is why a lot of people don't come to Jesus today. They don't think they need him as a cure for their sin sickness. 

Jesus is the perfect doctor to heal us of our sin.

· He is always available.

· He always makes a perfect diagnosis.

· He provides a complete cure.

· He even pays the doctor’s fee! (Guzik)

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

Then the leaders asked Jesus why his disciples did not fast? Why were they eating and drinking in celebration. Jesus says something interesting, 

“Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”

Jesus reveals why fasting is often so misunderstood and misused today. Some people fast thinking it is a religious rule they must follow. Or, at the least it shows they are a "serious Christian". But Jesus reveals a different purpose for fasting. The purpose of fasting is to draw hear and connect with him. We abstain from eating and/or drinking to focus on and experience God. 

But Jesus said, "It is not time to fast, because I am right here! If you were to go home and fast, you would miss being with me! There would be a time to fast when I am gone, but right now I am here so let's enjoy one another!" (paraphrase)

Jesus finishes with a parable that I have always had a hard time understanding.

“No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”

You can see in both examples there is something old and something new. In this case the two examples are a garment and a wine skin. In both cases putting something new on the old would make no sense. The new patch will not match the old one, because the old one has shrunk. And the new wine will burst out of the old wineskins and be wasted. But if it is poured in a new wineskin it can contained and enjoyed. 

But Jesus says people will get so used to the old wine they will not want to the new wine. They will say, "The old is better!"

What is Jesus referring to here? As we have already seen, Jesus is constantly at battle with the religious leaders, who were stuck holding the old wineskin. Jesus is the new wine, but he can't be poured into the old wineskin, which was the Law.  Jesus came to bring the Gospel. And the Good News came in and through Him. You can't put Jesus in a box. 

The old wineskin can also be a church that gets so caught up in the way they do things, that they are not open to the new things the Spirit wants to do. They usually say, "We've never done it that way before!"

They are clinging to the old wineskins, which could be the style of worship, the color of the carpeting, or how long the pastor preaches. The problem is they are focused on the wineskin, not the new wine which is Jesus. 

Whenever we get caught up in the form of the church, we can be in danger of pouring new wine into the old wineskins. We might like the structure, but Jesus can be nowhere to be found in it! 

Has Jesus left your church?