Verses 1-11: The Word, the Miracle, and the Call

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 caught; 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.

• The preached word is central to Jesus’ mission:

  The chapter opens with the multitude pressing in “and heard the word of God,” while Jesus teaches from the boat. This establishes that Jesus’ ministry is not merely about wonders, but about God’s self-revelation calling for faith and obedience; the miracle that follows confirms, rather than replaces, the authority of his word.

• Faith responds to Jesus’ command even amid human limits:

  Simon’s confession—“we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net”—shows a real, chosen act of trust in Jesus’ instruction. At the same time, the abundance of the catch displays divine generosity that exceeds human effort, teaching that fruitful ministry and provision ultimately depend on the Lord’s power.

• Awareness of sin is a fitting response to holy mercy:

  Peter’s reaction—falling at Jesus’ knees and confessing, “I am a sinful man, Lord”—shows that encountering Jesus exposes the heart and produces reverent humility. Yet Jesus’ response, “Don’t be afraid,” reveals that divine holiness does not crush the repentant but draws them into restored fellowship and service.

• Discipleship is both gift and summons to costly obedience:

  Jesus gives a vocation—“From now on you will be catching people alive”—and they respond decisively: “they left everything, and followed him.” The calling is initiated by Jesus, not earned by the fishermen, yet it elicits a wholehearted human response that reorders priorities around the Lord.

Verses 12-16: Cleansing the Unclean and the Rhythm of Prayer

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.

• Jesus’ compassion makes the unclean clean:

  The leprous man approaches with humility and trust—“if you want to, you can make me clean”—and Jesus answers with both touch and word: “I want to. Be made clean.” The immediate cleansing shows that purity and restoration flow from Jesus’ will and authority, and that God’s mercy reaches those marked by suffering and exclusion.

• Grace restores people without despising God’s ordered worship:

  Jesus directs the healed man to obey what “Moses commanded,” including showing himself to the priest and making the offering “for a testimony to them.” This honors the continuity of God’s covenant instruction while also showing that healing is not private self-assertion but a public witness that integrates restored life with faithful worship and community recognition.

• Ministry power is joined to communion with the Father:

  As crowds gather “to hear, and to be healed,” Jesus “withdrew himself into the desert, and prayed.” Theologically, Luke links the outward work of mercy and teaching with the inward life of prayer, showing that faithful service is sustained by dependence on God rather than driven by popularity or mere demand.

Verses 17-26: Authority to Forgive Sins and to Heal

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, take up your cot, and go to your house.” ²⁵ Immediately he rose up before them, and took up that which he was laying 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.”

• Faith seeks Jesus with perseverance and is seen by him:

  The friends’ determination—opening the roof and lowering the man—embodies active, persevering faith that refuses to be stopped by obstacles. “Seeing their faith” teaches that faith is not merely internal sentiment; it expresses itself in concrete trust that brings need to Jesus, and Jesus responds with divine initiative and mercy.

• Forgiveness is the deeper restoration Jesus brings:

  Before addressing the paralysis, Jesus declares, “your sins are forgiven you.” This does not deny bodily suffering but places spiritual reconciliation at the center, showing that humanity’s greatest need is peace with God. The statement also teaches that forgiveness is a gift spoken by Christ, not a reward achieved by human merit.

• Jesus exercises divine authority as the Son of Man:

  The leaders’ question—“Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”—sets the theological stakes. Jesus answers by healing visibly “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” uniting word and deed. The miracle is not spectacle; it is a sign validating Jesus’ authority to do what belongs to God: forgive.

• God is glorified when salvation is recognized as God’s work:

  The healed man departs “glorifying God,” and the crowd “glorified God” as well. Their reverent fear and amazement underscore a proper response to God’s saving visitation: worship. Even when people struggle to categorize what they witness (“strange things”), the right conclusion is to honor God for merciful power that restores.

Verses 27-32: The Call of Levi and Mercy for Sinners

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.”

• Jesus’ call reaches the morally and socially marginalized:

  Levi is a tax collector, yet Jesus addresses him personally: “Follow me!” This shows that Jesus seeks people others may dismiss, and that no social label places someone beyond the reach of grace. Levi’s response—“He left everything”—again displays that following Jesus involves a decisive reorientation of life.

• Table fellowship becomes a sign of the kingdom’s welcome:

  Levi hosts “a great feast,” and many “tax collectors and others” are present with Jesus. Theologically, this portrays a community forming around Christ that is not built on shared respectability but on his presence and mercy; Jesus’ holiness is not fragile, and his fellowship is a channel of healing rather than contamination.

• Repentance is the aim of Christ’s mercy:

  Jesus explains his mission: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mercy does not excuse sin; it summons sinners to turn. At the same time, repentance is presented as part of Christ’s call—an invitation empowered by his initiative—so that the sinner’s turning is both genuinely required and graciously made possible by his coming.

Verses 33-39: The Bridegroom, Fasting, and the Newness of Christ

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 also the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ No one puts new wine into old wine skins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved. ³⁹ No man having drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”

• Jesus is the bridegroom whose presence brings fitting joy:

  Jesus frames the question about fasting around his identity and presence: “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?” This reveals that spiritual practices must align with God’s redemptive moment; when the bridegroom is present, joy is appropriate because God’s saving visitation is at hand in Christ.

• Christian sorrow and discipline have a time and purpose:

  Jesus also foretells a change: “the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days.” This holds together joy and longing—celebration in Christ’s presence, and later practices of fasting that express grief, dependence, repentance, and hope, rather than mere conformity to expectations.

• The newness Christ brings cannot be contained in old frameworks:

  The parables of patching garments and wineskins teach that Jesus’ work is not a small adjustment to existing patterns: a “new garment” patch tears, and “new wine” bursts “old wine skins.” Theologically, Christ’s coming inaugurates a new reality of life with God that requires transformed hearts and renewed communal forms, so that “both are preserved.”

• Resistance to renewal often comes from attachment to the familiar:

  “The old is better” exposes a common spiritual inertia: people can prefer what is familiar over what God is doing now. The point is not that the old is truly superior, but that human desires can resist God’s renewing work—calling for humility and openness to be made “fresh wine skins” for what Christ gives.

Conclusion: Luke 5 presents Jesus as the Lord who speaks God’s word with authority, calls disciples into a transformed life, cleanses the unclean, forgives sins as the Son of Man, and welcomes sinners toward repentance. The chapter holds together divine initiative and real human response: Jesus acts first in mercy and power, and people are summoned to trust, leave lesser loyalties, turn from sin, and glorify God. It also teaches that Christ brings a newness that cannot be reduced to external religion, but requires renewed hearts shaped by his presence, his forgiveness, and his mission.