Lukechapter 5
39 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · The Gospels
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear.
Introduction
Luke, The Gospels, Luke Overview.
Luke writes this chapter about the first men who left their work to follow Jesus. It begins at dawn with tired fishermen and an empty boat. It moves through a house so crowded that the door is blocked, and on to a feast given by a man most of the town avoided. Listen for how each person reacts when they see who Jesus is. Listen also for the complaints of the religious teachers and the short sayings he gives in reply. Read it as the start of a following that crossed every social line.
Context
- Who
- A Greek reader for whom Luke adapts the details of the scene
- What
- The call of Simon Peter and his partners, the cleansing of a leper, the healing of a paralysed man, the call of Levi and a dispute about fasting.
- Where
- The shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, the towns of Galilee, a crowded house and the house of Levi.
- When
- The Galilean ministry, about AD 28.
- Why
- To show that Jesus has authority to forgive sins and that he calls sinners, whatever their standing, to follow him.
Historical context
Night fishing was the normal shift on that lake, with weighted nets let down over the side, so returning empty at daybreak was a wasted night's work. In 1986 a drought exposed a first-century wooden fishing boat in the lakebed, about twenty-six feet long, room for a crew and a passenger, which is close to the vessel Luke describes.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Skin disease under the Law meant exclusion from the community, torn clothing, and a warning shout to anyone approaching. Restoration required a priest's inspection and a prescribed offering, which is why Jesus sends the healed man to the priest.
Luke's account of the paralysed man differs from Mark's in a revealing way. Mark has the friends digging through a mud-and-brush roof, which is how Galilean village houses were built. Luke says they let him down through the tiles, the roofing his Greek-speaking readers pictured. He is translating the scene, not the fact.
Levi's banquet raises the sharpest social objection in the chapter. A tax collector's income came from what he could extract above the sum he owed on his contract, and eating at his table publicly declared you his associate.
Significance
Peter's response to the catch, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, is the note Luke keeps sounding. Encounter produces not admiration but a sense of being seen through.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And the answer given to the critics is the sentence Theophilus was meant to carry away: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. In a society that ranked people carefully by honour, that was a door left open to everyone at the bottom of the list.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Nets Breaking: Depart From Me, Lord
Luke 5:1-3
while Jesus was standing by: Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, Luke's own name for the Sea of Galilee. Sitting down, He taught the people from Simon's boat, so that the boat served the word before it served the catch.
Luke 5:1
“We have, in these verses — the history of what is commonly called the miraculous catch of fish . It is a remarkable miracle on two accounts. For one thing, it shows us our Lord's complete dominion over the animal creation. The fish of the sea are as much obedient to His will — as the frogs, and flies, and lice, and locusts, in the plagues of Egypt. All are His servants, and all obey His commands.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Luke 5:1
“It was foretold concerning him that to him shall the gathering of the people be. Christ was a popular preacher; and though he was able, at twelve, to dispute with the doctors, yet he chose, at thirty, to preach to the capacity of the vulgar.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
He saw two boats at the edge of the lake: Albert Barnes explains that these were open fishing boats, small enough to draw up on the beach. He cites Josephus for 230 such boats on the lake. The washed nets show the night's work was over.
Luke 5:2
“Now mystically, the two ships represent circumcision and uncircumcision. The Lord sees these, because in each people He knows who are His, and by seeing, i. e. by a merciful visitation, He brings them nearer the tranquillity of the life to come. The fishermen are the doctors of the Church, because by the net of faith they catch us, and bring us as it were ashore to the land of the living.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:2
“Two ships - Δυο πλοια, Two vessels, It is highly improper to term these ships.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jesus got into the boat belonging to Simon: Adam Clarke explains that the crowd pressed so hard on the shore that Jesus taught from the water. Albert Barnes notes that sitting was the usual posture of Jewish teachers. The borrowed boat sets up the catch that follows.
Luke 5:3
“Which was Simon’s - Simon Peter’s. Prayed him - Asked him. He sat down - This was the common posture of Jewish teachers. They seldom or never spoke to the people “standing.” Compare Mat 5:1. It may be somewhat difficult to conceive why Jesus should go into a boat and put off from the shore in order to speak to the multitude; but it is probable that this was a small bay or cove, and that when he was “in” the boat, the people on the shore stood round him in the form of an amphitheater.”
Luke 5:4-7
Jesus tells a fisherman to let down his nets by daylight, after a night of empty nets. Simon obeys on His word alone: But because You say so, I will let down the nets.
Luke 5:4
“Peter having attended upon Christ in his preaching, Christ will accompany him in his fishing. He staid with Christ at the shore, and now Christ will launch out with him into the deep.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:4
“Now in a mystery, the ship of Peter, according to Matthew, is beaten about by the waves, (Matt. 8:24.) according to Luke, is filled with fishes, in order that you might understand the Church at first wavering, at last abounding. The ship is not shaken which holds Peter; that is which holds Judas. In each was Peter; but he who trusts in his own merits is disquieted by another's. Let us beware then of a traitor, lest through one we should many of us be tossed about.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Simon calls Jesus Master, a title Adam Clarke says only Luke uses and only of Christ. The fishermen knew night was the time for fishing, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown point out. Casting again by day was an act of faith.
Luke 5:5
“Master--betokening not surely a first acquaintance, but a relationship already formed. all night--the usual time of fishing then (Joh 21:3), and even now Peter, as a fisherman, knew how hopeless it was to "let down his net" again, save as a mere act of faith, "at His word" of command, which carried in it, as it ever does, assurance of success.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 5:5
“Now this was a figure of the future. For they will not labour in vain who let down the net of evangelical doctrine, but will gather together the shoals of the Gentiles.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 5:5
“Master - This is the first time that the word here translated “Master” occurs in the New Testament, and it is used only by Luke. The other evangelists call him Rabbi, or Lord. The word here used means a “prefect,” or one placed “over” others, and hence, it comes to mean “teacher” or “guide.” At thy word - At thy command. Though it seemed so improbable that they would take anything after having in vain toiled all night, yet he was willing to trust the word of Jesus and make the trial.”
their nets began to tear: The nets began to tear, and Albert Barnes and Adam Clarke both read the verb as a tearing just begun. Had the nets broken, Clarke says, the large number of fish would have escaped. In verse 7 the boats began to sink in the same way.
Luke 5:6
“Their net brake - Or, began to break, διερῥηγνυτο, or, was likely to be broken. Had it broke, as our version states, they could have caught no fish. Grammarians give the following rule concerning words of this kind. Verba completiva inchoative intelligenda. Verbs which signify the accomplishment of a thing, are often to be understood as only signifying the beginning of that accomplishment. Raphelius gives some very pertinent examples of this out of Herodotus.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:6
“Twice in the holy Gospel it is read that the Lord commanded that nets be cast for fishing, namely before the Passion and after the Resurrection. In that fishing so many were caught that the nets were torn; but in this one both many were caught and the nets were not torn. That fishing, therefore, in which it is not specifically commanded on which side the net should be cast, designates the present Church, which gathers the good together with the wicked, and does not choose whom it draws in, because it does not know whom it might choose.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 24patristic
signaled to their partners in the other boat: Albert Barnes suggests the partners were too far away to hear, so the fishermen signed to them. He names them as James and John from verse 10. Matthew Henry reads the full boats as Christ repaying Simon for the loan of his boat.
Luke 5:7
“But Peter beckons to his companions to help them. For many follow the labours of the Apostles, and first those who brought out the writings of the Gospels, next to whom are the other heads and shepherds of the Gospel, and those skilled in the teaching of the truth.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:7
“They beckoned - They gave signs. Perhaps they were at a considerable distance, so that they could not be easily heard. Their partners - James and John. See Luk 5:10. The following remarks of Dr. Thomson (“The Land and the Book,” vol. ii. p. 80, 81) will furnish a good illustration of this passage. After describing the mode of fishing with the “hand-net” and the “dragnet,” he adds: “Again, there is the bag-net and basket-net, of various kinds, which are so constructed and worked as to inclose the fish out in deep water.”
Luke 5:8-10
he fell at Jesus’ knees: Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees and said, Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. Jesus answers the confession with a call, From now on you will catch men, turning the fisherman's trade into the shape of his calling.
Luke 5:8
“Depart from me; for I am a sinful man - Εξελθε απ’ εμου, Go out from me, i.e. from my boat. Peter was fully convinced that this draught of fish was a miraculous one; and that God himself had particularly interfered in this matter, whose presence and power he reverenced in the person of Jesus. But as he felt himself a sinner, he was afraid the Divine purity of Christ could not possibly endure him; therefore he wished for a separation from that power, which he was afraid might break forth and consume him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 5:8
“Say thou also, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord, that God may answer, Fear not. Confess thy sin, and the Lord will pardon thee. See how good the Lord is, who gives so much to men, that they have the power of making alive. As it follows, From henceforth thou shalt catch men.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 5:8
“Note, Even the best men are sinful men, and should be ready upon all occasions to own it, and especially to own it to Jesus Christ; for to whom else, but to him who came into the world to save sinners, should sinful men apply themselves? [2.] His inference from it was what might have been just, though really it was not so.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 5:8
“It was rather, "Woe is me, Lord! How shall I abide this blaze of glory? A sinner such as I am is not fit company for Thee." (Compare Isa 6:5.)”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
astonished at the catch of fish: Simon and his companions stood astonished at the catch, and verse 9 gives the reason for his plea in verse 8. John Gill counts Andrew and the servants among the companions. Gregory of Nyssa says the fish taken matched what the Lord of sea and land willed.
Luke 5:9
“Far he was astonished, and all that were with him,.... His brother Andrew, and the servants they had with them to manage the vessel, and cast the nets: at the draught of the fishes they had taken; being so large and numerous, as the like was never seen, nor known by them before.”
Adam Clarke explains that the verb means to catch alive. Fish are taken to be killed, while those caught by the gospel are taken for life. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see a new stage in the calling of these men.
Luke 5:10
“Do you hesitate about arts, and trades, and about professions likewise, for the sake of children and parents? Even there was it demonstrated to us, that both "dear pledges," and handicrafts, and trades, are to be quite left behind for the Lord's sake; while James and John, called by the Lord, do leave quite behind both father and ship; while Matthew is roused up from the toll-booth; while even burying a father was too tardy a business for faith.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Idolatrypatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 5:10
“Thou shalt catch men - Ανθρωπους εσῃ ζωγρων, Thou shalt catch men alive; this is the proper signification of the word. Fear not: these discoveries of God tend to life, not to death; and ye shall become the instruments of life and salvation to a lost world. These fish are taken to be killed and fed on; but those who are converted under your ministry shall be preserved unto eternal life. See on Mat 4:18 (note), etc., where this subject is considered more at large.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 5:10
“Peter and his part-owners were gainers by this great draught of fishes; it was a rich booty for them and therefore it transported them, and their joy was a helper to their faith. Note, When Christ's works of wonder are to us, in particular, works of grace, then especially they command our faith in his doctrine.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 5:10
“Never did they pain Him by manifesting too lofty conceptions of Him. from henceforth--marking a new stage of their connection with Christ. The last was simply, "I will make you fishers." fishers of men--"What wilt thou think, Simon, overwhelmed by this draught of fishes, when I shall bring to thy net what will beggar all this glory?" (See on Mt 4:18.)”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
they left everything and followed Him: at the height of the greatest catch of their working lives. John's Gospel records earlier meetings with Jesus, so Luke's scene marks the day they left their trade for good.
Luke 5:11
“Forsook all - It was not “much” that they left - a couple of small boats and their nets; but it was all they had, even all their living. But this showed their love of Jesus, and their willingness to deny themselves, as “really” as if they had forsaken palaces and gold. All that Jesus asks is that we should leave “all” we have for him; that we should love him “more” than we do whatever friends or property we may possess, and be willing to give them all up when he requires it.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:11
“It is observable that they left all to follow Christ, when their calling prospered in their hands more than ever it had done and they had had uncommon success in it. When riches increase, and we are therefore most in temptation to set our hearts upon them, then to quit them for the service of Christ, this is thank-worthy.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
A Leper Cleansed; Jesus Withdraws to Pray
Luke 5:12-13
who was covered with leprosy: The man's plea, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean, asks only whether Jesus is willing. Jesus touched him, crossing the line the law drew around the unclean, and immediately the leprosy left him.
Luke 5:12
“And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city,.... Or near it, hard by it, very probably Capernaum; Mat 8:1 Behold a man full of leprosy; a disease to which the Jews were very incident, and concerning which, many laws and rules are given, in Lev 13:1. The symptoms of the ancient "lepra", as laid down by Galen, Aretaeus, Pontanus, Aegineta, Cardan, Varanda, Gordon, Pharaeus, and others, are as follow.”
Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man: Jesus touched the man with leprosy and answered his plea with the words I am willing. Ambrose says the verse holds both the will of Jesus and the result of His mercy. With God, Bede says, the command and the work are one.
Luke 5:13
“He heals in the same manner in which He had been entreated to heal, as it follows, And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, &c. The law forbids to touch the leprous man, but He who is the Lord of the law submits not to the law, but makes the law; He did not touch because without touching He was unable to make him clean, but to show that he was neither subject to the law, nor feared the contagion as man; for He could not be contaminated Who delivered others from the pollution.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
show yourself to the priest: Jesus sends the healed man to the priest with the offering Moses prescribed, the rite set out in Leviticus 14. The words as a testimony to them name the purpose, since the priests would examine the evidence for themselves.
Luke 5:14
“And he charged him to tell no man,.... Of his cure, and by whom he received it; but go show thyself to the priest. The Syriac and Persic versions read, "to the priests: and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses has commanded, for a testimony unto them"; See Gill on Mat 8:4.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 5:14
“And offer for thy cleansing - A Hindoo, after recovering from sickness, presents the offerings he had vowed when in distress, as a goat, sweetmeats, milk, or any thing directed by the Shaster. All nations agreed in these gratitude-offerings for benefits received from the object of their worship.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 5:14
“But lest leprosy should become rife among us, let each avoid boasting after the example of our Lord's humility. For it follows, And he commanded him that he should tell it to no one, that in truth he might teach us that our good deeds are not to be made public, but to be rather concealed, that we should abstain not only from gaining money, but even favour. Or perhaps the cause of His commanding silence was that He thought those to be preferred, who had rather believed of their own accord than from the hope of benefit.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 5:15-16
But the news about Jesus spread: After the order of silence, the news about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came to Him. Just where His fame was growing fastest, Luke adds that He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.
Luke 5:15
“But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him,.... For the more he charged the man to keep silence, the more he blazed it abroad, being elated with the cure he received, and filled with gratitude to his benefactor; Mar 1:45. And great multitudes came together to hear: him, or from him, as the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions add; to hear the doctrines of the Gospel preached by him: "and to be healed by him of their infirmities"; their bodily weaknesses and disorders.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:15
“Note, Those who receive the word of Christ in faith will find a divine power going along with that word, to heal them; for Christ came with his comforts to heal the broken-hearted, ch. iv. The power of the Lord is present with the word, present to those that pray for it and submit to it, present to heal them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray: The crowds of verse 15 grow, and Jesus keeps withdrawing. Adam Clarke and John Wesley both read the Greek form as a repeated habit. Clarke draws the lesson that ministers need fresh strength from God in the same way.
Luke 5:16
“And he withdrew himself into the wilderness - Or rather, He frequently withdrew into the desert. This I believe to be the import of the original words, ην ὑποχωρων. He made it a frequent custom to withdraw from the multitudes for a time, and pray, teaching hereby the ministers of the Gospel that they are to receive fresh supplies of light and power from God by prayer, that they may be the more successful in their work; and that they ought to seek frequent opportunities of being in private with God and their books.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:16
“He withdrew - The expression in the original implies, that he did so frequently.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Lowered Through the Tiles
Luke 5:17-19
One day Jesus was teaching: Unable to find a way through the crowd, the friends went up on the roof and lowered the man on his mat through the tiles. A flat roof reached by an outside stair made that entrance possible, and their effort is the faith Jesus commends.
Luke 5:17
“Pharisees and doctors . . . sitting by--the highest testimony yet borne to our Lord's growing influence, and the necessity increasingly felt by the ecclesiastics throughout the country of coming to some definite judgment regarding Him. power of the Lord . . . present--with Jesus. to heal them--the sick people.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
4 more voices on this verse
Luke 5:17
“The Scribes and Pharisees who had become spectators of Christ's miracles, heard Him also teaching. Hence it is said, And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees sitting by, &c. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Not as though He borrowed the power of another, but as God and the Lord He healed by His own inherent power. Now men often become worthy of spiritual gifts, but generally depart from the rule which the giver of the gifts knew.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 5:17
“Sitting by - As being more honourable than the bulk of the congregation, who stood. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them - To heal the sickness of their souls, as well as all bodily diseases.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Luke 5:17
“A threefold miracle demands our attention in these verses. At one and the same time, we see our Lord . . . forgiving sins, reading men's thoughts, and healing a paralytic. He who could do such things, and do them with such perfect ease and authority — must indeed be very God. Power like this was never possessed by any man. Let us mark, firstly, in this passage — what pains men will take about an object when they are in earnest. The friends of a paralyzed man desired to bring him to Jesus, that he might be cured.”
Luke 5:17
“LUKE, the writer of this Gospel, was a physician and therefore had a quick eye for cases of disease and instances of cure. You can trace throughout the whole of his Gospel the hand of one who was skilled in surgery and medicine. I gather from this that whatever may be our calling, or in whatever art or science we may have attained proficiency, we should take care to use our knowledge for Christ.”
some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat: Mark counts four men, as John Gill notes. They tried to set the paralyzed man before Jesus in hope of moving Him to heal. Bede reads the healing of the paralyzed man as the healing of a soul that comes to Christ.
Luke 5:18
“And behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy,.... Four men brought him, as Mark says, Mar 2:3 and which the Ethiopic version expresses here: "and they sought means to bring him in": into the house where Jesus was: and to lay him before him; at his feet, in hope of moving his compassion, and to obtain a cure of him: of the nature of this disease, and of the sort which this man's seems to be; see Gill on Mar 2:3.”
lowered him on his mat through the tiles: John Wesley describes flat roofs reached by outside stairs, with a trap door such as most Jewish houses had. The crowd blocked the door, so the men went up and opened the roof. Matthew Henry commends their refusal to give up.
Luke 5:19
“Not being able to bring him in through the multitude, they went round about by a back passage, and going up the stairs on the outside, they came upon the flat-roofed house, and let him down through the trap door, such as was on the top of most of the Jewish houses: doubtless, with such circumspection as the circumstances plainly required.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
When Jesus saw their faith: Luke writes that Jesus saw their faith, the faith of the friends, since he records no word of faith from the paralyzed man himself. Jesus answers, Friend, your sins are forgiven, meeting a need no one had spoken aloud.
Luke 5:20
“And when he saw their faith,.... That is, Jesus, as the Syriac and Persic versions express it; when he saw the faith both of the paralytic man, and of the men that brought him, which was shown in the pains they took, and trouble they were at, in getting him to him; he said unto him.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:20
“Mighty is the Lord who pardons one man for the good deed of another, and while he approves of the one, forgives the other his sins. Why, O man, with thee does not thy fellowman prevail, when with God a servant has both the liberty to intercede in thy behalf, and the power of obtaining what he asks? If thou despairest of the pardon of heavy sins, bring the prayers of others, bring the Church to pray for thee, and at sight of this the Lord may pardon what otherwise He might deny to thee.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 5:21-24
the scribes and Pharisees began thinking: The scribes and Pharisees ask, Who can forgive sins but God alone, and they are right, the claim Jesus has just made for Himself. He heals the paralytic so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins.
Luke 5:21
“Who can forgive sins, but God alone? - If Jesus were not God, he could not forgive sins; and his arrogating this authority would have been blasphemy against God, in the most proper sense of the word. That these scribes and Pharisees might have the fullest proof of his Godhead, he works in their presence three miracles, which from their nature could only be effected by an omniscient and omnipotent Being. The miracles are: 1. The remission of the poor man’s sins. 2. The discernment of the secret thoughts of the scribes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:21
“From the Pharisees themselves therefore the Son of God receives testimony. For it is both more powerful evidence when men confess unwillingly, and a more fatal error when they who deny are left to the consequence of their own assertions. Hence it follows, Who can forgive sins, but God only? Great is the madness of an unbelieving people, who though they have confessed that it is of God alone to forgive sins, believe not God when He forgives sins.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Knowing what they were thinking: The scribes and Pharisees of verse 21 speak only in their hearts, and Jesus answers them all the same. John Gill and Ambrose both take His knowledge of their thoughts as a mark of God. Matthew Henry notes they were skilled at hiding them.
Luke 5:22
“But when Jesus perceived their thoughts,.... Being God omniscient; he answering said unto them, what reason ye in your hearts? This he said, not as being ignorant what their reasonings were, for it is before said he perceived their thoughts, but to expose the wickedness of them; in one exemplar of Beza's it is added, "evil things", as in Mat 9:4. See Gill on Mat 9:4.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:22
“As if to say, O Pharisees, since ye say, Who can forgive sins, but God alone? I answer you, Who can search the secrets of the heart, but God alone, Who says by His prophet, I am the Lord, that searcheth the hearts, and trieth the reins. (Jer. 17:10.)”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Which is easier: Bede explains the question. Only the one who forgives can know whether sins are forgiven, while anyone can see a man rise and walk. John Chrysostom adds that healing the body is plainly the easier work, and so it serves as proof of the harder.
The sentence breaks off as Jesus turns to the paralyzed man. Cyril of Alexandria explains that forgiven sins cannot be seen, and the man's rising gives a visible proof of godlike power. Matthew Henry takes the verse as proof that Jesus is God.
Luke 5:24
“A place still remains open for disbelief when it is said, "Your sins are forgiven you"—for people cannot see the forgiven sins with the eyes of the body. By contrast, the putting off of the disease and the paralytic's rising up and walking carries with it a clear demonstration of a godlike power. Jesus adds, "Rise, take up your bed and go home." And he returned to his house, delivered from the infirmity from which he had so long suffered. This very fact proves that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 12patristic
Luke 5:25-26
immediately the man stood up before them: The healed man went home glorifying God, and the crowd glorified God as well, filled with awe. Their words, We have seen remarkable things today, echo the today of the Nazareth synagogue in chapter 4.
Luke 5:25
“Nor is there any delay, health is present; there is but one moment both of words, and healing. Hence it follows, And immediately he rose. From this fact it is evident, that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins; He said this both for Himself and us. For He as God made man, as the Lord of the law, forgives sins; we also have been chosen to receive from Him the same marvellous grace. For it was said to the disciples, Whose sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them. (John 20:23.)”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Adam Clarke notes that the Greek word gives English its paradox, a thing that seems impossible yet is true. Ambrose remarks that the crowd saw the man rise and still doubted. The praise of God and the awe stand side by side.
Luke 5:26
“But they had rather fear the miracles of divine working, than believe them. As it follows, And they were filled with fear. But if they had believed they had not surely feared, but loved; for perfect love casteth out fear. But this was no careless or trifling cure of the paralytic, since our Lord is said to have prayed first, not for the petition's sake, but for an example.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:26
“Strange things - Παραδοξα, paradoxes. A paradox is something that appears false and absurd, but is not really so: or, something contrary to the commonly received opinion. We have seen wonders wrought which seem impossible; and we should conclude them to be tricks and illusions, were it not for the indisputable evidence we have of their reality.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Levi's Feast for Tax Collectors
Luke 5:27-28
Jesus went out and saw: Levi sat at the tax booth, a trade Jewish society ranked among the lowest for its service to Rome. At the call Follow Me, Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him, as Simon, James and John had done.
Luke 5:27
“Then follows the spiritual calling of the tax collector, whom he orders to follow him not by steps of the body but by character of the mind. Matthew once greedily embezzled from fishermen the profits they earned from hard labor and dangers. When he was called, he abandoned his office, which was to rob others of their money. Yes, he left that shameful seat, to walk totally in the footsteps of the Lord with his mind.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:27
“See the notes at Mat 9:9-13. Luk 5:29 Made him a great feast - This circumstance “Matthew,” or “Levi” as he is here called, has omitted in his own gospel. This fact shows how little inclined the evangelists are to say anything in favor of themselves or to praise themselves. True religion does not seek to commend itself, or to speak of what it does, even when it is done for the Son of God.”
left everything, and followed Him: Levi leaves a tax booth, as verse 27 shows. Adam Clarke says the verb marks a complete abandoning of his office and all that went with it. John Gill adds that he followed in a spiritual sense as well, becoming a disciple.
Luke 5:28
“And he left all - Καταλιπων - completely abandoning his office, and every thing connected with it. He who wishes to preach the Gospel, like the disciples of Christ, must have no earthly entanglement. If he have, his whole labor will be marred by it. The concerns of his own soul, and those of the multitudes to whom he preaches, are sufficient to engross all his attention, and to employ all his powers.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 5:29-32
Then Levi hosted a great banquet: Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus, and a large crowd of tax collectors was there, the new disciple bringing his old circle. The Pharisees complained, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners, since a shared table declared acceptance.
Luke 5:29
People are hungry when Christ is absent and they lack the abundance of good desserts. Truly, one for whom his own virtue suffices for pleasure, who receives Christ in his own home, prepares a great feast. It is a spiritual banquet of good works, at which the rich people go without and the poor one feasts. It says, "The sons of the Bridegroom cannot fast while the Bridegroom is with them."
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:29
“A great feast - Δοχην μεγαλην, A splendid entertainment. The word refers more properly to the number of the guests, and the manner in which they were received, than to the quality or quantity of the fare. A great number of his friends and acquaintance was collected on the occasion, that they might be convinced of the propriety of the change he had made, when they had the opportunity of seeing and hearing his heavenly teacher.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The complaint goes to the disciples, and Jesus answers it in verse 31. Bede contrasts the tax collectors dining with the Lord and the Pharisees boasting of their fasts. The question about fasting follows in verse 33.
Luke 5:30
“But for what reason do the Pharisees blame the Savior for eating with sinners? Because it was the law to distinguish between the holy and the profane, that is, holy things were not to be brought into contact with things profane. They made the accusation therefore as if they were vindicating the law. Yet it really was envy against the Lord and readiness to find fault. But he shows them that he is present now, not as a judge but as a physician.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homilies 21-22patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 5:30
“Why do ye eat and drink, etc. - See what passed at this entertainment considered at large on Mat 9:10-17 (note); Mar 2:15-22 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 5:30
“For by His eating with sinners, He prevents not us also from going to a banquet with the Gentiles.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Jesus answers with a proverb from medicine. Bede says the scribes and Pharisees counted themselves righteous and so avoided the sick. John Chrysostom adds that the saying reminds them of their own weakness.
Luke 5:31
“For the apostles, who were commissioned to find out the wanderers, and to be for sight to those who saw not, and medicine to the weak, certainly did not address them in accordance with their opinion at the time, but according to revealed truth. For no persons of any kind would act properly, if they should advise blind men, just about to fall over a precipice, to continue their most dangerous path, as if it were the right one, and as if they might go on in safety.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book IIIpatristic
Ambrose explains that the sinners called are those who see their guilt and submit to the grace of Christ in repentance. Bede reads the righteous as those who try to set up their own righteousness. Repentance is the goal of the call.
Luke 5:32
“But how does God love righteousness, and David has never seen the righteous man forsaken, if the righteous are excluded, the sinner called; unless you understand that He meant by the righteous those who boast of the law, (Ps. 11:7, Ps. 37:25.) and seek not the grace of the Gospel. Now no one is justified by the law, but redeemed by grace. He therefore calls not those who call themselves righteous, for the claimers to righteousness are not called to grace. For if grace is from repentance, surely he who despises repentance renounces grace.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
New Wine Must Go Into New Skins
Luke 5:33-35
Jesus answers the critics with the guests of the bridegroom, borrowing the Hebrew Scriptures' picture of God as Israel's bridegroom. He adds that the bridegroom will be taken from them, a plain prediction of His death, and then they will fast.
Luke 5:33
“We should observe in these verses — that men may disagree on the lesser points of religion, while they agree on its weightier matters. We have this brought out in the alleged difference between the disciples of John the Baptist, and the disciples of Christ. The question was put to our Lord, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees — but why do your disciples go on eating and drinking?" We cannot suppose that there was any essential difference between the doctrines held by these two parties of disciples.”
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Luke 5:33
“At the same time also is shown the difference between those who are zealous for the law and those who are for grace, that they who follow the law shall suffer eternal hunger of soul, while they who have received the word into the inmost soul, refreshed with abundance of heavenly meat and drink, can neither hunger nor thirst. And so they who fasted in soul murmured.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 5:33
“He insisted most upon that which is the soul of fasting, the mortification of sin, the crucifying of the flesh, and the living of a life of self-denial, which is as much better than fasting and corporal penances as mercy is better than sacrifice.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the guests of the bridegroom: Jesus answers the question of verse 33 about fasting. John Chrysostom explains that the time of His presence was one of joy, unfit for mourning. Bede names the bridegroom as Christ.
Luke 5:34
“The children of the Bridegroom also cannot fast, i. e. refuse nourishment to the soul, but live on every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
the bridegroom will be taken from them: The time with the bridegroom will end. Matthew Henry says the disciples would fast when Christ was taken from them, and leave them in sorrow in a hostile world. Cyril of Alexandria reads the words as a direction for that time.
Luke 5:35
"But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them." Which are these days in which Christ is taken from us, especially when he himself has said, "I shall be with you, even to the end of the world," when he has said, "I will not leave you orphans"? For it is certain that if he were to leave us, we could not be saved. None can take Christ from you, unless you take yourself away. Your boasting will not take you away, nor arrogance, nor may you presume on the law for yourself.
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:35
“When Christ shall leave them with their hearts full of sorrow, their hands full of work, and the world full of enmity and rage against them, then shall they fast, shall not be so well fed as they are now. We both hunger and thirst and are naked, 1 Cor. iv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 5:36-39
He also told them a parable: Two parables make one point: new wine will burst old wineskins stretched by use. New wine is poured into new wineskins, and the new reality Jesus brings needs its own forms.
Luke 5:36
“As in the one case supposed, "the rent is made worse," and in the other, "the new wine is spilled," so by a mongrel mixture of the ascetic ritualism of the old with the spiritual freedom of the new economy, both are disfigured and destroyed.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
no one pours new wine into old wineskins: Adam Clarke explains that eastern bottles were goatskins, and old skins could not stand the working of new wine. John Gill applies the old skins to the scribes and Pharisees, who could not hold the new wine of the gospel. The saying answers the complaint about fasting.
Luke 5:37
“The new wine will burst the bottles - These old bottles would not be able to stand the fermentation of the new wine, as the old sewing would be apt to give way. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the eastern bottles are made of skins; generally those of goats.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:37
“And no man putteth new wine into old bottles,.... To which the Scribes and Pharisees are here compared, into whose hearts the new wine of Gospel grace was not put; or to whom was not made known the love of God Comparable to new wine; nor the blessings of the new covenant of grace, now exhibited; nor the truths of the Gospel now more clearly and newly revealed.”
new wine is poured into new wineskins: The new skins complete the saying of verse 37. John Gill takes them as the disciples and the sinners called to repentance, renewed by the Spirit. Gill adds that such people are filled with joy as with new wine.
Luke 5:38
“But new wine must be put into new bottles,.... Such as the disciples of Christ were, and sinners called to repentance are, who are renewed by the Spirit and grace of God: and these are filled with spiritual joy and comfort, as with new wine, arising from discoveries of the love of God, a view of interest in the blessings of the covenant, and an application of Gospel truths and promises.”
The saying about old wine closes the answer on fasting. Albert Barnes says old wine grows mild, so one drinking it wants no new wine. Bede applies it to Jews long settled in an old way of life.
Luke 5:39
“The old is better - ΧρηϚοτερος - Is more agreeable to the taste or palate. Herodotus, the scholiast on Aristophanes, and Homer, use the word in this sense. See Raphelius. The old wine, among the rabbins, was the wine of three leaves; that is, wine three years old; because, from the time that the vine had produced that wine, it had put forth its leaves three times. See Lightfoot.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 5:39
“See this passage illustrated in the notes at Mat 9:14-17. Luk 5:39 Having drunk old wine ... - Wine increases its strength and flavor, and its mildness and mellowness, by age, and the old is therefore preferable. They who had tasted such mild and mellow wine would not readily drink the comparatively sour and astringent juice of the grape as it came from the press.”
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Luke; Ambrose of Milan, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede; Cyril of Alexandria; Gregory of Nyssa, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Luke; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.