Luke 5 – Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Luke 5:1-11: Peter’s calling

A. Find Out:    

1. Where was Jesus and what was he doing? v.1
   •  One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding round him and listening to the word of God.
2. How did he extend what he was doing? v.2,3
   • He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
3. What did he do when he had finished? v.4
   • When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’
4. What was Peter’s answer? v.5
   • Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’
5. So what happened? v.6,7
   • When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
6. What was Peter’s response to this? v.8,9
   • When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,
7. What did Jesus say and what then happened? v.10b,11
   • Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

B. Think:

1. Why did Jesus use Peter’s fishing boat?
2. What was it that shook Peter?
3. What does this tell us about Jesus?

C. Comment:

This is the only Gospel that this account appears in. Perhaps that is because Luke was collecting together stories that revealed the power and authority of Jesus and this certainly fits into that category!

Jesus has been preaching to the crowd which has been growing. There is little room and it’s difficult for the people to hear, so Jesus uses a fishing boat so that, anchored just off shore, more people can see and hear him. But perhaps there is more in it than that. He knows that this big fisherman is in God’s sights, and this guy needs a power encounter with God of the sort that he can understand. So observe what happens.

After preaching Jesus wants to thank Peter for the use of his boat in the most practical way. Jesus, who knows everything, knows that last night the fishing had been poor. He tells Peter to throw out the nets and something in the way he speaks prompts Peter to do it, even though he knows there are no fish here – but suddenly there are – in abundance!”

Questions flood Peter’s mind, but one thing he knows – there were no fish here, but now there are – and somehow Jesus is the cause of this and Jesus knows all about Peter and more about his job than Peter does. This puts Jesus in a completely different category and he, Peter, is not in his league. So, when called, he goes!

D. Application:

1. Who knows best about your life? Have I realised that Jesus knows more about me, my life and my job that I do?
2. The power to transform? Have I realised that Jesus has the power to transform my life circumstances, to actually bring change where I can see no possibility?

Passage: Luke 5:12-16: Jesus and the Leper

A. Find Out:

1. Who came, did what, and declared what? v.12
   • While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’
2. What did Jesus DO? v.13a
   • Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.
3. What did he say and with what effect? v.13b
   • ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him.
4. What two things did Jesus tell him to do? v.14
   • Then Jesus ordered him, ‘Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’
5. Yet what happened? v.15
   • Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their illnesses.
6. What did Jesus often do? v.16
   • But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

B. Think:

1. What do you think the man’s words indicate about him?
2. What was significant about Jesus’ action?
3. Why do you think Jesus instructed him to go to a priest?

C. Comment:

Jesus now goes to one of the surrounding towns (see 4:43) where he encounters a leper. To be a leper in those days meant to be a hopeless outcast. Yet even the lepers heard what Jesus had been doing (see 4:40) and so the man comes to Jesus.

Observe his manner of approach. He falls before Jesus and, in abject submission, he begs him for help. He realises something of Jesus’ power and greatness and his own desperation. He knows Jesus can heal him but he’s got such a low opinion of himself he’s not convinced Jesus would want to do it.  Isn’t this how it is with so many of us?

Observe next Jesus’ response. Mark tells us Jesus was moved by compassion (Mk 1:41). Jesus knows what the man feels, knows his sense of desperation and isolation, and so does the one thing the man needs even more than healing: he touches him! He could have healed simply with a word but he actually expresses his love with a touch.

He then affirms the man: I am willing. The man also needed that. In both these ways so far, Jesus is building up the man, encouraging him in preparation for what is about to happen.  It’s more than a physical healing that is needed.

He then heals him: be clean. With Jesus, because he is God’s Son with all authority and power, he simply needs to speak a word. At Creation, the Father spoke and it happened. God only has to declare His will and it happens.

Finally he gives the man instructions on how to confirm his healing. The Law instructed that the priests act as doctors confirming the cleansing (see Lev 14:1-4). Thus Jesus reassures the man that he is healed by his instruction to get it confirmed officially. Again further caring. Authority and caring go hand in hand in God’s kingdom!

D. Application:

1. We need affirming: Jesus knows our greatest need is to be loved and affirmed, and that even before any healing we may need.  Jesus loves you as you are!
2. Strategic healing: Everything Jesus does is to reassure his people of his love. Here he did it in stages. He does it for us in a variety of ways. Receive his love, know that he is for you (Rom 8:31). He loves you!

Passage: Luke 5:17-26: Jesus & the paralyzed man

A. Find Out:

1. Who were in the house with Jesus? v.17
   • One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal those who were ill.
2. Who came and did what? v.18,19
   • Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
3. What did Jesus say and with what reaction? v.20,21
   • When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’
   • 21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’
4. How did Jesus respond? v.22-24
   • Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’
5. What happened? v.25
   •  Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
6. What effect did this have? v.26
   • Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’

B. Think:

1. How would you describe the friends of the paralysed man?
2. What two needs did Jesus see the man had?
3. Why was that a problem for the Pharisees and teachers there?

C. Comment:

Observe first the example of the friends of the paralysed man. First they had heard about Jesus, then they had believed and finally they DID something for their friend. In the “doing” these men were not put off by natural obstacles. They pushed on through to get to Jesus.

Second, note the way Jesus dealt with the man. First he forgave the man, then he healed him. That was his order of priorities. In coming to Jesus the man was willing to face God with his past. This is a sign of repentance, so Jesus forgives him. Then he meets his other obvious need.

Third, note the reaction of the religious people there. They understood that only God can forgive sins and they couldn’t understand what grounds there were for this declaration of forgiveness, and they assumed Jesus was blaspheming. Their hard hearts prevented compassion for the man arising. They just thought the worst!

Fourth, see how Jesus handles this. He could have declared that he was God’s son, but the time wasn’t right for that, so instead he presents them with a conundrum: is it easier to declare sins forgiven or easier to declare healing? Answer, neither unless you have the power to do both! If he has the power to heal then that is an indication that he has the right to forgive sins as well, so he heals the man. The result? Total amazement, and no doubt some serious thinking.

D. Application:

1. Needing to be Forgiven? Forgiveness is the first need of every one of us. It happened when I came to Christ.  Have I fully received it? Do I realise that when I confess he promises to forgive (1 Jn 1:9)
2. Reconciliation opens the way: After being reconciled to God, then other matters can be dealt with. Very often we cannot receive God’s blessing because we are still holding Him at a distance. Am I doing that? Am I frustrating His desire to bring greater blessing into my life?

Passage: Luke 5:27-32: Jesus calls Levi

27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’

31 Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’

A. Find Out:

1. What did Jesus next say to who, where? v.27
   •  After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him,
2. With what result? v.28
   • and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
3. What did Levi next do? v.29
   • then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.
4. Who objected by asking who what? v.30
   •  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’
5. What illustration did Jesus give? v.31
   • Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill.
6. So how did he apply that to himself? v.32
   • I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’

B. Think:

1. How would you describe Levi’s complete response?
2. What was the Pharisees’ problem?
3. Why was this no problem to Jesus?

C. Comment:

This all seems to be happening in Capernaum .  Amazing things have been happening there and Levi (or Matthew) would have heard about these things. Then Jesus comes to him and instructs him to follow him. Again there is a simple leaving without question. But this is Levi’s home so he invites Jesus to a meal and also invites all his friends to come along and meet Jesus.  A good example!

Now the Pharisees, being a very ‘religious’ group are scandalised by this. This Jesus, who is supposed to be a religious man, is consorting with sinners! However can this be? There is always a tendency for the ‘religious’ to separate themselves off in order to be ‘holy’ but that is far from New Testament Christianity. For Jesus, unrighteous sinners, are the very ones he’s come to save. They are the ones who have the greatest need. Look, he says, it’s the sick who need a doctor, and it’s the unrighteous who need me, that’s why I’ve come.

We find some bold lessons in this passage. First there is the main lesson from Jesus: he’s come to reach out to the sinner, the lost, the unrighteous. A challenge for us to do the same. Then there is the example of Levi, who just wanted to share Jesus with his friends. A further good example to follow. Then there is the example of the Pharisees, not to be followed, of self-righteous exclusion.

D. Application:

1. Jesus comes to save the lost: Am I therefore open to those around me in life who are less than ‘good’ in my eyes? 
2. Jesus comes to save the lost: Is Jesus able to reach out through me to the unrighteous (as I see them) around me?

Passage: Luke 5:33-39: Teaching on ‘new things’

A. Find Out:

1. How was Jesus then questioned? v.33
   • They said to him, ‘John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.’
2. What illustration did he apply to himself in answer? v.34,35
   • Jesus answered, ‘Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.’
3. What did he say one doesn’t do and why? v.36
   • He told them this parable: ‘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.
4. What also did he say one doesn’t do and why? v.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.
5. What did he say must happen? v.38
   • No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.
6. And why do some not want the new wine? v.39
   • And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, “The old is better.”’

B. Think:

1. What point was Jesus making when speaking of the bridegroom?
2. What was he saying with the two parables?
3. And what warning was he giving at the end?

C. Comment:

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law continue to challenge Jesus. Basically what they are saying is “Why aren’t you teaching your followers the spiritual disciplines that the rest of us spiritual people follow?” Jesus’ answer to this is very simple: at this moment it isn’t appropriate for them to be fasting, it’s party time! While Jesus was working people were getting saved, healed and delivered, lives were being transformed. It was a time for rejoicing, not a time for being serious and mournful. No, he says, when I’m taken away, that will be the time for fasting and prayer! He refers, obviously, to the time between his death and resurrection, which was a genuine time of mourning for Jesus’ followers.

But then he goes on. He pictures an old garment that needed patching. You don’t patch it with new material because that won’t match (or it will shrink differently – Mk 2:21). Then he pictures trying to contain new wine. You don’t put it into old wineskins because they will be rigid and inflexible and won’t be able to cope with the ongoing fermentation of the new wine.

Very simply what he is saying is that you can’t mix the new and the old, and indeed when you are used to the old you may not want the new. The life that Jesus was bringing was incompatible with the old form of religion that the Pharisees knew about. Their religion rested on rules and ritual. Jesus came bringing life and change. The two don’t mix! Be clear about that.

D. Application:

1. Rules or Life: Rules and ritual bring spiritual death. Jesus brings life, effervescence and change. Is my life based on rule keeping or on the wonderful love and activity of Jesus?
2. Rigid or Flexible: Am I so fixed in my way of thinking that it hinders Jesus doing things through me that run contrary to my understanding?