Luke - Bible Claret

Calls His First Disciples

One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around him listening to the word of God,

he noticed two boats abandoned at the water’s edge by fishermen who were now washing their nets.

He then got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to move out a little from the shore. There he sat and continued teaching the crowd.

When he finished speaking, he

Simon replied:

“Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing.

But if you say so, I will lower the nets.”

They did so and caught so many fish that their nets started to tear.

They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help. They came and filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.

Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell to his knees before Jesus, saying:

“Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made.

And so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons.

Jesus said to Simon:

“Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.”

So they brought their boats to land and followed him, leaving everything.

One day, in a different town, a man came to Jesus covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, the man bowed down to the ground and said:

“Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”

Stretching out his hand, Jesus touched the man and said:

“Yes, I want to. Be clean.”

In an instant, the leprosy left him.

Then Jesus instructed him:

“Tell this to no one. But go and show yourself to the priest. Make an offering for your healing as Moses prescribed; that will serve as evidence for them.”

But the news about Jesus spread even more; large crowds gathered around him to listen and be healed of their illnesses.

As for Jesus, he often withdrew to solitary places to pray.

One day, Jesus was teaching, and many Pharisees and teachers of the law had come from all parts of Galilee, Judea, and even Jerusalem. They were sitting there, while the power of the Lord was at work to heal the sick.

Then some men brought a paralyzed man who lay on his mat. They tried to enter the house to bring him before Jesus,

but they couldn’t find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and lowered him on his mat into the middle of the crowd right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man:

“My friend, your sins are forgiven.”

At once the teachers of the law and the Pharisees began to wonder:

“This man insults God! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

But Jesus knew their thoughts and asked them:

“Why are you reacting like this?

Which is easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’?

Now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus said to the paralyzed man:

“Get up, take your mat, and go home.”

Immediately, the man stood before them. He picked up the mat he had been lying on and went home, praising God.

Amazement took hold of the people, and they praised God. They were filled with holy fear and said:

“What wonderful things we have seen today!”

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office. He said to him, “Follow me!”

So Levi, leaving everything behind, got up and followed Jesus.

Levi hosted a big feast for Jesus, and many tax collectors came to his house and took their places at the table with the other guests.

Then the Pharisees and their followers complained to Jesus’ disciples, “How is it, that you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

But Jesus replied, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do.

I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus:

“The disciples of John fast often and say long prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why is it that your disciples eat and drink?”

Then Jesus said to them:

“You can’t make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them.

But later the bridegroom will be taken from them and they will fast in those days.”

Jesus also shared a parable:

“No one tears a piece from a new coat to patch an old one; if they do, the new coat will tear, and the piece taken from the new coat will not match the old.

No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will cause the skins to burst and be spilled, and the skins will be ruined as well.

But new wine must be put into fresh skins.

Still, no one who has tasted old wine is eager to try new wine, because they say, ‘The old is good.’”

Commentaries

5:1 - 5:11

Calls His First Disciples.

With the sign of the abundant catch, Jesus challenges Simon about his calling. Simon sees this sign as an extraordinary act and can only say, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (8). God does not turn away from people because of their sins. While Simon asks the Lord to go away, Jesus moves closer and reassures him with the same words the Bible uses to comfort those who recognize divine greatness: “Do not be afraid.” Simon Peter and his companions, despite their flaws, are invited to trust in the Word and to become spreaders of that Word, in whose name they will catch more than fish—they will catch people (10).

5:12 - 5:16

Cure of a Leper.

Jesus’ words and actions save the excluded, the marginalized, and bring them back into the community. In the new community, there can be no marginalized or excluded individuals, or it would go against Jesus’ mission, which is to rescue and restore everyone. Verse 16 shows us a Jesus who stays true to his decision not to turn his mission into an exalted messianism; despite his fame and the crowds that surround him, he withdraws to quiet places to pray.

5:17 - 5:26

Cure of a Paralytic.

The first thing that strikes us in this passage is the audience listening to Jesus: Pharisees and teachers of the law from Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem (17a). On the one hand, Jesus “had the power of the Lord to heal” (17b), and on the other, he presents himself to them as the Son of Man who has authority on earth to forgive sins (24), an attribute exclusive to God. This episode marks the beginning of confrontations between official Judaism and Jesus, which will culminate on the cross. To accept Jesus, we must come out of our prostration and open ourselves to him, so that even without confessing our sins—the paralytic does not confess—we feel forgiven and welcomed by him to begin a new life.

5:27 - 5:32

Calls Levi: Shares the Table with Sinners.

While Jesus ‘loses points’ with official Judaism, he nonetheless ‘gains’ in establishing the kingdom of God; although he loses his life to those who can kill the body (Mt 10:28), he gains life every time people like those who are with him at the table are converted and open themselves to this new event, which is the presence of the “bridegroom” (34f), of the kingdom that upends the established order maintained by the legalism of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.

5:33 - 5:39

On Fasting.

The Messiah is already among the people, and only those who accept him celebrate his presence as a permanent banquet; this is the key to understanding the comparisons Jesus makes about the novelty of his person and his work (36-39): a reality as new as his mission, which begins by welcoming the excluded, the marginalized, and sinners, and which does not align with the expectations of the religious authorities.