Pressed upon him (). Luke in this paragraph (Luke 5:1-11; Mark 1:16-20; Matt 4:18-22) does not follow the chronology of Mark as he usually does. It seems reasonably clear that the renewed call of the four fishermen came before the first tour of Galilee in Lu 4:42-44. It is here assumed that Luke is describing in his own way the incident given in Mark and Matthew above. Luke singles out Simon in a graphic way. This verb is an old one and means to , rest upon as of a stone on the tomb (Joh 11:38) or of fish on the burning coals (Joh 21:9). So it is used of a tempest (Ac 27:20) and of the urgent demands for Christ’s crucifixion (Lu 23:23). Here it vividly pictures the eager crowds around Jesus. is a favourite idiom with Luke as we have already seen, with the articular infinitive in the locative case.

That (). does not technically mean the declarative conjunction “that,” but it is a fair rendering of the somewhat awkward idiom of Luke to a certain extent imitating the Hebrew use of wav.

Was standing ( ). Periphrastic second past perfect of which here is equal to a practical imperfect.

By the lake ( ). The use of the accusative with , alongside, after a verb of rest used to be called the pregnant use, came and was standing. But that is no longer necessary, for the accusative as the case of extension is the oldest of the cases and in later Greek regains many of the earlier uses of the other cases employed for more precise distinctions. See the same idiom in verse 2. We need not here stress the notion of extension. “With characteristic accuracy Luke never calls it a sea, while the others never call it a lake” (Plummer).

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Pressed [] . Lit., were laid upon.

To hear. The A. V. is correct according to the reading tou ajkouein, which it follows. The true reading is kai ajkouein, and heard. So Rev.

He stood [ ] . The pronoun distinguishes him from the crowd which pressed upon him : he on his part stood. Render the participle and finite verb as Rev., was standing.

Lake [] . An illustration of the more classical style of Luke as compared with Matthew and Mark. They and John also use qalassa, sea. See on Mt 4:18.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

THE MIRACLE OF THE CATCH OF FISH V. 1-11

1) “And it came to pass,” (egeneto de) “Then it came to be,” occurred as a result of the excitement that had been stirred by His synagogue teaching and preaching.

2) “That as the people pressed upon him” (en to ton ochlon epikeisthai auto) “As the crowd that had come pressed upon him,” regarding their interest in His message and mission, both to hear Him preach and to see the miracles He was performing, Joh 2:11; Joh 3:1-2; Joh 20:30-31.

3) “To hear the word of God,” (kai akoueinton logon tou theou) “And to hear the Word of God,” the glad tidings of the kingdom of God that Jesus had been preaching throughout the regions of Galilee, Luk 4:43-44; Mar 1:14-15.

4) “He stood by the lake of Gennesaret,” (kai autos en hestos para ten Iimnen Gennesaret) “And as he was, standing by (alongside) the Lake of Gennesaret,” also known as the Sea of Galilee, Mat 4:18. Only Luke uses the term “Lake of Gennesaret.” It is the most sacred, or sanctified body of water on the earth.

This is known as the: 1) Sea of Tiberias, 2) Sea of Galilee, and 3) Sea of Gennesaret, located in the northern part of Palestine. To the north in view is snow-capped Mt Hermon, and the mountain ranges of upper Galilee. It is estimated that a fleet of near 4,000 ships and boats sailed and docked on the lake in the days of our Lord.

THE SEA OF TIBERIAS

A fresh water lake in northern Palestine. This lake has several names; sometimes it is called the Sea of Galilee, from the province in which it is situated; sometimes the Lake of Tiberias, from the city of that name on its western shore; and sometimes, as in this case, the Lake of Gennersaret, from a plain of that name between the cities of Capernaum and Magdala. In form it is an irregular oval, with the large end to the north. It is about fourteen miles long, and nine miles wide, and is about 600 feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea. “Seen from any point of the surrounding heights, it is a fine sheet of water, a burnished mirror set in a framework of rounded hills and rugged mountains, which rise and roll backward and upward to where Hermon hangs the picture against the blue vault of Heaven.” The water is sweet and wholesome, and the fish abundant and of excellent quality. In our Lord’s time it was covered with a gay and numerous fleet of 4,000 vessels, from ships of war down to fishing boats.

Phillips Brooks

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Luk 5:1

. He stood near the lake. Matthew and Mark, according to the usual custom of their language, call it the sea of Galilee. The proper name of this lake among the ancient Hebrews was כנרת, ( Chinnereth;) (338) but, when the language became corrupted, the word was changed to Gennesaret. Profane authors call it Gennesar; and that part, which lay towards Galilee, was called by them the sea of Galilee. The bank, which adjoined to Tiberias, received its name from that city. Its breadth and situation will be more appropriately discussed in another place. Let us now come to the fact here related.

Luke says, that Christ entered into a ship which belonged to Peter, and withdrew to a moderate distance from the land, that he might more conveniently address from it the multitudes, who flocked from various places to hear him; and that, after discharging the office of teaching, he exhibited a proof of his divine power by a miracle. It was no unusual thing, indeed, that fishers cast their nets, on many occasions, with little advantage: and that all their fruitless toil was afterwards recompensed by one successful throw. But it was proved to be a miracle by this circumstance, that they had taken nothing during the whole night, (which, however, is more suitable for catching fish,) and that suddenly a great multitude of fishes was collected into their nets, sufficient to fill the ships. Peter and his companions, therefore, readily conclude that a take, so far beyond the ordinary quantity, was not accidental, but was bestowed on them by a divine interposition.

(338) Chinnereth occurs in Joshua, (Jos 19:35,) as the name of an adjoining city, from which the lake probably derived its name. In the French copy, our author gives it Cinerot, or, as we have it, (Jos 11:2,) Chinneroth. But that word contains a Vau, which is here wanting: though it must be owned that, when it is connected with a Cholem point, that letter is often inserted, or left out, according to the pleasure of the writer. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES

Luk. 5:1. To hear the word of God.His preaching in the synagogues had excited so much attention that the people followed Him to the shore of the lake to hear Him (Speakers Commentary). Lake of Gennesaret.St. Luke alone uses the name.

Luk. 5:2. Standing.The technical word used for vessels at anchor or fastened to the shore. Washing their nets.As if their work for the day were over.

Luk. 5:4. Launch out.The verb is in the singular; addressed to Peter, who was steersman of his boat: let down is in the plural; addressed to all the fishermen in the boat.

Luk. 5:5. Master.Not teacher: a title of respect. All the night.The usual time for fishing (cf. Joh. 21:3).

Luk. 5:6. Their net brake.Rather, was breaking (R.V.), was on the point of breaking.

Luk. 5:8. Depart from me.Lit. Go forth away from me, i.e. Go out of the boat and leave me. The presence of one possessed of Divine power or knowledge overawed him: he felt, too, that in Jesus there was also a Divine holiness; and he was overwhelmed with the thought of his own unworthiness. Yet he addresses Jesus as Lord, a term of greater reverence than Master (Luk. 5:5). His request that Jesus should leave him is the expression of a very different feeling from that of the sordid Gadarenes, who desired Him to depart from their coasts (Luk. 8:37). A sinful man.It is his own individual guiltiness that he confesses, and not simply the depravity of human nature: the word he uses implies thisit is , and not .

Luk. 5:9. Astonished.Lit. amazement possessed him.

Luk. 5:10. Thou shalt catch.Or, thou shalt be catchingas a permanent occupation. It must be remembered that this was the second call of Peter and the three apostlesthe call to apostleship: they had already received a call to faith. They had received their first call on the banks of the Jordan, and had heard the witness of John, and had witnessed the miracle of Cana. They had only returned to their ordinary avocations until the time came for Christs full and active ministry (Farrar).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Luk. 5:1-11

A Parable in a Miracle.There are three stages in this incident: the sermon from the fishing-boat, the draught of fishes, and the call of Simon.

I. The sermon from the fishing-boat.The narrative is vivid and picturesque. We can fancy the little crowd on the beach in the fresh morning; their unmannerly jostling; the singular inattention of Simon and the others; the wet, slimy boats drawn up, in token that fishing was done for the day; the crews busy cleaning the nets; and stretching from the strip of busy beach the glittering waters, shining in the early sun as it rose over the eastern hills. Though the fishermen had not lifted their heads from washing the nets to listen to Jesus, they were all His disciples; but they had not been summoned to forsake their callings, and Jesus had been going about preaching alone. They did not know how far He wished them to swell the crowd of listeners, and so they went on with their work. The patient doing of common duties is as true a service as any other. Who looked likest disciplesthe eager listeners, or the knot of fishers? The light-minded crowd shows us that open ears and shut hearts often go together, and the true sign of discipleship was dropping the nets and pushing off just because He wished it. Let us learn to stick to our small secular duties till Jesus asks other service, and then to drop them immediately and cheerily, like these men. What a pulpit for such a preacher the rough, untidy fishing-boat was! How willingly He shared the lowly lot of His friends, and how little He cared for comfort, or what people call dignity! The gospel for all men, poor as well as rich, was fitly preached from a fishing-boat; and its power to exalt all secular work into Divine and priestly service was plain from the very place of its utterance.

II. The draught of fishes.At Thy word I will is the very essence of obedience. Never mind though use and wont say Folly; never mind how vain the nights work has been, nor how weary the arms with rowing and hauling; if Jesus says, Down with the nets, then down they should go, and he who truly calls Him Master will not stop to argue or remonstrate. Swiftness is part of obedience. The reward is as swift. The load threatens to break the nets. The miracle is remarkable, in that it was not done in answer to any cry of distress, and in that it had not for its purpose the supply of any sore need. Its value is didactic and symbolical. In the former aspect it reveals Jesus as the Lord of nature, and as fulfilling the ancient psalm (Luk. 8:8), which ascribes to man dominion over the fish of the sea. The incident shows how the original and forfeited glory of humanity was restored in Jesus. We see not yet all things put under man, but we see Jesus. This teaching is equally clear whether we regard the point of the miracle as being our Lords supernatural knowledge of these passers through the paths of the seas, or as His sovereign power bringing them to the nets. It teaches, too, His care for His followers material needs, and prophesies the blessing which crowns obedient work in secular callings. If we are sure of what is duty, we are to stick to it, come failure or success. Then, too, we learn the need for prompt, unhesitating obedience to every command of Christs, however it may break in on our rest or contradict our notions. If all our common duties have this motto written on them, At Thy word, the distasteful will become pleasant and fatigue light, and success and failure will be wisely alternated by Him as may be best for us; and whatever the outward issues of our work, its effects on ourselves will be to bring us nearer to Him; and though our nets may often be empty, our hearts will be full of perfect peace.

III. The call of Simon.The miracle heightened Peters conception of the Worker, for Lord is a loftier form of address than Master. It had also flashed upon him a sudden consciousness of his own sinfulness, which was altogether wholesome. It is well when great mercies reveal the Giver more clearly, and when the glimpse of the gracious Giver bows us with the sense of our own unworthiness. To know ourselves sinful and Christ as Lord is the beginning of deliverance from sin and of fitness for apostleship. But Peter was sadly wrong in his Depart from me. The disease is a reason for the coming, not for the going, of the Healer. He would have understood himself and His Lord better if he had cried, Never leave me, for I am sinful. He did understand matters better when, on the occasion of the second miraculous draught of fishes, he flung himself into the water to get close to his Master. A partial sense of sin and surface knowledge of Jesus drive from Him: a deeper understanding of ourselves and of Him drives to Him. Christ knows what Peter means by his foolish cry. What he wants to get rid of is, not Jesus, but the sin that separates him from Jesus. Go away, said Peter. Come to Me henceforth permanently, and leave all else to be with Me, replied Jesus. Christ knows our hearts better than we do, and often reads our wishes more truly than we put them into utterance. From henceforth indicates the change in Peters calling and relation to Jesus. The moment was an epoch, making a revolution in his life. Our sight of our own sinfulness and of His holiness ever makes a turning-point. Well for us if henceforth we are nearer Him, and lifted above our old selves.

The fishermans trade is the symbol of evangelistic activity, and the points of resemblance are very obvious. There is need for the same patient toil, the same persistent bearing up against discouragement. There will come the same apparent want of success, and there should ever sound in the servants ears the Masters command to launch out into the deepto push boldly into untried ground, and to ply his task, undaunted by discouragements and unwearied by the long night of toil. The conditions of success are diligence, obedience, hope. The preliminary is to leave all and follow Him. We may have little, or we may have much; but whatever it be, we have to give it up; and he who surrenders an all which is little is one in motive, and will be one in reward, with him who gives up an all which is much.Maclaren.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk. 5:1-11

Luk. 5:1-11. First Studies in Christs College.

I. Thrust out a little from the land.Peter is first asked to lend his boat for the preaching of the word. For the first time the instruments of his ordinary life are turned to the use of his new calling: his boat, his oars, his strength and skill. What a lesson is here for every discipleto be ready to give his house, his field, his shop, his seat at the receipt of custom, not to any mere selfish purpose, but to further the preaching of the word! For thus disciples are first taught to thrust out a little, in a venture to which they are new and timid.

II. Launch out into the deep.That first lesson is followed by a second, and all the more suggestive that their life-long skill now finds a Master. For themselves they have toiled all night in vain; but they learn to begin anew at His word, and now they are astonished at their success. How often would this scene and its teaching come up to memory in aftertimes, with other lights and other applications! How often would Peter think in other waters of his partners in the ship, of fellowship in work as well as faith, of the joy of drawing men to the shore when the Master watches and directs, and of the wonder of nets unbroken under the heavy strain!MacColl.

Trust in Christ taught by the Miracle.Peter learnt from this miracle that it was best to trust Christ. He might say to himself, I never felt more convinced that we should take nothing by letting down the nets than I did on that morning on the lake; but I let them down, and found I was wrong. A memorable act is not done with educationally when it is over. The recollection of it is an attendant monitor, always pointing the same way; and so this miracle may have done much towards accustoming Peter to look to the Lords prompting, and to be ready at His word to give up that about which he felt most sure.Latham.

A Miracle of Instruction.The early miracles were mostly wrought in the sight of the multitude; but this miracle of the draught of fishes was performed when few but the disciples were by. It was a miracle of instruction: it lent great impressiveness to great lessons, it emphasised in a way never to be forgotten the call to become fishers of men, and it gave good augury of success. The thought of this draught must have come back to Peter at many a juncture in his lifea notable one being the morrow of the feast of Pentecost, when there were added to them in that day about three thousand souls!Ibid.

Christ the Ruler of our Lives.In this incident Christ unfolds Himself to His disciples as Lord of their lives and of their lives mission. He shows that their mission will be among men whom they are to seek to win; He gives them a glimpse of a kingdom which is moral rather than material; and at the same time He shows Himself as Lord of their lives.Boyd Carpenter.

I. The scene.Here you have week day ministry, open-air preaching, a quite extempore service, an occasional and entirely singular pulpit.

II. The sign.The deed which followed when He had left speaking is a good illustration of the mutual influence of every-day religion and every-day work.

III. The purpose and effects.A general impression of astonishment, a spiritual crisis in Peters case, and a complete and immediate decision on his part and on that of the other fisher-apostles. The crowning purpose of the miracle was to be a sign and seal of the calling of these converts as preachers of the gospel, messengers of the kingdom, fishers of men.

IV. The symbolic meaning.It was an acted parable. The analogies between the work of fishers and the work of Christs servants are many.Laidlaw.

Luk. 5:1. The people pressed upon Him.The presence of a large crowd of men and women eager to hear the word of God lends additional significance to the spiritual meaning of the miracle now wrought, and to the call now addressed to these fishermen to leave their trade and become fellow-workers with Christ in the task of saving men. The multitude gathered together upon the beach were ready and waiting to be enclosed in the gospel net.

Luk. 5:2. Were washing their nets.It is interesting to notice how often in the Gospels Christ is revealed to men while they are busy in their worldly occupations, and how those very occupations are made the means of giving them truer knowledge of Him and of their relations to Him.

1. The shepherds at Bethlehem, while tending their flocks, receive tidings of the birth of Him who was to be the Good Shepherd.

2. The Magi, while engaged in watching the heavens, see the star that guides them to Christ, who was Himself the Star which was to arise out of Jacob (Num. 24:17).

3. The fishermen of the Galilan lake, Simon and Andrew, James and John, while engaged in their trade, are called to join Him and to become fishers of men. The figure of Christ as a fisherman was common in the early literature of the Church: it is based upon this passage and upon the parable in Mat. 13:47-50. Various refinements upon the figure were current, e.g. the mystical symbol of the (i.e. an acrostic upon Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour), the idea of the soul, like the fish, being born in the water (of baptism), etc.

Luk. 5:3. Entered into one of the ships.An old writer fancifully says of Christ in the boat and the people on the shore, Behold the Fisherman upon the sea and the fish upon the land.

Luk. 5:4-5. Launch out into the deep.The faith of Simon Peter is now tested. The night-fishing had been utterly unsuccessful, and the idea of renewing the attempt that day had been abandoned: the boats had been drawn up on the shore, and the nets were being cleaned and dried. The fisherman is now told to launch out into the deep, and cast the nets again. Simons knowledge of his craft, of the habits of fish, of the weather, etc., would have led him to refuse; but his deference to Christ and reverence for Him disposed Him to obey. To labour at the command of Christ, and to do so with alacrity and pains, is proof of a docile and implicit faith. Simons obedience was perhaps not very severely tested by this command, but it must be remembered that his faith in Christ was as yet only in an early stage of development, and therefore more easily shaken: he now manifested deference to a Teacher, where afterwards he showed ardent obedience to a Lord and Saviour.

Luk. 5:5. Nevertheless.Two feelings predominant in Peters words:

(1) weariness;
(2) discouragement. Nevertheless. Here is the correction of the two feelings. This or that is against it, yet it shall be done.

I. Life as a whole is one great nevertheless.
II. Each act of the life is a little nevertheless.A though and a yet in perpetual conflict, the though, being the plausible thing, and the tempting thing, and the half-truth; the yet less apparent, but the manly thing, and the courageous and the right. There is a though as well as a yet in the simplest action. Though it is pleasant to sit still, I must be up and doing. It is irksome to perform this particular duty, but it must be done.Vaughan.

Failure a Proof of Want of Faith.Every failure is a proof of the want of faith. If faith were present, failure could not be. But there is such a thing as faith, after defeat, returning to the charge; and it is in that returning to the charge that the test of our Christianity lies.Ibid.

At Thy bidding.This is the disciples nevertheless, and finds its place in the disciples daily duty and service. And by the faithful use of it the disciple is trained and prepared to meet other and higher demands. Humbly recognising past failure, and feeling the full weight of the disappointment, not ignoring the pressure of difficulty and the sting of pain, yet trusting in His grace, we set against the stream of indifference and unbelief the whole force of our will consecrated to Him, and say, Nevertheless, at Thy bidding we will let down the net.Nicoll.

Luk. 5:6. A great multitude of fishes.It seems unnecessary to inquire minutely whether this miracle was due to Christs omniscience or to His omnipotence, i.e. whether by supernatural knowledge He was aware of the near presence of a shoal of fish, or whether by His Divine power He brought together a multitude of the fish of the lake. Perhaps the former supposition would commend itself to most of us; but in favour of the latter we have the passage in Psa. 8:8, in which the ideal son of man, who finds his true representative in Christ, is described as having supreme authority, not only over cattle and beasts of the earth, but over the fish and all creatures that live in the sea. In either case the miracle was equally stupendous.

Luk. 5:7. Beckoned.Perhaps because of the distance they were away from the land, or because fishing operations are best carried on in silence. The noise of shouting might only drive the fish to struggle to escape, and add to the risk of losing them by their breaking through the nets.

The Miracle a Parable.With this miracle we may compare the second of the kind wrought after the Resurrection, and also the parable in Mat. 13:47-50. We shall do well to keep in mind that these miracles were also parables and prophecies: everything connected with them is symbolical. The fishermen represent apostles and ministers of Christ, the ship is the Church, the net is the gospel, the sea is the world, and the shore is eternity. One part of the figure is inappropriate: the fish die when drawn out of the water, while the souls of men are taken captive to be introduced to a higher life. Perhaps this latter idea is conveyed in the words of Christ (Luk. 5:10), Catch men, lit. take alive men, i.e. catch them for life eternal, instead of catching fish for death.

Luk. 5:8. Depart for I am sinful.

I. An important fact.Peter saw himself a very sinful creature. When we stand near Jesus, we see ourselves:

1. Without moral beauty. Sin has taken away our comeliness.
2. Without moral purity. Sin has robbed us of our integrity.
3. Without moral utility. Our usefulness has gone.
4. Without moral prospect. The future is dark.

II. A mistaken impression.

1. Depart from me: no, because there is something there besides sin. The Saviour beheld the man and the apostle there.
2. Depart from me: no, because there is a great service to be rendered. Peter became a fisherman to catch men.
3. Depart from me: no, for nearer Thee we have more light, more holiness.

The Repulsion and Attraction of Christ.Depart from me: To whom shall we go? (Joh. 6:68). The speaker of both texts is the same; the person addressed is the same. Yet the one utterance is the direct negation of the other. Whence comes this paradox? It is a paradox inherent in the religious life. This contrast of repulsion and attraction is the true attitude of the devout spirit towards God. Side by side they have their place in the heartthe awe which repels, the love which attracts. We thrust God away, and yet we run after Him.Lightfoot.

Peters First Impulse.An oppressive sense of sin had come over Peter in a moment. The eyes of God were looking from that heavenly face down into the depths of his heart. This wrung from him the cry of fear. So must it ever be when we come face to face with God. Observe Peters first impulse when he realises how sinful he is. Depart from me. The desire is to get away from God. Many do not like to think about God. But for Him to depart would be to leave the sinner helpless and hopeless. What we need is not less but more of Him. What was Peters final impulse? To forsake all, and follow Him.Gibson.

Mixed Elements of Character.This exclamation opens a window into the inner man of Peter through which we can see his spiritual state. There is in him that characteristic mixture of good and evil of which we have so many reappearances. Among the good elements are reverential awe in presence of Divine power, tenderness of conscience, and unfeigned self-humiliationall valuable features of character, but not existing without alloy. Along with them were associated superstitious dread of the supernatural, and a slavish fear of God, showing how unfit, as yet, Peter is to be an apostle of a gospel which magnifies the grace of God even to the chief of sinners.Bruce.

Self-humiliation.With the self-humiliation of Simon Peter compare the confession of Isaiah (Isa. 6:5) and that of St. Paul (1Ti. 1:15). Note, also, how utterly inappropriate his words would have been, if Christ had been a mere maneven the holiest of men. They express a self-loathing which is excited only by the contemplation of infinite holiness, and by the thought of the near presence of God.

Depart from me.The exclamation of St. Peter was wrung from a heart touched with a sense of humility, and his words did not express his thoughts. They were the cry of agonised humility, and only emphasised his own utter unworthiness. They were in reality the reverse of the deliberate and calculated request of the swine-feeding Gadarenes. The dead and profane soul tries to get rid of the presence of the Divine. The soul awakened only to conviction of sin is terrified. The soul that has found God is conscious of utter unworthiness, but fear is lost in love (1Jn. 4:18).Farrar.

A Strong Plea for Christ to remain.Simon doth not greedily fall upon so unexpected and profitable a booty, but he turns his eyes from the draught to himself, from the act to the Author, acknowledging vileness in the one, in the other majesty: Go from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. It had been a pity the honest fisher should have been taken at his word. O Simon, thy Saviour is come into thine own ship to call thee, to call others by thee, unto blessedness; and dost thou say, Lord, go from me? as if the patient should say to the physician, Depart from me, for I am sick. But it was the voice of astonishment, not of dislikethe voice of humility, not of discontentment; yea, because thou art a sinful man, therefore hath thy Saviour need to come to thee, to stay with thee; and because thou art humble in the acknowledgment of thy sinfulness, therefore Christ delights to abide with thee, and will call thee to abide with Him. No man ever fared the worse for abasing himself to his God. Christ hath left many a soul for froward and unkind usage; never any for the disparagement of itself, and entreaties of humility. Simon could not devise how to hold Christ faster than by thus suing Him to be gone, than by thus pleading his unworthiness.Hall.

The Deepest Thing in Mans Heart.At moments like these all that is merely conventional is swept away, and the deep heart utters itself, and the deepest things that are there come forth to the light. And the deepest thing in mans heart under the law is this sense of Gods holiness as something bringing death and destruction to the unholy creature. Below this is the utterly profane state, in which there is no contradiction felt between the holy and the unholy, between God and the sinner. Above it is the state of grace; in which all the contradiction is felt, God is still a consuming fire, yet not any more for the sinner, but only for the sin. It is still feltfelt far more strongly than everhow profound a gulf separates between sinful man and a holy God; but felt no less that this gulf has been bridged over, that the two can meet, that in One who shares with both they have already met.Trench.

Luk. 5:8-10. A Strange Prayer and a Wonderful Answer.

I. The prayer is a strange one, when we think by whom and to whom it was offered. This is a familiar gospel story. The prayer sounds like that of the Gadarene demoniacs; but no two cases could be more dissimilar. This prayer is wrung from a human soul by the sudden revelation of a Divine presence, of which it feels itself unworthy. Very strange must this prayer have looked to Peter in the retrospectthis prayer for separation from the Saviour, and that because he is a sinner. Here is a conversion of the converted, and that not the last or most memorable conversion. There will always be in heroic souls an experience, or many such, analogous to this of Peter. For lack of it we are ineffective, trifling, confident, wavering, unimpressive. Oh for the grace of reverence!

II. The answer.Jesus does not blame the fear which He comforts. He first calms and then transfigures it. There is a more excellent way; there is a Divine remedy for the fear that would shrink from Me: I will give thee work to do for Me. Two words are prominent in the commission.

1. Men. Great stress is laid upon it. The object of the ministerial work is men, not souls merely, but men.
2. The other word, catch, speaks of a living capture, of a taking alive in the great net of the gospel. It might be said of some evangelists that they are satisfied to catch a piece of the man, and to catch that piece itself dead! How unlike this to the gospel of St. Peter! How is it that men, even religious men, must always dismember, never unite, the compound being to which they address themselves? There are those who despair of a gospel to the whole man. Not so Jesus Christ.Vaughan.

Luk. 5:10. Thou shalt catch men.Those that were wandering, restless and at random, through the deep, unquiet waters of the world, the smaller falling a prey to the greater, and all with the weary sense of a vast prison, he shall embrace within the safe folds and recesses of the same gospel net, which if they break not through, nor leap over, they shall at length be drawn up to shore, out of the dark, gloomy waters into the bright, clear light of day, so that they may be gathered into vessels for eternal life (Mat. 13:48).Trench.

The Fisherman and the Shepherd.The figure here used does not set forth the whole work of the Christian minister, but only two aspects of successful work He may accomplish, viz. that of securing within the net, and that of landing safely upon the shore. These are the first and last stages in the salvation of the soul. The intermediate stages are those in which the soul is ministered to, and fed, and encouraged, and guarded from harm; and these are represented under the figure of a shepherd caring for sheep. Hence the two figures mutually supplement one another, and show us the offices of a Christian minister as an evangelist and pastor respectively. Other thoughts in connection with these two figures are suggested by Jeremy Taylor: In the days of the patriarchs, the governors of the Lords people were called shepherds. In the days of the gospel they are shepherds still, but with the addition of a new appellative, for now they are called fishers. Both of the callings were honest, humble, and laborious, watchful and full of trouble; but now that both the titles are conjunct, we may observe the symbol of an implicit and folded duty. There is much simplicity and care in the shepherds trade; there is much craft and labour in the fishers; and a prelate is to be both full of piety to his flock, careful of their welfare, and also to be discreet and wary, observant of advantages, laying such baits for the people as may entice them into the nets of Jesus discipline.

The Significance of the Miracle.The physical miracle was to be superseded by miracles of a higher kind, inasmuch as success in the spiritual labours of apostles is a greater proof of Divine power than mighty works that appeal to the bodily senses. The miraculous draught of men which Peter was at a later time to secure (Act. 2:41) was more wonderful than the miracle now wrought. The purpose of the miracle seems to have been to deepen and strengthen the faith of those whom Christ now called to engage in spiritual labours, to secure obedience to that call, and to give intimation of splendid success in pursuing that higher work. Observe that Jesus calls these men to have more than faith, to give up their secular employment and to engage in work of a sacred kind. As they are not yet appointed to be apostles, their status is very similar to that of the Christian minister.Godet.

The Training of the Apostles.Christ selected rough mechanicspersons not only destitute of learning, but inferior in capacitythat He might train, or rather renew, them by the power of His Spirit, so as to excel all the wise men of the world (Calvin). No one need imagine that want of learning and ability are not drawbacks in the case of those who wish to become Christian ministers. Only a gross and ignorant fanaticism could foster such an idea. These fishermen were not called to teach, but to be trained to teach. What they learned from the example and teaching of Christ, from knowledge of human character and society as they went up and down the country with Him, prepared them for their great work. The various kinds of training our theological students are exercised in, are the best and most efficient substitutes which can be found for the methods employed in the case of the apostles.

Luk. 5:11. Forsook all.They returned again to their occupation as fishermen after the Crucifixion, and were again called to abandon it and devote themselves to spiritual labours by a second miraculous draught of fishes and by the direct precept of Jesus. After Pentecost they never resumed their former secular calling. Probably in their going back to it we have an indication of their belief that with the death of Jesus all the hopes they had cherished were overthrown, and His call to them to become fishers of men nullified. The example of Simon Peter suggests the duties of

(1) prompt obedience to Jesus,
(2) self-distrust,
(3) and complete devotion to Him (leaving all to follow Him).

Thou hast the art ont, Peter, and canst tell
To cast thy net on all occasions well.
When Christ calls, and thy nets would have thee stay,
To cast them wells to cast them quite away (Crashaw).

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Butlers Comments

SECTION 1

Challenging Men (Luk. 5:1-11)

5 While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. 2And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3Getting into one of the boats, which was Simons, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. 5And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. 6And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets wre breaking, 7they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men. 11And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Luk. 5:1-3 Teaching: The great popularity of Jesus made people continually hound Him for healing or some other great miracle. Luke notes that crowds followed Jesus down to the shore of the lake of Gennesaret and there pressed upon Him.

Gennesaret is a Hebrew name meaning, princely garden. It is also the name of a very fertile plain three miles long and one-half mile wide on the northwestern shore of the lake. Luke very accurately calls it a lake. It is also known as the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias, and in the Old Testament as the Sea of Chinnereth, (meaning, harpshaped). It is a fresh-water lake resting 680 feet below sea level surrounded by mountains so that it resembles a huge bowl. The lake swarmed with fish of many different verities. Barclay notes that in it were found shoals of fish covering as much as an acre. The lake is about 13 miles long and 9 miles wide at its widest point. In Christs day nine cities of 15,000 or more stood on its shores. It was the scene of much of Jesus Galilean ministries. It is noted for its sudden and violent storms caused by cold air sweeping down from the vast northern plateaus and converging with the tropical humidity of the lake 680 feet below sea level.
The crowds pushing and pressing made it impossible for Jesus to find a place to stand where all could see and hear Him. He saw two empty fishing boats. The fishermen were out on the shore washing their nets after a long night of fishing and catching nothing. Jesus stepped into one of the boats; it belonged to Simon Peter (the other boat probably belonged to John and James). This is not the first time Jesus met these Galilean fishermen.
He asked Peter to push the boat out into the lake a little way. Then Jesus sat down and began to teach. The Greek imperfect verb edidasken means Jesus kept on teaching the people. Luke does not record what Jesus said. But apparently what He taught had some connection to the great miracle which followed immediately. He must have taught things which pointed to His identity as the Messiah, for when He ceased speaking words He began teaching by sign and portent what He wanted to communicate: He is Lord! He desires that men leave all and follow Him!

Luk. 5:4-7 Testing: Luke, the world traveler, notes that Jesus used the word epanagage a definite Greek nautical term meaning, put to sea, set sail, launch forth, (cf. Luk. 8:22; Act. 13:13; Act. 16:11; Act. 18:21, etc.). Jesus instructed the fishermen to row out to the deep (Gr. bathos) part of the lake which could be as much as 150 ft. deep and let down their nets. Here is a landlubber telling experienced fishermen how to fish!

Fishing was one of the three major industries of Galilee (along with agriculture and sheep-herding). Fishermen had an honorable place in society. They had a reputation of being seriously religious. There had been fishermen in Israel beyond the memory of man. Job, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Habakkuk all speak of fishermen and their work. The tools of their trade, the back-breaking toil and the many fruitless hours, demanded strong, rough, tough, fearless, patient men. The daily experiences of fishermen taught them to be hard-headed realists. These character traits coupled with a lack of formal higher education would make them unlikely candidates for positions of leadership in the estimation of most people. Yet these are the very men Jesus chose to be apostles! The humble heart of a servant is fundamentally more significant to Jesus than all the erudition and charm in the world. The Israelites chose their first king on the basis of charm and not character (1Sa. 8:1-22; 1Sa. 9:1-27) and the results were tragic!

It was, therefore, a real test of their character when Jesus commanded, . . . let down your nets for a catch. Peter answered, Master (Gr. epistata, meaning one who has the right to command, or captain) we toiled all night and took nothing! Peter uses the Greek word kopiasantes which means to labor strenuously until one is weary and sore. Peter was tired. But Peter acknowledged the authority of Jesus to demand his trust even in the face of what seemed impossible, and at the word of Jesus let down the net once more that day.

How had Peter arrived at this relationship with Jesus? Peter and Andrew, James and John had been directed to Jesus by John the Baptist a year (or more) previous to this encounter (Joh. 1:35 ff). From that first encounter near the time of Jesus baptism (December 26 A.D.), they followed Him, heard His teaching and saw many of His miracles for about a year. These fishermen saw Him make water into wine (Joh. 2:1-25) and cleanse the Temple; do many miracles in Judea (Joh. 3:2); preach to Nicodemus and the woman at the well (Joh. 3:1-36; Joh. 4:1-54); and perhaps they witnessed the healing of the Capernaum noblemans son (Joh. 4:1-54). After that they apparently returned to their fishing businesses on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus conducted His early Galilean ministry (Luk. 4:1-44). Peters acknowledgement of Jesus captaincy was not an emotional, spur-of-the-moment whimit was based on solid evidence which he had witnessed with his own eyes and ears.

Obedience to the word of Jesus brought into their nets such a huge quantity of fish the nets began to tear and come apart (Gr. dierresseto). They had to motion (Gr. kateneusan, nodding the head vigorously) to their partners to come help. Galilean fishermen had to form partnerships to have the capital to buy equipment and to carry out the extremely difficult labor. In speaking of such teamwork Luke uses two words, metochois (partners Luk. 5:7) and koinonoi (sharers Luk. 5:10); literally the words would be have with and participate with respectively. The boats were filled so full they were sinking, In verse six the literal description of the catch is, they enclosed a multitude of fishes, a much . . .

Luk. 5:8-11 Turning: Although Peter had undoubtedly witnessed miracles by Jesus before (see above), this miracle on his own home grounds, involving his own vocation, his own boat and his own close associates, had profound impact on the deepest recesses of his personality. Here was One who had demonstrated supernatural sovereignty over matters which touched the most intimate aspects of Peters life. Surely He was Lord! Peter was a realist, but he was also a man of deep feeling and religious devotion. Recognizing Jesus as Lord implicated Peter as a sinful man in the presence of Deity! Peter knew what Isaiah knew (Isa. 6:1 ff)God is absolutely holy, man is unholy and in need of forgiveness. This was a turning point in Peters life! Jesus had never before challenged anyone to leave all and follow Him, but He was about to do so.

Matthew and Mark record that Jesus said, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. Luke adds these words of Jesus, Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men. Jesus used the Greek word zogron which means literally, capturing alive. The word is used in reference to the devils capturing people (2Ti. 2:26). Apparently the emphasis is on securing and saving the lives of men for one purpose or another. Jesus wants men captured alive for Him that He may give them eternal blessedness. The devil wants to trap men alive to take them with him to eternal torment (Rev. 20:10). These fishermen added up all the evidence they had of who Jesus was and made the most momentous decision of their lives. They left everything else in second place and made Him and His will first in their lives. They went with Him to assist Him in His divine mission. They turned from being fishermen to become fishers of men.

The great Fisherman, Christ; His disciples, fishers; the world of men pictured as fish; these were favorite images of Christian artists and writers of the first centuries of the church. One of the earliest extant Christian hymns written by Clement of Alexandria (155215 A.D.) dwells on such images:

Fisher of men, the blest,
Out of the worlds unrest,
Out of sins troubled sea,
Taking us, Lord, to thee;
Out of the waves of strife
With bait of blissful life;
Drawing thy nets to shore,
With choicest fish, good store.

The picture of the fish carved on so many tombs in the catacombs of Rome preserves this image until this very day.

Appleburys Comments

Fishers of Men
Scripture

Luk. 5:1-11 Now it came to pass, while the multitude pressed upon him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and he saw two boats standing by the lake: but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the boats, which was Simons, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes out of the boat. 4 And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answered and said, Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing: but at thy word I will let down the nets. 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their nets were breaking; 7 and they beckoned unto their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the 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, O Lord. 9 For he was amazed, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken; 10 and so were also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left all, and followed him.

Comments

multitudes pressed upon him.The crowds, in their eagerness to hear Jesus, followed Him everywhere. He felt the pressure of the multitudes as they crowded around Him. The people of Nazareth marveled at the words of grace that came from His lips, but they were unable to accept them because they thought of Him only as Josephs son. Elsewhere the eager multitudes listened to Him until the jealous Pharisees and their scribes planted doubt in their minds. This persistent opposition came to a climax at the trial of Jesus. The very people whom Jesus had so often befriended were stirred up by the leaders and led to cry out, Let Him be crucified.

standing by the lake of Gennesaret.Jesus often taught in the formal setting of the synagogue; but, for the most part, He taught in informal situations like this one. He was standing by the lake when the crowds came up to Him and urged Him to speak the word of God to them.

Luke uses Lake Gennesaret for Sea of Galilee. Accuracy is a characteristic of his writings. Gennesaret is derived from the name of the plain that drains into the Sea of Galilee. It is probably a corrupted form of the name Chinnereth. Another name was Sea of Tiberias (Joh. 21:1), derived from the city of Tiberias which Herod Antipas built in honor of Tiberias Caesar. It was located on the southwest shore of the Sea. Its Old Testament name was Chinnerethperhaps because the shape of the lake reminded people of a harp (Num. 34:11), or it may have come from the ancient city of the same name (Jos. 19:35).

he saw two boats.Matthew reminds us that Peter and Andrew were casting their nets when Jesus first spoke to them (Mat. 4:18).

Luke takes up the account after they had left the boats and continues it as they washed the nets. Each writer emphasizes the point that is necessary for the purpose of his writing.
Some assume from the differences in the accounts that there were two different events. If there were, it does not affect the lesson presented in the Gospel record. Jesus used the miracle as an occasion to teach His disciples about becoming fishers of men. From henceforth, He said, You shall catch men,

Put out into the deep.Peter knew that Jesus had the right to issue such a command, for Andrew had introduced him to Jesus the Messiah (Joh. 1:40-43). He had seen the miracle when Jesus healed his wifes mother. And now, although it was against his experience and judgment as a fisherman, he was willing to obey the order.

Master.Jesus is often called Lord, Teacher, Rabbi; but Luke adds another term, Master. It is similar in meaning to Rabbi or teacher, but it adds to that title the right to command. They were in Peters boat, but he recognized Jesus right to give the orders.

I will let down the nets.A remarkable demonstration of confidence in Jesus! But Jesus was not just interested in their catching fish; He was preparing them for the lesson He was about to teach about their becoming fishers of men.

Depart from me.Simon was so impressed by the miracle that he fell down at Jesus knees and said to Him, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Just how clear his understanding of the deity of Jesus was at this point, we are not able to tell. But there was something in the miracle, together with all that he had seen done by Jesus before this time, that made him recognize his own sinfulness and the exalted position of the One whom he had just called Master. Now he addresses Him as Lord.

Peter should have asked the Lord to forgive his sin; but it may be that he was not aware of this possibility at the time. Such mistakes are bound to occur when men attempt to tell the Lord what to do instead of following the example of Saul of Tarsus who said, What shall I do, Lord? (Act. 22:10).

For he was amazed.Astonishment seized Peter and the others with him when they saw the miracle take place before their eyes. They had caught so many fish that their nets were breaking; being fishermen, they knew that a miracle had taken place. At the close of Jesus ministry, a similar miracle occurred to prove that He had risen from the dead. Peter at that time also spoke out and said to the others, It is the Lord (Joh. 21:7).

partners.James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were partners with Simon. When they saw the miracle, Peter and those in the boat with him beckoned to their partners to come and help them. The word for partner suggests sharing with others in a common task. This partnership is something in which all who are engaged in winning men to Christ can share.

thou shalt catch men.The word catch suggests taking alive; but this is not the thing stressed in Jesus remark. He was contrasting catching fish with catching men, that is, preaching the gospel by which men are taken for Christ. The net is the captivating message of good news of salvation through Christ, and the place of operation is the world. The resurrection of Christ is a basic issue of that message (Rom. 10:9-10). The miraculous catch of fish at Tiberias convinced the apostles that the Lord had risen. It ought to help those who now seek evidence on which to base their faith.

they left all and followed him.It was no part-time task to which Jesus called them. They were to leave all and give all that they might be ready to go into all the world as fishers of men.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

V.

(1-11) And it came to pass . . .See Notes on Mat. 4:18-22. The narrative here has so many points in common with that in St. Matthew and St. Mark (Mar. 1:16-20) that it has been supposed by most commentators to be a different report of the same facts. It is supposed to be all but incredible that the call to the four disciples, the promise that they should be fishers of men, their leaving all and following their Master, could have been repeated after comparatively so short an interval. On the other hand, St. Luke places it after the healing of Simons wifes mother; St. Mark and St. Matthew place what they relate before, and the miraculous draught of fishes and Peters confession are singularly distinctive features. Their narrative, again, is unconnected with our Lords preaching to the people, with which this opens. On the whole we cannot go farther than saying that there is a slight presumption against the hypothesis of identity. On the assumption of difference we may infer that while our Lord went by Himself to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the other cities, the disciples returned, as they did after the Resurrection, to their old manner of life, and were now called again to their higher work.

The lake of Gennesaret.St. Luke is the only Evangelist who thus describes the Sea of Galilee. On the land of Gennesaret, see Note on Mat. 14:34.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 5

THE CONDITIONS OF A MIRACLE ( Luk 5:1-11 )

5:1-11 Jesus was standing on the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret while the crowds pressed in upon him to listen to the word of God. He saw two boats riding close to the shore. the fishermen had disembarked from them and were washing their nets. He embarked on one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little from the land. He sat down and continued to teach the crowds from the boat. When he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, “Push out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have toiled all night long and we caught nothing; but, if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so they enclosed a great crowd of fishes; their nets were torn with the numbers; so they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and they rifled both the boats so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Leave me, Lord,” he said, “because I am a sinful man.” Wonder gripped him and all who were with him at the number of fishes they had caught. It was the same with James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “From now on you will be catching men.” So they brought the boats to land and they left everything and followed him.

The famous sheet of water in Galilee is called by three names–the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias and the Lake of Gennesaret. It is thirteen miles long by eight miles wide. It lies in a dip in the earth’s surface and is 680 feet below sea level. That fact gives it an almost tropical climate. Nowadays it is not very populous but in the days of Jesus it had nine townships clustered round its shores, none of fewer than 15,000 people.

Gennesaret is really the name of the lovely plain on the west side of the lake, a most fertile piece of land. The Jews loved to play with derivations, and they had three derivations for Gennesaret all of which show how beautiful it was.

(i) From kinnowr ( H3658) , which means a harp, either because “its fruit is as sweet as the sound of a harp” or because “the voice of its waves is pleasant as the voice of the harp,”

(ii) From gan ( H1588) , a garden, and sar ( H8269) , a prince–hence “the prince of gardens.”

(iii) From gan ( H1588) , a garden, and ‘osher ( H6239) , riches–hence “the garden of riches.”

We are here confronted with a turning point in the career of Jesus. Last time we heard him preach he was in the synagogue; now he is at the lakeside. True, he will be back in the synagogue again; but the time is coming when the door of the synagogue will be shut to him and his church will be the lakeside and the open road, and his pulpit a boat. He would go anywhere where men would listen to him. “Our societies,” said John Wesley, “were formed from those who were wandering upon the dark mountains, that belonged to no Christian church; but were awakened by the preaching of the Methodists, who had pursued them through the wilderness of this world to the High-ways and the Hedges–to the Markets and the Fairs–to the Hills and the Dales–who set up the Standard of the Cross in the Streets and Lanes of the Cities, in the Villages, in the Barns, and Farmers’ Kitchens, etc.–and all this done in such a way, and to such an extent, as never had been done before since the Apostolic age.” “I love a commodious room,” said Wesley, “a soft cushion and a handsome pulpit, but field preaching saves souls.” When the synagogue was shut Jesus took to the open road.

There is in this story what we might call a list of the conditions of a miracle.

(i) There is the eye that sees. There is no need to think that Jesus created a shoal of fishes for the occasion. In the Sea of Galilee there were phenomenal shoals which covered the sea as if it was solid for as much as an acre. Most likely Jesus’ keen eye saw just such a shoal and his keen sight made it look like a miracle. We need the eye that really sees. Many people saw steam raise the lid of a kettle; only James Watt went on to think of a steam engine. Many people saw an apple fall; only Isaac Newton went on to think out the law of gravity. The earth is full of miracles for the eye that sees.

(ii) There is the spirit that will make an effort. If Jesus said it, tired as he was Peter was prepared to try again. For most people the disaster of life is that they give up just one effort too soon.

(iii) There is the spirit which will attempt what seems hopeless. The night was past and that was the time for fishing. All the circumstances were unfavourable, but Peter said, “Let circumstances be what they may, if you say so, we will try again.” Too often we wait because the time is not opportune. If we wait for a perfect set of circumstances, we will never begin at all. If we want a miracle, we must take Jesus at his word when he bids us attempt the impossible.

TOUCHING THE UNTOUCHABLE ( Luk 5:12-15 )

5:12-15 While Jesus was in one of the towns–look you–a man who was a severe case of leprosy saw him. He fell before him and besought him, “Lord, if you are willing to do so you are able to cleanse me.” Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him. Jesus enjoined him to tell no one. “But,” he said, “go and show yourself to the priest, and bring the offering for cleansing, as Moses’s law laid it down, to prove to them that you are cured.” Talk about him spread all the more; and many crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their illnesses.

In Palestine there were two kinds of leprosy. There was one which was rather like a very bad skin disease, and it was the less serious of the two. There was one in which the disease, starting from a small spot, ate away the flesh until the wretched sufferer was left with only the stump of a hand or a leg. It was literally a living death.

The regulations concerning leprosy are in Lev 13:1-59; Lev 14:1-57. The most terrible thing about it was the isolation it bought. The leper was to cry “Unclean! Unclean!” wherever he went; he was to dwell alone; “in a habitation outside the camp” ( Lev 13:45-46). He was banished from the society of men and exiled from home. The result was, and still is, that the psychological consequences of leprosy were as serious as the physical.

Dr. A. B. MacDonald, in an article on the leper colony in Itu, of which he was in charge, wrote, “The leper is sick in mind as well as body. For some reason there is an attitude to leprosy different from the attitude to any other disfiguring disease. It is associated with shame and horror, and carries, in some mysterious way, a sense of guilt, although innocently acquired like most contagious troubles. Shunned and despised, frequently do lepers consider taking their own lives and some do.”

The leper was hated by others until he came to hate himself. That is the kind of man who came to Jesus; he was unclean; and Jesus touched him.

(i) Jesus touched the untouchable. His hand went out to the man from whom everyone else would have shrunk away. Two things emerge. First, when we despise ourselves, when our hearts are filled with bitter shame, let us remember, that, in spite of all, Christ’s hand is still stretched out. Mark Rutherford wished to add a new beatitude, “Blessed are those who heal us of our self-despisings.” That is what Jesus did and does. Second, it is of the very essence of Christianity to touch the untouchable, to love the unlovable, to forgive the unforgivable. Jesus did–and so must we.

(ii) Jesus sent the man to carry out the normal, prescribed routine for cleansing. The regulations are described in Lev 14:1-57. That is to say a miracle did not dispense with what medical science of the time could do. It did not absolve the man from carrying out the prescribed rules. We will never get miracles by neglecting the gifts and the wisdom God has given us. It is when man’s skill combines with God’s grace that wonder happens.

(iii) Luk 5:15 tells us of the popularity Jesus enjoyed. But it was only because people wanted something out of him. Many desire the gifts of God but repudiate the demands of God–and, there could be nothing more dishonourable.

THE OPPOSITION INTENSIFIES ( Luk 5:16-17 )

5:16-17 Jesus withdrew into the desert places and he continued in prayer. On a certain day he was teaching and, sitting listening, there were Pharisees and experts in the law who had come from every village in Galilee and from Judaea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was there to enable him to heal.

There are only two verses here; but as we read them we must pause, for this indeed is a milestone. The scribes and the Pharisees had arrived on the scene. The opposition which would never be satisfied until it had killed Jesus had emerged into the open.

If we are to understand what happened to Jesus we must understand something about the Law, and the relationship of the scribes and the Pharisees to it. When the Jews returned from Babylon about 440 B.C. they knew well that, humanly speaking, their hopes of national greatness were gone. They therefore deliberately decided that they would find their greatness in being a people of the law. They would bend all their energies to knowing and keeping God’s law.

The basis of the law was the Ten Commandments. These commandments are principles for life. They are not rules and regulations; they do not legislate for each event and for every circumstance. For a certain section of the Jews that was not enough. They desired not great principles but a rule to cover every conceivable situation. From the Ten Commandments they proceeded to develop and elaborate these rules.

Let us take an example. The commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”; and then goes on to lay it down that on the Sabbath no work must be done ( Exo 20:8-11). But the Jews asked, “What is work?” and went on to define it under thirty-nine different heads which they called “Fathers of Work.” Even that was not enough. Each of these heads was greatly sub-divided. Thousands of rules and regulations began to emerge. These were called the Oral Law, and they began to be set even above the Ten Commandments.

Again, let us take an actual example. One of the works forbidden on the Sabbath was carrying a burden. Jer 17:21-24 says, “Take heed for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day.” But, the legalists insisted, a burden must be defined. So definition was given. A burden is “food equal in weight to a dried fig, enough wine for mixing in a goblet, milk enough for one swallow, oil enough to anoint a small member, water enough to moisten an eye-salve, paper enough to write a custom-house notice upon, ink enough to write two letters, reed enough to make a pen” . . . and so on endlessly. So for a tailor to leave a pin or needle in his robe on the Sabbath was to break the law and to sin; to pick up a stone big enough to fling at a bird on the Sabbath was to sin. Goodness became identified with these endless rules and regulations.

Let us take another example. To heal on the Sabbath was to work. It was laid down that only if life was in actual danger could healing be done; and then steps could be taken only to keep the sufferer from getting worse, not to improve his condition. A plain bandage could be put on a wound, but not any ointment; plain wadding could be put into a sore ear, but not medicated. It is easy to see that there was no limit to this.

The scribes were the experts in the law who knew all these rules and regulations, and who deduced them from the law. The name Pharisee means “The Separated One”; and the Pharisees were those who had separated themselves from ordinary people and ordinary life in order to keep these rules and regulations. Note two things. First, for the scribes and Pharisees these rules were a matter of life and death; to break one of them was deadly sin. Second, only people desperately in earnest would ever have tried to keep them, for they must have made life supremely uncomfortable. It was only the best people who would even make the attempt.

Jesus had no use for rules and regulations like that. For him, the cry of human need superseded all such things. But to the scribes and Pharisees he was a law-breaker, a bad man who broke the law and taught others to do the same. That is why they hated him and in the end killed him. The tragedy of the life of Jesus was that those who were most in earnest about their religion drove him to the Cross. It was the irony of things that the best people of the day ultimately crucified him.

From this time on there was to be no rest for him. Always he was to be under the scrutiny of hostile and critical eyes. The opposition had crystallized and there was but one end.

Jesus knew this and before he met the opposition he withdrew to pray. The love in the eyes of God compensated him for the hate in the eyes of men. The approval of God nerved him to meet the criticism of men. He drew strength for the battle of life from the peace of God–and it is enough for the disciple that he should be as his Lord.

FORGIVEN AND HEALED ( Luk 5:18-26 )

5:18-26 Now–look you–there came men bearing on a bed a man who was paralysed, and they were trying to carry him in and to lay him before Jesus. When they could find no way to carry him in because of the crowd they climbed up on to the roof and they let him down, bed and all, through the tiles right into the middle of them in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and Pharisees began to raise questions. “Who,” they said, “is this who insults God? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus was well aware of what they were thinking. He answered, “What are you thinking about in your hearts? Which is easier–to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (he said to the paralysed man), I tell you rise, take up your bed, and go to your own house.” And immediately he stood up in front of them and lifted up the bedding on which he was lying and went away to his house, glorifying God. Astonishment gripped them all and they glorified God and were filled with awe. “To-day,” they said, “we have seen amazing things.”

Here we have a vivid story. Jesus was in a house teaching. The Palestinian house was flat-roofed. The roof had only the slightest tilt, sufficient to make the rain water run off. It was composed of beams laid from wall to wall and quite a short distance apart. The space between the beams was filled with close packed twigs, compacted together with mortar and then marled over. It was the easiest thing in the world to take out the packing between two beams. In fact coffins were very often taken in and out of a house via the roof.

What does the passage about forgiving sins mean? We must remember that sin and suffering were in Palestine inextricably connected. It was implicitly believed that if a man was suffering he had sinned. And therefore the sufferer very often had an even morbid sense of sin. That is why Jesus began by telling the man that his sins were forgiven. Without that the man would never believe that he could be cured. This shows how in debate the scribes and Pharisees were completely routed. They objected to Jesus claiming to extend forgiveness to the man. But on their own arguments and assumptions the man was ill because he had sinned; and if he was cured that was proof that his sins were forgiven. The complaint of the Pharisees recoiled on them and left them speechless.

The wonderful thing is that here is a man who was saved by the faith of his friends. When Jesus saw their faith–the eager faith of those who stopped at nothing to bring their friend to Jesus won his cure. It still happens.

(i) There are those who are saved by the faith of their parents. Carlyle used to say that still across the years there came his mother’s voice to him, “Trust in God and do the right.” When Augustine was living a reckless and immoral life his devout mother came to ask the help of a Christian bishop. “It is impossible,” he said, “that the child of such prayers and tears should perish.” Many of us would gladly witness that we owe all that we are and ever will be to the faith of godly parents.

(ii) There are those who are daily saved by the faith of those who love them. When H. G. Wells was newly married and success was bringing new temptations to him, he said, “It was as well for me that behind the folding doors at 12 Mornington Road there slept one so sweet and clean that it was unthinkable that I should appear before her squalid or drunken or base.” Many of us would do the shameful thing but for the fact that we could not meet the pain and sorrow in someone’s eyes.

In the very structure of life and love–blessed be God–there are precious influences which save men’s souls.

THE GUEST OF AN OUTCAST ( Luk 5:27-32 )

5:27-32 After that Jesus went out, and he saw a tax-collector, called Levi, sitting at his tax-collector’s table. He said to him, “Follow me!” He left everything and rose and followed him. And Levi made a great feast for him in his house; and a great crowd of tax-collectors and others who were their friends sat down at table with them. The Pharisees and scribes complained at this, and said to the disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered, “Those who are healthy have no need of a doctor but those who are ill have. I did not come to invite the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Here we have the call of Matthew (compare Mat 9:9-13). Of all people in Palestine the tax-collectors were the most hated. Palestine was a country subject to the Romans; tax-collectors had taken service under the Roman government; therefore they were regarded as renegades and traitors.

The taxation system lent itself to abuse. The Roman custom had been to farm out the taxes. They assessed a district at a certain figure and then sold the right to collect that figure to the highest bidder. So long as the buyer handed over the assessed figure at the end of the year he was entitled to retain whatever else he could extract from the people; and since there were no newspapers, radio or television, and no ways of making public announcements that would reach everyone, the common people had no real idea of what they had to pay.

This particular system had led to such gross abuses that by New Testament times it had been discontinued. There were, however, still taxes to be paid, still quisling tax-collectors working for the Romans, and still abuses and exploitation.

There were two types of taxes. First, there were stated taxes. There was a poll tax which all men from 14 to 65, and all women from 12 to 65, had to pay simply for the privilege of existing. There was a ground tax which consisted of one-tenth of all grain grown, and one-fifth of wine and oil. This could be paid in kind or commuted into money. There was income tax, which was one per cent. of a man’s income. In these taxes there was not a great deal of room for extortion.

Second, there were all kinds of duties. A tax was payable for using the main roads, the harbours, the markets. A tax was payable on a cart, on each wheel of it, and on the animal which drew it. There was purchase tax on certain articles, and there were import and export duties. A tax-collector could bid a man stop on the road and unpack his bundles and charge him well nigh what he liked. If a man could not pay, sometimes the tax-collector would offer to lend him money at an exorbitant rate of interest and so get him further into his clutches.

Robbers, murderers and tax-collectors were classed together. A tax-collector was barred from the synagogue. A Roman writer tells us that he once saw a monument to an honest tax-collector. An honest specimen of this renegade profession was so rare that he received a monument.

Yet Jesus chose Matthew the tax-collector to be an apostle.

(i) The first thing Matthew did was to invite Jesus to a feast–he could well afford it–and to invite his fellow tax-collectors and their outcast friends to meet him. Matthew’s first instinct was to share the wonder he had found. John Wesley once said, “No man ever went to Heaven alone; he must either find friends or make them.” It is a Christian duty to share the blessedness that we have found.

(ii) The scribes and Pharisees objected. The Pharisees–the separated ones–would not even let the skirt of their robe touch the like of Matthew. Jesus made the perfect answer. Once Epictetus called his teaching “the medicine of salvation.” Jesus pointed out that it is only sick people who need doctors; and people like Matthew and his friends were the very people who needed him most. It would be well if we were to regard the sinner not as a criminal but as a sick man; and if we were to look on the man who has made a mistake not as someone deserving contempt and condemnation but as someone needing love and help to find the right way.

THE HAPPY COMPANY ( Luk 5:33-35 )

5:33-35 They said to him, “John’s disciples fast frequently and pray. So do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your disciples eat and drink.” Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the children of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them. But the days will come–and when the bridegroom is taken away from them in those days they will fast.”

What amazed and shocked the scribes and the Pharisees was the normality of the followers of Jesus. Collie Knox tells how once a well-loved chaplain said to him, “Young Knox, don’t make an agony of your religion.” It was said of Burns that he was haunted rather than helped by his religion. The orthodox Jews had an idea–not yet altogether dead–that a man was not being religious unless he was being uncomfortable.

They had systematised their religious observances. They fasted on Mondays and Thursdays; and often they whitened their faces so that no one could fail to see that they were fasting. True, fasting was not so very serious because it lasted only from sunrise to sunset and after that ordinary food could be taken. The idea was to call God’s attention to the faster. Sometimes they even thought of it in terms of sacrifice. By fasting a man was in essence offering nothing less than his own flesh to God. Even prayer was systematised. Prayer was to be offered at 12 midday, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Jesus was opposed radically to religion by rule. He used a vivid picture. When two young people married in Palestine they did not go away for a honeymoon; they stayed at home, and for a week kept open house. They dressed in their best; sometimes they even wore crowns; for that week they were king and queen and their word was law. They would never have a week like that again in their hard-wrought lives. And the favoured guests who shared this festive week were called the children of the bride-chamber.

(i) It is extremely significant that more than once Jesus likened the Christian life to a wedding feast. Joy is a primary Christian characteristic. It was said of a famous American teacher by one of her students, “She made me feel as if I was bathed in sunshine.” Far too many people think of Christianity as something which compels them to do all the things they do not want to do and hinders them from doing all the things they do want to do. Laughter has become a sin, instead of–as a famous philosopher called it–“a sudden glory.” Robert Louis Stevenson was right, when he wrote in The Celestial Surgeon:

If I have faltered more or less

In my great task of happiness;

If I have moved among my race

And shown no glorious morning face;

If beams from happy human eyes

Have moved me not; if morning skies,

Books, and my food, and summer rain

Knocked on my sullen heart in vain:

Lord, thy most pointed pleasure take

And stab my spirit broad awake;

Or, Lord, if too obdurate I,

Choose thou, before that spirit die,

A piercing pain, a killing sin,

And to my dead heart run them in!

(ii) At the same time Jesus knew there would come a day when the bridegroom would be taken away. He was not caught unawares by death. Ahead he saw the cross; but even on the way to the cross he knew the joy that no man can take away, because it is the joy of the presence of God.

THE NEW IDEA ( Luk 5:36-39 )

5:36-39 He spoke a parable to them like this: “Nobody puts a patch from a new garment on an old garment. If he does the new will tear it and the patch from the new will not match the old. No one puts new wine into old skins. If he does the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new skins, and no one who drinks old wine wishes for new for he says, ‘The old is good.'”

There is in religious people a kind of passion for the old. Nothing moves more slowly than a church. The trouble with the Pharisees was that the whole religious outlook of Jesus was so startlingly new they simply could not adjust to it.

The mind soon loses the quality of elasticity and will not accept new ideas. Jesus used two illustrations. “You cannot put a new patch on an old garment,” he said, “The strong new cloth will only rip the rent in the old cloth wider.” Bottles in Palestine were made of skin. When new wine was put into them it fermented and gave off gas. If the bottle was new, there was a certain elasticity in the skin and it gave with the pressure; but if it was old, the skin was dry and hard and it would burst. “Don’t,” says Jesus, “let your mind become like an old wineskin. People say of wine, ‘The old is better.’ It may be at the moment, but they forget that it is a mistake to despise the new wine, for the day will come when it has matured and it will be best of all.”

The whole passage is Jesus’ condemnation of the shut mind and a plea that men should not reject new ideas.

(i) We should never be afraid of adventurous thought. If there is such a person as the Holy Spirit, God must ever be leading us into new truth. Fosdick somewhere asks, “How would medicine fare if doctors were restricted to drugs and methods and techniques three hundred years old?” And yet our standards of orthodoxy are far older than that. The man with something new has always to fight. Galileo was branded a heretic when he held that the earth moved round the sun. Lister had to fight for antiseptic technique in surgical operations. Simpson had to battle against opposition in the merciful use of chloroform. Let us have a care that when we resent new ideas we are not simply demonstrating that our minds are grown old and inelastic; and let us never shirk the adventure of thought.

(ii) We should never be afraid of new methods. That a thing has always been done may very well be the best reason for stopping doing it. That a thing has never been done may very well be the best reason for trying it. No business could exist on outworn methods–and yet the church tries to. Any business which had lost as many customers as the church has would have tried new ways long ago–but the church tends to resent all that is new.

Once on a world tour Rudyard Kipling saw General Booth come aboard the ship. He came aboard to the beating of tambourines which Kipling’s orthodox soul resented. Kipling got to know the General and told him how he disliked tambourines and all their kindred. Booth looked at him. “Young man,” he said, “if I thought I could win one more soul for Christ by standing on my head and beating a tambourine with my feet I would learn how to do it.”

There is a wise and an unwise conservatism. Let us have a care that in thought and in action we are not hidebound reactionaries when we ought, as Christians, to be gallant adventurers.

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

26. CALL OF SIMON, ANDREW, JAMES, AND JOHN, PRECEDED BY THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES, Luk 5:1-11 .

Mat 4:18-22; Mar 1:16-20.

Connecting Luke’s statement with Matthew’s and Mark’s, we have the following complete narrative. Jesus, walking by the seaside of Gennesaret, is pressed by a crowd proceeding from Capernaum. He stops as he arrives at the boat of Simon Peter, which is drawn up and lying on the beach. Jesus directs Simon to put a little into the deep to get out of the reach of the crowd, and from the boat he preaches to the people on the shore. Closing his discourse he directs Peter to let out his net, and a draught of fishes is encircled, so large that the net is broken and the drawing so difficult that Simon and Andrew call upon the brothers in the other boat to fetch up and aid in bringing in the seine with its draught. They come, and their boat also being filled with a share of the fishes, return to their own station and take in the nets, which they proceed to mend. When the fishes are secured, conversation between Jesus and Peter takes place, in which the latter receives his call to the apostolate. Jesus then proceeds a few steps further around the cove, to the boat of James and John, and finding them mending their broken nets, gives them their call.

This method, we think, completely harmonizes the accounts, and supersedes any effort to make out the impossibility of reconciliation, and a consequent necessity of supposing two separate narratives. The simple fact that Matthew mentions the mending of the nets requires Luke’s account of the breaking of them. This is, in fact, one of those frequent unintentional coincidences which not only demonstrate that both agree, but that both are true.

This narrative is really, in point of time, to be inserted after Luk 5:32, in chapter 4. Leaving Nazareth, our Lord went to Capernaum, and perhaps abode in the house of Peter. The power of his preaching drew crowds, which pressed upon him as he was walking along the white beach which forms the margin of Lake Gennesaret.

Both Matthew and Mark simply relate the call of the two pairs of apostles, at the same place and occasion and in the same order as Luke; and Matthew gives our Lord’s striking utterance, “fishers of men,” of which the miracle given by Luke is the great occasion and illustration. That the first two evangelists omit the miracles is explained from the rapidity of that part of their narrative; and from the fact that the call of two pairs of leading apostles was an event far more important in Christian history than any one miracle.

As Jesus was now residing at Capernaum, it is probable (as the language of Matthew and Mark suggests) that he was in the habit of walking upon the broad beach of the lake. As the two pairs of brothers had resided in Bethsaida, it was probably in that direction, northward, that he was now perambulating.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1. He stood Stopped in his course as he arrived at the boats of the future apostles.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Establishment And Expansion of Jesus’ Messianic Ministry (5:1-9:50).

In this section we see the see the establishment and growth of Jesus’ ministry as Messiah as He manifests Himself to Israel, and then how He goes about establishing the new Israel. This will be revealed as we go along, but note that central to it all is the proclamation of the Kingly Rule of God.

The whole may be analysed as follows:

a Jesus calls Peter and John and appoints them as fishers of men (Luk 5:1-11).

b An ‘unclean’ skin diseased man is cleansed and all are amazed, a picture of what Jesus has come to do for Israel (Luk 5:12-16).

c The Messiah reveals His glory under a series of Old Testament pictures. As the Son of Man He has power to forgive sins, as God’s Physician He has the ability to restore outcasts, as the Bridegroom He brings rejoicing to the people and as Son of Man He is Lord over the Sabbath. His glory shines out. The old has passed the new has come – it includes the Messianic healing of the paralysed man who is forgiven by the Son of Man – the door to faith as open to Levi and the outcasts through the Great Physician (The Messianic healer is here) – the joy that is present because of the coming of The Heavenly Bridegroom – the new authority of the One Who is Son of Man and is therefore also Lord of the Sabbath (Luk 5:17 to Luk 6:11).

d Jesus appoints His Apostles (Luk 6:12-19).

e Jesus’ declares God’s blessings on the people of God, and woes on the rich and those who are highly thought of by men, followed by the new giving of the Law and general teaching (Luk 6:20-38).

f Jesus’ power is sent out to heal the centurion’s servant (Luk 7:2-10).

g The son of the widow of Nain is raised from the dead (Luk 7:11-17).

h John the Baptiser questions whether Jesus is the Messiah and is informed of the signs and wonders Jesus is doing so as to establish his faith – he is exalted by Jesus (Luk 7:18-35).

i The sinful woman wipes His feet with her hair and kisses Him because she believes in Him, a picture of the response that should be Israel’s, while the Pharisee’s response is muted – the parable of the two Debtors (Luk 7:36-50).

j Jesus proclaims His parables concerning the secrets of the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 8:1-18).

i Jesus own mother, and his brothers, come to take Him away because they do not believe in him. They do not respond to Him (Luk 8:19-21).

h Jesus as the Messiah quells the storm and delivers the demoniac (revealing His power over nature and evils spirits) establishing faith in His Apostles by signs and wonders (Luk 8:22-39).

g The daughter of Jairus is raised from the dead (Luk 8:40-56).

f Jesus’ power is sent out through the twelve to preach and to heal (Luk 9:1-6).

e The rich and powerful Herod is in doubt while the people of God are blessed at the sacramental meal where they receive His teaching (Luk 9:7-17).

d His chosen Apostles, through Peter, confess Jesus as the Messiah (Luk 9:18-27).

c The Messianic revelation is made at the Transfiguration where Jesus’ glory shines forth. He is God’s Servant and the focus of the law and the prophets as represented by Moses and Elijah (Luk 9:28-36).

b A demon possessed boy with an ‘unclean’ spirit is cleansed and all are amazed, a picture of the deliverance of Israel (Luk 9:37-43).

a What the fishers of men must recognise and the position that they must take up. The Son of Man must die – he who is great shall be least – he who is not against them is for them (Luk 9:44-50).

The section closes with ‘For he who is not against you is for you’ (Luk 9:50).

We note how in ‘a’ He calls Peter, James and John as fishers of men, and in the parallel makes clear the message that they must take out and the attitude that they must have. In ‘b’ a leper who is unclean is cleansed, and in the parallel a boy possessed by an unclean demon is cleansed, both pictures of what Jesus wants to do for Israel. In ‘c’ the Son of Man is revealed as what He is and in the parallel Jesus is revealed as what He is. In ‘d’ He appoints His Apostles, and in the parallel they recognise Him for what He is. In ‘e’ we have blessings on the people of God and woes on the rich and important, and in the parable we have the rich and important Herod in grave doubt and the people of God blessed at the sacramental meal, a meal which symbolises the future blessing. In ‘f’ His word and power are sent forth to heal the centurion’s son at a distance, and in the parallel the Apostles are sent forth with His word and power, and through them He heals at a distance. In ‘g’ the son of the widow of Nain is raised from the dead and in the parallel the daughter of Jairus is raised from the dead (another man/woman parallel). In ‘h’ John is told of the signs and wonders that Jesus is doing and in the parallel Jesus does signs and wonders so as to encourage the disciples. In ‘i’ the outcast sinful woman wipes His feet with her hair and her tears because of her love for Him and comes in, and in the parallel Mary, with her family, come to take Him because they do not believe in Him and remain outside. In ‘j’, central to it all, is the proclamation of the Kingly Rule of God.

The section can now be divided into four parts.

1). Jesus Has Come As The Fulfiller Of Old Testament Promises (Luk 5:1 to Luk 6:19).

In the first part of the section incidents are described which bring out how Jesus is the One Who fulfils in Himself the Old Testament promises (Luk 5:1 to Luk 6:19).

a He calls the three and is the One Who sends out fishermen to fish for God’s people in the last days (Jer 16:16).

b He heals a skin diseased person as Elisha did (2 Kings 5) – a picture of His cleansing of men’s lives.

c He is the Son of Man Who forgives men’s sins.

d He eats and drinks with ‘sinners’ and is the Great Physician Who makes men whole (compareJer 8:22).

e He is the Bridegroom Who has come for His bride (Isa 62:5).

d He brings new clothing and new wine for His people.

c He is the Son of Man, the One like David, Who is Lord of the Sabbath.

b He heals a man with a withered hand – a picture of the restoration of the withered Vine to fruitfulness and of the withered bones of Israel to life.

a He calls His Apostles – the twelve – establishing the foundation of the New Israel – and with them alongside He preaches and heals .

2). The Foundation Of The New Israel Under The Kingly Rule of God (Luk 6:20 to Luk 8:18).

In the second part of the section (Luk 6:20 to Luk 8:18), He reveals Himself as the founder of the new Israel under the Kingly Rule of God:

a He proclaims the new Law of the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 6:20-49).

b He sends out His power to the Gentiles, to those who are seen as unclean, but who have believed. They too are to benefit from His Kingly Rule (Luk 7:1-10).

c He raises the dead, a foretaste of the resurrection, revealing Him as ‘the Lord’. The Kingly Rule of God is here (Luk 7:11-17).

d John’s disciples come to ‘the Lord’ enquiring on behalf of John, and He points to His signs and wonders as evidence that He is the promised One. The King is present to heal and proclaim the Good News of the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 7:18-23).

c He exalts, yet also sets in his rightful place, John the Baptiser as the greatest of the prophets and points beyond him to the new Kingly Rule of God, emphasising again that the Kingly Rule of God is here (Luk 7:24-35).

b He is greeted by the transformed prostitute, who has believed, a picture of restored Israel (Eze 16:59-63) and of the fact that the Kingly Rule of God is available to all Who seek Him and hear Him.

a He proclaims the parables of the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 8:1-18).

3). Jesus is Revealed As The Messiah Come With Power (Luk 8:19 to Luk 9:36).

In the third part of the section He is Revealed as the glorious Messiah Who has come with power (Luk 8:19 to Luk 9:36):

a He no longer owns responsibility to His own family who do not believe in Him, and are on the outside (earth does not recognise Him) (Luk 8:19-21).

b He is revealed as the One Who is from above by quelling the storm, revealing His power over nature (Luk 8:22-25).

c He delivers the demoniac of a legion of demons, revealing His power over the spirit world (Luk 8:26-39).

d He raises the dead, revealing His power over death (Luk 8:30-56).

c He sends out His power to preach and to heal through the twelve, with power over all demons (Luk 9:1-10).

b He is revealed as the One Who is from above by providing a miraculous sacramental meal, revaling His power over nature (Luk 9:11-17).

a He is confessed as Messiah by His followers, and by being transfigured before them revealing Who His true Father is (Luk 9:18-36).

4). Jesus Commences The Training of His Disciples (Luk 9:37-50).

In the final part He commences the training for those who must take over His work (Luk 9:37-50).

a They are unable to cast out demons and through a demon possessed boy they learn their own weakness (Luk 9:37-43 a).

b They learn that the Son of Man must be humbled under the hands of men but did not understand (Luk 9:43 b-45).

b They learn that they too must not seek greatness, and must receive little children in His name, because he who is least is greatest (Luk 9:46-48).

a They forbid one who casts out demons’ in Jesus name and learn the lesson that he who is not against them is with them (Luk 9:49-50).

These are vital lessons for the future.

JESUS HAS COME AS THE ONE WHO WILL FULFIL THE OLD TESTAMENT PROMISES (Luk 5:1 to Luk 6:19).

The promise of One Who would come ‘in the last days’ is prominent in the Old Testament under various descriptions, Prophet (Deu 18:15; Isa 61:1), Greater David (Isa 9:6-7; Isa 11:1-4; Eze 37:24-28; Dan 7:13-14; and often), Servant of the Lord (Isa 42:1-6; Isa 49:1-6; Isa 50:3-8; Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12). But Jesus here calls also on other ideas which in the Old Testament applied to God, but which He applies to Himself. It is a half-hidden revelation of Deity.

a He calls the three, Peter, James and John, and is the One Who sends out fishermen to fish for God’s people in the last days (Jer 16:16).

b He heals a skin diseased person as Elisha did (2 Kings 5)- a picture of His cleansing of men’s lives.

c He is the Son of Man (Dan 9:13-14) Who forgives men’s sins.

d He eats and drinks with ‘sinners’ and is the Great Physician Who makes men whole (compareJer 8:22).

e He is the Bridegroom Who has come for His bride (Isa 62:5).

d He brings new clothing (Zec 3:4-5 compare Mat 22:11-12) and new wine (Isa 25:6 compare Joh 2:1-11) for His people.

c He is the Son of Man (Dan 9:13-14), the One like David, Who is Lord of the Sabbath.

b He heals a man with a withered hand – a picture of the restoration of fruitfulness (Eze 17:24) and of life (Eze 37:2; Eze 37:4) to His new people.

a He calls His Apostles – the twelve – establishing the foundation of the New Israel – and with them alongside He preaches and heals .

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

‘Now it came about, while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.’

The crowds continued to gather around Jesus in order to hear ‘the word of God’, the truth of God taught by Jesus, as He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. They were so eager that they were pressing in on Him and making it difficult for Him to speak in comfort and safety.

Gennesaret was a region south of Capernaum whose name had become attached to the Sea of Galilee. The lake is know as Gennesaret in outside sources, and is seven miles (eleven kilometres) wide and thirteen miles (twenty one kilometres) long. It is liable to sudden storms because of the wind swirling through the surrounding hills, and is six hundred feet (211 metres) below sea level, being bountifully supplied with fish, and in Jesus’ day its shores were dotted with towns.

The crowds had gathered to hear ‘the word of God.’ The spreading of this word, and its effectiveness, is a theme of Luke and Acts. It is the word concerning the Kingly Rule of God and in Acts includes the proclamation of the name of Jesus Christ. The popularity of it among the ordinary people is brought out here.

‘Gennesaret.’ The lake is called that only here in the New Testament. It suggests that Luke obtained this story from a local who thought of the Lake in those terms. Peter, James and John clearly did not see it as a story to be spread around. They would think that it could only fully be appreciated by fishermen, and by recounting it they may have thought that they would be seen as putting themselves in a position of superiority to those whose calls were less spectacular.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus Reveals His Authority Over Both Fish and Fishermen and Calls the Fishermen To Fish Men (5:1-11) .

The first incident in which Jesus’ Messianic authority is revealed is in the calling of fishermen to follow Him in lifetime commitment, with no offer of earthly reward, for the purpose of ‘taking men alive’. This will fulfil the prophecy of Jer 16:16 concerning the last days. ‘Behold I will send for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they will fish them’, but it is also evidence of Jesus’ supreme authority to call men at His bidding.

The words of Jeremiah did primarily have judgment in mind, but always when God judged men were also won to righteousness. And these Apostles too will, even while taking men alive for Christ, be the cause of judgment on thoe who refuse.

The story here parallels the calling of the four, Peter, Andrew, James and John in Mar 1:16-20; Mat 4:18-22 to be disciples. These were men who were already acquainted with Him and had been disciples of John the Baptiser (Joh 1:35-42). They had probably accompanied Him back to Galilee. But He had not at that stage called them to follow Him. There the incident is in a slightly different order, coming before the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, and is more abbreviated. But this merely brings out that the Gospels are not intended to be in strict chronological order. Their order is determined by how will best present the ideas that they want to present. Had Luke had it earlier it would have spoiled the pattern of chapter 4.

Only Luke tells us about the remarkable incident of the fishes. Mark had wanted to concentrate on the authority that Jesus was revealing, and Matthew follows Mark. But Luke not only wants to bring that out, but also wants to bring out His power over nature and His fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. The gathering of the scattered children of Israel were to be gathered by ‘fishermen’ fishing for them (Jer 16:16). Thus He will act to cause the ‘taking of men alive’ by fishermen, revealing Himself again as the introducer of the last days, for His disciples were being called in order to carry out God’s purposes for the last days. It could well be that Peter did not want to broadcast this story, which he might have seen as glorifying himself and suggesting that he was superior to others, which would explain why Mark did not know of it. Luke appears to have obtained the details from a local (who calls the Lake Gennesaret).

The passage may be analysed as follows:

a Now it came about, while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret (Luk 5:1).

b And he saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets (Luk 5:2).

c And he entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes out of the boat (Luk 5:3).

d And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught” (Luk 5:4).

e And Simon answered and said, “Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing: but at (on the strength of) your word I will let down the nets” (Luk 5:5).

f And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their nets were breaking (Luk 5:6).

e And they beckoned to those associated with them in the other boat, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink (Luk 5:7).

d But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luk 5:8).

c For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon (Luk 5:9-10 a).

b And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be overawed, from now on you will be taking men alive” (Luk 5:10 b).

a And when they had brought their boats to land, they left all, and followed him (Luk 5:11).

Note that in ‘a’ the crowds were pressing Him on the land to hear the word of God, and in the parallel the disciples also come to the land to follow Him. In ‘b’ they had ceased fishing and were washing their nets despondently because fishing had failed them, and in the parallel they are to rather have the replacement joy of taking men alive. In ‘c’ they obey Jesus and do His will, and in the parallel they are amazed at the reward that they receive. In ‘d’ they are commanded to launch out into the deep and let down their nets, and in the parallel Peter has launched so deep that what has happened as a result of obeying Jesus makes him stricken with guilt over his sinfulness. In ‘e’ they have caught nothing, and in the parallel have caught so much that they have to call for their associates. And central to all is that when they obeyed Jesus they enclosed a great multitude of fish.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Testimony of Jesus’ Authority over Sin (The Spiritual Realm) In Luk 5:1-26 the author gives us three testimonies that emphasize Jesus’ authority over sin, or His power to save us from our sins. We have the story of Peter crying out that he was a sinful man (Luk 5:8). We then have the account of Jesus cleansing a leper (Luk 5:12-16), which sickness is associated with sin in the Law of Moses. Then Jesus tells a paralytic that his sins have been forgiven (Luk 5:20). Peter confessed his sins because he was made mindful of them. The leper revealed sin in his physical body in the form of leprosy. The paralytic received the forgiveness of sins in his heart. Thus, these three stories appear to place emphasis on the manifestations of sin in the spirit, soul and body of men.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Calling Disciples from their sins Luk 5:1-11

2. Cleansing a Leper Luk 5:12-16

3. Forgiving a Paralytic Luk 5:17-26

Luk 5:1-11 Jesus Calls His Disciples ( Mat 4:18-22 , Mar 1:16-20 ) In Luk 5:1-11 we have the account of Jesus calling some of His disciples by the Sea of Galilee. In this story, Peter gave to Jesus the use of an empty boat, and Jesus returned to them, by their obedience to His word, a boat full of fish. This is a good illustration of sowing and reaping. This story shows some of the reactions of people to Jesus’ authority over sin by recording Peter’s comment to Jesus, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luk 5:8)

Luk 5:2 Comments – We read in Luk 5:2 that two fishing boats were pulled up on the shore with the fishermen washing their nets from the previous night’s labours. Peter will say in Luk 5:5 that they had fished all night and caught nothing. If these fishermen had caught fish the previous night they would not be washing their nets, but rather gathering their catch of fish, mending their nets, and taking the fish to the market. Thus, they may have missed a divine opportunity to be with Jesus. Sometimes events in our lives that seem a failure are actually being used to lead us into better situations. We must trust the Lord at all times, in the times of prosperity, and in the times of seeming failure. Peter had thought while mending his nets that this day was a failure with no fish to take to the market. Little did he know that he was about to become a fisher of men.

Jesus understood divine providence, how God the Father was always with Him making a way and making provision. When the crowd became too large to manage in His present situation, the Holy Spirit showed Him the two boats along the shore and how they could be used as a method of better addressing the growing crowd. For us also, the Lord always has divine provision in every situation we face. Jesus will soon teach this principle of divine provision to His future disciples by telling Peter to launch out into the deep for a catch of fish (Luk 5:4).

Luk 5:3  And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

Luk 5:3 Comments – Jesus used wisdom in His decision to push His boat out from the land in order to improve the amplification of His voice to the crowd. If He had stood on the shore there would have been very little amplification of His voice for the people to hear Him clearly. But now His voice would carry a long way upon the water and up the bank to the growing crowd that was gathering.

Luk 5:4  Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

Luk 5:4 Comments – Note Jesus’ boldness and assurance in God in Luk 5:4 as He told Peter to launch out his boat and expect a catch of fish. We have been given that same spirit of boldness and authority (2Ti 1:7-8). When we walk closely with the Lord, we can walk in that same boldness.

2Ti 1:7-8, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;”

Luk 5:5  And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

Luk 5:5 Comments – When God tells us to do something, or a boss on a job gives us an order, it is easy to try to reason things out instead of first simply doing it. Peter overcame his mental confusion and obeyed in faith. Peter had to put his faith in God’s Word alone by obeying the voice of his heart, which was his conscience and by ignoring the voice of his mind, which was reason..

Illustration – Once Nate Lisenby, my boss n 1983-84, told me to pull a garbage bag out of the back of the garbage truck in order to close the tail back tight. I proceeded to drag out the rest of the bags trying to do a better job. He did not tell me to do this and he became agitated. He told me patiently that he did not want me to remain long between the body of the truck and the tail. I learned that obedience is better that sacrifice, and to do exactly what you are told and not ask too many questions.

Luk 5:8 Comments – Peter’s reaction is much like Isaiah’s reaction in Isa 6:5, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

Luk 5:10 Comments – Luk 5:10 reveals the underlying theme of Luke’s Gospel, which is the training of the Twelve to take the Gospel to the nations by becoming witnesses of Jesus Christ.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Narrative: He Demonstrates Justification (Capernaum) Prior to Jesus Christ teaching on true justification, He demonstrates to His disciples His authority over sin, sickness, and customs. He has authority to redeem man’s physical, spiritual, and mental being.

Outline: Here is a proposed outline:

1. Demonstration of His Authority over Sickness Luk 4:31-44

2. Demonstration of His Authority over Sin Luk 5:1-26

3. Demonstration of His Authority over Customs Luk 5:27 to Luk 6:11

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Justification: Jesus Testifies of True Justification Luk 4:31 to Luk 6:49 records Jesus’ Galilean ministry prior to the Travel Narrative, at which time He heads towards Jerusalem for the final Passover and His Passion. In Luk 4:31 to Luk 6:11 Jesus demonstrates God’s standard of justification. Since Luke’s Gospel reveals Jesus as the Saviour of the world, this narrative demonstrates His authority to offer redemption in every area of people’s lives. The narrative material about His Galilean ministry reveals Jesus offering healing over sickness in man’s body, forgiveness over sin in man’s heart, and freedom from earthly tradition in man’s mind. He demonstrated His authority over sickness (Luk 4:31-44), over sin (Luk 5:1-26), and over tradition (Luk 5:27 to Luk 6:11). Sickness dwells in the physical body of man; Sin dwells in the heart of man; and, tradition dwells in the mind of men. Jesus gives a prophetic word in each of the three sections, when healing the sick in Luk 4:43, when forgiving sin in Luk 5:24, and when breaking Jewish tradition in Luk 6:5.

Luk 4:43, “And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.”

Luk 5:24, “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.”

Luk 6:5, “And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”

Thus, Jesus reveals His authority to redeem the three-fold make-up of man. However, Jesus first declared His authority as Saviour of the world in His hometown of Nazareth, where He was rejected (Luk 4:16-30). In Luk 6:12-49 Jesus delivers a discourse on God’s standard of justification in the Kingdom of God.

Outline: Here is a proposed outline:

1. Narrative: He Demonstrates Justification (Capernaum) Luk 4:31 to Luk 6:11

2. Discourse: Jesus Teaches on True Justification (Galilee) Luk 6:12-49

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Witnesses of Jesus Justifying Him as the Saviour of the World (God the Father’s Justification of Jesus) Luk 4:31 to Luk 21:38 contains the testimony of Jesus’ public ministry, as He justifies Himself as the Saviour of the world. In this major section Jesus demonstrates His divine authority over man, over the Law, and over creation itself, until finally He reveals Himself to His three close disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration as God manifested in the flesh. Jesus is the Saviour over every area of man’s life and over creation itself, a role that can only be identified with God Himself. This was the revelation that Peter had when he said that Jesus was Christ, the Son of the Living God. Luk 4:14 to Luk 9:50 begins with His rejection in His hometown of Nazareth and this section culminates in Luk 9:50 with Peter’s confession and testimony of Jesus as the Anointed One sent from God. In summary, this section of material is a collection of narratives that testifies to Jesus’ authority over every aspect of humanity to be called the Christ, or the Saviour of the world.

Luke presents Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world that was presently under the authority of Roman rule. He was writing to a Roman official who was able to exercise his authority over men. Thus, Luke was able to contrast Jesus’ divine authority and power to that of the Roman rule. Jesus rightfully held the title as the Saviour of the world because of the fact that He had authority over mankind as well as the rest of God’s creation. Someone who saves and delivers a person does it because he has the authority and power over that which oppresses the person.

In a similar way, Matthew portrays Jesus Christ as the Messiah who fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. Matthew’s presentation of Jesus as the King of the Jews supports His claim as the Messiah. John gives us the testimony of God the Father, who says that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. John uses the additional testimonies of John the Baptist, of His miracles, of the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and of Jesus Himself to support this claim. Mark testifies of the many miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ by emphasizing the preaching of the Gospel as the way in which these miracles take place.

This major section of the public ministry of Jesus Christ can be subdivided into His prophetic testimonies. In Luk 4:31 to Luk 6:49 Jesus testifies of true justification in the Kingdom of God. In Luk 7:1 to Luk 8:21 Jesus testifies of His doctrine. In Luk 8:22 to Luk 10:37 Jesus testifies of divine service in the Kingdom of God as He sets His face towards Jerusalem. In Luk 10:38 to Luk 17:10 Jesus testifies of perseverance in the Kingdom of God as He travels towards Jerusalem. Finally, in Luk 17:11 to Luk 21:38 Jesus teaches on glorification in the Kingdom of God.

The Two-Fold Structure in Luke of Doing/Teaching As Reflected in the Prologue to the Book of Acts – The prologue to the book of Acts serves as a brief summary and outline of the Gospel of Luke. In Act 1:1 the writer makes a clear reference to the Gospel of Luke, as a companion book to the book of Acts, by telling us that this “former treatise” was about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” If we examine the Gospel of Luke we can find two major divisions in the narrative material of Jesus’ earthly ministry leading up to His Passion. In Luk 4:14 to Luk 9:50 we have the testimony of His Galilean Ministry in which Jesus did many wonderful miracles to reveal His divine authority as the Christ, the Son of God. This passage emphasized the works that Jesus did to testify of Himself as the Saviour of the world. The emphasis then shifts beginning in Luk 9:51 to Luk 21:38 as it focuses upon Jesus teaching and preparing His disciples to do the work of the Kingdom of God. Thus, Luk 4:14 to Luk 21:38 can be divided into this two-fold emphasis of Jesus’ works and His teachings. [186]

[186] We can also see this two-fold aspect of doing and teaching in the Gospel of Matthew, as Jesus always demonstrated the work of the ministry before teaching it in one of His five major discourses. The narrative material preceding his discourses serves as a demonstration of what He then taught. For example, in Matthew 8:1 to 9:38, Jesus performed nine miracles before teaching His disciples in Matthew 10:1-42 and sending them out to perform these same types of miracles. In Matthew 11:1 to 12:50 this Gospel records examples of how people reacted to the preaching of the Gospel before Jesus teaches on this same subject in the parables of Matthew 13:1-52. We see examples of how Jesus handled offences in Matthew 13:53 to 17:27 before He teaches on this subject in Matthew 18:1-35. Jesus also prepares for His departure in Matthew 19:1 to 25:46 before teaching on His second coming in Matthew 24-25.

Jesus’ Public Ministry One observation that can be made about Jesus’ Galilean ministry and his lengthy travel narrative to Jerusalem is that He attempts to visit every city and village in Israel that will receive Him. He even sends out His disciples in order to reach them all. But why is such an effort made to preach the Gospel to all of Israel during Jesus’ earthly ministry? Part of the answer lies in the fact that Jesus wanted everyone to have the opportunity to hear and believe. For those who rejected Him, they now will stand before God on the great Judgment Day without an excuse for their sinful lifestyles. Jesus wanted everyone to have the opportunity to believe and be saved. This seemed to be His passion throughout His Public Ministry. Another aspect of the answer is the impending outpouring of the Holy Ghost and the sending out of the Twelve to the uttermost parts of the earth. Jesus understood the necessity to first preach the Gospel to all of Israel before sending out the apostles to other cities and nations.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes and the Call of the First Disciples. Luk 5:1-11

Preaching on the shore of the sea:

v. 1. And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,

v. 2. and saw two ships standing by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

v. 3. And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

Jesus had left the city of Capernaum on a certain day, with the intention of walking along the shore of the lake, Mat 4:18; Mar 1:16. But it was impossible for Him to avoid the crowds that gathered whenever His presence was announced by someone that saw Him. Here a multitude pressed upon Him, whose eagerness for the Word of God is mentioned. They wanted to hear this man speak that preached with such authority. If they had but been as eager for the salvation which He offered in His preaching! Jesus was standing on the shore of the lake, but the growing crowds were hemming Him in on all sides, making it impossible for Him to address the people in an effective manner. As He then looked around for some way of meeting the situation, He saw two fishing-boats standing along the shore. They may just have come in and had barely been fastened by the fishermen who, after having disembarked, were washing their nets. Jesus, having known the men before, did not hesitate to enter into one of the two boats, the one belonging to Simon. He then asked the owner to put out to some distance, a matter of a rod or so, from the shore. And then, having sat down, Jesus taught the people from the boat. From this elevated position He had command of the audience and could speak to all of them without difficulty. Jesus was ever ready and eager to preach the Gospel of the salvation of mankind. Not only in the schools, but out under the open sky, wherever He stood or walked and had opportunity of any kind. He preached the Word of God. God’s Word fits in all places and at all times. Nothing is more necessary for men, nothing more urgent than, the preaching of the Word.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

When St. Luke compiled his Gospel, many of the circumstances connected with the early relations of the leaders of Christianity with their Founder were so well known, and had been so often repeated, that it seemed unnecessary to rehearse them afresh; hence to us the seeming abruptness of the introduction of Simon (Peter), James, and John in the scene now about to be related. In the preceding, the healing of Simon’s wife’s mother of a great fever is related without any explanation, as though Simon Peter’s connection with the Lord was a fact too well known to require any comment or explanation.

The association of Jesus and these chosen men seems to have commenced as follows: Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew (sons of Jona), John and James (the sons of Zebedee and Salome), belonged to fisher families dwelling on the banks of the Lake of Gennesaret. They seemed to have been fast friends, at times even partners in their occupation. Sharers with many others of the youth of Israel of their time, in a passionate hope that the hour of the long-promised deliverance from the yoke of their foreign oppressors was at hand, the four became disciples of the Baptist, and by him they were referred to Jesus, who in mysterious but exalted terms was pointed out by the great desert preacher, John, as “the Lamb of God,” the Glorious, the Expected One (Joh 1:35-43). They joined the Master at the bidding of John, and for a time were associated with him. Still at first they were only with him apparently at times, leaving him and returning to their homes and occupations, waiting for some definite and imperative summons to join his cause permanently. The summons in question is related in this chapter. The time was now come when the Lord deemed it fitting that he should surround himself with a company of disciples or pupils who should be constant witnesses of his works, hearers of his words, and thus be trained up for the great task of continuing his mission when he should have returned to his home in heaven.

We read these Gospels as the story of the Master’s life often without thinking how much of that life is never told. After all, we only possess a few representative incidentsthe events which the twelve and their first friends had selected as the themes of their sermons and discourses in Jerusalem, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome, and the great centres of early Christian activity. Here, after the story of one sabbath day’s blessed toil in Capernaum, follows a sentence which passes over, in a word or two, many days of quiet teaching in populous towns and villages of the once rich Galilee, and then the evangelist gives us with some detail the account of a morning by the lake, where he preached from a boat to the crowds on the shore, and then went out a-fishing, and, after the fishing, bade the fishermen leave all and come with him, and he would give them a new work.

Luk 5:1

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God. His fame as a great Teacher was evidently now firmly established. If it were known that he intended speaking in public, a crowd of listeners would gather quickly round him, whether in the synagogues, or by the lake-shore, or in the market-place. He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret. On this occasion, as he taught by the quiet lake waters, the throng was so great that he borrowed the fishing-boat of one of his friends, and, just pushing out from the shore, spoke to the multitude from the little craft as it rocked on the wavelets of the lake. Dean Stanley calls it “the most sacred sheet of water which the earth contains.” The rabbinical derivation is interesting: “Gannesarim, garden of princes;” but it is more probable that Gennesaret is but a reproduction of the old Hebrew name Chinneroth (Jos 12:3), so called from its harplike shape. It is a beautiful sheet of water, twelve or thirteen miles long and nearly seven broad at one portion of the lake. The Jordan flows through it. In our Lord’s time it was surrounded by the richest and most populous district of the Holy Land; large and flourishing towns were built along its shores. Capernaum, as has been said, was the junction of the great roads leading from Syria and the far East to the Mediterranean on the west, and Jerusalem and Egypt on the south. The lake was famous for its fish, and was crowded with all descriptions of craft. The whole scene is now changed. Scarcely a rude boat is ever seen on the blue silent waters. Desolate ruins fringe the deserted shores, with here and there a crumbling mud village, inhabited by the poorest and least enterprising of peasants, so sadly changed is this beautiful and wealthy district, which the rabbis used to love to speak of as the one among the seven seas of Canaan which God had reserved for himself.

Luk 5:3

And he sat down, as in the synagogue of Capernaumthe usual attitude of the Jewish preachers.

Luk 5:4

And let down your nets for a draught. Not necessarily a miraculous draught; it was probably a supernatural knowledge which the Lord had of a shoal of fish to be found in the spot indicated by him to the fishermen. Tristram (‘ Natural History of the Bible ‘) says, “The thickness of the shoals of fish is almost incredible to any one who has not witnessed them. They often cover an area of more than an acre, and when the fish move slowly forward in a mass, and are rising out of the water, they are packed so close together that it appears as if a heavy rain was beating down on the surface of the water.”

Luk 5:5

Master. The word in the original so rendered is not Rabbi, as in the other Gospels, but , Teacher. The Jewish term would not have been understood by the Gentile reader for whom the story was especially intended.

Luk 5:6

And their net brake. Augustine beautifully compares the broken and torn net to the Church that now is, full of divisions and rents; the net unrent and untorn will be the Church of the future, which will know no schisms.

Luk 5:10

Fear not. A feeling of intense overpowering awe on a sudden came on Simon after listening to the words and seeing this last act of power which so closely affected him. The very fish of his native lake, then, were subject to this strange holy Man! This was no mortal, thought the fisherman, and he fell at the Master’s feet. “Finding as it does its parallel in almost all manifestations of a Divine or even an angelic presence, it (this awful fear) must be owned to contain a mighty, because an instructive, witness for the sinfulness of man’s nature, out of which it comes to pass that any near revelation from the heavenly world fills the children of men, even the holiest among them, with terror and amazement, yea, sometimes with the expectation of death itself” (Archbishop Trench, ‘Introduction to the Epistles to the Seven Churches’). The same “Fear not” (“Be not afraid”) was uttered on like occasions to Isaiah (Isa 6:7), to Daniel (Dan 10:12), and several times during the earthly ministry was said to the disciples, and for the last time the reassuring words were spoken by the Redeemer after the Ascension to his own dear follower, John, who could not bear the sight of the glorious majesty of his risen Lord. Thou shalt catch men. The imagery contained in these words of the Master to his fishermen-followers was, of course, drawn from the late scene. Their failure in catching fish, their Teacher’s marvellous success, the net bursting with the great catch of silvery fish; the Lord’s strange prophetic words which accompanied their call to his service,all would in after-years often come up before the disciples in their hours of alternating failure and success in the mighty task he had set them to do. The great Fisherman, Christ; his imitators and servants, fishers; the world of men pictured as fish,were ever favourite images for the pencil, the graving tool, and the pen of the Christian artist and writer of the first ages of the faith. One of the earliest extant hymns, for instance, of the Church, by Clement of Alexandria, dwells on the image. The words are addressed to Christ

“Fisher of men, the blest,
Out of the world’s unrest,
Out of sin’s troubled sea,
Taking us, Lord, to thee;
Out of the waves of strife
With bait of blissful life;
Drawing thy nets to shore,
With choicest fish, good store.”

(Hymn of Clement of Alexandria.)

The favourite Christian monogram of the fish, carved on so many tombs in the Catacombs, belongs to the same imagerythe

Luk 5:12-16

The leper is healed in a certain city.

Luk 5:12

When he was in a certain city. From the scene in the boat on the lake with the fishermen, Luke abruptly passes to another memorable incident which took place probably soon aftermemorable because it is the first recorded instance of Jesus’ contact with that most terrible of earthly maladies, leprosy. The certain city was probably the town of Hattim, for we read in St. Matthew that the famous cure took place as the Lord was coming down from the mount of Beatitudes. (This will be spoken of in its place in Mat 6:1-34.) Behold a man full of leprosy. The expression “behold” reproduces exactly the scene as the eye-witness remembered it. There were many apparently with the Master on that occasion; but following him, suddenly, as he went on before the crowd, one of those ghastly victims of the frightful disease stood before him, apparently having eluded observation, for they were not allowed to appear in the ordinary haunts of men. The unhappy man fell down and knelt before the great Physician, of whom he may have heard so much, and asks him to exercise his mighty power on the dread malady which was eating away his life. The leper evidently had no doubt whatever of the power of Jesus; he was only anxious as to whether he had the will to cure him. The whole question respecting the exact nature of the disease is a vexed one. The word has been used with varying extent of meaning. As far as we can gather, the disease in its worst form seems to have been a progressive decay arising from the poisoning of the blood. The face and different members of the body were attacked and gradually destroyed, till the sufferer became a hideous spectacle, and literally fell to pieces. It is much disputed whether or not the malady in any of its varied developments and stages was contagious. The strict separation which in well-nigh all forms of the disease was rigidly insisted on would seem at all events to point to the conclusion that, in the popular estimation, it certainly was so; some phases of the malady, however, appear to have been considered as perfectly free from contagious effectfor instance, Naaman, the captain of the host of Syria, was a leper. It is hot conceivable that one who was infected with so grave a malady, considered incurable, would, if contagious, have been permitted to have exercised a function which would have brought him into constant contact with masses of his fellow-countrymen. These cases, however, were apparently few in number, and those afflicted with what was usually called leprosy were rigidly separated from their fellows, not only to dwell apart, but positively forbidden to approach the dwellings of men. In the Egyptian legends of the Exodus, the Israelites were said to have been expelled because they were lepers.

Luk 5:13

And he put forth his hand, mad touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. St. Mark adds here, “being touched with compassion.” The Redeemer, at the sight of the man’s awful wretchednesswasting away, shunned by all men, dragging on a hopeless, aimless, weary lifein his Divine pity, with a sudden impulse tosses aside all considerations of ceremonial uncleanness or contagion, and lays his hand on the miserable sufferer from whom all shrank, with his word of power exclaimed, “I will: be thou clean.” St. Ambrose writes here how “Jesus, because he is the Lord of the Law, does not obey the Law, but makes the Law.” “Here Jesus obeys that Divine eternal law of compassion, in its sudden impulse, which is older and grander than the written Law” (Farrar). It is observable that in these sudden cases, in which the common brotherhood of man was involved, the nobler spirits of Israel ever rose above all consideration of law and custom, and, putting aside all legal, orthodox restriction, obeyed at once the sovereign dictates of the heart. So Elijah and Elisha, those true saints of God, shrank not from touching the dead.

Luk 5:14

And he charged him to tell no man. We find this desire of Jesus to check publicity after he had worked one of his great works, especially in the earlier part of his ministry. Chrysostom attributes this to the Master’s regard for the one who had been healed, desiring that his gratitude to God for the mercy vouchsafed to him should not be frittered away in words, in idle talk with curious persons. It is, however, more likely that the Master wished to stem rather than to fan the tide of popularity which such mighty works would be sure to excite among the people. What he determined to check was a false and mistaken desire among the people to make him king.

Luk 5:15

But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. It is evident that his wishes and commands were neglected, possibly out of a mistaken feeling of gratitude. The result was that his work of teaching was hindered by the crowds who resorted to him at once as a Physician of extraordinary power. But he had graver and much more important work before him than even the blessed task of relieving suffering. So he withdrew himself, says our evangelist, and again spent a short season in solitude and prayer.

Luk 5:17-26

The healing of the paralyzed man.

Luk 5:17

And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the Law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem. Again an interval of time. The fame of the new Teacher had spread rapidly. One day, some time after the events told in the last section, the Master was sitting in the house apparently of some one of consideration in Capernaum, and, as usual, was teaching. Grouped round him were a different audience to the traders and fishermen of the lake-city; prominent men of the leading religious party in the state, not only from Galilee, but from Jerusalem and other Judaean cities, such as Hebron, as well as learned doctors of the Law. These had been drawn from curiosity, some doubtless by higher motives, to hear for themselves the teaching of this now famous Nazarene Carpenter. These do not appear to have been actuated with the jealous malignity of some of those later deputations from the Jerusalem Sanhedrin and schools. The house was thronged within, and the crowd pressed round the doors. In the course of the quiet teaching, took place the incident which gave rise to one of the Lord’s great sayingsan utterance so important that it evidently had been chosen by the apostles as a frequent theme or text in the preaching of the first days.

Luk 5:18, Luk 5:19

And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the house-top, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. So far there was nothing very unusual in the incident. These healings must have been of common occurrence with our Lord. The poor sufferer and his friends, intensely anxious for an interview with One whom they justly regarded as the great Physician, were rightly confident that they had but to see the Master, to state their case, and to receive the blessing which they sought. On this occasion it seemed impossible to get at the merciful Healer. Now or never, they thought. He might, as he had done before, withdraw himself. The chance might never recur. So they accomplished their purpose in the way narrated by the evangelist. It was evidently nothing very extraordinaryan ingenious device, nothing more; only by it the friends of the sufferer showed that they were intensely in earnest, that they were confident that the Master had both the power and the will to do what they wanted, Much has been written on the device employed on this occasion by the friends of the paralytic. Delitzsch, in his ‘A Day at Capernaum,’ graphically describes what must have taken place. Two bearers ascend the roof by a ladder, and by means of cords they draw up by the same way the sick man after them, assisted by two other bearers. In the middle of the terrace was a square place, open in summer to give light and air to the house, but closed with tiles during the rainy season. Having opened this passage, the bearers let down the sick man into the large inner court immediately below, where Jesus was teaching, near the cistern fixed as usual in this court. The trap-stairs, which led down from the terrace into the court, would have been too narrow for their use, and would not have taken them into the court, but into the apartments which overlooked it from all sides.

Luk 5:20

And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. For a moment the great Physician gave place to the Heart-reader; and the Lord spoke those strange, grand words to give comfort and peace to the suffering, silent, sick man. Jesus read what was in the heart of the poor paralytic; his sins distressed him more than his malady; very possibly the sad infirmity had been brought about by his old dissolute life. The soul, then, must be healed first. It was for this, we believe, that the story of the man with the palsy was told and retold by the first Christian preachers, and so found a place in the three Gospel narrativesthis lofty claim of the Master to forgive sins; a claim so grandly supported by a miraculous act done in the open daylight in the presence of the people.

Luk 5:21

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? It is very probable that some of those who stood by, had already, at Jerusalem, witnessed by the Bethesda Pool a wonder-work done by the same Jesus on the person of an impotent man lying there waiting for the troubling of the water (Joh 5:5, Joh 5:9), and had taken part there in an angry expostulation with the Wonder-worker, who on that occasion, in his words, “made himself equal with God” (Joh 5:18). We know (see Luk 5:17) that some of the Jerusalem scribes were present that day in the Capernaum house. Again, thought these learned Jews, “this strange Man is uttering his dread blasphemies, but now in even more plain terms than there.‘

Luk 5:23

Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? The Heart-reader hears, perhaps, the murmur as it runs round the circle, and grasping in a moment all that was in the angry hearts of these men, said aloud, that all might hear, some such words as these, “See now what I am about to do. You, in your dim short-sighted wisdom, think my forgiving this poor repentant sinner his dark past, is but an empty, meaningless form of words. See now whether what I am about to do further for him is an empty meaningless boon.”

Luk 5:24, Luk 5:25

That ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. The lookers-on, the curious, the cavillers, the friendly, too, as the unfriendly, who crowded that Capernaum house, could not see with their eyes the Redeemer’s remission of the palsied man’s sins. The sufferer alone was conscious that the great burden which pressed on his soul was removed at the Master’s word. But all could see the miracle which followed. Any one of those present, had he dared, might have uttered the solemn absolution. None but he could surely risk, as he risked, such words which followed, and which challenged an instant and visible fulfilment. It was a strange, great claim the Master made that day, and we may be sure it and the mighty sign which followed sank deep into many a heart. We see why the memory of this day’s work was treasured up so faithfully. He took up that whereon he lay. This could easily have been done. The bed or pallet would be nothing but a light portable framework covered with a blanket.

Luk 5:26

We have seen strange things to-day. The strange things () alluded especially to the miracle which, as it were, solemnly authenticated the sublime claim to forgiveness of sins on the part of Jesus.

Luk 5:27-29

The calf of Levi (Matthew the publican), and the feast that followed.

Luk 5:27

And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. Capernaum, as has been already noticed, had become, owing to its situation, a commercial centre of no small importance. It was on the great highway from the interior of Asia, and from Damascus to the seaboard Mediterranean cities, to Jerusalem, and to Egypt. The custom-house of Capernaum and the office of inland revenue there would naturally be under the control of officials of some importance. The local trade on the lake, too, we know at that period was very large. It has been frequently askedWhat specially induced our Lord to select as one of his inner circle a man whose life-work was so hateful and unpopular to the Jewish people generally? why did he include in the twelve one who, from the nature of his detested office, had lost religious caste among the Jews, and who was compelled to consort with sinners, Gentiles, and persons who were considered, either from their birth or life and associations, outside the pale of the chosen people? Various replies to this question have been suggested, such asby this open act he threw down the gauntlet to all that powerful Pharisee class who were beginning to suspect and to mistake his teaching and liberalism. Or was his apparently strange choice dictated by a simple desire to have, in the inner circle of his devoted friends, a business manone who could manage the affairs and regulate the economy of the little growing society? but this seems to have been done by Judas; or was it simply done in obedience to a sudden impulse from on High? None of these seems satisfactory. Surely another motive, and that a deeper and a nobler one, suggested this enrolment of the despised publican in that glorious company of apostles. The Lord was determined to show, by this choice of his, that in his eyes all callings were equally honourable, all ways of life might lead to the city of the blessed. Never would the work ennoble the man, but only the way in which the work was done. The Baptist, as we have seen, first taught this Divine liberalism. The Baptist’s Lord placed his seal of approval upon his servant’s teaching by such acts as the calling of Matthew the publican, and feasting in his house with publicans and sinners.

Luk 5:28

He left all, rose up, and followed him. No doubt a hard and difficult bit of self-renunciation. He, at the bidding of the homeless, landless Teacher, gave up his lucrative employment, sacrificing all his life of promotion, of future wealth and position, exposing himself, doubtless, to sneers and calumny. With great truth could he re-echo his friend Peter’s words, “Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.”

Luk 5:29

And Levi made him a great feast in his own house. There is no doubt that this Levi was the same person as Matthew the publican (subsequently the evangelist), whose calling under precisely similar circumstances is related in the First Gospel. The name Matthew, “gift of God,” was probably given to him, as that of Peter (or Cephas, “a rock”) was bestowed on Simon, after his association with Jesus. The words used, “a great feast,” a great company, plainly indicate that Levi (Matthew)was a person of consideration and position. And there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. The great company was owing to the fact that the publicans and their friends, moved by the kindness and friendship of the new Teacher, assembled at the feast in numbers out of respect to him; or, more likely, the assemblage was owing to the effort of Levi (Matthew) to bring into friendly relations his associates and friends and the new Master, for whose sake he had given up everything.

Luk 5:30

But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples. Many of the older authorities here omit “their” before “scribes.” The older authorities vary slightly in the position of the words here. The best reading and translation would give, “The Pharisees and the scribes among them””among them,” that is, among the Capernaites; in other words, “They among them who were Pharisees and scribes.” These scribes (Hebrew, sopherim), under this appellation, first appear after the Exile. Their occupation was to copy and to expound the Law. They were the recognized teachers of the Jews, and seem to have succeeded that great and influential class or order, the “sons of the prophets,” originally founded by Samuel. These “sons of the prophets” are repeatedly mentioned in the books of the Old Testament which treat of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The scribes were succeeded, in the year 300 b.c., by the tanaim (repeaters), under which name the scribes were officially, though apparently not popularly, known until a.d. 220, after which date these scribes were termed amoraim. The Talmud (Mishna and Gemara) may be said to have been the work of this great and enduring teacher order. The Talmud was finally closed in a.d. 490, by Rabbina Abina, the last of the amoraim. Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners?.

Luk 5:31, Luk 5:32

And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. This was one of those sayings of the Lord which sank very deep into the hearts of the hearers. All the three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, repeat it with very slight variations; it was evidently a favourite theme with the great first teachers who followed Christ. It has borne rich fruit in the Master’s Church; for this vindication of Jesus of his conduct in going so often into the society of the moral waifs and strays of the population has been the real “foundation of all those philanthropic movements which enlist the upper classes of society in the blessed work of bending down to meet in love the lower classes, so that the snapped circle of humanity may be restored; it is the philosophy in a nutshell of all home and missionary operations”.

Luk 5:33-39

The teaching of the Lord concerning fasting.

Luk 5:33

And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? We learn from the parallel passage in St. Mark that “they” who asked the Lord this question were the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees, who united on this occasion. These disciples of John do not seem at first to have regarded Jesus with altogether friendly feelings. Such a jealousy was only too natural, and the rigid, unbending truthfulness of the evangelists compelled them to tell the story of the way the early foundations of the truth were laid without concealment of error or mistake. The Baptist himself practised the sternest asceticism, and required doubtless of his nearest followers that they should imitate his example. The Lord’s way of life, his presence at feastings and merry-makings, his consorting with publicans, his choice of one of them as his disciple and friend, no doubt surprised and disturbed not a few of the followers of John; hence such a question as the one we are now considering, and such a querulous complaining as we hear of in the Fourth Gospel (Joh 3:25, Joh 3:26). The practice of fasting among the Jews was as follows: In the Law of Moses only one appointed fast in the year was enjoinedthat on the sole Day of Atonement (Le Joh 16:29; Num 29:7). After the Exile the one fast was increased to four. But the prophets gave no sanction to this added ritual (see Zec 7:1-12; Zec 8:19). In the time of our Lord, rigid Jews used to fast twice a week (Luk 18:12)on Monday and Friday (the day on which, according to tradition, Moses went up Mount Sinai). It is evident that our Lord himself never observed or even approved of these fasts of the Pharisee sect. In the well-known and often-quoted passages, Mat 17:21; Mar 9:29; Act 10:30; 1Co 7:5in many of the older authorities, the word ‘fasting’ does not occur at all. In the Revised Version in each of these instances “fasting” does not appear in the new text. While, then, we must unhesitatingly conclude that fasting is no rite commanded by the Blessed One, still the Church has practised it with signal advantage and profit on certain solemn occasions; but it must ever proceed from the impulse of the sorrow-stricken heart, it must be no penance or duty imposed by authority, least of all must it be regarded as pleasing in the eye of the Almighty, or in any sense a substitute for the practice of the higher virtues really loved of Godjustice, mercy, and truth.

Luk 5:34, Luk 5:35

And he said unto them Can ye make the children of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is With them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. On this reply of the Lord Jesus Godet very beautifully writes. “In the midst of this feast of publicans, the heart of Jesus is overflowing with joy; it is one of the hours when his earthly life seems to his feeling like a marriage-day. But suddenly his countenance becomes overcast: the shadow of a painful vision passes across his brow: ‘The days will come,’ said he, in a solemn tone. At the close of this nuptial week, the Bridegroom himself will be suddenly smitten and cut off; then will come the time of fasting for those who to-day are rejoicing; there will be no necessity to enjoin it. In this striking and poetic answer Jesus evidently announces his violent death.” The imagery of the bridegroom is drawn from Hos 2:19, Hos 2:20, and perhaps also from the more mystical Scripture, Psa 45:1-17. and the Song of Songs. Jesus here clearly regards himself as the Christ, as identical with the long looked-for Divine Deliverer; but at this comparatively early stage of his public career he was fully conscious that in his Person, with the triumphant would be joined the suffering Messiah. The word rendered “shall be taken away from (them),” , only occurs here in the New Testament; it points evidently to a death of violence. While the intimation given to Nicodemus (Joh 3:14) was the first private, so this seems to have been the first public announcement of the last scene of the earth-life.

Luk 5:36

And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. Oriental teaching has ever delighted in using these vivid and picturesque metaphors and parables taken from the everyday life of the people; here the reference is, of course, to the question put by the. Pharisees and John’s disciples respecting fasting. This and the following little parable, and the curious simile which he added directly after, is part of the Lord’s answer to his questioners. They charged him in their query with throwing (by the neglect of fasting) a slur on the time-honoured practices and observances of the most religious men of Israel. His reply acknowledged that, as far as he was concerned, they were right. He had quietly put aside the rigidly appointed fasts and other ceremonial rites by means of which the great Jewish teachersto use their own expressionhad put a hedge about the Law. They were right, too, in the conclusion they had come to, implied but not expressed, in their evidently hostile questioning. His was a totally new form of the old Hebrew’ religonnew altogether in the grandeur of its conception and in the breadth of its influence. His was a totally new garment that he was about to offer to the people; now to patch up the beautiful new work with the old one would be surely to mar both. In the older authorities the text is slightly longer and more vivid than the text from which our own more corrupt Authorized Version was translated. It would run thus: “No one rending a patch from a new garment putteth it upon an old garment.”

Luk 5:37, Luk 5:38

And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. In these two verses the Greek words rendered “bottles” properly signify “wine-skins.” These leathern bottles throughout Syria and Palestine are generally made of goat-skins. They are still of universal use; the simile of the “old bottles” refers to “wine-skins” old and frail, which had been long in use, and hence nearly worn out; such “skins,” after long usage, are in the habit of getting seamed and cracked. (Farrar, in an elaborate ex-cursus, urges that must, and not wine in the ordinary sense, i.e. the fermented juice of the grape, is signified in the parable here, grape-juice in the form of unfermented must being much used as a favourite drink in the East. This suggestion, although ingenious and interesting, does not seem necessary to explain the imagery used; it seems more natural to understand wine in its ordinary meaning.) The “new wine” here represents the teaching of Jesus in all its freshness, originality, and power, and the “wine-skins” the men who are to receive from the Master the great principle of his doctrine. Now, the recognized teachers in Israel, termed scribes and rabbis, or doctors of the Law, were wedded to the old interpretation of the Lawwere hampered by traditions, sayings of the Fathers, elaborate ritual observances, prejudices, narrowness, bigotry. The vast collection of the Talmud, where wise words on the same page are crowded out with childish sayings, well represents the teaching of these scribes and rabbis. Never would Jesus entrust to these narrow and prejudiced representatives of a worn-out religious school his new, fresh, generous doctrines. It would indeed be pouring new wine into old, decayed, worn-out wine-vessels. The new wine must be deposited in new wine-skins. His doctrine must be entrusted to no rabbi of Israel, fettered by a thousand precedents, hampered by countless prejudices, but to simple unprejudiced men, who would just receive his teaching, and then pass it on pure and unadulterated to other simple, truthful soulsmen earnest, loyal, devoted, like his fisher-friends of Gennesaret, or his publican-follower of Capernaum. He needs, as Godet well phrases itchanging, though, the imagery of Jesus”fresh natures, new men fair tablets on which his hand may write the characters of Divine truth, without coming across the old traces of a false human wisdom. ‘God, I thank thee because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes'”

Luk 5:39

No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. St. Luke alone of the first three evangelists who related in detail this most important reply of Jesus when the disciples of John and the Pharisees came to question him, adds this curious simile. The meaning of the parable-pictures of the new patch being sewn on an old garment, and of new wine being poured into worn-out, decaying wine-skins, was very plain. Pitilessly severe it would ring in the ears of men brought up in the old rabbinic Jewish schools. The two first evangelists, conscious of the truth of their Master’s words, were content to leave the stern teaching, which pronounced the old state of things among the religious Jews as utterly worn-out, in all its naked severity. But Paul, under whose guidance we believe Luke wrote his Gospel, with that tender and considerate love which so beautifies the earnest and impassioned nature of the apostle of the Gentiles, knew that Jesus had added a few words to the two seemingly harsh parables; these he bade Luke carefully insert in his narrative. They contain what may be termed an almost playful apology for the slowness and reluctance of the men trained in the rabbinic schools, or even of the pupils of John the Baptist, to accept the new, broad, generous view of truth which he (Jesus) was putting forthit was an apology for a slowness and reluctance, shading too often into unveiled dislike and open hostility. (What experience Paul and Luke must have had of this hostility!) The Master, in his Divine wisdom, knew how hard it was to forsake long-cherished prejudices. Time must be given, allowance must be made, harsh judgment must be deprecated. These men, trained in the old system, are here compared to guests who, after the banquet, are suddenly asked to change the old wine, mellowed by age, of which they have been drinking, for new sweet wine. This new wine seems, in those days, generally to have been considered preferable, but to men who had been drinking the old, age-softened vintage, the new would seem fiery and even harsh. The Greek word rendered in the Authorized Version “better,” in the older authorities is positive instead of comparative. The translation should therefore run,” the old is good.” The argument would be the same: Why change what we have been drinking for something new? surely the old wine is good? Such passages as Neh 10:35; Pro 3:10; Hos 4:11; Hag 1:11, bear out the above statement, that in those days, among the Jews of Syria, Palestine, and the adjacent countries, new sweet wine was a favourite beverage among wine-drinkers.

HOMILETICS

Luk 5:1-11

The call to be fishers of men.

Each of the missionary circuits of Christ has its special features of interest. The first of these circuits is distinguished by three miracles significant of his work as the Christ of God. Look at the miracle of the draught of fishes, with the narrative to which it is related, as a record illustrative first of personal conversion, and secondly of the ministry of the New Testament.

I. AN ILLUSTRATION OF PERSONAL CONVERSION.

1. There is already a faith. The four men whom the Lord calls had heard his voice on the banks of Jordan (Joh 1:35-43), and had followed him. They had journeyed with him in Judaea, and even, it would seem, had baptized in his Name. But, after the return of Jesus to Galilee from the Passover-keeping noticed in Joh 5:1-47., they had gone back to their homes and their usual callings. They believed in him, but they did not realize the constraint of a supreme influence. They did not hold themselves as solemnly engaged to him. It was this engagement to be his, going where he went, and dwelling where he dwelt, which was the work of the day by the Lake of Gennesaret. Now, see in this a reminder that there may be a belief sincere and true so far as it goes, which prepares for, but which is not, the faith unto salvation. It establishes a certain intellectual relation to Christ, but nothing more. The effectual call is still wantingthe call, i.e., to an entire self-surrender, leaving all and following him.

2. There is a sovereignty of grace in this call. Of this sovereignty there is much to remind us in the passage under review. The great crowd is before the Teacher as he stands by the lake. Of the many boats drawn up on the beach, he selects two; of the two he chooses Simon’s. Another evangelist reminds us that out of the multitude he saw two brethren, and again he saw other two brethren. He saw and he spoke; there is the look and there is the word. “The Lord looked on Gideon, and said, Go in this thy might.” All that is done is done so easily. Almost a chance, it might be said. There is he, and there are they; he at his work, and they at theirs. It was no chance. It was Christ’s opportunity; it was their opportunity. “Follow me!” is the command of his royalty. Such was he then, such is he still. In the crowd he individualizes. The soul found by him asks,” Whence knowest thou me?” He knows his sheep, and is known of them. He calleth his own sheep by name.

3. There is an instant response. Christ’s call is “Now;” “To-day if ye will hear his voice.” The answer is “Now;” “Today;” “Lord, here am I; send me”an unreserved, uncalculating surrender, body, soul, and spirit, to Jesus. The net is left, and, mark, the net that has just been or is just being cast into the seathe net on which so much had been spent, Net and father too. He will not come with them. “Farewell, then; not less do we love you; but he is nearer than father and mother, and his word is, ‘Follow me!'” This is conversionthe turning of the face of the life to the eternal Lord; the acceptance of God’s Beloved, in the consciousness of acceptance in the Beloved; the election, as the mark towards which to press, of the calling of God in Christ Jesus. “Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy power.”

II. But, secondly, see in the miracle which follows A PICTURE OF THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

1. A conviction which gives intensity to it. Simon Peter, in the light of Jesus’ presence and power, falls down at his knees, crying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” The cry in its matter was foolish, but the spirit which prompted it was true. For the first time he had realized his own unworthiness. Had he not all but given Jesus up? Had he not lived a poor, dull, earthly life? Who was he, that the Lord of glory should have sat in his boat, that he should have been in any way identified with him? It is not the “depart” of a will that refuses the Lord; it is the self-loathing heart-cry, “Lord, I am vile; what canst thou see in me?” The same heart-cry as that which burst from Isaiah when he saw the Lord and heard the antiphon of the seraphim, “Woe is me!.., for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” It is in such prostration that the lips are touched by the seraph, and the live coal is laid on them, and the “Fear not; thine iniquity is taken away” is spoken, and the hitherto unprophetic tongue is loosed. In the service which springs out of this humility there is always the sign of the baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

2. An incident which declares the secret of ministry.

(1) Its inspiration. “Nevertheless at thy word.” Is not the word sufficient? The improbabilities are all on the one side. The time for fishing has passed. All night, and nothing; what could there be in the morning? “Nevertheless at thy word.” “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

(2) Its power, not in the worker and not in the net. The worker had utterly failed; a charm might have been attributed to the netthe net was broken. No; the sufficiency is of God. The one human condition is an absolute self-resignation.

“There is a Stayand we are strong;
Our Master is at hand.”

“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come on you.”

(3) Its nature. The fisher caught, and lying on the shore. This is the parable. The work is to catch men. The power is with the Spirit; but he calls for the hand to cast the net. This fishing for men is a holy art, in which the fishers must be trained. When the three thousand were added at Pentecost, Simon saw again the miracle of Gennesaret, heard anew the loving voice, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

(4) The co-operation to which it summons. When Simon’s boat is full, he and Andrew beckon to James and John, their partners in the other ship, to come and help them. Is not this a hint as to the evangelical alliance which should distinguish all in the various boats that fish the sea? Why should they ply their task as rivals? Why should they envy the good estate, the success of any boat? Where Christ can be clearly seen, where the power is manifestly his, forbid that narrow jealousies hinder the recognition of the work. Verily there is need for all willing-hearted workmen, and there is enough and to spare for all the boats. If only the aim were simply to catch men, not for the boat, but through the boat for the Lord, how different would be the aspect of Churches and ministries!

3. Finally, an action which manifests the eternal loving-kindness. To obey the Master is no thankless service. Leave the net; yes; but we follow him to whom the spacious sea belongs. Could the brethren whom he called doubt that he was able to make all grace abound always in all things? Have not we the certainty that there is a love which sees us as

“We watch our nets alone
In drenching spray, and driving shower,
And hear the night-bird’s moan”?

We toil; let us ask our hearts if they have been satisfied, How many confess, even in the midst of abundance, that the toil has been only “vanity, and a striving after wind”! Nay; but let Christ enter the life, let him be the Leader and Commander, let him indicate whether the net should be cast; then shall the emptiness be filled out of an infinite fulness.

Luk 5:12-26

The power present to heal.

In the setting forth of facts, there is another principle of guidance than chronology. We may group them around some thoughts with the view of illustrating the meaning and scope of the thought. On this principle let us regard the events related from the twelfth verse to the twenty-sixth. What they evidence is the power of the Lord that was working in Jesus as a power of healing. Strange, blessed things we shall see to-day.

I. THE WORK OF SALVATION AS REALIZED IN THE LEPER. (Luk 5:12-14.) He is “full of leprosy,” a mass of corruption, dying bit by bit. Notice the cry of this miserable outcast. When the father of the epileptic child met the Lord on his descent from the Mount of Transfiguration, the voice of his agony was, “If thou canst do anything, have mercy on us and help us.” Jesus replied, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” He had not yet got to the mountain of faith, and the father says with tears, “Lord, I believe; but oh, help me to that mountain-height, help thou mine unbelief.” This wretched leper is already on the mountain height. It is not, “If thou canst,” but “If thou wilt.” The Jewish proverb was, “As God sends the leprosy, so God alone can heal it.” God is in this Jesus; therefore he can. Such was the logic. How he had seen the secret of the Lord, we do not know; but the trust was hisit had been sown into his heart in the urgency of his need. Now, mark the response. Sometimes the Lord seems to tarry. But in this case the way is quite ready for the blessing. “We are never told,” says Dr. Farrar, “that there was a moment’s pause when a leper cried to him.” “If thou wilt.” “I will.” And the touch. To touch a leper was an infraction of law. He had to withdraw into the wilderness immediately afterwards. He did not wish to provoke any violent opposition. But he broke the ceremonial law at the demand of a higher lawthe law whose source is the Divine compassion, and whose agent is the power present to heal. The foul body could not pollute the hand; but the hand of the Infinite Purity could cleanse the foul body. “Be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.” How wonderfully this strange thing brings out what is characteristic of the Saviour in his thoughts and ways to the sinner! None is beyond the reach of the love that could bid away at once and for ever that leprosy. No cry can escape the ear of a love that has the answering “I will” ready for the praying “If thou wilt.” We have a High Priest who has touched our sin in its exceeding sinfulness. For ever and ever there stands the pledge of the world’s Healer “I will: be thou clean.”

II. But see THE SAME WORK REALIZED IN “THE MAN THAT WAS PALSIED.” The time is “one of those days that he was teaching.” A crowd has gathered so great that “there is no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door.” In this crowd there are Pharisees and doctors of the Law sitting by. Significantly it is added, “The power of the Lord was present to heal.” A notable instance of this power is supplied; its occasion being the letting down of the pallet-bed, on which was laid the paralytic, through the tiles into the midst of the crowd before Jesus. There is no resisting of such faith. Seeing it, the Healer sayswhat? “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” Now, as to this fulfilment of the imperial “I will,” which proceeds from the compassion of the Lord, remark:

1. The work which represents the supreme Saviourblessing. “That ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.” He will listen to the appeal made in behalf of the palsied man; but there is a palsy hidden and spiritual with which first he must deal, for until it is dealt with there can be no effectual healing. Yes; the true healing begins within. “Create a clean heart.” And the point at which the Redeemer lays hold of us is the need of forgiveness. This action of Christ is the first in which he makes himself fully known, the first in which his spiritual authority is declared. And from this moment the organized opposition of scribe and Pharisee dates. “His kingdom ruleth over all.” All agencies of relief and kindness are his, and are to be used in his name; but his kingdom is the kingdom of heaven to all believers, because the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins.

2. The condition on which the power of Christ is realized. “When he saw their faith.” Observe, not his faith. No one, it is true, can stand proxy for another as to salvation. There must be the personal touch of Christ; and the narrative, when attentively regarded, shows that Jesus secured this from the sufferer. He helped out the sick man’s trustfulness; he established a relation with himself. And then and thus he did exceeding abundantly above all that could be asked. But he does attach value to faith in friends for another friend, in the loving for the loved, in those who have salvation for those who have not. Think of the four bearing the weak and wanting man, seeking the means to realize the blessing for him, their interest wholly unselfish, and unresting until the doure man is really brought to Jesus. Oh, is not this the miniature of the Church of Christ in its intercession and labour for heathendom, for the sick and perishing through lack of knowledge? Should it not indicate the truth to be exemplified in the anxiety of parents as to their children? Should it not remind us of the highest aim of all relatives of friendship or confidence? Jesus does” perceive” this faith. It is the security of blessing unspeakable; for

“So the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.”

Were there more of this faith, there would be more abundant sign of “the power of the. Lord present to heal.”

3. The hindrance and limitation of the power of the Lord. ‘Pharisees and doctors of the Law sitting by,” and the power present. It is always present with the word of his grace. We never need to seek it as if it were sometimes here and sometimes there. But these Pharisees and doctors are not healed. The grace is present for them too, but they do not realize it. They sit by as spectators, critics, censors, watching for grounds of reproach and accusation. “The word of hearing did not profit them, because they were not united by faith with them that heard.” Is not this the limitation still? Are there not many in our assemblies who, like these Pharisees, “sit by”? They scarcely believe what is said. As old Matthew Henry writes, “It is to them a tale that is told them, not a message that is sent them. They are willing that we should preach before them, not that we should preach to them.” It is this sitting by which checks the work of grace. More and more, as the ministry of Christ proceeds, does the shadow of the Pharisees sitting by fall on it. A withering, desolating shadow. Thou Pharisee of town and village, thou critic, sceptic, thy seat the seat of the scornful. Mighty power to heal may be present, but mighty work of healing cannot be done in thee until the story of the Pharisee of the Pharisees is repeated in thee, and thy self-sufficiency smitten down, thou art cast to the earth, to ask, trembling and astonished, “Who art thou, Lord?”

Luk 5:30-39

The new and the old.

Two classes of persons are amazed and offendedthose to whom old ways and recognized canons of respectability were of the very essence of the religious life; and those whose minds occupied a sort of intermediate position, who had so far broken from the old, but had not yet received the spirit of the new time which had begun in Galilee. Here is this Rabbi, whose fame has spread far and wide, who is undoubtedly possessed of marvellous powers, associating with persons whom every respectable Hebrew shunned, accepting a tax-gatherer’s invitation, and freely mingling with the worthless folk found at a tax-gatherer’s table. What an outrage on social and religious decency! The scribes and Phariseesthe one of these two classesmurmur (observe, against the disciples; they do not dare to the Lord himself), “Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?” The disciples, simple, guileless souls, were probably unable to explain or account for their Master. He himself replies by quoting an Old Testament Scriptureone of those great prophetic words which express the spirit of all true religion, and prefacing and following this quotation by sentences of searching irony. “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” How significant is every clause! “They that are whole.” Will the murmurers take that description as appropriate to them? Then the Jesus whom they surround has nothing for them; his work is not for the self-righteous, but for the consciously sinful and needy. But “whoso” would be teachers of the people as they may be, let them go and learn the first lesson of Divine wisdom, viz. that it is the delight of God’s love to find out fatherless souls; that he is satisfied, not by formal acts of worship, rendered in mere obedience to usage, but by the seeking of poor outcasts from ordinance and society, by such fellowship with them as reveals the purpose, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.” Now comes the moment at which, along with the Pharisees, the other of the two offended classesthose occupying an intermediate position between the old and the newappears on the scene. Some disciples of the Baptist have been scanning the movements of the Prophet of Nazareth, and the feast just held gives increased force to their doubts and difficulties. The joyous life which Jesus and his followers are living contrasts with the sternly simple, ascetic life which they have been taught to regard as the best. Can the joyous life be right? Why the disregard of the outward signs of discipline? Why is he so lax with those whom he has called? The answer returned has an abiding interest for the Church in all times. First, observe Christ’s word with regard to the special issue raised; and, secondly, observe his setting forth of the general truth as to his gospel and kingdom.

I. THE SPECIAL ISSUE IS FASTING. Jesus does not deny its utility. He fasted. Moreover, in his sermon from the mount, he recognized fasting as one of the elements of the religious life. What his saying bears on is its observance as a fixed habit or rule. The time, the rule, Christ teaches, must come from within. He goes to the root of the matter when he asks, “Can the children of the bridechamber mourn?” There is nothing if there is not mourning. Mere non-eating is nothing; mere austerities are nothing. Self-denial for the sake of self-denial is nothing. It is the relation to spiritual ends, the power of interpreting and helping spiritual life, that gives any service its value. “How can you make these children mourn while I am with them? Their fasting, at present, would be wholly artificial. It is the worship in spirit and truth that I want. When they can really mourn, they will. Until then, let them rejoice.” The days did come. The Bridegroom was taken from them. And they mourned. and still, as then, there are, as one has called them, “fast-days which God appoints souls.” Christ’s disciples should have their retreats, when the round of pleasure or of care is given up, and the blessing of entire solitude with God is realized. Only, let these be, not because of a law made for them, but because of the law which the Lord, by the dealing of his Holy Spirit, writes within their own hearts. And, supposing the space for such retreats cannot be secured, remember there is a fasting which all can practise. All can abstain from self-pleasing and indulgence. All may consider whether it be not a duty to abstain from things lawful when the use of such things is an occasion of stumbling to their brethren. And all should recollect the grand old words, “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?”

II. THE WORD AS TO FASTING BRINGS INTO SIGHT THE WHOLE QUESTION AS TO THE REQUIREMENTS AND THE NATURE OF THE TRUTH AS IT IS IN JESUS, Glance at the outstanding features of the ever-memorable parable between the thirty-sixth and the thirty-ninth verses.

1. The bearing of the sentence as to patching. The disciples of John and the Pharisees virtually ask that Jesus sew the new cloth, which is woven out of his Person and sacrifice, into an old rotten garment. The answer is “No; what has decayed and is waxing old is ready to vanish; let it go. When it comes to this, patching and mending is worthless policy. It does not benefit the old, whilst it spoils the new. The new will not hold to the seam of the old, and, when it gives way, not only is the rent made worse, but in the end the new must be rejected also.” What is particularly meant by the similitude of the garment is the manner of life, that which forms the envelopment of the soul. As to this, Christ will have no patching. Christianity is not Judaism with something sewn on to it. It is not a conglomerate of religions. It comprehends all that is good anywhere. It destroys nothing. But it is a new robe. All that is old is made new. And so must it be with the character. It is not a mere amending at this point or at that that will suffice. Merely to sew a piece of the new cloth, to have a fragment of Christ’s religion patched to the old self, will that suffice? Verily no. Put off the old man. Put on the new. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.”

2. The bearing of the sentence as to wine. By this, as it would seem, the Lord means the inward spiritual principle, the grace”that best wine which goeth down smoothly, gliding through the lips of those that are asleep.” This is not some compound of dregs of old wines; it has all the strength and flavour of the old, but it is new. It is the fruit of a grape which none but the Son of God could bruise; it is the product of a wine-press which none but he could tread; it has the power of a sustenance which none but he could infuse. And this new life must be put into new bottles. It demands forms of worship and action peculiar to itselfforms of worship adapted at once to the richness of the sentiments and the simplicity of its utterance, the natural and becoming vehicles of its own voice of prayer and praise; forms of action in harmony at once with its spirituality and its humanity. It is too living and strong for any receptacle of its influence except that which has been created for and by itself. New wine and new bottles. Let the hearer of the Word ponder this. Note the point of junction between liberty and discipline in the Christian life. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” But to realize this liberty, the will presented to the Lord must be so opened and ordered that the movements of his love shall flow in, and the power of his grace shall be fulfilled. It is all of grace, but the new bottle is needed for the new wine. The Lord is very decided as to this. The principle of an entire subjection to God must be asserted over every impeding tendency. In our present state pains must go with prayers, that the heart be kept “believing, true, and clean,” a wineskin fit for the new wine. Hereafter, in the eternal year of the Bridegroom-joy, it shall be otherwise. Then, they who wait upon the Lord shall “ran, and not be weary; and walk, and not faint.”

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON

Luk 5:4-6

Weary workers.

The passage is one of encouragement to-those who have been labouring in the cause of truth and righteousness, and whose success has not been according to their hope. We have a picture of

I. FRUITLESS TOIL. “We have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing;” words that have not only been on the lips of the unsuccessful fisherman, but often enough on those of the weary Christian workmanthe pastor, the evangelist, the teacher, the philanthropist, the missionary. Weeks, months, even years, may go by, and nothing or little may have resulted. Especially is this the case in missionary labour among savages, or where venerable systems of superstition prevail. The workman goes through all stages, of lessened hope, of surprise at non-success, of disappointment, of despondency, until he may get down very near to despair.

II. THE COMMAND TO CONTINUE. Under discouragement and apparent defeat there frequently enters the thought of abandonment. The worker says, “I will lay down my weapon; it is useless to proceed. I must have better soil, or it must have a more skilful hand.” But when this thought is being entertained there comes a manifestation of the Master, who by some means and in some language, says, “Go, labour on: toil on and faint not.” To the “fisher of men” he says, “Let down your nets for a draught.” This command to continue may cause us to reflect upon:

1. Our Lord’s own example; for he laboured on most diligently and patiently under heavy and sore discouragements.

2. The ample means placed at our disposal with which to work for Christ and men; the glorious fulness and fitness of the gospel of the grace of God.

3. The near presence and promised aid of the Holy Spirit.

4. The inestimable value of the souls we seek to save. But whencesoever suggested, the voice we hear is imperative, Divine, “Go, labour on.“

III. THE SPIRIT AND ACT OF OBEDIENCE.

1. We may be indisposed to resume; we may feel, as Peter evidently did on this occasion, that there is nothing to be taken by our toil; that for all practical purposes we might as well leave the field.

2. But Christ’s will is decisive. Against that there is no appeal. “At thy word I will let down the net.” This is the true spirit of obedience. To work for Christ under every possible encouragement is easy and simple enough; perhaps it may not take high rank in heaven so far as its spiritual greatness is concerned. To continue at our post under every discouragement, because we believe it is the will of our Lord that we should still strive and sowthat is the trying, the honourable, the acceptable thing. It may be remarked that:

3. Obedience to our Lord is not inconsistent with a wise change of method. Launch out “into the deep.” They were to cast their net into the likeliest waters.

“Cast after cast, by force or guile,
All waters must be tried.”

(See Keble’s hymn, “The livelong night we’ve toil’d in vain.”)
If one method does not succeed, we must try another. We must not ascribe to God a failure which is due to our own inefficiency. We must not ask and expect his blessing unless we are doing our best in his Name and in his cause.

IV. THE LARGE REWARD. “When they had this done,” etc. Patient, obedient work wrought for Jesus Christ will certainly meet with its recompense. “Refrain thine eyes from tears, and thy voice from weeping, for thy work shall be rewarded.” We may ‘go forth weeping,” but we shall doubtless “come again with rejoicing.” The success may come:

1. After much labour and prayer and waiting.

2. In a way in which we did not expect it.

3. Only in part while we are here to rejoice in it; ‘for often “one soweth and another reapeth.” But sooner or later, in one form or another, here or hereafter, it will come; our net will “enclose a great multitude of fishes;” our hearts will be full, even to overflow, with joy and gratitude.C.

Luk 5:8

The soul shrinking from God.

It was the coming of God in the person of Jesus Christ that excited in the breast of the apostle such shrinking of soul. Peter perceived that he stood in the presence of One in whom was Divine power, of One who was in very close association with the Holy One of Israel; and, feeling his own unworthiness, he exclaimed, with characteristic candour of impulsiveness, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

I. THE WAY IN WHICH GOD NOW MANIFESTS HIMSELF TO THE WORLD. That way is threefold.

1. Nature and providence. The heavens declare his glory, and so does this wonderful and beautiful and fruitful earth. Not less so do the souls and the lives of men, created with all their faculties, preserved and enriched with all their joys and blessings. “The invisible things of him are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” But more than this was proved to be needed by the sad, dark history of man kind. Hence we have:

2. Special revelation. “At sundry times and in divers manners God spake unto our fathers” by Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, etc.; but at a later time he spake unto us by his Sonby his life, his truth, his sorrow, his death, his resurrection. But this did not suffice. Divine love appeared, and human hatred slew it. Divine truth spake, and human error determinately rejected it. So God gives us what we need.

3. The direct influences of his Holy Spirit, to arouse, to quicken, to enlighten, to renew us.

II. THE FIRST EFFECT UPON THE SOUL OF THIS VISION OF GOD. What usually happens is that the soul is smitten with a sense of its sinfulness, and desires to withdraw from the Divine presence. At this we need not wonder. If conscious ignorance shrinks from great learning, poverty from great wealth, obscurity from high rank, human guilt from human purity, well may the consciously sinful soul of man shrink from the near presence of the thrice-holy God. As Adam and Eve hid themselves when they “heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden;” as Isaiah exclaimed, “Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips,” when he “saw the Lord” in the temple;so do we shrink from the felt presence of the Lord in view of our own unworthiness and guilt. Remembering our spiritual estrangement, our great undischarged indebtedness to God, our impurity of heart in his sight, our manifold transgressions of his righteous law,our souls tremble before him; and if we do not say, “Depart from me, O Lord!” as Peter did, yet our first thought is to escape from his felt presence, to put some distance, in thought and feeling, between ourselves and that Holy and Mighty One in whose power we stand so absolutely, and whose Spirit we have grieved so greatly.

III. THE INTERPOSITION OF OUR SAVIOUR. The sacred record does not state what immediately ensued, but our instructed imagination will very readily supply the remainder of the incident. We are quite sure that our gracious Master, instead of acting on Peter’s word, and leaving him, drew nearer to him, and “took him by the hand,” and so reassured him. Thus does he treat us now. Instead of withdrawing from us when we know and feel our guilt, he comes nearer to us. Instead of saying to us, “Depart from me!” he says, earnestly and emphatically, “Come unto me!” He says to us, “If, in my teaching and in my life and in my death, there is (as there is) the strongest possible condemnation of sin, so is there also in all these things, in my words and my actions and my cross, the greatest possible hope for the sinner. Come unto me; see in me the Propitiation for your sin, the Way back unto the Father the Divine Friend and Helper of the sorrowing and struggling human soul. Do not leave me; come to me, and abide in me!”C.

Luk 5:12, Luk 5:13

The cleansed leper.

Three points suggest themselves to our thoughts.

I. THE WAVERING OF A STRONG HUMAN HOPE. Outside the outer circumference of that congregation was a man to whom pity would have drawn us, but from whom an instinctive repugnance would have repelled us. He was one in whom were not only signs and spots of that dire plague of leprosy, but in whom it was seen in its most virulent formhe was “full of leprosy.” Suffering in body, and afflicted far worse in mind by the terrible isolation which that disease imposed, there suddenly enters his heart a new and bounding hope; in the dense darkness of his night there rises that morning star. A new Prophet has come to the people of God. He hears of his Name and fame (Luk 4:37); he comes to see; he witnesses the wonderful works which are wrought (Luk 4:40). Will not this great Healer have mercy upon him? Will not he who casts out the devil cure the leper? If the poor paralytic, at his bidding, could rise and walk away with his friends, why should not he, at the command of that strong Voice, be healed of his foul disease, and go home to his family again? So he comes where Jesus is, and listens as he speaks, and when he hears him say, “Ask, and it shall be given you,” he resolves that he will ask that a new life may be given him; he will seek: what if he should find? We have never made to man any request on which so much has hung as that which was now hanging on the answer he should receive at the lips of Jesus Christ. To him it was not success or failure merely; it was life or death that was at stake. How must the most eager expectation have wrestled in his heart with tremulous and agonizing fear! with what faltering voice must he have uttered those prayerful words, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean”!

II. THE TOUCH OF THE DIVINE HAND. “Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him.” All three evangelists record this significant fact. There were three reasons why he should not do this.

1. Strong instinctive human aversion.

2. The risk he ran in so doing.

3. The prohibition of the Law combined with social usage disallowing it.

But our Lord set aside all these objections. Why? Was it not to show by instant action the kindness and compassion of his heart, to place himself practically by his side as One who felt deeply for and with him, and to teach us that, if we wish to heal the worst disorders, we must do that, not standing afar off, but, coming into close personal contact with the men we are seeking to save, by “laying our hand upon them”? We, too, must be ready, like our Lord, to do that which is distasteful, to run some risks, to disregard conventional proprieties, if we would remove from the land the leprosies which still afflict it.

III. THE RESPONSE OF DIVINE LOVE. That leper must have known, when Jesus laid his hand kindly upon him, that he meant to heal him; yet sweeter to his ear than are the most melting strains of music to the lover of melody and song were these words of the Lord when he said, “I will: be thou clean;” and then he who “speaks, and it is done,” spoke the unheard word, and forces of nature came into play, and the life-blood leapt in the leper’s veins, “and immediately his leprosy departed.” Sin is the leprosy of the soul.

1. It is loathsome.

2. It is diffusive, spreading from faculty to faculty over the whole nature.

3. It exiles; it separates man from God, and man from man also.

4. It is deathful; it is death in life.

When the sinful soul, though he be far gone in sin, “full of leprosy,” makes his application to the great Physician, he has nothing to fear as to the result of his appeal..

(1) Be not troubled, far less hindered, because hope is streaked with fear; there may be an “if” in the heart, as there was in that of this leper; the very intensity of the hope arising out of the magnitude of the issue at stake will perfectly account for thatsuch fear is only the shadow of a prevailing hope.

(2) Be assured that you have no need to fear. Christ’s readiness to save is beyond the shadow of a doubt; if we are only in real earnest to be saved from the leprosy of sin, it is certain that the hand of Divine love will be laid upon us, and that the voice of Divine mercy will address us, saying, “I will: be thou clean.”C.

Luk 5:16

Christ at prayer.

The fact that our Lord did withdraw into the wilderness to pray, and that this was not at all a solitary instance of his devotion, may suggest

I. THAT PRAYER BECOMES THE STRONG AND THE HOLY AS WELL AS THE WEAK AND THE GUILTY, Jesus prayed; the One who was holy, harmless, undefiled, he in whom was no sin. He had no guilt to confess, no mercy to implore, no cleansing of heart to seek of the Holy Spirit. Yet he prayed; and prayer was becoming in him because he could:

1. Render adoration to the God whom he reverenced and whom he revealed.

2. Offer gratitude to the Father who ministered unto him even as unto us.

3. Utter his love and his devotedness to him in whom he rejoiced and on whose great errand of mercy he had come.

4. Ask for the guidance and support he needed at the Divine hand for the future that was before him. For such purposes as these prayer will become us as much in the heavenly kingdom as it befits us now. When we have no sins to acknowledge and no forgiveness to obtain, we shall still need to approach the Divine Spirit to express our adoration, our gratitude, and our love; also to ask for the maintenance and the guidance of that strong hand on which, in every age and in every sphere, we shall be dependent as we are to-day.

II. THAT PRAYER IS PECULIARLY APPROPRIATE BEFORE AND AFTER ALL SPECIAL SERVICES. We have good reason to think that these were the circumstances under which our Lord spent much time in prayer. It is probable that he, under the limitations to which he stooped, found it highly desirable if not needful then. Certainly it is so for us.

1. Before special services we are in greatest needneed of strength and inspiration for the work immediately confronting us.

2. After special services we are in greatest danger; for the human spirit is never so exposed to its spiritual adversaries as in that hour when it relaxes after great spiritual excitement.

III. THAT IT IS NEEDFUL TO SEEK AND TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRAYER. Jesus Christ could not have poured out his heart to his Father as he did, and gained the refreshment and strength he gained in prayer, if he had remained in the midst of the curious and exacting throngs who waited upon him. He withdrew himself into the wilderness. We have intimation that he had to make a very strenuous effort to escape from the multitudes and to secure the seclusion he desired. But he made it. And we shall be wise if we do the same. If we only draw near to God and have fellowship with him when we happen to be left alone, and when occasions offer themselves to us, we shall be very lacking in our devotion; the flame of our piety will languish on the altar of our heart. We must make occasion; we must seize opportunity; ‘we must compel our life to yield the still hour, when, withdrawing ourselves into solitude, we are alone with God.

IV. THAT IF NEEDFUL TO OUR LORD, HOW MUCH MORE NECESSARY MUST SUSTAINED DEVOTION BE TO OURSELVES! If purity needed to pray, how much more need has guilt! if strength, how much more weakness! if wisdom, how much more ignorance and folly! If our Master did not go forth to great trials or temptations without first attuning his spirit and renewing his strength in the near presence of his Father, how much less shall we venture into the arduous and perilous future without first equipping ourselves at the sacred armoury, without first casting ourselves on God and drawing sustaining and overcoming vigour from his infinite resources!C.

Luk 5:17

Present power.

One of the noblest of the psalms commences with that verse which it would have been well worth while to have lived a long and stormy life to have written, “God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present Help in trouble.” Who can estimate the thousands of thousands of tempest-tossed human souls to whom these words have brought help and comfort! The latter part of this passage is in very close relation to our text. It brings before our minds

I. THE COMPARATIVE NEARNESS OF GOD TO US. It may indeed be objected that the Omnipresent One, being everywhere, cannot be more truly in one place than in another. Doubtless that is so. But God may be more manifestly present, and therefore more present to our consciousness, in one place than in another. So the old Hebrew worshipper felt as he drew near Jerusalem, as he entered the precincts of the temple, as he went into the court of the Jews, as he saw the priests enter the sanctuary itself. And once in the history of mankind God did so visit us that he was “manifest in the flesh;” he was “Emmanuel, God with us”with us in a sense in which he was not before and has not been again. There is a sense in which God is nearer to us in the sanctuary and at the table of the Lord than elsewhere. He has promised to meet us there; we go there on purpose to be in his presence; therefore to our consciousness he is in a peculiar sense present with usour very present Saviour.

II. THE PRESENCE OF HIS POWER. “The power of the Lord was present.” Any Israelite of ancient time would have told you that God’s power was present in the sky, in the sea, in the corn, in the rain. But he was more impressed with the power of God as manifested in the storm in harvest-time, or in the overthrow of Sennacherib’s mighty host. Yet this was only in his imagination; the power of God was as truly and as graciously present in the ordinary and the regular as in the miraculous. We are inclined to think that Divine power is most manifest in the shaking thunder or in the flashing lightning, or in the upheaving earthquake; but the wiser we are, the more we “observe these things, and (consequently) understand the loving-kindness of the Lord,” the more we perceive that God’s power is as present in the common and the continuous as in the startling and the exceptional, is “very present” in the unfolding morning and the descending night, in the growing of the grass and the ripening of the corn and the blooming of the flowers. God’s power is present with us always and everywhere, if we have but eyes to see it and hearts to feel it.

III. THE PRESENCE OF HIS HEALING POWER.

1. A very beneficent power is that of healing; perhaps we never praise God quite so feelingly as when we bless him that “he has healed our sicknesses.” God has always been healing men. He has supplied us with the substances which are fitted to restore, and he has given us a bodily system of such a nature that it has great recuperative powers. There are but few among those who have reached manhood and womanhood who have not had occasion to know that the power of the Lord is present to heal us now. In the hour of convalescence they gave him the glory and offered their renewed life to him. What are they doing now that health has been restored and confirmed?

2. And this healing of the body is but the picture and the promise of the healing of the heart. When Jesus Christ went from village to village, healing all manner of diseases, it was partly, if not principally, to say to all men everywhere of every age, “Understand, ye blind souls that walk in darkness, I am the Light of the world; come to me, that you may see indeed! Ye strengthless and sick ones in need of spiritual healing, I am the Divine Restorer; come unto me, that ye may be strong indeed! Ye dying ones, I am the Resurrection and the Life; come unto me, that you may live indeed!”C.

Luk 5:18-25

Superabounding kindness.

We learn from these words

I. CHRIST‘S CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS OWN GREATNESS. He assumes the right to forgive men their sins (Luk 5:20), and, when this right is challenged by those present, he asserts it (Luk 5:24). And he does not dispute that this is a Divine prerogative. When it is claimed that only God can forgive sins (Luk 5:21), his reply is one that confirms rather than questions that doctrine. To a very large extent our Lord’s Divinity was in abeyance. Fie was voluntarily accepting limitations which caused him to be numbered among the human and the finite. But his authority and power were in him, potentially; they were under a commanding restraint. Here and there, now and again, as on this occasion, it seemed fitting that they should be put forth. And it magnifies “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” that all the while that he was stooping to such lowliness, such poverty, such endurance, he was conscious of the fact that Divine right and Divine power were within him, to be exercised when he would. The Son of man had power on earth to forgive sins.

II. HIS AUTHENTICATION OF IT. His greatness was often questioned, sometimes denied; and often our Master allowed men to think of him as the Teacher or the Prophet whom they were to judge by his life or by his doctrine. But sometimes he vindicated his claims in a way that completely silenced, if it did not convince, his critics. He authenticated himself by some deed of mighty power. He did so now. Not that the exercise of healing power was one whit more Divine an act than the forgiveness of sin; not that an act of pity for bodily incapacity was greater or worthier than one of mercy and succour to the soul. That could not be. But that the working of the miracle was a more obvious and signal indication of the Divine than an act of forgiveness. And by this gracious and mighty work our Lord proved himself to be the One who had a right to say, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” We may say that the gospel of Jesus Christ is now authenticated by its power. We are sure that the message of grace and mercy which we preach does come from God because (among other reasons for our assurance) we witness the mighty power of Christian truth. We find it doing what nothing else ever tried to doenlightening multitudes of dark minds, redeeming and restoring foul hearts, transforming evil lives, lifting men up from the dust and the mire of sin and shame and bidding them walk in the ways of righteousness.

III. OUR APPROACH TO THE SAVIOUR. It was the approach of this man to the Lord that led to Christ’s words of mercy and then to his deed of power. The man could not and would not keep away from his presence; he was resolved to make his appeal to the great Healer, cost what it might to reach his ear. This is the approach that is successfulseeking the Lord with the whole heart, with a fixed intent to seek until he is found. Not a languid interest in Christ, not a pursuit of righteousness which may be turned aside by the first curiosity or indulgence that offers itself; but a holy earnestness which will not be denied, which, if one entrance is blocked, will find another, which knocks till the door is opened,this is the search that succeeds. Not, indeed, that Christ is hard to find or reluctant to bestow; but that, for our sake, he does often cause us to continue in our seeking that our blessedness may be the fuller and our faith the firmer and our new life the deeper for our patience and our persistency.

IV. THE SUPERABUNDANCE WHICH IS IN CHRIST. This poor paralytic sought much of the Lord, but he found a great deal more than he sought; seeking healing for his body, he found that, and with that mercy for his soul. Christ has more to give us than we count upon receiving. Many a man has gone to him asking only for present relief from a burden of conscious guilt, and he has found that salvation by faith in Jesus Christ means vastly more than that. He finds that the forgiveness of sin is the initial step of a bright and blessed future, that it is the earnest of a noble inheritance, In Christ our Lord are “unsearchable riches;” and they who have received the most have only begun to find what a world of excellency and blessedness they have gained by hearkening to his voice and hastening to his side and entering his holy service.C.

Luk 5:27, Luk 5:28

Following Christ.

Who can fail to be struck with

I. THE COMMANDING AUTHORITY OF CHRIST. It will be observed that he speaks in the imperative; not “Wouldest thou,” but “Do thou follow me!” He speaks, also, unconditionally, absolutely, not “Follow me if or when,” but simply and without reserve, “Follow me!” Consider what large consequences would result from Matthew’s choicethe complete breaking up of his old life, the forsaking of his old pursuits and of his old friends, the entering an entirely new sphere of thought and action. Yet Matthew appears to have recognized the right of Jesus Christ to make this demand of him. Must he not have acted under Divine illumination and guidance to decide so promptly and so wisely? So authoritatively and unconditionally the Saviour comes to us and summons us to his service. His claim rests on incontestable facts which prove him to be the Son of God who has a sovereign right thus to address us, to be the Son of man whose life of love and whose death of shame entitle him to ask the most and the best of us.

II. THE MEANING OF OUR SAVIOUR‘S CALL, The form of service our Master desires of us when he bids us follow him is obviously different from that he asked of Matthew. What does he want of us? What is the precise thing he requires us to do? Taking, as we should take, one passage with another, we answer that he desires us to come into the closest possible union which a human spirit can sustain to the Divine; or, more specifically, he wants us cordially to accept him for all that he offers to be to our soulto accept him as our Teacher from whom we learn all needful truth, as our Saviour in whose redeeming work we trust for God’s abounding mercy, as our Lord to whom we dedicate our powers and our days, as our Divine Friend and Refuge in whom we hide.

III. THE EXCELLENCY OF AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE. Matthew did well that he “left all, rose up, and followed him.” Had he waited for another occasion, he would have been more entangled in human relationships and worldly interests; he might never have had so direct and personal an appeal made to him. As it was, by forsaking all to follow Christ, he lost a profitable calling and a company of friends; but what did he find instead?

1. The protection and friendship of Jesus Christ.

2. A new and nobler manhood, an exalted life.

3. The esteem and the gratitude of the Church of Christ for all time to come.

4. Eternal blessedness in the future. And so with us; when the Master comes and calls us, as he may do in one of a number of ways, we act most wisely when we immediately respond.

(1) We lose the least that can be lost.

(2) We make sure of the heritage which the truly wise are determined to gain. Jesus of Nazareth is “passing by;” we must avail ourselves of his offer while opportunity allows.

(3) We gain immeasurable goodpeace of mind, blessed consciousness of the favour and friendship of God, spiritual rectitude, a life that is worthy of our origin and our capacities, a hope that maketh not ashamed. That was a supreme hour to Matthew, the crisis of his life: who shall say how soon we may reach the supreme and critical hour of our career? Blessed are they who recognize it when it comes, and who come forth from it having “laid hold on eternal life.”C.

Luk 5:29-32

Christian association.

On what principle shall we regulate our intercourse with men? How shall we follow Christ in the matter of associating with our fellow-men? Our answer, suggested by this incident, is

I. THAT ASSOCIATION WITH BAD MEN ON THE GROUND OF FRIENDSHIP IS AN UNCHRISTIAN THING. The Pharisees would have been right, enough if Jesus Christ had mingled with the mercenary and the vicious only to enjoy their company. His time might certainly have been much better spent than in partaking of so doubtful a source of satisfaction, and he would have left an example that would have been better shunned than followed. For to mingle with the irreverent and the covetous, and, still more, to associate with the positively vicious, simply for the sake of passing gratification, is:

1. To spend time and strength where they are very ill applied.

2. To lend a sanction to those who need rather to be discouraged than sustained in their course of life.

3. To incur the serious danger of being lowered to their level. Some intercourse with the frivolous and the guilty we must have, and there is every reason why our conduct toward them should be as courteous and gracious as possible. But no wise man will establish an intimate friendship with another whose spirit is the spirit of worldliness, whose conduct is that from which purity and sobriety must shrink. Let the young especially remember that lifelong association with the unholy and the unworthy, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, means gradual moral degeneracy, continual spiritual decline.

II. THAT ASSOCIATION WITH THE GOOD IN THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP IS A WISE AND WORTHY THING. “The assembling of ourselves together,” as those who are agreed on the same fundamental articles of faith, and who are animated by the same spirit and are promoting the same objects, is admirable for three reasons.

1. We gain spiritual strength ourselves.

2. We impart it to those with whom we unite.

3. We commend the common principles we hold to those who are without by the manifestation of our unity.

Those who try to live a life of spiritual isolation not only make a great mistake by robbing themselves of a source of hallowed influence, but they neglect a plain duty, for they leave unemployed a weapon of usefulness by which truth and worth are materially advanced. But the main lesson of the passage is

III. THAT ASSOCIATION WITH THE BAD FOR THEIR ELEVATION IS A DISTINCTLY CHRISTIAN THING. Those critics of Jesus Christ failed to see that the presence of a noble, unselfish motive made all the difference in the character of the act. It completely transformed it. It changed it from the unwise and the condemnable into the wise and meritorious. Our Lord mingled with publicans and sinners, not as a Companion to share their revelries, but as a Guide to lead them into other and better ways, as a Helper whose strong hand should raise them from the mire and place them upon the rock. And as he was here to seek and to save, where should he be found but among those who were lost? Where would you have the teacher? In the company of the mature and the literate, or in the schoolroom among the young and the ignorant? Where would you have the physician? In the homes of the healthy, or in the hospital and in the homes of the sick? And where should they be found who have truth to teach and restoration to impart such as no teacher of any human science can make known, no healer of bodily diseases can confer? We are never quite so Christian, we never reach a height so near the level on which our Lord was daily walking, as when we voluntarily and cheerfully forego the pleasanter security to which our character entities us, and mingle freely and frequently with those whose spirit and whose tone is offensive to our taste and our judgment, in order that we may lift them up to a nobler life. And this is the one and only way in which to work out this great and beneficent reform. What legislation will not do, what literature will not effect, what art and science will leave unaccomplished if not untouched, that a holy and loving association on the ground of Christian kindness will secure. The actual and near presence of the pure and kind, the touch and the pressure of the hand of human love, the voice of invitation and of entreaty proceeding from those whose eyes are dim with the tears of a sorrowful sympathy,this is the power which, coming, as it does, from Jesus Christ, and emanating from his Holy Spirit, will lead sinful souls, covetous men and erring women, into paths of penitence, and raise them to heights of holiness.C.

Luk 5:33-38

Christian naturalness.

We have here

I. AN HONEST DIFFICULTY FAIRLY AND EFFECTUALLY MET. It was in no carping spirit that the disciples of John came to Jesus. We do not detect a trace of ill will in their question. It was a spirit of surprise and perplexity that dictated it. They had always thought that fasting was an essential feature of true piety. Their master John had encouraged them in this idea; but they looked in vain for this feature in the doctrine of Christ. What could it mean? Our Lord met this inquiry in a very different way from that in which he might have done so. He might have said, “Where, in the books of Moses, is fasting enjoined on the people of God? On what day in all the year, excepting the Day of Atonement, is this practice prescribed? Is it not a tradition of men rather than a commandment of God?” But Jesus did not meet them thus. He said that his disciples did not fast because fasting on their part would be untimely, unsuitable, and therefore unacceptable. “Can the children of the bridechamber,” etc.? “You would not have men fast when they have every reason for feasting? you would not have men show themselves miserable when there is every ground for gladness? you would not have my disciples do such violence to their spiritual nature? You do not act,” Christ goes on to say, “with such unnaturalness and incongruity in other departments of life; you do not bring together things that do not agree with one another; you do not put unwrought cloth on an old garment; you do not put new unfermented wine in old skins that will not stretch; if you did, you would pay the penalty in spoiled clothes and spilled wine. Why should, you do anything that is unfitting and incongruous in the realm of religion? If you do, you will have a serious penalty to pay. No; let my disciples rejoice while they have occasion to be glad; the days will come soon enough when they will have a heart for grieving: then will they fast in those days.”

II. AN INDICATION OF THE TRUE TONE OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE. The disciples were glad of heart because their Master was “with them.” To be the close companions of Jesus Christ is reason enough for a prevailing spiritual joy. As his disciples, indeed, there are certain special sources of sorrowgrief at the sin and misery of mankind, regret at our own slowness of growth and slackness of zeal, etc. But for us as his followers is

(1) the joy of faith;

(2) the joy of fellowship;

(3) the joy of service, the delight of doing good, the blessedness of giving health and peace and hope to those in spiritual weakness and trouble;

(4) the joy of hope, of immortal blessedness. Is it for us, with such a heritage in possession, and with such a prospect as this, to comport ourselves as if we were fatherless, friendless, portionless? Is it for us to go on our way homewards and heavenwards as if we were being conveyed to prison or were going into exile? Not gloom but gladness, not dreariness but delight, should be the prevailing note of our Christian life.

III. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FITTING IN THE SPHERE OF THE SACRED. We learn this, in the text, from the unwisdom of the unfitting in the sphere or’ the secular. “No man putteth,” etc.; if he does, he spoils his garment, and he spills his wine. So in the sphere of the spiritual: if we force the sorrowful spirit to assume the tone of the happy; or if we reverse this unnatural process, and compel the happy to affect to be sorrowful; or if we require the young to manifest piety in the forms that are suitable to the mature; or if we insist on those who have been trained in godly and virtuous habits showing the same form of repentance which we demand of the vicious and the gross;we may secure a result which gives us momentary satisfaction, but we shall have a penalty to pay further on. The unnatural is always a mistake. God does not desire to be served in ways which are not fitted to the spirit which he has made, or are not appropriate to the circumstances in which his providence has placed us. Let there be no forcing in the sphere of the sacred. Do the fitting, the congruous thing, and you will do the right and the acceptable thing. “Is any merry’? let him sing psalms. Is any afflicted? let him pray.” Is any filled with a sense of the value of this life? let him give himself heartily to holy usefulness. Is any weary and worn with the strife and burden of life? let him find cheer and comfort in anticipating the rest which remaineth for the people of God. Do not try to regulate your spiritual life by any calendar; let it flow on in joy or sorrow, in active service or patient waiting as the hand of God is laid on the springs of your human spirit, and is directing the course of your earthly life. Not the hard, cast-iron service of constraint, but the free, spontaneous service of the full and overflowing heart, is that for which our Lord is looking, and with which he is well pleased.C.

HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR

Luk 5:1-11

Fishers of men.

We left Jesus itinerating through Galilee and preaching in the synagogues. But his centre seems to have been the Lake of Gennesaret, and especially Capernaum. The synagogues have become too small for his audiences, and so he has to take to the seashore, and there meet popularity as best he can. The pressure of the people is great, and it is to hear the Word of God they have come. A great Prophet, they feel, has risen up among them, and so they are eager to know what are the latest tidings from the Most High. There are two ships floating near; they are empty, for the fishermen have returned after a fruitless night, and are washing their nets on shore. Into one of the ships he enters, which happens to be Simon’s, and he sits down to teach the mighty multitude which rises tier upon tier above him on the land. We have thus presented to us

I. THE GREAT FISHER OF MEN. (Luk 5:1-3.) For out of this boat he is really casting his net to catch men. His word spoken is to draw souls into sympathy and service. The art of preaching as thus exercised by Jesus Christ was the fishing for men. The miracle of subsequent success was to throw light really upon this primary attitude of Jesus. Now, let us consider here:

1. The substance of Christ‘s preaching. It was doubtless about the kingdom of God, about membership in it, and about its prospects in the world. But we must remember besides that he could not, in the very nature of the case, preach the cross. Hence his preaching was the purest morality backed up by a perfect life. So that once, at all events, the preaching of morality got a chance of being most favourably tested. The success thereof we shall mention presently. But Jesus could preach himself as the Saviour of sinners. And this, indeed, is the sum and substance of all preaching. The people, however, did not understand the full meaning of his message at the time.

2. The success of Christ‘s preaching. There was interest and excitement. But the result of that day’s preaching seems to have been very like the night’s fishing on the part of the disciples. Ah! this is what illustrates the wonderful consideration of the Saviour. Some one must prepare the way, some one must do the pioneer work. The Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, and Jesus prepared the way for the disciples. It is at Pentecost, after the Crucifixion, when the full gospel can be proclaimed, that the real success begins. The miracle of the fishes subsequent to the preaching of the Master was the type of the order which the good Lord has ordained. The “greater works” done by believing disciples are the spiritual miracles which began in such numbers at Pentecost, and which have been happening ever since (Joh 14:12).

II. THE MIRACLE OF SUCCESS. (Luk 5:4-7.) Our Lord, having been accommodated in Simon’s boat, proceeds to show his gratitude for the obligation. He tells the fishermen to “launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” Simon honestly owns that they have toiled all the night, and taken nothing; still, though appearances are against it, he will at Christ’s word let down the net. No sooner has he done so than success comes so overpowering in character that the net breaks. The result is that they have to beckon for the second boat, and both boats are filled, so that they begin to sink. Here, then, is success “exceeding abundantly above all they can ask or think” (Eph 3:20). This is to show them that success waits upon the word of Jesus. It is, of course, mere temporal successsuccess which in a few moments they are enabled to despise; yet it is success obeying Christ’s word. We need not inquire into the nature of the miracle. It was most likely a miracle of knowledge. There are great shoals of fish manifesting themselves in inland lakes just in the way demanded by the narrative. But Jesus, in giving the direction at the proper moment and securing the draught at the time that the fish were within reach, showed his command of all the circumstances. So that, as Robertson thought, this miracle, more perhaps than all others, shows the personality of God in Christ Jesus. The laws of nature hold on their way, but the Author of them can calculate to a nicety their working, and accommodate himself or his people through their operation. He is King among his own arrangements, at home among his own laws. The “hierarchy of laws,” as they have been called, acknowledge him as High Priest. But we should further notice how he arranges for the disciples’ success rather than for his own. As already intimated, his spiritual success was not great, considering the splendid powers he exercised. As Bersier somewhere remarks, no one ever had so little proportional success as he. No wonder that such a passage as Isa 49:4, “I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and in vain,” may have been often on his lips. But he handed on the elements of success to his successors. They reaped the harvest of which his apparent failure and early death were the seed. The whole arrangement reflects glory on the consideration of the Master.

III. THE EFFECT OF THE SUCCESS UPON THE FISHERMEN. (Isa 49:8-10.) They were all filled with astonishment. This is the prime effect of a miracle. It astonishes people. It brings them suddenly face to face with superhuman power. They stare. But after the astonishment comes, and it may be very swiftly, sober thought. It was so here. Peter is broken down at the sight. Goodness has led him to repentance. His sin is now uppermost, and he cries, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Did Peter wish to be separated from the Master? Nay; but he felt he deserved to be. And here we may notice how prayer is answered. Peter cries to be separated from his Saviour; but in heart he hopes to remain beside Jesus still. Hence Jesus answers the heart, and heeds not the literal meaning of his prayer The Lord does not depart from him, but abides with him; nay, more, arranges for Peter being always with him. Goodness is meant to break sinners’ hearts (Rom 2:4). Success of all kinds should have this effect. It is sad when “Jeshurun waxes fat and kicks” (Deu 32:15). It is blessed when, like Peter, in presence of unexpected good fortune, we humble ourselves before him who has sent it, acknowledging that we do not in any wise deserve it.

IV. THE CALL OF THE FISHERMEN TO THE MINISTRY. (Isa 49:10.) Peter was not the only penitent on board the sinking ships, we may be sure. He was first and chief; but the sons of Zebedee and Andrew were, we may be quite sure, penitent too. Fear predominates; their notion is that they might justly be cast from Christ’s presence for ever. This is just the spirit in which special work for God begins. And now let us see how Jesus deals with them. He says to Peter first, but the result shows that the others were included in his call, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” They are to be promoted from being fishermen to be “fishers of men.” It is a call, not to the apostolic office which comes later, but to the ministry.

1. It is a call away from a worldly occupation. For the ministry is an order of men set apart from temporal concerns for spiritual work. Worldly occupations are incompatible with it. A minister cannot do his work well if compelled to dabble in business.

2. It is a call to catch men. Now, the fisherman uses every art and artifice to get the fish into his net. He toils during the night, that the fish may not see the net nor evade his wiles. In the same way the minister is to use every art, and even guile itself, as Paul confesses, to get souls into Christ’s net. We may object to the methods some people employ to promote the gospel. They may be worldly artsadvertising, music, paraphernalia of all kinds. But, before condemning enthusiastic men, we should ask ourselves the questionHave we left “no stone unturned” to bring men, even by moral compulsion, under the power of Christ and his truth (cf. Luk 14:23)? But:

3. The instruction is to catch men alive . It is here the fishing fails us as a figure. Fish are caught and, as a rule, in the catching are killed. They lose their lives in the process. But when souls are taken in the gospel net, they are taken aliveare taken to enjoy life abundantly. In truth, the greatest kindness we can confer on souls is to get them into the net. We never live in earnest till we have been brought to him who is the Life of men. Such, in brief terms, is the meaning of the ministry.

V. THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE MINISTERIAL CALL. (Isa 49:11.) We would say, at first sight, that the success was singularly out of place. Why grant a shoal of fish, if the fishermen are to leave them without a moment’s hesitation or delay? The purpose was to assure them that temporal success was Christ’s gift; and secondly, that spiritual success must be preferred to the temporal, even when the latter is at its height. It was a greater surrender when they had been so successful at their fishing. But the noble men did not hesitate. They brought their ships to land, and then forsook all their “stock in trade” that they might follow Jesus. The fellowship with Jesus during his ministry was more precious than the world’s wealth could ever be. He was the great “Fisher of men,” and it was from fellowship with him they were to learn their profession. The training of the twelve was a most real and blessed thing. It was more than any theological learning could ever afford. It was learning of Christ himself, who is the embodied Truth. And yet to this same test every soul is sooner or later brought. At death, if not before, we are all asked if we can forsake all to follow Christ into undiscovered lands. May we all stand that test!R.M.E.

Luk 5:12-26

The healing of the leper and the paralytic.

We noticed how Jesus called the fishermen to be fishers of men, and how they nobly responded to his call, and forsook the fish and boats and friends that they might follow him. We have now before us two instructive miracles performed during his evangelistic work, and resulting in an extension of his influence. Between them there is interposed a significant remark about our Lord’s private prayer, so that the order of our thought is miracle, prayer, and more miracle. It is thus that Divine work goes on. We must, consequently, give ourselves unto prayer as well as the ministry of the Word if we would follow Jesus or his apostles.

I. CONSIDER THE CURE OF THE LEPROSY. (Luk 5:12-15.) It was manifestly a very serious casethe man was” full of leprosy.” It was the disease in its worst stage. Humanly speaking, it was incurable. So far as man was concerned, the case was hopeless. Now, in this respect, the leprosy is a type of sin. Sin is leprosy in the soul. It is so far incurable by man. But further, the leper was isolated from his kind, not because the disease was infectious through contact, which seems to be quite disproved, but because in this way God would show his abhorrence of sin and its essentially separating power. The poor lepers, as they went up and down the land with rent garments, and crying, “unclean!” were virtually dead men mourning over their lost and hopeless condition. But this poor leper had heard of Jesus, had come to him, convinced that he was able to save him. He throws himself down consequently at Christ’s feet, saying, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” He was convinced of the Saviour’s power, and he threw himself upon his sovereign mercy in the matter of the willingness to save. And it is just to this that every sinner must come. Persuaded of Christ’s ability to save, he must throw himself upon his sovereign clemency. For the Saviour might justly refuse to save any, though, as a matter of fact, he is anxious to save all. And now let us notice Christ’s method in saving him. He might have saved him by a word, but to show his sympathy and freedom from all fear of defilement, he heals him by a touch, saying, “I will: be thou clean.” And immediately the leprosy departed from him. In the very same way can the Saviour heal the leprosy of sin. If we only ask him, he will tenderly touch us, and instantaneously the soul’s disease will depart. But, when healed, the man has certain duties to discharge at the instigation of Jesus. He is directed first to tell no man; for Jesus wants to be something more than a physician of the body, and he might, through the patient’s report, be so overwhelmed with physical cases as not to have sufficient time for the preaching and spiritual work which with him was paramount. Secondly, he is directed to repair to the priest, and fulfil all that the Law of Moses required, “for a testimony unto them.” In this way our Lord desired to demonstrate that he had not come, as they basely insinuated, to destroy the Law and the prophets, but to fulfil them and to get them fulfilled. Notwithstanding these precautions, his fame so spread that multitudes came flocking together to hear and to be healed of their infirmities. We have thus presented to us the way of salvation and its results. It is by coming to Jesus that we are saved from sin; it is by doing what Jesus requires that we are made useful among men. Let us test Jesus as the appointed Saviour, and live as our Lord directs.

II. CONSIDER OUR LORD‘S RETIREMENT TO THE WILDERNESS FOR PRAYER. (Luk 5:16.) There is a certain measure of exhaustion in such work as was performed by Jesus. He bowed to the necessity of private communion with God. Even Jesus could not be always in public; solitude was as needful for his soul’s health as society for his opportunity of usefulness. Vinet, in a fine sermon on this passage, says, “We do not believe that we exaggerate when we say that those who do not love solitude do not love truth.” It is in the secret place with God that we renew our spiritual strength and are fit for further service. And what perfect prayers our Lord’s must have been. No personal sin to confess, but simply to confer with the Father about the salvation of the world and how best he could promote the welfare of men. The time of solitude with God is the most fruitful time. Without it how barren all else proves!

III. CONSIDER THE HEALING OF THE PARALYTIC. (Luk 5:17-26.) It was in Capernaum, it is believed, and in the house of Peter, that the miracle happened. The audience was a critical one with whom Jesus was dealing, composed of Pharisees and doctors of the Law, out of every town of Galilee and Judaea and Jerusalem. They had come to pass judgment on the new movement under Jesus. And the Spirit was waiting there as the Agent to apply the healing Word of the Messiah to those not unwilling to be healed. But alas! these hard-hearted lawyers gave him no opportunity. But four friends bring along the street a paralytic neighbour, in the hope that he may be healed by Jesus. They cannot at first get near, and so they repair to the house-top, and proceed to tear up the tiles in sufficient numbers to allow of their lowering their helpless friend to the feet of Jesus. Here was the Spirit’s opportunity. And here let us notice the twofold paralysis under which the poor man labouredthe one was the paralysis of the soul, the other the paralysis of the body. Both appealed to the sympathy of Jesus. Besides, he is pleased to notice the faith of the bearers. We are not told that the paralytic at this time had faith in Jesus, but his friends had for him. They believed that if they could only get their friend before Jesus, they would not have to carry him home again. And disinterested faith for a blessing upon others Jesus respects and rewards. But which of the two paralyses will Jesus cure first? The more seriousthe paralysis of soul through sin. Hence, in endearing accents he says, “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” It was a case of absolution, as Robertson boldly puts it in his sermon upon this passage. And to absolution by one whom they regarded as a mere man the scribes and Pharisees secretly objected. They rightly said that none but God alone could forgive sins as against God; they wrongly concluded that Jesus was not Divine. There was no blasphemy, for this was God incarnate. Their objection was not publicly taken. It was a mental note they took of the matter. Jesus soon shows them that he can read their thoughts, by laying bare their objection, and putting his prerogative to the proof. The demonstration he proposes is this: he has pronounced the absolution. It may be deemed easy to do this, since no one can tell that it has not taken place. But he is willing to rest his claim to absolving power by saying the harder word, “Rise up and walk.” According as this takes place or fails is he willing to be judged. And so, before his enemies and to the palsied patient, he says, “Arise, and take up thy conch, and go into thine house.” Here was a demonstration of his ability to forgive sins as against God, for the paralysis departs and the powerless patient starts to his feet and reaches home with his bed as Jesus commands him. In doing so, moreover, he glorifies God, doubtless, for the double blessing. Now, these miracles are signs and symbols of spiritual things. This healing of the body is a sign of what Jesus is willing and waiting to do for our souls. Paralysis is what has seized on many. What a living death it is! It is only Jesus who can free our spirits from it. If we look to him he will give us his Spirit to strengthen us with all might in the inner man, and to help us to earnestness and action. And first we shall show to all about us that we are able to help ourselves, and will no longer be burdens upon others. The four burden-bearers here were spared their hard work ever after. This is the first manifestation of spiritual strength in the carrying honestly our own share of life’s responsibilities! Secondly, we shall glorify God through our spiritual powers. We shall praise him for his loving-kindness and tender mercy towards us. And lastly, we shall lead others to fear and to glorify God too. Hence the great importance of getting rid of spiritual paralysis and of rising into the exercise of spiritual power. We should also learn distinctly from this miracle what possibilities lie awaiting intercessory prayer and disinterested faith. We may do much in bringing helpless souls to Jesus, that they may be healed by him. He is able to do much for our friends as well as for ourselves, and the joy of bringing others to Christ is only exceeded by the joy of coming ourselves. Let us keep coming to Jesus for ourselves and with others, and strange and blessed experiences shall still be ours.R.M.E.

Luk 5:27-39

The call of Levi, and the subsequent banquet.

We noticed how, at the healing of the paralytic, there was a critical assemblage. Secretly did they impugn the absolution pronounced by the Master, and publicly were they refuted. Immediately after, it would seem from all the accounts, Jesus takes the bold step of calling a publican to become his disciple. It was a throwing down of the gauntlet to his enemies. It was taking up a man whom they had excommunicated and despised, and so bringing the kingdom of God into collision with the Jewish authorities. Let us, then, consider

I. THE CALL OF LEVI, AND ITS ACCEPTANCE. (Luk 5:27, Luk 5:28.) Levi was a leading “custom-house officer,” as we should now call him, situated at Capernaum, where the caravans from Damascus to the Mediterranean regularly passed. His office was, we have reason to believe, a lucrative one, so that he had every worldly reason for remaining in it. Doubtless he had no position in the Jewish Church, but, considering the Sadducean scepticism which flourished within the Church pale, the worldly advantages of the tax-gathering would reconcile Levi to excommunication. When Jesus found him he was busy at his tax-gathering. The piles of money were possibly before him. He was never more prosperously occupied before. But lo! this itinerant Preacher, who has no settled home, has not where to lay his head, comes along, and calls Levi from his business to become his follower. “Follow me,” says Christ; and for Levi it meant the surrender of his worldly calling, and becoming an itinerant preacher of the kingdom of God. The step for Levi was most serious. And here notice what Jesus demanded. It may be expressed in three words: it was faith in himself. In no way could he better test Levi’s confidence than by asking him to surrender the comfort and certainty of his worldly calling for the uncertainty of the Christian ministry as carried on by the Master himself. It is the one demand which Jesus always makes, that men should trust him. And Levi surrenders at once. He leaves all, rises up, and literally follows him. It is a farewell to tax-gathering, that he may take service in the retinue of the Prince of peace. Such a surrender without reserve is what Christianity means. Jesus is put before every one and everything, and his command is our law. The following of Christ, moreover, includes the whole Christian morality. If we take his way and carry out his will, and do, day by day, what we believe he would in our circumstances, then we shall find ourselves holy and useful in increasing measure.

II. CONSIDER LEVI‘S FIRST MISSIONARY EFFORT. (Luk 5:29.) This was in the making of the great feast. Hospitality may be missionary in character. If its design is to bring friends into contact with Jesus, as was literally the case here, then it is distinctly a missionary enterprise. Levi felt that the best thing he could now do would be to get all his acquaintances together and to introduce them to Jesus. And ought not this to be the aim of hospitality still, apart from all cant and hypocrisy? Should not hosts inquire what their motives are in making feasts? Are banquets for display, for the advancement of worldly ends, or for the Master’s sake? Moreover, this banquet of Levi shows us the limits of our work. All we can ever do for men is to introduce them to Jesus. We cannot do more for their salvation. It is the personal acquaintanceship with Jesus into which they must enter if eternal life is to be theirs. “This is life eternal, to know [i.e. to be acquainted with] thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Joh 17:3). The missionary enterprise through hospitality is only beginning to be realized. Hospitality needs to be redeemed, like many another good thing, from worldly uses. A loving heart wilt enable a faithful Christian to accomplish this.

III. PHARISAIC OBJECTIONS TO CHRIST‘S NEW ASSOCIATIONS. (Luk 5:30-32.) Eating and drinking in the East are the universal tokens of mutual confidence. After this, the parties will be true to each other until death. Hence the Pharisees with their scribes (so in Revised Version and best authorities)the legal experts they had brought with themobject to Jesus and his disciples going in “hand and glove” with excommunicated men. From their standpoint it argued great laxity on the part of our Lord. Really it only meant his freedom from Pharisaic pretence. And his defence was complete. He took the Pharisees on their own ground. He assumed that they were spiritually whole, as they supposed themselves to be. Of course, he knew how seriously they were in this matter deceiving themselves. But assuming they were whole, he would, as a Physician, have been losing his time and missing his opportunity had he associated only with them. It is the sick, these publicans and sinners, who need the Physician’s care. Hence he hesitated not to enter into Levi’s house and mix with Levi’s guests. Now, association with others may, like hospitality, be a form of missionary enterprise. This should be our motive in associating with others. Why not be propagandists in all our contact with men? It is not necessary we should be “puritanical;” for that was exactly what Jesus in this case and in every case declined to be. But we may in all our hearty fellowship with others keep their spiritual good clear as a star in view. Our Lord’s principle, too, as here stated, is impressive. He did not come to summon to his side the men of reputation, the men of good public character, the pharisaically righteous, but to call “sinners,” those who despaired of themselves and needed help. In this he states his grand policy. It is for us to realize its meaning and to imitate him. As self-despairing ones, let us rally round the Saviour, as he calls us to him, and then let us vigorously publish the call to other sinners, that they too may be saved.

IV. THE PHARISEES FURTHER OBJECTED TO CHRIST‘S PRACTICE. (Luk 5:33-35.) Having defended his association with publicans and sinners, he is next assailed because he did not teach the disciples to fast. The Baptist, in the spirit of the old regime, directed his disciples to fast, but Jesus took a different course altogether. And here we must remember that the Law of Moses prescribed fasting only on the great Day of Atonement, when sin was brought so powerfully to remembrance. The fasting twice a week, in which the Pharisees indulged, arose out of those “traditions of the elders” which in many respects overlaid the precepts of the Law. Against these traditions our Lord set himself firmly. Notice that:

1. Fasting is a comparatively easy form of self-denial. As Robertson has said in a sermon on Luk 5:33, “All can understand the self-denial of fasting, because hunger is a low want, known to all. But all cannot understand the self-denial of hard mental work, or that of associating with uncongenial minds, or that of honestly pursuing a disagreeable occupation or profession.” The coarse minds which proposed to criticize Jesus, therefore, took up fasting as the form of self-denial which they found themselves equal to, and sought to condemn Jesus for neglect of it.

2. There is no good in fasting for its own sake. The person who abstains from food merely to be able to say he has fasted and so fulfilled a human tradition, is not living a noble life. Asceticism had, therefore, no countenance from Jesus.

3. The Divine life is essentially social. The Trinity of Persons in unity declares this fact. God has been social from everlasting, and when he appeared incarnate it was as an eminently social Saviour. Hence he represents himself on thin very occasion as a Bridegroom, and life with him as a bridal feast. Mourning would be as impertinent at a marriage-party as fasting would be when Jesus was present with his people. The sociality of the Christian faith endorses the propriety of the policy of Jesus.

4. Fasting becomes appropriate when fellowship is interrupted. Our Lord refers to his own departure as a being taken away from them, a violent operationa prophetic note about the cross! In such days will the disciples fast. The felt absence of the Lord should so impress us that fasting would be only natural with us. Through fasting the soul regains its sovereignty over the body, and the gracious presence of the Master as an experience is regained.

V. OUR LORD‘S SPIRIT OF INNOVATION. (Luk 5:36-39.) The Pharisees expected ha would conform to old customs, as unoriginal minds are wont to do. But they utterly mistook him. He came, as these twin parables tell us, with new cloth and new wine. This can only mean the Christian spirit, social and missionary in its very essence. Robertson is quite wrong, we believe, in making the new wine and new cloth “austere duties and doctrines,” and the old bottles and old cloth as the weak novices in the shape of the new disciples. In what respect these “austere duties and doctrines,” were new no one, we imagine, could tell us. They were the old wine and the old garments, easy and palatable to the self-righteous mind, like old wine; but the Christian spirit of sociality and missionary enterprise was the new wine which the self-righteous do not particularly care for. Hence our Lord resolved to initiate no such foolish policy as this, to tack on the free spirit of Christianity to the old pharisaic spirit of fasting frequently and being generally morose. The two would not work, and so he courageously resolved to be an innovator, cost what it would, and to conduct his disciples to a better position than Pharisaism realized. The disciples are the new bottles, and the Christian spirit is the new wine. The free, social spirit, which Christianity fosters, may not be palatable to the proud minds of men, but the humble appreciate and preserve it as the disciples have done down to this day. We ought to have the courage of our convictions, even when it leads us to take new courses for men’s sake.R.M.E.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Luk 5:1-11 .Mat 4:18-22Mat 4:18-22 and Mar 1:16-20 are parallel passages. Nevertheless, the history of the calling in Luke, as compared with it in Matthew and Mark, is essentially different , for in these latter the point of the incident is the mere summons and promise ( without the miracle, which, without altering the nature of the event, they could not have passed over; in opposition to Ebrard and others); in Luke it is the miracle of the draught of fishes Moreover, in Matthew and Mark no previous acquaintance on the part of Jesus with Peter is presupposed, although, probably, it is in Luk 4:38 ff., whereby, at the same time, Luke falls into self-contradiction, since Luk 5:8 does not allow it to be supposed that such miraculous experiences have previously occurred to him as, according to Luk 4:38 ff., Peter had already had in connection with Jesus. Luke follows a source of later and more plastic tradition (in opposition to Schleiermacher, Sieffert, Neander, v. Ammon, who ascribe to Luke the merit of being the earliest), which, fastening in pursuit of symbolic meaning upon the promise in Luk 5:10 (Mat 4:19 ; Mar 1:17 ), glorified the story of the call of the fishermen by joining to it a similar story of the draught of fishes, Joh 21 (comp. Ewald, Gesch. Chr . p. 288); but in the historical sequence after Luk 4:38 ff. Luke has become confused.

] not: he also , but: and he; he on his part , in respect of this pressing ( ) of the people upon him. Comp. on Luk 5:15 ; Luk 5:17 ; as to after , see on Luk 5:12 .

] “ut peracto opere,” Bengel; see Luk 5:5 .

Luk 5:4 . , the special word for going out into the deep sea (Xen. Hell . vi. 2. 28; 2Ma 12:4 ); the singular in reference to Peter alone, who was the steersman of the craft; but in reference to the whole fisher company in the vessel. Changes of number, to be similarly accounted for by the connection, are often found in the classical writers. See Bornemann, Schol . p. 35 f.; Khner, ad Xen. Anab . i. 2. 27.

Luk 5:5 . ] Superintendent (see in general, Gatacker, Op. posth . p. 877 ff., and Kypke, I. p. 228) occurs only in Luke in the New Testament, and that, too, always addressed to Jesus, while he has not the which is so frequent in the other evangelists. Peter does not yet address Him thus as his doctrinal chief, but generally (Luk 5:1 ; Luk 5:3 ). Comp. Luk 17:13 .

] when fishing was accustomed to be carried on successfully. See Aristotle, H. A . viii. 19; Heindorf, ad Plat. Soph . p. 287.

] of the reason: for the sake of Thy word (on the ground of Thy word). Comp. Winer, p. 351 [E. T. 491]: “Senserat Petrus virtutem verborum Jesu,” Bengel. , Theophylact.

] Simon speaks thus in his capacity of captain. Comp. afterwards .

Luk 5:6 . ] The tearing asunder [93] actually began, but was only beginning. See on Luk 1:59 . The assistance for which they signalled prevented further damage. The subsequent phrase , is similar. Hence there is no exaggeration (Valckenaer, de Wette).

Luk 5:7 . ] they made signs to , according to Euthymius Zigabenus: . . So also Theophylact. This would have needed to be said . In the whole incident nothing more is implied than that the other craft still lying close to the shore, Luk 5:2 , was too far away for the sound of the voice to reach, and hence they were restricted to making signs, which, moreover, for the fishermen of the other boat who, according to Luk 5:4 , were doubtless eagerly giving attention was quite sufficient. As to ., see on Phi 4:3 .

Luk 5:8 . On . , comp. Soph. O. C . 1604. It might also be put in the accusative (Eur. Hec . 339, and thereon Pflugk).

] out of the ship . He dimly recognises in Christ a something superhuman, the manifestation of a holy divine power, and in the consciousness of his own sinful nature he is terrified in the presence of this power which may, perchance, cause some misfortune to befall him; just as men feared the like on the appearances of God or of angels. Comp. 1Ki 17:18 . Euthymius Zigabenus and Grotius in loc . Eisner and Valckenaer are mistaken in saying that Peter speaks thus in accordance with the notion that one ought not to stay on board a ship with any criminal (Cic. De Nat. Deor . iii. 37; Diog. Laert. i. 86; Horat. Od . iii. 2. 26 ff.). He does not indeed avow himself a criminal , but only as a sinful man in general , who as such cannot without risk continue in the presence of this (Euthymius Zigabenus). See the later exaggeration of the sinfulness of the apostles before their call, in Barnabas 5.

Luk 5:9 . ] in this place is not the draught , as at Luk 5:4 , but that which was caught ( , Pol. v. 1), as Xen. De Venat . xii. 3, xiii. 13, and frequently.

Luk 5:10 . This mention of James and John at the end is one of the traces that the narrative grew out of the older history of the call. But certainly Andrew was not found in the source from which Luke drew.

] instead of fishes.

] vivos capiens in characteristic keeping with this ethical draught (winning for the Messiah’s kingdom), as well as with the figure taken from fishermen (Aristaen. Ep . ii. 23).

[93] Augustine has interpreted this tearing of the nets allegorically of the heresies , and the Saxon Anonynms (p. 212 f.) of Judaism and the law ; both interpretations being equally arbitrary. There is much allegorical interpretation of the whole narrative in the Fathers (the ship, the church ; the net, the doctrine ; the sea, the heathen world , etc.).

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

b. The Miraculous Draught Of Fishes (Luk 5:1-11)

1And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to1 hear the word ofGod, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2And saw two [little] ships2 standing by [the shore of] the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing theirnets. 3And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simons, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the peopleout of the ship. 4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep [water], and let down your nets for a draught. 5And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: neverthelessat Thy word I will let down the net. 6And when they had this done, theyinclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake [began to break]. 7And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me [Go outfrom me, i.e., from my ship]; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9For he was astonished [astonishment seized him], and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes10which they had taken: And so was also [and so also did it seize] James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fearnot; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.3 11And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

General Remarks.In the narrative of the miraculous draught of fishes, the main question is whether this occurrence is identical with the calling of four disciples, which is related by Matthew (Luk 4:18-22) and Mark (Luk 1:16-20), or whether it is actually distinct from this and did not occur till later. The distinction between the narrative of Luke and that of the other Synoptics is so great that many have maintained the latter opinion (Krabbe, Sepp, Hug). Yet in the nature of the case it is less probable that a calling crowned with such a conclusion should have been repeated twice in so short a time, and it can be shown that the narratives admit without great trouble of being brought into agreement. As respects the distinction in the notation of time, Matthew tells us only that the calling of the four took place while Jesus was walking on the shore; Mark, that the Lord after this calling returned into the city, and healed the demoniac in the synagogue, while Luke, on the other hand, has placed this last miracle before the miraculous draught of fishes. We believe that the arrangement of the events which Mark under Peters guidance maintains, deserves the preference, and that therefore Luke (Luk 4:31-44) already relates by anticipation what did not take place till after the miraculous draught. Perhaps he has let the events in the synagogue at Capernaum follow immediately after the portrayal of the occurrences in the synagogue at Nazareth, that faith and unbelief in the two places might be the more strongly contrasted. Luk 5:31 he only speaks in general of one of the Sabbaths which Jesus spent at Capernaum. The distinction in locality is removed when we observe that here also the one in no wise denies what the two others say. We do not read in Matthew and Mark any such thing as that our Lord standing on the shore from there called the four, but only that He was walking on the strand. Nothing hinders us from subjoining, what Luke alone relates, that thither also the people followed Him, and He, in order to preach, ascended a ship. If Luke also had failed to make us acquainted with this, we should have had to conclude, even from Matthew and Mark, that our Lord went into the ship. If Peter was mending nets, is it probable that Jesus would have called out to them from the shore: Leave all and follow me? A third difficulty, that Luke does not mention Andrew at all, is solved by the consideration that Peter in his narrative is so entirely the main person that even the sons of Zebedee are thereby thrown more or less into the shade. Besides he speaks also of other persons who were present in Peters ship (Luk 5:2; Luk 5:5; Luk 5:9), and taken with amazement at the astonishing miracle, and (Luk 6:14) enumerates Andrew among the twelve. The question left by him unanswered as to how the latter came to the Lord, is answered by Matthew and Mark, and if there still appears to be a difficulty in the fact that Luke alone relates the miracle and Matthew and Mark only the word of the Saviour, we know no better answer than this: Undoubtedly to him who stands in Strauss point of view every single miracle would of necessity occasion afresh so much astonishment and headache that he would not be able to pass over one; but it being presupposed, on the other hand, that Jesus really wrought miracles and, moreover, many miracles, we cannot see why every evangelist was obliged to relate every miracle (Ebrard). Perhaps Mark has omitted this circumstance of so much moment to Peter, even as he does not relate the walking of the apostle upon the water, because the humble apostle, under whose influence he wrote, wished rather to see it passed over. With Luke this reason did not weigh, and he freely communicates what redounds to the honor of the Lord as well as of the disciple. In brief, if only we make no unreasonable demands, we account it possible and easy to unite the three Synoptic accounts into a whole without needing to do violence to any one of them.

As respects John, he does not communicate this miracle, but has, on the other hand, related a similar calling of five disciples, among whom are three of these here named (Luk 1:35-52), and the question spontaneously presses itself on us how the one can be brought into agreement with the other. We believe that there is not here the least reason for speaking of a contradiction between the evangelists (Strauss, weisse, B. Baur, Fritzsche, De Wette, Theile, Von Ammon). John describes the first becoming acquainted on the occasion of an unexpected meeting; the Synoptics relate the nearer connection between the Saviour and the disciples. After the first stay of Andrew, John, and Peter with Jesus (John 1), they had gone away as His friends and had accompanied Him upon His Galilean journey, so that they, even at the beginning, as His disciples baptized (Joh 4:2). But still it was as yet a free, not a binding, intercourse, in which they were at liberty from time to time to return to the fish-net. Therefore we have, for instance, in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luk 4:16-30) not met them in the Saviours company. But in what way now this preliminary connection passes over into an abiding relation and in what way the apostles were called and set apart to the apostolic function, this is related to us in reference to these four in the narrative of the miraculous draught of fishes.

Luk 5:1. The lake of Gennesaret.See Lange on Mat 4:18.

Luk 5:2. And were washing their nets; ut peracto opere, Bengel, comp. Luk 5:5. That these fishers here appear almost as strangers cannot surprise us, since Luke has as yet not made mention of these friends of the Saviour with even a word.

Luk 5:3. Which was Simons.It appears that Simon had not left the ship. That the Saviour, ascended this ship, not that of the sons of Zebedee, has probably its ground only in the fact that the latter at that moment chanced to be ashore, not on board their vessel. If Simon was older than Andrew, it becomes so much the plainer why he as owner of the ship is first named.

Luk 5:4. Launch out into the deep water.As the first command had put the obedience of Peter to a slight test, so here his faith is exercised by an apparently arbitrary demand of the Saviour. To him as steersman the command is addressed in the singular; the plural , …, has its force with reference to the rest of the crew of the boat, who must have been active therein. That Peter considers this latter command also as addressed to himself personally appears from the answer, Luk 5:5. Without doubt, after a night of unsuccessful toil this injunction to take up his work again in full day must have appeared singular to him, but he already knows enough of the Lord to bring his fishermans theory as a sacrifice to his faith at Jesus word alone.Master. Not the common , but ; about the same as the Hebrew , a title which was given even to such teachers as any one entertained respect for, without as yet standing in a personal relation to them, comp. Luk 17:13.

Luk 5:6. Their net began to break.If there was here an actual rent, it was, of course, only a beginning of tearing, since otherwise the whole draught might have been immediately lost again. So in like manner the allusion to the sinking of the vessels must be understood cum grano salis, without, however, our being actually obliged with De Wette to see here an exaggeration.

Luk 5:7. And they beckoned.According to Matthews and Marks account, also, the two ships lay close enough together to be able with a slight signal to join each other, the more easily as the crew of the second ship had doubtless observed the uncommon occurrence on the first with intense curiosity. That they for astonishment and fear were incapable of speaking, and, therefore, had to limit themselves to beckoning like Zacharias (Luke 1), is not said by Luke, but only by Euthym. Zigab. and Theophylact.

Luk 5:8. Go out from me.The cause of this crushing impression of wonder upon Peter is easy to explain. His words by no means entitle us to compare him to a credulous fool who trembles when he unexpectedly espies an arch-magician near him (Von Ammon, Leben Jesu, ii. p. 378). It appears to us, on the other hand, that the sequel must not be overlooked. Peter had as yet been able to judge no other miracle which he had seen, so well as this. It belonged to his calling, it took place on his vessel, with his fish-net, after his own fruitless endeavors, in his immediate presence. In the case of earlier works of the Saviour, his understanding had indeed doubtless given silent acquiescence, but here both understanding and heart were constrained to bow themselves before a present majesty. Thankfulness and surprise, after so long disappointment, unite themselves with a deep consciousness of his unworthiness, so that he is no longer able to abide in the presence of the Holy One. Had his conscience, perhaps, something to reproach him with that be after a voluntary association of a month with Jesus had again returned to his calling? Had the words: We have toiled the whole night and have taken nothing, been expressed in a tone of displeasure and doubt? Or did there perchance in this place concur an instinctive dread of danger when he felt the sinking of the ship, and did he entreat for preservation? In such a disposition as that of Peter, various causes may work together so as to call forth such a cry of distress. That he did not confess any particular offence, but his general sinfulness in the presence of the Holy One, hardly needs, we presume, any proof. The entreaty; Depart from me, the Lord heard in spirit, while He dealt exactly against its letter and turned in to be with the man who with trembling hand waved Him from himself.

Luk 5:10. And so also did it seize James and John.See on Mat 10:2-4. In respect to their relationship to the Saviour, we must refer the reader to the dissertation of Wieseler in the Studien und Kritiken, 1840, p. 648 ff., who has convincingly demonstrated that Salome, the wife of Zebedee, was an own sister of Mary, the mother of the Lord, so that her children were own cousins of Jesus. In Joh 19:25 there are not three, but four women named, and Mary, the wife of Cleopas, must be carefully distinguished from His mothers sister Salome, the wife of Zebedee. [It will be noticed that among the women mentioned as being present at the crucifixion, Mat 27:56, three are named as conspicuous: Mary Magdalen, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children. Mar 15:40 the same three are mentioned, only that Zebedees wife is mentioned by the name of Salome. We have, however, no reason to doubt that Salome and Zebedees wife are one and the same. In Joh 19:25, besides the mother of Jesus, whose presence is not mentioned by the other two evangelists, we find mentioned Mary Magdalen and Mary, the wife of Cleopas, whose identity with Mary, the mother of James and Joses, we have no reason to call in question. But where is Salome? The whole passage reads thus: Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother and His mothers sister, Mary, the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. The question here is: Besides the mother of our Lord, are there two women mentioned here, or three? Is Mary, the wife of Cleopas, to be taken as identical with His mothers sister, or as different? If the former, Salome is not to be found, and John has omitted bearing witness to this fidelity of his own mother. If the latter, Salome is identical with our Lords mothers sister, and the three whom the first two Synoptics mention, are also mentioned here.C. C. S.]

Luk 5:11. They forsook all.Not only the ship, but the rich haul. Zebedee soon returned without his sons to Bethsaida (Mar 1:20), while they proceed with the Lord through Capernaums gate, where He immediately after (see above), in the synagogue and in the house of Peter, works the miracles already related by Luke in anticipation (Luk 4:31-42), to enter with Him afterwards upon the journey through Galilee, which had been already, Luk 4:43-44, mentioned with a word, to be afterwards, Luk 5:12 f., described more in detail.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. We have here in Luke the first account of an anticipatory choice of apostles, which is the less to be passed over unnoticed since the Saviour evidently lays so much weight upon it. Our attention is from the beginning drawn to it by the fact that the Saviour seeks the disciples and does not wait until they approach Him of their own impulse, but takes the first step towards them, so that He can afterwards say to them: Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you. In this act the word, Luk 5:10, which the Saviour spoke on this occasion, bears the stamp of the deepest wisdom. It is a word of might, precisely fitted to come home to a heart like that of Peter; a brief word, but which, therefore, could the less be obliterated from the memory; a figurative word, borrowed from Simons own calling, which could the less be unintelligible to him as it was at the same time in congruity with the Old Testament manner of speech (Jer 16:16; Isa 42:10). It is, finally, a word full of promise, which, it is true, commanded that which was hardest, but promised also that which is highest and was immediately ratified by a sign.

2. It has been asked whether Peters draught of fishes was a miracle of omniscience or omnipotence. In other words, whether the Saviour, because of His higher knowledge, because He wished to see, saw at this moment, at a certain part of the sea, the largest number of fishes which were together, or whether He, through the mighty operation of His will, drove the finny tribes together to one point. It is not to be denied that the former admits of being received into the realm of our conceptions more easily than the latter. On the other hand, we are not to overlook the truth that according to the nature of things and the poetic declaration of the Psalm (Psa 8:8), the dominion over all that passeth through the paths of the seas belongs to the ideal of the perfect Son of Man.

3. The miracle here accomplished deserves to be called a striking revelation of the majesty of the Saviour. It took place within a sphere which these four disciples could judge better than any one else, and only after faith had been required of Peter and this faith had been found approved. It stands forth at the same time as a symbol of their whole subsequent apostolical activity: abundant draught of fishes at the simple word of the Lord, after a night also of fruitless wearying toil, without, however, losing the draught. It is noticeable that here there is mention of the tearing of the nets; but afterwards, in the case of a similar miracle, it is no longer mentioned, Joh 21:11. [Trench, not inaptly, regards the former miracle as symbolical of the gathering of men into the outward kingdom of God on earth, from which they may be lost; the latter one, as symbolizing the gathering of the elect souls into the kingdom of glory, none of whom will be lost.C. C. S.]

4. In this whole work of wonders, Christ reveals Himself as the Fisher of men. It is known how dear this symbol was to the early Christians; this is testified by their monuments, rings, cups, &c., and by the characteristic word itself, in which they recognized the initials of Jesus Christ, Gods Son, Saviour; but especially by the beautiful words from the hymn of Clemens Alexandrinus:

,

, …

[Fisher of mortals
The saved
From the sea of wickedness
Pure fish
From the hostile wave
For sweet life enticing.]
5. Where the blessing of God operates aright, there does it operate as coals upon the head, and brings to the knowledge of sin and of grace. To be caught by the Lord, is on earth the greatest blessedness; after this there is no greater than to be able to catch men for the Lord. Lhe.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Jesus in the midst of a throng longing for salvation.The Fisher of men on the shore of the most remarkable sea.All that on earth we name our own must be ready for the service of the Lord.The Lords ways: 1. Other, 2. higher than mans ways.Even the Lords disciples know dark nights.After a dark night a bright morning.The faith of Peter: 1. Tried, 2. enduring, 3. changed into sight.The obedience of faith: 1. Its ground, 2. its nature, 3. its blessing.All is yours, if ye are Christs.The remarkable transitions in the life of faith: 1. From disappointment to surprise, 2. from want to plenty, 3. from joy to terror, 4. from fear to hope.The humility of Peter, Luk 5:8, compared with that of Paul, 1Ti 1:15.Where a contrite heart exclaims: Depart from me, O Lord, there does He certainly turn in.The beholding of the great deeds of the Saviour must lead us to holy wondering.Whoever has once rightly feared need never fear again.The preacher of the gospel a fisher of men.Only he who leaves all can gain all.The wonderful draught of fishes an image of the preaching of the gospel: 1. The wide-reaching command (Luk 5:4), 2. the hard labor (Luk 5:5 a.), 3. the sole might (Luk 5:5 b.), 4. the rich fruit (Luk 5:6-7), 5. the right temper (Luk 5:8), 6. the highest requirement of the evangelical function (Luk 5:10-11).Whoever is himself caught of Jesus, must again catch others.How admirably does Jesus understand the art of winning hearts for Himself!Canstein:To the Christian all places are hallowed for the transaction of divine things, whether for himself or for others.J. Hall:Labor in our calling, however simply it may be done, makes us fitted for the blessing of God (Psa 127:1-2).Majus:The Lord brings His own wonderfully into the deep and into the height.Nov. Bibl. Tub.:Whoever receives Jesus to himself, such a one does He reward with abundance, not only of spiritual but of temporal blessing.Abundance makes not less care and trouble than lack.Before we let the blessing of God perish, we should beckon to others and have them enjoy it with us.Hedinger:Spiritual poverty is the nearest way to the greatest riches in God.Brentius:Whoever is faithful in that which is least, to him is more committed.Herder:Launch out into the deep is Gods word of command to every one in his vocation, and let: Lord, at Thy word, be the answer of every one in order to draw Gods blessing with his net.Heubner:The miraculous draught of fishes a prophetic type of Act 2:41.The humility of the Christian in good fortune, first makes the blessing truly a blessing.The blessed fishermen: 1. Blest by Jesus gracious presence, 2. by the rich gift, 3. by the gracious call of Jesus.The just means of gaining temporal blessing: 1. Gods word, 2. labor, 3. trust in God, 4. acknowledgment of personal un-worthiness, 5. right use of the blessing.Rieger:How nothing humbles man so much as grace.Fuchs:Peter an example for us: 1. Hear when the Lord speaks; 2. labor when the Lord commands; 3. believe what the Lord promises; 4. follow whither the Lord calls.Bachmann:Concerning a blessing in our vocation: 1. We should desire it according to this order; a. hear willingly and diligently Gods word, b. go faithfully on in thy toil, c. trust the Lord thy Helper. 2. We should rightly apply it after this rule; a. recognize in receiving it thy unworthiness, b. prove therewith thy thankfulness, c. follow after Jesus with joyfulness.Thomasius:Man as he is: 1. Before the Lord comes to him, 2. when the Lord comes to him, 3. after the Lord comes to him.Fr. Arndt:The Christian a fisher of men.Lisco:Blessing in our temporal calling: 1. On what it depends; 2. of what nature it Isaiah 3. for what it inspirits us.

Footnotes:

[1]Luk 5:1.Rec.: , instead of which we read with Tischendorf . Not the purpose, but the circumstance is expressed. [Inter al. c. A., B., Sin.C. C. S.]

[2]Luk 5:2.Rec.: . With A., C.*, L., &c., it appears that we must read for . [Sin. has , but omits the preceding .C. C. S.]

[3]Luk 5:10. . The resolved form expressing that it should be his calling.C. C. S.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

We have in this Chapter the Lord Jesus teaching the People: the miraculous Draught of Fishes; the Leper cleansed; a Man with a Palsy healed; and the Call of Matthew.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

(1) And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, (2) And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. (3) And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

I pray the Reader to pause over this interesting account of the Lord’s preaching, and the eagerness of the people to hear Him, who spake as never man spake. Let the Reader figure to himself the thronging multitude, pressing upon him, and hanging upon his very lips, to catch the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Doth it not remind the Reader of what is said of Christ, Psa 45:2 Grace is poured into thy lips! And of what the Church, in her rapturous view of Jesus, hath said; Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Son 1:2 . So precious, so very precious are all the words and manifestations of Jesus , that the Church could hang upon Christ’s lips forever.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Hearing the Word

Luk 5:1

There was a period in our Saviour’s Galilean ministry when He was the object of popular interest and enthusiasm. It cannot be said that He enjoyed popularity, for He was persecuted by popularity. This eagerness of the people to hear Christ, the Great Teacher, is full of instruction, and both of encouragement and caution to all in every age who preach and who hear the Word of Grace.

I. Motives which Induced Men to Hear the Word of God:

1. Some desired to hear Christ from mixed and even unworthy motives; some came from curiosity, impelled by the desire of knowing something new; some came for bread, or for healing, or for some other form of temporal aid; some came to cavil, to catch Him in His words, to betray Him.

2. Some came to hear Christ because their hearts felt the charm of His words and the Divine power of His message. Men were captivated, not only by the simplicity of His language, the beauty of His illustrations, the human sympathy of His discourse, but also by the appeal He made to their better judgment, to their purest feelings, to their inmost conscience. Still does the Divine Word prove its power by drawing the hearts of men unto itself.

II. The Right Method of Hearing the Word of God. To hear it profitably men must listen to it:

1. With reverence, as to a word higher than that of man.

2. With attention, as to what is of vital interest and concern.

3. With candour, as prepared to weigh all that is said, although it may be opposed to their prejudices.

4. With prayer, that the spirit may accompany the message to the heart.

5. With frequency, as remembering that not one lesson, not many lessons, can exhaust the riches of heavenly truth.

III. The Purpose for which the Word of God should be Heard:

1. To appropriate it in faith. It is well to inquire and well to consider and deliberate; but all this is means to an end, and that end is a conviction of either the truth or falsehood, the importance or the worthlessness of what is heard. They truly hear who truly believe.

2. To obey it with cheerfulness and diligence. The Word is not merely speculative, it is practical and authoritative; it comes as an imperative to our spiritual nature: ‘Blessed are they who hear the Word of God, and do it!’

References. V. 1. W. P. Balfern, Glimpses of Jesus, p. 48. V. 1-11. G. H. Morrison, Scottish Review, vol. i. p. 34. G. Davidson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. p. 344. Expositor (7th Series), vol. x. p. 40; (6th Series), vol. iii. p. 409. V. 2-11. Ibid. (4th Series), vol. vi. p. 18. V. 3. W. H. Evans, Sermons for the Church’s Year, p. 172.

The Two Miraculous Draughts of Fishes

Luk 5:4

You know that Christ was twice pleased to work a miracle in this matter. He twice came to His Apostles when they had been toiling for many hours, and had taken nothing, and gave them by a miracle abundance of fish. Once was before His Resurrection, once after it.

The first miracle was a type of the calling of men into Christ’s Church, as it is now, here on earth; the second miracle was a type of their being called into that same church as it will be hereafter in heaven.

I. In our Lord’s first miracle there were two ships. This sets forth to us that when His Apostles began to preach there were two Churches, the Church of the Jews and the Church of the Gentiles. He came to make both one. But in His second miracle there was only one ship, because hereafter in heaven there will be only one Church, one family, one fold with one Shepherd.

II. In our Lord’s first miracle the fish were gathered in from both sides of the ship, the left as well as the right. For bad men as well as good men are brought into His Church on earth. But it will not be so hereafter. The Church in heaven will be altogether holy. This is represented to us in the second miracle, by our Lord’s commanding the Apostles to cast the net on the right side of the ship only. The right side is a type of the good, and it is the good only that will be gathered into heaven.

III. In the first miracle, the net break. It could not keep all it caught. And so it is with the Church on earth. But in the other miracle the net did not break. For none of those that are counted worthy to enter heaven will ever fall away again. They being once safe, will be safe to all eternity. Nothing can take them away from God. That net will never break at all.

IV. In the first miracle we know not how many fishes were taken. This teaches us that on earth the number of the true servants of God will never be known. But in the second miracle the number is told us. And so the number of those that are redeemed will be known in heaven. All that we see there will be written in the Book of Life. Every one will be known; every one will be counted. ‘I heard the number of them,’ St. John says in the Book of Revelation.

V. In the first miracle nothing is told us as to the sort of fishes; some might be bad and some good; in the second they were all good, ‘Full of great fishes,’ says St. John.

VI. In the first miracle the ships began to sink. But in the other miracle the ship did not begin to sink. The Church, as it will be in heaven, can neither be in trouble nor in danger any more.

J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College Chapel, vol. 2. p. 51.

References. V. 4. J. Wright, The Guarded Gate, p. 79. J. C. M. Bellew, Five Occasional Sermons, p. 1. A. H. Walker, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. iv. p. 80. E. G. Jones, Sermons by Welshmen, p. 201. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii. p. 56. Basil Wilberforce, Sanctification by the Truth, p. 74. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. viii. No. 443. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 102.

Faith Triumphant in Failure

Luk 5:4-6

A beautiful gospel: a glorious message, surely, for those of us who are sometimes attacked with despondency.

I. The Wreckage of Human Life. More than half the wreckage of human life which we see scattered about the beach of mortal existence is due to a very great extent to want of success after labour faithfully undertaken and toiled at with energy. Failure in our work is responsible for almost all the suicides we hear and read of today, and by suicide I do not mean the taking of our own life, but the robbing ourselves of our own character which God has given us with which to do something in this world. If you come to think of it, success and failure are two words which find a very permanent place in the vocabulary of human experience. We are told by some people that one man is born to succeed and another is born to fail. To maintain such a statement as that is not only to be un-Christian, but to be absolutely ungodly. The issue of your efforts, if you will only take the trouble to see, is always finally due to yourself.

II. Want of Enterprise. If the issue is failure, more often than not the reason lies in our own want of enterprise. ‘Launch out into the deep,’ said our Lord to His disciples, who had toiled all the night and caught nothing. Look at this twentieth-century Christendom, what it ought to be and what it is. We have been toiling in the shallows; we must launch out into the deep of human nature and let down our nets for a draught.

III. Faith Triumphant in Failure. The motto of the Church and of its individual members must ever be faith triumphant in failure. Where faith is absolute, failure is absolutely impossible. What we want is a faith grown stronger through the errors and failures and follies of the past.

IV. The Moral Teaching of the Parable. If we are Christ’s, all our sins when repented of make us holier, because the very best experience is that most dearly bought By the grace of repentance we can make even wrong help on the side of right and righteousness. By confession of our sins to Almighty God we can transform error into wisdom. We are not alone: our Master, Jesus the Son of God, is with us in the boat; therefore, we can afford to be enterprising and launch out into the deep. Aye, the strength of our Churchmanship lies not in the power of our resolutions or in our determination to achieve spiritual success, but in the word He spoke: ‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,’ and ‘Without Me ye can do nothing’.

Reference. V. 4-9. C. Perren, Outline Sermons, p. 239.

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes

Luk 5:5

I purpose to treat this incident of the miraculous draught of fishes in a more or less parabolic way. We shall be standing by the Sea of Galilee, but we shall be thinking and speaking of the sea of life. We shall be watching a few fishermen coming ashore, first with empty boats at dawn of day, and then with boats laden almost beyond the point of safety with a great catch of fish; but behind the picture I want us to find some of the inner meaning of success and failure upon wider and more perplexing waters.

I. ‘We have toiled all night, and have taken nothing.’ That was not the first vain night by a good many that they had spent on the Sea of Galilee. Mind you, these men were no novices. They knew their business. They had known the Galilean Sea from their boyhood all its moods and tempers, its dangers and its possibilities. The story of their bread-winning life had been told upon its waters. They were experts, and their boat was empty. They had worked hard and worked wisely, and the sea had beaten them. In spite of the instincts and love of a lifetime on its waters, it can send a man ashore with an empty boat.

And on the greater sea where you and I do our work the same story is ever being told. It is a difficult story to understand. It is beyond us all. The failure of the foolish, the incompetent and the lazy is a foregone conclusion. But how often do we see the wise, strong, earnest, capable souls coming from their toils with nothing to show!

II. Success and failure are deep and inward things. No surface judgment ever truly appraises them. The world reads failure in an empty boat. God reads failure in an empty heart. ‘We have toiled all night, and have taken nothing’. Well, what of that? That is no tragedy if you can say, ‘We have toiled all night, and have lost nothing’. This is where you begin to see right into the heart of the worker’s failure not the thing he did not win, but the thing he did lose.

Hopelessness, indifference, weak despondency, foolish desperation, cynical unbelief, these are the things that go to make real failure. It is not our ignorance and clumsiness that baffle the Almighty it is our despair.

III. ‘We have toiled all night’ The night was the right time for fishing. If they had had no success then, what chance was there in the glare of the sun? Oh how we are snared in the traditions of our toil! How we are limited by the little that we have had time to justify! How conventional and unenterprising are these hearts of ours in the wide world of the spirit! Fancy putting to sea in the middle of the morning! Everything was against it, except the word of the Master; but Simon came to know ere his lifework was done that that is the most tremendous and significant exception in all the world.

IV. Again, these men succeeded where they had failed. The old sphere of their labours was the sphere of their reward. We all need to know that the one vital necessity of our lives is to be sought, not in the setting, but in the spirit of them. Any boat will do if Christ bids you launch it. Any hour is a harvest hour if Christ bids you let down the net.

V. The men who succeeded were the men who had failed. Failure is not a standing disability in the service of the kingdom. In the world it is sometimes a final disqualification, an unpardonable sin. The world says to the failures, ‘Stand aside and let some one else try. You have had your chance. Now make room for a better man.’ He is always a better man, this man who has not tried. The world is quite agreeable that the boat should be launched again, but it stipulates for a different crew. And some are too ready to accept the stipulation and drop out. I wonder how many ministers last year received at least one note from a steward, a leader, a Guild secretary, containing the phrase, ‘Let some one else try’. Note the way of Jesus. ‘Launch out,’ you men who but lately came ashore with empty nets.

P. C. Ainsworth, The Pilgrim Church, p. 62.

Luk 5:5

Simple obedience to the word of God is sublime. By the word of God was set in force the whole creation. At God’s word Peter is to fish. Fishing is a very ordinary occupation for those who live by the seashore, but if a man fishes according to God’s word, he puts himself into accord with the universe, and will catch a multitude.

I. As the father expects the child to listen and be obedient to his word, so are we God’s children if our life is lived in obedience to the will of God. Before all of us there is the great sea of life, and we are all fishers in it. It is not a matter of success or failure, but the question is: Am I living my life according to the word of God?

The fishers on the lake were disappointed men. They had fished the whole night and the catch was nothing. Anybody who tries to do good in this world will, sooner or later, lie under the sense of being complete failures. Sometimes it has seemed like night with hardly a gleam of light when everything has been against us. ‘Master, master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing, nevertheless, at Thy word.’ If you know you are doing God’s will, you look not to the catch, but you look to catch His eye.

II. The Disciples were tired out, when the Lord said to them, ‘Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught,’ and if the thought comes to you, Why should not I have rest at last? remember their reply, ‘Nevertheless, at Thy word, again I will let down the net’.

III. The Word of God to the Disciples seemed a little unreasonable. If they did not catch the fish by night, it is not likely they would catch them by day. Let your life be obedient to His word, and if His word seems to you to be unreasonable, who are you to stand up before the Eternal Wisdom of God? Yes, fish by day, if He tells you to.

IV. Another point is, ‘ I will lay down the net at Thy word’. If our Lord has spoken to you, you do it. God has created all of us lor a purpose, and He will reveal that purpose to us in our life. If He says, ‘Go out into the deep,’ no more hugging the shores of conventionalities. Go out and be the Christian whatever it costs you, and the Nevertheless becomes always the more.

A. H. Stanton.

References. V. 5. R. W. Hiley, A Year’s Sermons, vol.. ii. p. 17. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii. No. 1654, and vol. xlviii. No. 2810. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 149. V. 7. Archbishop Magee, The Gospel and the Age, p. 181.

The Mirror and the Vision

Luk 5:8

The presence of Jesus in the world brings all men to their proper measurements. In other words, He is the mirror in which men see themselves as they really are. Peter had such a vision of him elf in the face of Jesus Christ, and as he beheld his real self in the depths of that pure and perfect mirror, he was constrained to cry: ‘Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord’. Here, then, we have got three things that command attention. There is (1) the Mirror; (2) the Vision; (3) Christ’s interpretation of the Vision.

I. The Mirror. Jesus Christ is God’s thought of a man expressed in a human life. It is true that He was the revelation of God’s character, the manifestation of the Divine will, the focussed splendour of God’s nature, the Word made flesh, the Son of God: but He is also the revelation of God’s idea of humanity, and what man is to be when God’s perfect work with Him is done. In the vision of what we ought to be, and what God intends to make us, we see how blighted and sin-ruined our nature is.

II. The Vision. Peter saw himself as a sinful man. Most of us see sin most clearly in other people, and then our judgment of it is swift, and our condemnation of it stern. Or we cry out about sin and its enormity in the general, and fail to see it as it is, lodged and entertained in our individual hearts. And so Jesus, knowing man, warned against the folly and the hypocrisy of seeking to take the mote out of our brother’s eye when there was a beam in our own eye. The awful fact of sin is written on us, and the first step toward deliverance and holiness is to see the vision of Peter.

III. The Interpretation. There is Christ’s interpretation of the vision and the cry. How does Jesus look upon this cry of Peter, ‘Depart from me?’ He hears in it the confession of Peter’s unworthiness: but He also sees in his humility and helplessness a desire for goodness, and understands that this ‘Depart from me’ is at bottom the first step of the ladder of holy aspiration. Confession is the way to holiness, humility is the beginning of virtue, our sense of utter helplessness is our greatest recommendation to the Saviour.

D. L. Ritchie, Peace the Umpire, and other Sermons, p. 91.

References. V. 8. J. Martineau, Endeavours after the Christian Life, p. 70. Bishop Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lix. p. 222. Bishop Westcott, Village Sermons, p. 111. J. Mowat, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. x. p. 37. Expositor (4th Series), vol. x. p. 133; (5th Series), vol. x. p. 334. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 110. V. 9. Expositor (7th Series), vol. x. p. 479. V. 10. E. W. Attwood, Sermons for Clergy and Laity, p. 236. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 173. V. 12. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vi. p. 443. V. 12, 13. H. M. Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 252.

Prayer and Its Response

Luk 5:13

To see the power and the beauty of these words we must pause and consider the surroundings in which our Lord found Himself when He performed this miracle. For this brief story is a perfect illustration of what the Gospels set themselves to achieve. The writers of the Gospels never thought of a complete and ordered account of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here in this story, for instance, is the cure of a leper. The time and the date are not given. It somehow seems to read like we might begin an ordinary story it happened one day. For St. Matthew says that He came down from the mountain, that is after He had given the Sermon on the Mount. St. Luke says, ‘it came to pass in a certain city,’ St. Mark says, ‘there came a leper’. No time or place is mentioned, and there has been great controversy as to whereabouts in the Gospels this story of the healing of the leper should come. How different it is when we come to the heart of the story! You will find that all the Gospels tell us in the same words. The same thing happened. They tell us what the leper did and what he said, and what Jesus Christ did and said. They give the same essential details; so beautiful was the picture that they could not forget it. Now look at the kernel of this story which the Gospels have recalled. What are the particular lessons?

I. The Man. In the time of our Lord leprosy was one of the most baneful scourges which swept across the Holy Land. It is when we remember these things that we see the graciousness of Jesus Christ. He stretched out His hand and actually touched the man the hideous, repulsive, clammy creature actually touched him.

II. His Prayer. And the second lesson is perhaps harder for us to see, but none the less it is beautiful. We see in this prayer and miracle how Jesus Christ restrains Himself and obeys a certain law in the work of healing. This law necessitates that before a man can be healed he must repent of his sins and ask to be healed on his own initiative. And the more we consider this, the more pathetic does the life of our Lord on this earth become to us. He had to pass numerous men as they sat by the wayside stricken or injured and helpless, for they never besought His aid or lifted up the cry for help. He saw many lepers who looked on Him not heeding Who He was, and who would not lift up their voices to ask Him for a boon. He had to see these heartbreaking sights and watch the despair of the sufferers, but still He might not speak. Why did they not understand? Why did they not cry out when just a message of love and trust would have brought Him to their side? But sodden and desperate they plodded along their dreary road: they made no sign, and He could do nothing for them. That was the law of His mission. There must be in the suppliant and in the recipient a certain moral temperament, a certain spiritual outlook, a personal desire to love that will go out from the soul towards the person of Him Who would draw it unto Himself. There must be this faith in the soul before any virtue from Jesus Christ can go forth.

III. The Response. When this is there, then instantly and inevitably His life passes into theirs. They will be invaded by His strength, permeated by His vitality, quickened by His power; only they must fulfil the condition, they must make it evident by some appeal, or He is powerless.

References. V. 16. C. J. Vaughan, The Prayers of Jesus Christ, p. 3. James Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 128. V. 16-26. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No. 981. V. 17. Ibid. Sermons, vol. xii. No. 720; vol. xxxiii. No. 1991. Expositor (4th Series), vol. viii. p. 226. V. 17-26. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 120. V. 18-20. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. lii. No. 3016. V. 19. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 218. V. 20. H. M. Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 252. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xli. No. 2417. V. 21. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 285; (5th Series), vol. vi. p. 472. V. 25-27. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. viii. p. 38. V. 26. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2614. V. 27. W. B. Selbie, The Servant of God, p. 281. V. 27, 28. C. Ensor Walters, The Deserted Christ, p. 89.

Why Ought I to Be a Christian?

Luk 5:27

That was Christ’s call to Matthew; it is Christ’s call to us. Why should we obey it? Why to put the question in concrete form ought I to be a Christian?

I. I begin with this: Goodness is the greatest thing in the world, and to seek after goodness is our first duty in life. Here is the truth I want to emphasise: there are many things that are desirable: there is one thing that is necessary. There is the greatness of wisdom, the greatness of political influence, the greatness of material power; but high above all other forms of greatness is the greatness of goodness. Ordinarily we do not question this. But there is today under certain circumstances a real temptation to do so. ‘Never let us allow ourselves,’ said Dean Church once, ‘never let us allow ourselves the thought, which I fear comes into men’s minds, that being clever and having knowledge makes up for not caring to be good.’ To speak in detail of this goodness after which man ought to seek would cany me too far afield. Let me notice two points only. In the first place, the good we need is not simply power to perform one or two good deeds, but to put it in a word character. And secondly, it is our duty to seek after the highest goodness that is revealed to us.

II. The highest form of goodness of which the world knows is incarnate for us in Jesus Christ.

III. Goodness the greatest thing in the world man’s first duty to seek after goodness, the highest goodness revealed to him that highest goodness incarnate for us in Jesus Christ; what then? I ought to follow Christ, I ought to be a Christian.

I am a follower of Christ today, not only, not chiefly because in His example is the loftiest standard of human duty, but because I have found that what Christ bids me be He helps me to be. Do you say, ‘So will any great example help us’? yes, but not as Christ does. He makes His own strength mine. What other, however great and good, can do that for you? Two things only I ask Do you want to do what is right? Do you want power to do it? Then obey Christ when He says, ‘Follow Me’. If Christ is to be anything to you, He must come, not first as the Perfect Example to be imitated, but as the Great Deliverer who will strike off the chains and set the captive free.

G. Jackson, First Things First, p. 49.

References. V. 27. Expositor (5th Series), vol. viii. p. 37. V. 27, 28. W. G. Horder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. 1. p. 133. V. 27-29. H. S. Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. p. 193. V. 27-32. Expositor (6th Series), vol. iii. p. 322. V. 31. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2835. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 95.

Luk 5:32

‘Seeing many of the rich at Clifton church,’ wrote John Wesley, ‘my heart was much pained for them, and I was earnestly desirous that some of them might enter into the kingdom of heaven. But full as I was, I knew not where to begin in warning them to flee from the wrath to come, till my Testament opened on these words: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners”; in applying which my soul was so enlarged that methought I could have cried out (in another sense than poor vain Archimedes), “Give me where to stand, and I will shake the earth”.’ Three years later Wesley has another notice of this text. ‘We came to Newcastle about six; and after a short refreshment walked into the town. I was surprised; so much drunkenness, cursing, and swearing (even from the mouths of little children), do I never remember to have seen and heard before, in so small a compass of time. Surely this place is ripe for Him who “came not to call the righteous, but sinners”.’

References. V. 33. Expositor (4th Series), vol. i p. 348; vol. x. p. 29; (5th Series), vol. i. p. 15; (7th Series), vol. vi. p. 73. V. 33-35. Ibid. vol. i. p. 347; V. 35. J. Keble, Sermons for Lent to Passion-tide, p. 410. V. 36. T. Sadler, Sermons for Children, p. 38.

Luk 5:36-37

Heine quotes this passage in his rather jaundiced and superficial sketch of English society, as the text for the following reflections: ‘The concessions which have there been made to liberal ideas have been with difficulty wrested from mediaeval rigidity, and all modern improvements proceed there, not from principle but from sheer necessity; they bear the curse of that system of half-measures…. The religious reformation in England is but half complete, and one finds oneself much worse off between the four bare prison walls of the Episcopal Anglican church than in the large, beautifully-painted, and softly-cushioned spiritual dungeon of Catholicism. Nor has the political reformation succeeded much better…. Although many improvements have recently been made in this melancholy state of affairs in England; although limits have been placed to temporal and clerical avarice, and though the great falsehood of popular representation is, to a certain degree, occasionally modified by transferring the perverted electoral voice of a rotten borough to a great manufacturing town; although the harshest intolerance is here and there softened by giving certain rights to other sects, still it is all a miserable patching up which cannot last long, and the stupidest tailor in England can foresee that, sooner or later, the old garment of state will be rent asunder into wretched rags.’

References. V. 36-39. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 106. Expositor (6th Series), vol. i. p. 319.

Progress Needs Preparation

Luk 5:38

Under this simple Parable the Saviour would teach us the far-reaching truth that progress needs preparation. If you want the new wine you must prepare new bottles.

This principle of the need of preparation before progress is far reaching, and applicable in many ways.

We all know that the ground must be prepared if it is to yield a full harvest; we know that animals must be trained if they are to be fit for the service of man; children need the discipline of school, and to practise obedience in their home life if they are to be ready for the station of life to which it may please God to call them; and education must not cease with childhood the young man or young woman, if he or she is to make use of the education of childhood, must still continue to learn; continuation schools, evening classes, the opportunities of apprenticeship must all be attended to, if we would make the necessary preparation for our progress in life.

Thus the truth of the text is constantly before us, new wine must be but into new bottles.

As the text is true with regard to the ordinary conditions of this life, so is it true with reference to our highest interests in matters of religion.

I. The event which has made the greatest difference in the condition of the world and done most to advance the true progress and well-being of mankind is the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Even the most superficial observer can see that the foremost countries in the world, the countries which are most civilized, are those which bear the name of Christian; there may be (alas, we know there are) many imperfections, but nevertheless the nations which call themselves Christian are the foremost nations of the world.

This great event in the progress of the human race, the Incarnation of the Lord, was prepared for by a great preparation. It was, we are expressly told, in the fullness of time that the Saviour came. The language and philosophy of Greece, the worldwide system and government of the Roman Empire, the special revelation to the Jews as we have it in the Old Testament, all prepared the way for the coming of Christ. He was the True Vine from which the new wine was to be made, and the world was duly prepared to receive Him.

Immediately before the Saviour came, St. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way before Him, and when the Saviour commenced His ministry we read that He appointed other seventy also, and sent them out two and two before His face, into every city and place whither He Himself would come.

II. The love of God and the love of our neighbour are the vital powers which flow through the stem and the branches of the True Vine and give us the new wine.

The love of God will lead us to be constant in our devotion, by ourselves, with our families, in our attendance on the services of our Church, in frequent reception of the Holy Communion. The love of our neighbour will show itself in acts of kindness visiting and relieving the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, in being ‘kind and tender-hearted one towards another, forgiving one another even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us’.

Bishop Edward King, The Love and Wisdom of God, p. 215.

References. V. 39. J. T. Bramston, Fratribus, p. 26. W. M. Sinclair, Difficulties of Our Day, p. 147. H. S. Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. p. 17. VI. 3, 4. Alfred Rowland, The Exchanged Crowns, p. 83. VI. 4. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ix. p. 9; ibid. (5th Series), vol. x. p. 152.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

XXVI

OUR LORD’S GREAT MINISTRY IN GALILEE

Part I

Harmony pages 85-39 and Mat 4:17-25 ; Mat 8:2-17 ; Mat 9:2-26 ; Mar 1:14-2:22 ; Mar 5:22-43 ; Luk 4:14-5:39 ; Luk 8:41-56 ; Joh 4:46-54 .

We now come to our Lord’s great ministry m Galilee. We will take a sort of preview of this whole division and then follow it up with more detailed discussions. The general theme of this division of the Harmony is “The kingdom of heaven.” We are prone at times to fall into errors of interpretation concerning the kingdom similar to those which led ancient Israel so far and so harmfully astray concerning the advent of the Messiah. Either we so fill our minds with the sublimity of world redemption, as applied to the race, in the outcome, so satisfy our hearts with rhetorical splendor in the glowing description of universal dominion that we lose sight of its application to individuals in our day, and the responsibilities arising from the salvation of one man, or we so concentrate our fancy upon the consummation that we forget the progressive element in the development of the kingdom and the required use of means in carrying on that progress. The former error breeds unprofitable dreamers the latter promotes skeptics. The preacher is more liable to be led astray by the one, the average church member by the other.

Perhaps the most unprofitable of all sermons is the one full of human eloquence and glowing description excited by the great generalities of salvation, and perhaps the most stubborn of all skepticism is that resulting from disappointment as not witnessing and receiving at once the very climax of salvation, both as to the individual and the race.

Such a spirit of disappointment finds expression in words like these: “The prophecies here of the kingdom are about 1,900 years old. Nineteen centuries have elapsed since the Child was born. Wars have not ceased. The poor are still oppressed. Justice, equity, and righteousness do not prevail. Sorrow, sin, and death still reign. And I am worried and burdened and perplexed. My soul is cast down and disquieted within me.” In such case we need to consider the false principles of interpretation which have misled us, and inquire: Have we been fair to the Book and its promise?

Here I submit certain carefully considered statements: (1) The consummation of the Messiah’s kingdom was never promised as an instantaneous result of the birth of the Child. (2) The era of universal peace must follow the utter and eternal removal of things and persons that offend. This will be the harvest of the world. (3) Again, this consummation was never promised as an immediate result, i.e., without the use of means to be employed by Christ’s people. (4) Yet again, this aggregate consummation approaches only by individual reception of the kingdom and individual progress in sanctification. (5) It is safe to say that the promises have been faithfully fulfilled to just the extent that individuals have received the light, walked in the light and discharged the obligations imposed by the gift of the light. These receptive and obedient ones in every age have experienced life, liberty, peace, and joy, and have contributed their part to the ultimate glorious outcome. (6) And this experience in individuals reliably forecasts the ultimate race and world result, and inspires rational hope of its coming. This is a common sense interpretation. In the light of it our duty is obvious. Our concern should be with our day and our lot and our own case as at present environed. The instances of fulfilment cited by the New Testament illustrate and verify this interpretation, particularly that recorded by Matthew as a fulfilment of the prophecies of Isaiah 4-13 inclusive, of his gospel. What dispassionate mind can read these ten chapters of Matthew, with the parallel passages in Mark and Luke, without conceding fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecies uttered seven centuries before?

Here is the shining of a great light, brighter than all of the material luminaries in the heavens which declare the glory of God and show his handiwork. This is, indeed, the clean, sure and perfect law of the Lord, converting the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eyes, enduring forever, more desirable than gold and sweet “r than honey in the honeycomb. Here are judgments true and righteous altogether.

Here in sermon and similitude the incomparable Teacher discloses the principles and characteristics of a kingdom that, unlike anything earth-born, must be from heaven. Here is a fixed, faultless, supreme, and universal standard of morality. The Teacher not only speaks with authority and wisdom, but evidences divinity by supernatural miracles, signs, and wonders. But there is here more than a teacher and wonder worker. He is a Saviour, a Liberator, a Healer, conferring life, liberty, health, peace, and joy. To John’s question John in prison and in doubt the answer was conclusive that this, indeed, was the one foreshown by the prophets and there was no need to look for another: “Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And whosoever shall find no occasion for stumbling in me, blessed is he” (Mat 11:1-4 ).

The special matter here most worthy of our consideration is that the kingdom of heaven was not expanded by instantaneous diffusion over a community, a nation, or the world, regardless of human personality, activity, and responsibility ill receiving and propagating it, but it took hold of each receptive individual’s heart and worked out on that line toward the consummation.

To as many as received him to them he gave the power to become the sons of God. Those only who walked in the light realized the blessings of progressive sanctification. To the sons of peace, peace came as a thrilling reality. From those who preferred darkness to light) who judged themselves unworthy of eternal life, the proffered peace departed, returning to the evangelists who offered it.

The poor woman whom Satan had bound for eighteen years experienced no imaginary or figurative release from her bonds (Luk 11:10-16 ). That other woman, who had sinned much, and who, in grateful humility, washed his feet with her tears was not forgiveness real and sweet to her? That blind Bartimeus who kept crying, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me” did he not receive real sight? That publican, who stood afar off and beat upon his breast, crying, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner” was he not justified?

And when the Galilean disciples went forth in poverty and weakness preaching his gospel, did they not experience the Joy of the harvest on beholding the ingathering of souls? And when they saw even demons subject to them through the name of Jesus, was not that the joy of victory as when conquerors divide the spoil?

When the stronger than the strong man armed came upon him and bound him, might not our Lord justly say, “As lightning falls from heaven, I saw Satan fall before you”? And just so in our own time.

Every conversion brings life, liberty, peace, and joy to the redeemed soul. Every advance in a higher and better life attests that rest is found at every upward step in the growth of grace. Every talent or pound rightly employed gains 100 per cent for the capital invested, and so the individual Christian who looks persistently into the perfect law of liberty, being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the Word, is blessed in every deed. Willing to do the will of God, and following on to know the Lord, he not only knows the doctrine to be of God, but experimentally goes on from strength to strength, from grace to grace, and is changed into the divine image from glory to glory.

In the light of these personal experiences he understands how the kingdom of God is invincible, and doubts not the certain coming of the glorious consummation foreshown in prophecy and graciously extended, in the hand of promise. His faith, staggering not through unbelief, takes hold of the invisible, and his hope leaps forward to the final recompense of the reward.

The opening incident of the Galilean ministry is the healing of the nobleman’s son, the second miracle of our Lord in Galilee, and a most remarkable one. The nobleman was Herod’s steward, maybe Chuza, as many suppose, but that is uncertain. The nobleman manifested great faith and it was amply rewarded. This is an illustration of the tenderness with which Jesus ministered to the temporal needs of the people, thus reaching their souls through their bodies. The effect of this miracle was like that of the first: “He himself believed, and his whole house.”

The next section (Luk 4:16-31 ) gives the incident of his rejection at Nazareth. The account runs thus: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read.” How solemn, how sad in its immediate result how pathetic that scene in Nazareth when the Redeemer announced his mission and issued his proclamation of deliverance: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to publish good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim deliverance to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To send crushed ones away free, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Oh! what a day when this scripture was fulfilled in the hearing of the captives I But the Spirit on him was not on them.

As Jewish widows in Elijah’s day, perished of famine, through unbelief, and left to Sarepta’s far-off widow in a foreign land to believe and be blessed with unfailing meal and oil, as Jewish lepers, through unbelief, in Elisha’s day died in uncleanness and loathsomeness while touching elbows with One having power to heal, leaving to a Syrian stranger to wash in Jordan and be clean, so here where Jesus “had been brought up,” the people of Nazareth shut their eyes, bugged their chains and died in darkness and under the power of Satan died unabsolved from sin, died unsanctified and disinherited, and so yet are dying and shall forever die.

The Year of Jubilee came to them in vain. In vain its silver trumpets pealed forth the notes of liberty. They had no ear to hear, and so by consent became slaves of the Terrible One forever.

This brings us to church responsibility and ministerial agency in the perpetuation of this proclamation of mercy. As Paul went forth to far-off shores, announcing in tears, yet with faith and hope and courage, the terms of eternal redemption, so now the churches find in the same mission their warrant for existence, and so now are we sent forth as witnesses to stand before every prison house where souls are immured, commissioned “to open the eyes of the prisoners that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in Christ.” Ours to blow the silver trumpets and proclaim to captives the year of jubilee. Ours is the evangel of liberty ours to make known that “if the Son of God make men free, they shall be free indeed.”

Leaving Nazareth, Jesus went to Capernaum, where he made his residence from which he radiates in his ministry in Galilee, teaching and healing on a large scale. His work here in Zebulun and Naphtali is a distinct fulfilment of Isa 9:1-2 , in which he is represented as a great light shining in the darkness. By the sea of Galilee near Capernaum he calls four fishermen to be his partners Peter, Andrew, James, and John, two sets of brothers. Here he announces his purpose for their lives to be fishers of men. What a lesson! These men were skilled in their occupation and now Jesus takes that skill and turns it into another direction, toward a greater end, “fishers of men.” Here he gives them a sign of his authority and messiahship in the incident of the great draught of fishes. The effect on Peter was marvelous. He was conscious of Christ’s divinity and of his own sinfulness. Thus he makes his confession, Luk 5:8 : “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” But our Lord replied to Peter: “Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” Later (Joh 21 ), when Peter and his comrades went back to their old occupation, the risen Lord appeared to them and renewed their call, performing a miracle of a similar draught of fishes.

In Section 28 (Mar 1:21-28 ; Luk 4:31-37 😉 we have his first case of healing a demoniac. What is the meaning of the word “demoniac”? It means demon-possessed, and illustrates the fact of the impact of spirit on spirit, many instances of which we have in the Bible. Here the demons recognized him, which accords with Paul’s statement that he was seen of angels. They believed and trembled as James says, but they knew no conversion. The lesson there is one of faith. The effect of this miracle was amazement at his authority over the demons.

In Section 29 (Mat 8:14-17 ; Mar 1:29-34 ; Luk 4:38-41 ) we have an account of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, which incident gives us light on the social relations of the disciples. Peter was married, the Romanist position to the contrary notwithstanding. Further scriptural evidence of his marriage is found in 2Co 8:5 . It is interesting to compare the parallel accounts of this incident in the Harmony and see how much more graphic is Mark’s account than those of Matthew and Luke. There is a fine lesson here on the relation between the mother-in-law and the son-in-law. Peter is a fine example of such relation. Immediately following the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother those that had sick ones brought them to Jesus and he healed them, thus fulfilling a prophecy of Isaiah, that he should take our infirmities and bear our diseases. Our Lord not only healed their sick ones, but he cast out the demons from many, upon which they recognized him. But he would not let them speak because they knew that he was the Christ.

The effect of our Lord’s great work as described in Section 29 was that Peter tried to work a corner on salvation and dam it up in Capernaum. This is indicated in the account of the interview of Peter with our Lord as described in Section 30 (Mat 4:23-25 ; Mar 1:35-39 ; Luk 4:42-44 ). Here it is said that Jesus, a great while before day, went out into a desert place to pray, and while out there Peter came to him and complained that they were wanting him everywhere. To this our Lord responded that it was to this end that he had come into the world. So Jesus at once launched out and made three great journeys about Galilee. His first journey included a great mass of teaching and healing, of which we have a few specimens in Sections 31-36, which apparently occurred at Capernaum, his headquarters. A second journey is recorded by Luke in Section 47 (Luk 8:1-3 ) and a third journey is found in Section 55. (For Broadus’ statement of these tours, see Harmony, p. 31.)

Here we have the occasion of one of the special prayers of Jesus. There are four such occasions in his ministry: (1) At his baptism he prayed for the anointing of the Holy Spirit; (2) here he prayed because of the effort to dam up his work of salvation in Capernaum; (3) the popularity caused by the healing of a leper (Sec. 31 Mat 8:2-4 ; Mar 1:40-45 ; Luk 5:12-16 ) drove him to prayer; (4) the fourth occasion was the ordination of the twelve apostles. The immense labors of Jesus are indicated in Mat 4:23-24 . These labors gave him great popularity beyond the borders of Palestine and caused the multitudes from every quarter to flock to him. Attention has already been called to the popularity caused by the healing of the leper (Sec. 31) and Jesus’ prayer as the result.

In the incident of the healing of the paralytic we have a most graphic account by the synoptics and several lessons: (1) That disease may be the result of sin, as “thy sin be forgiven thee”; (2) that of intelligent cooperation; (3) that of persistent effort; (4) that of conquering faith. These are lessons worthy of emulation upon the part of all Christians today. Out of this incident comes the first issue between our Lord and the Pharisees, respecting the authority to forgive sins. This was only a thought of their hearts, but he perceived their thought and rebuked their sin. From this time on they become more bold in their opposition, which finally culminated in his crucifixion. Let the reader note the development of this hatred from section to section of the Harmony.

In Section 33 (Mat 9:9-13 ; Mar 2:13-17 ; Luk 5:27-32 ) we have the account of the call of Matthew, his instant response and his entertainment of his fellow publicans. Here arose the second issue between Christ and the Pharisees, respecting his receiving publicans and sinners and eating with them. This was contrary to their idea in their self-righteousness, but Jesus replied that his mission was to call sinners rather than the righteous. This issue was greatly enlarged later, in Luk 15 , to which he replied with three parables showing his justification and his mission. In this instance (Mat 9:13 ) he refutes their contention with a quotation from Hosea which aptly fitted this case: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”

Then came to him the disciples of John and made inquiry about fasting, to which he replied with the parable of the sons of the bride chamber, the interpretation of which is that we should let our joy or sorrow fit the occasion, or set fasting ments and old bottles, the interpretation of which is to let the form fit the life; beware of shrinking and expansion.

In Section 35 (Mat 9:18-25 ; Mar 5:22-43 ; Luk 8:41-56 ) we have the account of his healing of Jairus’ daughter and the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. Usually in the miracles of Christ, and in all preceding miracles, there was the touch of some kind between the healer and the healed. We are informed that great multitudes of people came to Jesus with this confidence, “If I but touch him I shall be healed.” Accordingly we find that Christ put his fingers on the eyes of the blind, on the ears of the deaf, or took hold of the hand of the dead. In some way usually there was either presence or contact.

We will now consider the special miracle connected with the fringe of the garment of Jesus which the Romanists cite to justify the usage concerning the relics of the saints. In Num 15:38 we have a statute: “Thou shalt put fringes on the wings or ends of the outer garment,” and this fringe had in it a cord or ribbon of blue, and the object of it was to remind the wearer of the commandments of God. The outer garment was an oblong piece of cloth, one solid piece of cloth, say, a foot and a half wide and four feet long. The edge was fringed on all the four sides, and in the fringe was run a blue thread, and the object of the fringe and of the blue thread also was to make them remember the commandments of God. The statute is repeated in Deu 22 . Again in Deu 6 is the additional law of phylacteries, or frontlets little pieces of leather worn between the eyes on which were inscribed the commandments of God. The people were taught to instruct their children in the commandments of God: “And they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt put them upon thy door posts, and when thou goest out and when thou comest in, and when thou sittest down and when thou gettest up, and when thou liest down, thou shalt at all times teach thy children the Word of God.” Now, because of these statutes a superstitious veneration began to attach to the fringe and to the phylacteries. So we learn in Mat 23 , as stated by our Saviour, that the Pharisees made broad the phylacteries between their eyes and enlarged the fringe of the outer garment. They made the fringe or tassel very large. They did it to be seen of men. The law prescribed that when the wearer should see this fringe on his garment he should remember the commandments of the Lord his God. But these Pharisees put it on that others might see it, and that it might be an external token to outsiders of their peculiar sanctity and piety. What was intended to be a sign to the man himself was converted by superstition into a sign for other people. Hence this woman said within herself, “If I but touch that sacred fringe the border of his garment.” She could not go up and touch the phylactery between his eyes, in case he wore one, but he did wear the Jewish costume with the fringe or border on his outer garment, and she could reach that from behind. She would not have to go in front of him. She argued: “Now, if I can in the throng get up so that I can reach out and just touch that fringe, I shall be saved.” We see how near her thought connected the healing with the fringe of the garment, because by the double statute of God it was required on the Jewish garment to signify their devotion to his Word the matchless Word of Jehovah. Mark tells us that she was not the only woman, not the only person healed by touching the border of his garment (Mar 6:56 ). Her sentiment was not an isolated one. It was shared by the people at large. Multitudes of people came to touch the fringe of his garment that they might be healed.

The question arises, Why should Christ select that through contact with the fringe on his outer garment healing power should be bestowed? He did do it. The question is, why? There shall be no god introduced unless there be a necessity for a god. There shall be no special miracle unless the case demands it. Why? Let us see if we cannot get a reason. I do not announce the reason dogmatically, but as one that seems sufficient to my own mind. Christ was among the people speaking as never man spake, doing works that no man had done. He was awakening public attention. He was the cynosure of every eye. They came to him from every direction. They thronged him. And right here at this juncture Jairus had said, “Master, my little girl, twelve years old, is even now dead. Go and lay thy hand upon her that she may live.” He arose and started, the crowd surging around him and following him, and all at once he stopped and said, “Who touched me?” “Master, behold the crowd presseth thee on every side, and thou sayest, who touched me?” Here was a miracle necessary to discriminate between the touches of the people. “Who touched me?” Hundreds sin sick touched him and were not saved. Hundreds that had diseases touched him and were unhealed. Hundreds that were under the dominion of Satan looked in his face and heard his words and were not healed. It was touch and not touch. They touched, but there was no real contact. They rubbed up against salvation and were not saved. Salvation walked through their streets and talked to them face to face. The stream of life flowed right before their doors and they died of thirst. Health came with rosy color and bright eye and glowing cheek and with buoyant step walked through their plague district) and they died of sickness. But some touched him. Some reached forth the hand and laid hold upon the might of his power. This woman did.

Poor woman! What probably was her thought? “I heard that ruler tell him that he had a little girl twelve years old that was just dead, and he asked him to go and heal her, she twelve years old, and for twelve years I have been dead. For twelve years worse than death has had hold on me and I have spent all my money; have consulted many physicians. I have not been benefited by earthly remedies, but rendered worse. Twelve years has death been on me, and if he can heal that, girl that died at twelve years of age, maybe he can heal me twelve years dead. If that ruler says, ‘If you will but go and lay your hand upon her even now she will revive,’ what can I do? In my timidity, in the ceremonial uncleanness of my condition, in my shame, I dare not speak. I cannot in this crowd, for if they knew that I were here they would cast me out; for if any of them touch me they are unclean in the eyes of the law. I cannot go and kneel down before him, and say, ‘Master, have mercy on me.’ The ceremonial law of uncleanness forbids my showing my face, and if I come in contact with his power it must be with a touch upon the garment. And I beg for that. I say within myself, that if I but touch the fringe with its blue thread in it that reminds him of God’s commands, I shall be healed.”

There was the association of her healing with the memento of the Word of God. There was the touch of her faith, that came into contact with that Word of God and with him. So her faith reasoned, and virtue going out from him responded to her faith. And she felt in herself that she was healed. Well, he healed her and there it stands out one of the most beautiful lessons in the Word of God. Oh, what a lesson! Some will say at the judgment, “Lord Jesus, thou hast taught in our streets and we have done many wonders in thy name,” and he will say, “I never knew you.” “You were close to the Saviour. You did not touch him. You were his neighbor. You did not touch him.” There were many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha, the prophet lepers that could have been healed of leprosy by an appeal to the power of God in Elisha. They died in leprosy, but Naaman came from afar and touched the healing power of the prophet and was healed. There were many widows in Israel whose staff of life was gone, whose barrel of meal was empty, whose cruse of oil had failed, and here was the prophet of God, who by a word could supply that empty barrel, that failing cruse, but they did not touch him. They did not reach out in faith and come in contact with that power. The widow of Sarepta did, and her barrel of meal never failed, and her cruse of oil never wasted. Now, the special miracle: It was designed to show that if there be a putting forth of faith, even one finger of faith, and that one finger of faith touches but the fringe, the outskirts of salvation only let there be a touch, though that touch covers no more space than the point of a cambric needle “let there be the touch of faith and thou art saved.”

In the midst of this stir about the woman the news of the death of Jairus’ daughter burst forth upon them with the request to trouble not the Master any further. But that did not stop our Lord. He proceeded immediately to the house to find a tumult and many weeping and wailing, for which he gently rebuked them. This brought forth their scorn, but taking Peter, James, and John, he went in and raised the child to life and his praise went forth into all that land.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the general theme of this division of the Harmony?

2. What common errors of interpretation of the kingdom? Illustrate.

3. What was the offspring of these errors respectively and who the most liable to each?

4. What, perhaps, was the most unprofitable sermon and what was the most stubborn skepticism?

5. How does such disappointment find expression?

6. Give the author’s statements relative to the kingdom,

7. Where do we find the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecies relative to the kingdom?

8. What specific prophecy in Isaiah fulfilled in Matthew?

9. Where do we find the principles of the kingdom disclosed?

10. What great office did our Lord fill besides teacher and wonder worker and what proof did he submit to John the Baptist?

11. What thing most worthy of special consideration in connection with the kingdom?

12. What the opening incident of the Galilean ministry, what its importance, what its great lesson and what its effect?

13. Give an account of our Lord’s rejection at Nazareth.

14. Why was he thus rejected?

15. By what incidents in the lives of the prophets does he illustrate the folly of their unbelief?

16. What is the church responsibility and ministerial agency in the proclamation of mercy?

17. Where does Jesus make his home after his rejection at Nazareth and what his first work in this region?

18. Recite the incident of the call of the four fishermen and its lessons.

19. What was Christ’s first case of healing a demoniac and what the meaning of the term “demoniac”? Illustrate.

20. What was the lesson of this miracle and what was its effect?

21. Recite the incident of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and give its lessons.

22. What were the great results of this miracle and why would not Christ allow the demons to speak?

23. How did Peter try to work a “corner” on salvation and how did our Lord defeat the plan?

24. How many and what journeys did Jesus make about Galilee?

25. Give the four special prayers of Jesus here cited and the occasion of each.

26. Describe the incident of the healing of the paralytic and its les sons.

27. What issue arises here between our Lord and the Pharisees and what was the final culmination?

28. Give an account of the call of Matthew, his entertainment, the second issue between our Lord and the Pharisees and how Jesus met it.

29. What question here arises, how was it brought up, how did our Lord reply and what the meaning of his parables here?

30. What double miracle follows and what was the usual method of miracles?

31. What was the law of fringes and phylacteries and what were their real purpose?

32. Why should Christ select that through contact with the fringe on his outer garment healing power should be bestowed?

33. What, probably, was the thought of this woman as she contemplated this venture of faith?

34. What was the great lesson of this incident of her healing?

35. Describe the miracle of raising Jairus’ daughter and its effect.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

Ver. 1. As the people pressed upon him ] This was both an argument of the truth of his humanity (that he was thronged and thrust together by the unmannerly multitude) and a part of his passion.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 11. ] THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES. CALL OF PETER AND THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE. The question at once meets us, whether this account, in its form here peculiar to Luke, is identical in its subject-matter with Mat 4:18-22 , and Mar 1:16-20 . With regard to this, we may notice the following particulars. (1) Contrary to Schleiermacher’s inference (Trans. pp. 75, 76), it must be, I think, that of most readers, that a previous and close relation had subsisted between our Lord and Peter . The latter calls Him (= ), and : evidently (Luk 5:5 , end) expects a miracle; and follows Him, with his partners, without any present express command so to do .

Still all this might be, and yet the account might be identical with the others. For our Lord had known Peter before this, Joh 1:41 ff.; and, in all probability, as one of His disciples. And although there is here no express command to follow, yet the words in Luk 5:10 may be, and are probably intended to be, equivalent to one. (2) The Evangelist evidently intends this as the first apostolic calling of Peter and his companions. The expressions in Luk 5:11 could not otherwise have been used. (3) There is yet the supposition, that the accounts in Matthew and Mark may be a shorter way of recounting this by persons who were not aware of these circumstances. But then such a supposition will not consist with that high degree of authority in those accounts, which I believe them to have: see note on Mark. (4) It seems to me that the truth of the matter is nearly this: that this event is distinct from , and happened at a later period than , the calling in Matt. and Mark; but that the four Apostles, when our Lord was at Capernaum, followed their occupation as fishermen. There is every thing to shew, in our account, that the calling had previously taken place; and the closing of it by the expression in Luk 5:11 merely indicates what there can be no difficulty in seeing even without it, that our present account is an imperfect one, written by one who found thus much recorded, and knowing it to be part of the history of the calling of the Apostles, appended to it the fact of their leaving all and following the Lord. As to the repetition of the assurance in Luk 5:10 , I see no more in it than this, which appears also from other passages in the Gospels, that the Apostles, as such, were not called or ordained at any special moment , or by any one word of power alone; but that in their case as well as ours, there was line upon line, precept upon precept: and that what was said generally to all four on the former occasion, by words only, was repeated to Peter on this, not only in words, but by a miracle. Does his fear, as expressed in Luk 5:8 , besides the reason assigned, indicate some previous slowness , or relaxation of his usually earnest attachment , of which he now becomes deeply ashamed? (5) It is also to be noticed that there is no chronological index to this narrative connecting it with what precedes or follows. It cannot well (see Luk 5:8 ) have taken place after the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother; and ( Luk 5:1 ) must have been after the crowd had now become accustomed to hear the Lord teach. (6) Also, that there is no mention of Andrew here, as in Luk 5:10 there surely would have been, if he had been present. (7) It will be seen how wholly irreconcilable either of the suppositions is with the idea that Luke used the Gospel of Matt., or that of Mark, in compiling his own.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 5:1-11 . The call of Peter . This narrative, brought in later than the corresponding one in Mk., assumes larger dimensions and an altered character. Peter comes to the front, and the other three named in Mk., James, John and Andrew, retire into the shade; the last-named, indeed, does not appear in the picture at all. This, doubtless, reflects the relative positions of the four disciples in the public eye in the writer’s time, and in the circle for which he wrote. The interest gathered mainly about Peter: Christian people wanted to be told about him, specially about how he became a disciple. That interest had been felt before Lk. wrote, hence the tradition about his call grew ever richer in contents, till it became a lengthy, edifying story. Lk. gives it as he found it. Some think he mixes up the call with the later story told in Joh 21:1-8 , and not a few critics find in his account a symbolic representation of Peter’s apostolic experience as narrated in the book of Acts. Such mixture and symbolism, if present, had probably found their way into the history before it came into Lk.’s hands. He gives it bon fide as the narrative of a real occurrence, which it may quite well be.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luk 5:1-7 . . In Mt. and Mk. (Mat 4:18 , Mar 1:16 ) the call of the four disciples took place when Jesus was walking alone. Here Jesus is surrounded by a crowd who pressed upon Him. , etc., and were hearing the word of God. The crowd, and their eagerness to hear the word of God (phraseology here secondary), serve in the narrative to explain the need of disciples (so Schanz and Hahn). . The position of Jesus in speaking to the crowd was on the margin of the lake; called by Lk. alone .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luke Chapter 5

LUKE 5: 1-11tid=50#bkm118-

Mat 4:18-22 ; Mar 1:16-20 .

It will be remarked that the account of the call of Simon and of the rest of his companions, at the Lake of Gennesaret, is given not only more fully in Luke than in any other Evangelist, but in a totally different connection. In Matthew and Mark we find it mentioned immediately after our Lord began to preach, when John was reported to be put into prison. The first thing named then is when Jesus was “walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, cast a net into the sea, for they were fishers; and He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Both in Mat 4 and in Mar 1 the account is given in general terms. We have far more detail in Luke. Is this an accident? Contrariwise, it is the fruit of a gracious design of God. Luke had the task confided to him more than any other of bringing out God’s grace toward man and in man. Along with this he had also to lay bare the working of man’s conscience and heart, especially under the operation of the Spirit of God.

The Lord, then, is shown us calling Simon, not at the time when it actually occurred, but in connection with the development of this great purpose – calling men to be associated with Himself. Hence this notice of their call, which had taken place some time before, (Joh 1:40 ff.) is reserved till the opening and character of His own ministry have been fully set before us; His reading at Nazareth with grace and nothing but grace to man – not judgment as yet, for He stopped before it; His subsequent comment when they began to show their unbelief, even after their confession of the gracious words which had proceeded out of His mouth; His proof from the law that the unbelief of Israel turns the stream of grace toward the Gentiles, the intimation of what God was going to do now, and their subsequent deadly wrath and indignation; then His course in the power of the Holy Ghost; but above all, His word with power, not nevertheless without mighty works, as in dealing with Satan’s dominion over man and all the physical consequences of it., the healing of all diseases and the casting out of demons. But especially He preached the kingdom of God, and that far and wide, fame among men being only an additional reason for moving elsewhere.

Thus it is Man, by the power of the Holy Ghost, entirely above Satanic working and human weakness, delivering mankind, and ministering the Word of God as the sole means of spiritual strength and association with God, as the Spirit is the source of all that is good and great according to God. But even this is not enough for His grace; He would associate men with Himself in good. Hence in the next scene before us the Holy Spirit shows us the Lord calling others. He rejoices in the habitable part of His earth, and His delights are with the sons of men; He associated them with Himself. It was not only for men’s pardon that He came, but for salvation and all its fruits. Simon Peter, being the more prominent of those now called, is brought into the foreground. If he is to help others, he must be first helped himself; and man cannot be truly helped without raising the question of sin and settling it in the heart, as well as by Christ outside ourselves.

The Lord now effects this. Standing by the lake, He sees two ships*tid=50#bkm117- there, and the fishermen engaged in washing their nets, when “the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God.”tid=50#bkm118- So he enters “into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and asked him to draw out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the crowds out of the ship. But when he ceased speaking, he said to Simon, Draw out into the deep, and let down your nets for a haul.”

*”Two ships”: so BD and nearly all later uncials, with most cursives and Old Latin. Tisch, “little ships,” after ACL, 33, and some other cursives.

The work must be carried within. Even the Word may seem to fail, but it may be followed up by some act or way on God’s part in order to drive it home to the heart. He tells Simon therefore to thrust out and let down the net for a haul. A seaman is apt to think that he understands his own business best; and Simon answered saying, “Master,tid=50#bkm119- we have laboured through the whole night and have taken nothing; but at thy word I will let down the net.” Thus, feeble as his faith might have been at this time, it was real. He bows to One Who naturally could not be considered to know anything of a fisherman’s work, but Peter has confidence that He is Messiah, and learns that He is this and, far more, that He had the mind and grace of God. It would be now shown whether He had all power at His command. Simon had reason to know that He had Divine energy as to men on earth; but now there was a new thing, One Who had dominion over the fish of the sea. Sin had greatly hindered the exercise, and even proof, of the large dominion which was originally granted to them. But here was the repairer of all breaches; in Peter’s ship was the Second Man, the Lord from heaven. “And having done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes.” The failure of human resources, as they are to avail themselves of the blessing, is made manifest. “Their net* was breaking, and they beckoned to their partners who were in the other ship to come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they were sinking.” The help of man is as vain as man himself, even for the blessing of God. The day was coming when the net should not break, no matter how large the fishes nor how great the variety. But this is reserved for another age, when the Second Man shall reign in righteousness and power. Here we see the feebleness of this age.

*”Net”: so AC, etc., most Syrr. – Edd., “Nets (were)”, as BDL, etc., Syrsin.

“But Simon Peter seeing it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, Lord. For astonishment had laid hold on him, and on all those who were with him, at the haul of fishes which they had taken.” Now comes the deep moral result for Peter’s heart. The greatness of the Lord’s grace as well as His power brought his sinfulness more than over before his soul. A strange moral inconsistency follows. He casts himself at the Lord’s feet, and says, “Depart from me.” But he does not depart from Jesus. Rather does he fall down as near to Jesus as he can; yet he says, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, Lord.” He confesses his unfitness for the presence of the Lord, yet would not lose Him for all worlds – goes to Him, yet feels and owns that He might justly go away from such a sinner. Thus the Lord, Who knew the heart, did that which was eminently calculated to act upon Simon, who knew the powerlessness of man as he is to do what the Lord had done. They had all shown how unable they were; they had “laboured through the whole night, and taken nothing.” But the Lord not only knew all, but could do all; and this brings up sin on Simon’s conscience.tid=50#bkm120-

But, further, the Lord’s answer thereon was, “Fear not, henceforth thou shalt be catching men.” He banishes the fear so natural to the heart where sin is, which is even increased at first by the action of the Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost only removes fear by the revelation of Christ, His work, and His word. His operation is to make us know what is calculated to produce fear as well as to lead us to Him Who alone by His grace can banish it. The effect of the state of the first man, when rightly viewed, is to fill with intense fear and horror: as to himself he could not but fear; from Christ he hears, “Fear not.” And who is entitled to be heard? “My sheep hear my voice; and I know them, and they follow me.” (Joh 10:27 .) It is blessed to learn from God that our sinfulness, while not only naturally but even spiritually it ought to produce torment, is met, and fear is cast out, by the perfect love of God in Christ. Our Lord, on the ground of that great redemption which He was about to bring in by His blood, was entitled righteously to say, “Fear not.” This was the Divine way of forming one that was afterwards to become a fisher of men. He must be in the experience of the blessing of grace himself before he was fit to be the witness of it to others.

“And having run the ships on shore, leaving all, they followed him.” tid=50#bkm120a- Such was the power of grace; it made all things little in comparison with Christ, and of what Christ becomes to the man who believes in Him.

Luk 5:12-16 .

Mat 8:1-4 ; Mar 1:40-45 .

We have seen that the call – the special ministerial call – of Peter and the rest was taken out of its historical place in order to present the Lord uninterruptedly in the activity of His grace, when He entered upon His manifestation.

Now we find two remarkable miracles, which, I believe, set forth sin in two different forms. The first is under the phase of leprosy. “It came to pass, as he was in one of the cities, that behold there was a man full of leprosy.” Luke particularly mentions this symptom. It was not in an incipient stage or a slight case, but a man full of leprosy, “and, seeing Jesus, falling on his face, he besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou art able to cleanse me.” The man wanted confidence in the Lord’s love and good pleasure to meet his need. The Lord, accordingly, showed not only His power but His goodness. “He stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou cleansed.” This was by no means necessary for healing. Love, however, does not limit itself to man’s necessities, but takes occasion by them to show the great grace of God. Under law it would have been defiling: but we shall never understand the Gospel unless we see that He Who was pleased as man to come under the law was really above law. And we find these two things running through the account of our Lord’s life on earth – dispensationally under law, and in His own person above it. Nothing could overthrow the rights and dignity of His person. But now we find Him displaying both what man ought to be towards God and what God is towards man. In the first case He is found under law, but this course of miraculous manifestation was the display of what God is – God present and active in goodness among men, and this in the reality of a man’s soul, mind, and affections. So Christ stretched forth His hand and touched him, and, so far from defilement accruing to Himself, the leprosy departed from the man. He “enjoined him to tell no man,”‘ but go, show thyself to the priest.” Thus we have in the injunction a man under law, as truly as we have, in the Lord God Who healed the leper, One above man and consequently above law. “Go, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, as Moses ordained, (Lev 13:49 .) for a testimony to them.” Until the cross, Jesus rigorously maintains the authority of the law. To have been merely under law would have defeated the whole object of the Gospel; it would result in leaving man under his leprosy, under the utter loathsomeness of sin, the hopeless and defiling ruin that sin produces. Therefore if grace was to be shown, Christ must be infinitely above man, must in a human body put forth a hand which is the natural emblem of its work, and touch the man that was lost in sin beyond all human remedy. “I will” – which only God was entitled to say – “be thou cleansed.” Divine power at once accompanies the word. Power belongeth unto God.”

The Lord would make the healing known, but according to law. “Go, show thyself to the priest,” whose business it was to inspect. The priest would have known the reality of the leper’s case, and would be the best judge among men of the reality of the cleansing. “Offer for thy cleansing, [according] as Moses ordained,tid=50#bkm122- for a testimony to them.”

There was no provision under law for healing leprosy, but there was provision, when a man was healed, for his purification, his cleansing. None but God could heal. When, therefore, the healed leper came and showed himself to the priest with his offering, it was a proof that God was there in power and grace. (Psa 103:3 .) When had such a thing been known in Israel? A prophet had once, with characteristic difference, indicated a cure from God, outside Israel. But God was now present in the midst of His people. The conviction would thus be forced upon the priest that God was there in Christ, above law, but yet not overthrowing the law’s authority. “Go, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, [according] as Moses ordained, for a testimony to them.” If that testimony were received, they would themselves (and in due time openly) enter the ground of grace. “By grace ye are saved,” as it is grace, too, that enables us to walk according to God. “Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rom 6:14 .) This is the Christian’s ground.

Again, the more the Lord forbade his speaking, so much the more went there a fame abroad of Him: and great multitudes came together “to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.”

The Lord, however, instead of yielding to the applause of the multitude, “withdrew tid=50#bkm123- himself, and was about in the desert and praying.” Nothing can be more beautiful than this retirement for prayer between these two miracles. However truly God, He was man, not only in maintaining the authority of the law, but also in practising dependence upon God.

Luke 5: 17-26.tid=50#bkm124-

Mat 9:1-8 ; Mar 2:1-12 .

“And it came to pass on one of the days that he was teaching, that there were Pharisees “I and doctors of the law sitting by’ who were come out of every village of Galilee and Judea, and [out of] Jerusalem: and the power of [the] LORD was [there] to heal them.* And lo, men bringing on a couch a man who was paralysed: and they sought to bring him in, and to put [him] before him.” Now we have the other form in which sin is set forth, not so much in its defiling influence, but in the impotence which it produces – in man’s total powerlessness under it. Sinful man is not only defiled and defiling, but also has no strength. The Lord accordingly proves Himself equal to meet this result of sin as much as the other. There were difficulties in the way; but what are these to the sense of need and faith? “And not finding what way to bring him in, on account of the crowd, going up on the house-top, they let him down through the tiles,tid=50#bkm126- with his little couch, into the midst before Jesus.”

*”Them”: so Blass, with ACD, Syrr., Old Lat., etc. Others (as Revv.) “with Him to heal.” according to BL, Aeth., and Cyril.

Wherever real faith exists, there is earnestness. Here the difficulties and obstacles only increased and made manifest the desire to meet with Jesus. Accordingly the man submits to all these efforts on the part of those who carried him. He was let down into the very midst of the crowded assembly where Jesus was. “And seeing their faith,tid=50#bkm126a- he said, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” Not, Man, thy palsy is healed; but, “thy sins are forgiven thee.” This is very instructive. In order to reach the powerlessness of a sinner he must be forgiven. There is nothing keeps a man feebler, spiritually, than the lack of a sense of forgiveness. If I am to have the power to serve the living God, I must have the assurance that my sins are forgiven. (Cf. Heb 9 .) Accordingly the first word of the Lord took up his deepest need, that which, if not supplied, would always leave him without strength. “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.”

But forgiveness on earth at once aroused the incredulous opposition of the scribes and Pharisees. They “began to reason, saying, Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins, but God alone?” As God alone could heal a leper, so God alone could forgive sins; so far they were right. The great mistake was that they did not believe Jesus to be God. But then in both these miracles Jesus is man as well as God, and this comes out distinctly here. For, “Jesus, knowing their reasonings, answering, said to them, Why reason ye in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?” One was as plain as the other. He could have said either. He had a true and a gracious spiritual motive for dealing with the real root of the evil first. The deepest necessity of man was not to rise and walk, but first of all to have his sins forgiven. “But that ye may know that the Son of mantid=50#bkm127- hath power upon earth to forgive sins,tid=50#bkm1258- (he said to the paralysed man,tid=50#bkm129- ) I say to thee, Arise and take up thy little couch, and go to thine house.” He did not say, “That ye may know that God in heaven will by-and-by forgive sins”; but “that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.” Jesus is God; but here it is in His quality of the rejected Messiah, the Son of man, that He has power on earth to remit sins. He has authority from God, as indeed He is God; but still it is as Son of man, which adds immensely to the grace of His ways. The despised Messiah of Israel had authority on earth to forgive sins. Thus, the strength that is imparted by the Holy Ghost to the believer is not at all the ground of the remission of his sins, nor is to be the proof to himself that he is forgiven, but “that ye may know,” etc. Others sought to know the reality of this forgiveness, and, above all, of the Son of man’s authority to forgive man. This is God’s great object. It is not merely doing good to man, but the display of the rejected Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. God is putting honour on Him, not only in heaven but upon earth. Now He is exalted in heaven; but even as the Son of man, the rejected Christ, He has authority on earth to forgive sins; and this the Gospel proclaims. Then the strength to rise up and walk imparted to the poor powerless sinner is just a witness to others of the forgiveness of his sins; but the great thing for such an one is not merely what others see and judge of, but what pertains to himself alone, that none can absolutely know outside, that which is a word from the Lord to his own soul – “Thy sins are forgiven thee.”

The public fact, however, acts powerfully upon the beholders. “Immediately standing up before them, having taken up that whereon he was laid, he departed to his house, glorifying God. And amazement seized all, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.”

They had not the sense of forgiveness, but at least they were filled with fear. It was a new thing in Israel.

Luk 5:27-39 .

Mat 9:9-17 : Mar 2:13-22 .

We have seen the grace which both cleanses and forgives. The soul needs both. God is “faithful . . . to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jn 1:9 .) But now it will be found that it is not only grace which characterises the power of God, but the direction in which it works. The cleansing and forgiving might have been solely within Jewish precincts. It is true that the latter of the two – the forgiving is tied to the person of the Son of man (“The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins”), and that the title of Son of man supposes His rejection as Messiah. This, therefore, at length, opens the way for His working in grace among men as such – not merely in Israel. But all comes out far more distinctly in the new scene.

And after these things he went forth, and saw a tax-gatherer, Levi by name, sitting at the receipt of taxes; and said to him, Follow me.”

The Jews had an especial horror of tax-gatherers. They were their own countrymen; and yet they made themselves the instruments of their Gentile masters in gathering the taxes. Their position constantly gave occasion to the improper exercise of their authority, to oppressing the Jews, and to extorting money on false pretences or to an unlawful amount. Hence, as a class, the publicans were peculiarly in disfavour.

But when grace acts, it calls the evil as well as those whom men would count good. It goes out to the unjust no less than to persons just (as far as men could see). The Lord calls the tax-gatherer, Levi (who is named by himself Matthew, the inspired writer of the first Gospel). He was called, is it mere, in the very act, “sitting at the receipt of taxes.” We hear nothing of any antecedent process. There may have been: but nothing is revealed All we know is that, from the midst of this work, naturally odious in the eye of an Israelite, Levi was called to follow Jesus. This was a very significant token of grace, going out even to what was most offensive in the eyes of the chosen people. When God acted in grace, it was necessarily from Himself and for Himself, entirely above the creature; there was no ground in man why such favour should be shown him. If there were any reason in man, it would altogether cease to be the grace of God. Grace means the Divine favour, absolutely without motive save in God Himself, to a good-for-nothing creature, miserable and lost; and the moment that you come down to that which is utterly ruined, what difference does it make what may be the nature of the ruin, or what the means of it? If people are needy and ruined, this is enough for the grace of God in Christ, who calls such that they may be saved and follow Him.

Thus Levi quits all for Jesus: “He forsook all, rose up, and followed him.” But more than this: his heart, gladdened by such undeserved and unlooked-for grace, goes out to others. He “made a great entertainment for him in his house – and there was a great crowd of tax-gatherers and others who were at table with them.” This was a further carrying out of the same grand truth. God was displaying Himself in Jesus after a sort entirely unexpected by man. It is difficult for us to conceive the light in which the Jews regarded the publicans. But here was a great company of them, and of those who were associated with them; and, wonderful to say, Jesus the Holy One of God, sits down with these publicans and sinners, Jesus was now making known the grace of God. Man never understands this – never appreciates it. On the contrary, he charges grace (implicitly at least) with being indifferent to sin. The truth is, that self-righteousness covers sin, and is always as malignant as it is hypocritical, imputing its own evil to others, especially to grace. There is nothing so holy as grace, nothing which supposes sin to be so very evil. Nevertheless, there is a power in grace which calls and raises entirely above the conventionalities of men. It supposes total guilt and ruin when it comes to deliver; and if it comes to deliver, why should it not work among the neediest and the worst? Were it human, the effort would be unavailing. But it is the revelation of God Himself, and therefore it is efficacious by the gift and in the cross of Christ.

Man, however, objects. “Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured at his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with the tax-gatherers and sinners?” They had not the honesty to complain to Jesus, but vented their spleen against His disciples. But the Lord answers for His people. “Jesus answering said to them, They that are in sound health have not need of a physician; but those that are ill” – a simple but most satisfactory and impressive answer. Grace always enables even a man, a believer, to speak the whole truth; it is the only thing that does. How much more did He, Who was full of grace, speak in the power of truth! Granted that they were sick; they were just the persons for the physician. It is not even said that they were conscious of their sickness. At least God knows the need, and God seeks the needy, and Jesus was God Himself as man presented in grace. As He said, “I am not come to call righteous [persons], but sinful ones to repentance.”*tid=50#bkm130-

*It is instructive to observe that in the parallel passage of Matthew and of Mark the best authorities omit “to repentance.” How far from the truth is it that repentance is a Jewish thing! Luke, according to the deep moral design of his Gospel, has these words.

Then comes in another truth of immense importance. In reply to the question, “Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make supplications in like manner to those also of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?”*tid=50#bkm131- “He said to them, Can ye make the sons of the bridechamber tid=50#bkm132- fast while the bridegroom is with them?” They were ignorant of the glory of the person of Him Who was present, as much as of His grace. Had they known the singular dignity of Jesus, they would have seen how incongruous it would have been to fast in His presence. At ordinary times, in view of the evil of the first man, in the sad experience of his rebellion against God, to fast would be appropriate. But bow strange would be His people’s fastings in presence of their longed-for King! His very birth was announced by angels as good tidings of great joy, and the heavenly host praised God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.” Certainly, then, His disciples should act in consistency with the presence of such a glorious Person, with such a spring of joy to heaven and earth. Would a fast be in keeping with the circumstances? The Lord therefore answers, Can ye make the sons of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Gladness of heart suits both the grace and the glory of the Lord: “But days will come when also the bridegroom will have been taken away from them, then shall they fast in those days.” The Lord had the full consciousness of what was at hand – of man’s fatal, suicidal opposition to God, and to God above all manifest in Ills person. His rejection would soon come,tid=50#bkm133- and sorrow of heart for the disciples. “Then shall they fast in those days.”

*”Why . . . drink?”: “Why” () is in pmCD, etc., Old Lat., Syrr., etc., but Edd. omit, as corrBL.

“He”: so A, etc. Edd., “Jesus” after BCDL, 33.

But He furnishes more light than this. He points out the impossibility of making the principles of grace coalesce with the old system. This He sets forth by two similes. tid=50#bkm134- The first is the garment: “No one putteth a piece* of a new garment upon an old; otherwise, he will both rend the new, and the piece which is from the new will not match the old.” There can be no harmony between the old thing and the new: law and grace will never mix. But next, He sets it forth under the figure of the new wine. “No one putteth new wine into old skins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be poured out, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine is to be put into new skins, and both are preserved.” He shows that there is an energy in the new thing which is destructive to the old. Just as the new wine would burst the old skins, and thus the liquor would be lost and the bottles perish, so would fare that which Christ in the Gospel introduces. Where there is the attempt to connect grace with anything of the law, the old no longer retains its true use, and the new completely evaporates. “New wine is to be put into new skins.” Christianity has not only an inner principle peculiar to itself, as flowing from the revelation of God in Christ, but also it claims and creates forms adapted to its own nature. It is not a mere system of ordinances and prescriptions. It has living power, and that power makes new vehicles for itself. But man does not like it.

*”No one putteth a piece,” etc.: so AC, later uncials, most cursives, Old Lat., and some other versions. Edd. adopt “No one cutteth a piece out of a new garment and putteth it upon an old one; else he will both rend the new and the piece,” etc., after BDL, 1, 33, Syrr. “Will rend,” so Edd. with BCDL, 33.

T.R. “rends” is found in AE, etc., Amiat., Syrr., Memph.

“Will not match”: so Edd. after ABCDL, 33, etc. “Doth not match” is in E, etc., Amiat., Syrr., Memph.

“And both are preserved”: so ACD and later uncials, most cursives (69), Old Latin, Syrr., etc. Edd. omit, following BL, 1, 33, Memph. (from Matthew).

Accordingly the Lord adds what we have at the close of the chapter, and what is peculiar to this Gospel, the general maxim: “And no one, having drunk old wine [straightway]* wisheth for new; for he saith, The old is better.” The legal system is far more suited to the fallen nature of man; it gives importance to himself, and it claims his obedience, and falls in with his reason. Even a natural conscience owns the rightness of the law; but grace is supernatural. Though faith sees how perfectly suitable grace is to God as well as to the new man, and how it is the only hope for a sinful man who repents towards God; nevertheless it is wholly above the reasonings of man, and it is constantly suspected by those who know not its value and power. Man’s nature cleaves to its old habits of prejudices, and distrusts the intervention of grace.

*”[Straightway]”: so ACcorrE, etc., most cursives (33, 69), Syrr. Edd. omit, after BCpmL, 1, Aeth., Arm., Memph.

“Better”: so AD, etc. Edd. adopt “good,” following BL, Syrpesch, Memph. The verse is left out by D and some Western copies of Old Latin.

NOTES ON THE FIFTH CHAPTER.

116 Luk 5:1-11 . – As to the difference between this scene and that in Joh 21 , see Harnack, “Luke the Physician,” p. 227, and note 380 in the volume on that Gospel. Wright’s statement that “St. John’s account contradicts St. Luke’s” (“Synopsis,” p. 271), is itself contradicted by German opinion, that St. John’s, is “unhistorical.” The way in which such nine-pins are set up to be knocked down is very unedifying.

“The earlier event,” writes Bruce, “served the purpose of winning Peter to the life of discipleship: the later, of inspiring him to devotion to the heroic career of apostolate” (“Miraculous Element, etc.,” p. 229).

117 Luk 5:1 f. – Dr. Abbott, by way of distinguishing the two Evangelists’ respective accounts, observes that in Joh 21 , “there is only one boat mentioned” (art. in “Encyclop. Bibl.,” 32); but in verse 8 mention is made of the tender ( ) as well as the of verse 3. When it suits negative critics to insist on distinction in words, they are not slow to do so. The real differences are too many to support the idea of a discrepancy, as if there were duplicate accounts. If doctrinal insight fail, ingenuity must likewise: and so of Dr. Wright’s remark (loc. cit., p. 12) on verse 4, that if Luke “were ignorant of the visit to Galilee after the Resurrection, upon which he is silent, he would the more infer that the draught of fishes belonged to the earlier period of the ministry.”

118 “The Word of God.” – Cf. Luk 8:11 , Luk 11:28 . “As used by Luke,” writes Harnack, “the Word did not mean Church doctrine; it did not mean even the Bible; it meant the message of the free grace of God in Christ” (op. cit., p. 274). Cf. Act 8:11 where “the Word” and “the Scriptures” occur together. In Mat 15:6 (R.V.), and Mar 7:13 , it certainly means Old Testament Scripture, as again in Rev 1:2 .

What used to be called “proof-texts” of Scripture were singly a word () of God; but in Evangelical parlance by the Word of God is meant the whole of Scripture (Hofmann, “Scripture Proof,” part. i., p. 96 ff.). See Act 20:32 for like use of ; Heb 6:5 , and Heb 11:3 , for the employment of .

The following extract from Scholten expresses a now unhappily common idea, represented in England by the writings of Dr. James Martineau. “There is a difference between the Scripture and the Word of God. The latter is what God reveals in the human spirit concerning His will and Himself. The writing down of the communication is purely human; therefore the Bible cannot be called Revelation.” The effect of this is that the Scriptures have come to be regarded as a mere record of Revelation. As to this, see note 6 above, comparing note 69 on Mark and also note 115 on John.

It is the fashion, on the part of those who disparage the unlimited authority of the Bible, to taunt with “Bibliolatry,” i.e., superstition, such as adhere to the view of inspiration stated in note 6 above, with making the same “fetish” of Scripture that others make of the Church. Well, the Word of God commends those who tremble at it (Isa 66:2 , Isa 66:5 ): who dare not abate their reverence for it, because for them at least it enshrines CHRIST, so that impairing its plenary inspiration is nothing more nor less than taking Him “away.” As to our Lord’s having merely “the first place,” see “the Bible or the Church,” p. 213 f.

Are we to say that the authority of Scripture is “of the past alone,” that it is “a fossil stored carefully in a museum,” as Grubb (“Authority and the Light Within,” pp. 28, 37)? Or rather, as the writer to the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 4:12 , with which cf. verses 4 and 7), that Scripture is “living,” as God Himself? Do we not “hear” inspired Apostles, and so God, in their writings; 1Jn 4:6 , Rom 7:1 ? Scripture is not merely compared to a “two-edged sword,” but is said to transcend that: it deals with Past, Present, and Future alike, so that its penmen did not serve only their own generation (Act 13:36 ).

Archer Butler has a sermon, taken from the present passage, on “The Word of God” (vol. ii.).

119 Luk 5:5 . – “Master,” This word (as ) in Luke is used by disciples; by others (e.g., Luk 21:7 ).

120 “Depart . . . sinful man, Lord.” Here we have the disciple’s impression as to the Lord’s sinlessness. Norris compares the lesson of the Transfiguration. As to sin, see note on 11: 4; and for the word “sinner” in this Gospel, cf. Luk 7:37 , Luk 13:2 , Luk 15:10 , Luk 18:13 . For “Lord” in this connection, cf. Joh 13:13 .

“The Character of Peter” is the subject of Dr. Whyte’s discourse LXXV., in the series entitled “Bible Characters.”

120a Stock discriminates seven steps in the call and appointment of the first disciples, as to which see his “Talks,” p. 85.

121 Luk 5:14 . – “To tell no man.” So only prescribed in Galilee, perhaps because it was the headquarters of the “Zealots,” as to whom see note 146.

122 “Moses ordained.” A confirmation by our Lord of the Mosaic authorship of that which is by critics called the “Priestly Code,” cf. Luk 20:37 , Luk 24:44 . May not one fairly say that discrediting writings which on the face of them claim to be those of Moses is to disbelieve them? The Lord’s words in Joh 5:47 find striking illustration in our own day. It is not, as alleged, believers who are responsible, by appealing to His utterances, for any surrender of confidence in Him.

123 Luk 5:16 . – “Withdrew.” Wesley’s note draws attention to the compound imperfect here: “He did so frequently.”

124 Luk 5:17-24 . – This paragraph serves as Harnack’s second illustration of Luke’s supposed use of Mark’s record (“Luke the Physician,” pp. 90-92).

125 Luk 5:17 . – “Pharisees.” Cf. in particular, Luk 11:42-44 , and see Edersheim, “Sketches of Jewish Social Life,” chapter xiv. “The power of the Lord.” Cf. 1Co 1:24 .

126 Luk 5:19 . – “Tiles”: Luke’s adaptation to the way in which a Roman house was constructed (Ramsay).

Weiss is alone in following B, which has “all” instead of “Jesus.” This he thinks was conformed to “Him” in verse 18. There may be no other way of accounting for B’s reading.

126a Luk 5:20 . – See sermon from this text, by D. L. Moody, on Faith.

127 Luk 5:24 . – “The Son of Man” (cf. Mat 9:6 , Mar 2:10 ). This title of our Lord has been merely touched on in note 30 above.

To the Old Testament passages named in note 30 on Mark (2: 10) may be added Num 23:10 .

As by other Synoptists, it is put by Luke in the mouth of the Lord alone, and in the following passages, beside the present: – Luk 6:5 , Luk 6:22 ; Luk 7:34 ; Luk 9:22 , Luk 9:26 , Luk 9:44 , Luk 9:58 ; Luk 11:30 ; Luk 12:8 – where Mat 10:32 has “I” – Luk 12:10 , Luk 12:40 ; Luk 17:22 , Luk 17:24 , Luk 17:26 , Luk 17:30 ; Luk 18:8 , Luk 18:31 ; Luk 19:10 ; Luk 21:27 , Luk 21:36 ; Luk 22:22 , Luk 22:48 , Luk 22:69 ; and Luk 24:7 .

For its use in the Jerusalem Talmud (Taanith, 656), see Streane’s edition of Laible, pp. 10, 50.

Opinions vary according as scholars consider the title to describe the Lord as –

i. The promised Seed: so Erasmus, after Gregory Nazianzen. Allied to this view, is that which makes it mean Last Adam and Second Man (Beyschlag and Fairbairn).

ii. The ideal or representative man: Schleiermacher, Neander, Godet, Westcott, Stanton, Sanday (for “Humanity”: see “Life of Christ in Recent Research,” pp. 126-132).

iii. “Man” as such, according to Syriac. as in 1Co 15:45 , of Adam (“Barnosho”): H. Holtzmann, Martineau, Wellhausen, Nldeke, Bevan, Marti (see Stalker, p. 72 ff.). This view has been questioned by Dalman. Indeed, as Abbott says, “The thought, not the word, is the important and really only feasible thing, for Aramaic did not preserve the distinction between Adam and Ish” (“Notes on New Testament Criticism,” p. 141).

Allied to the last-named view is that of Nsgen and Wendt, according to which “Son of Man” would stand for lowly and weak (which Westcott has questioned): and so one reaches such an idea as that of D. Smith (p. 49 f.), that it was a nickname for one of the common folk (p. 53), a name of scorn (cf. Luk 9:58 ), which the Evangelists, accordingly, who loved the Lord would not themselves use of Him.

That it stands for “Man” in general, a single passage will negative: this is, found in both Luk 7:33 f., and Mat 11:18 f., where the Lord and John the Baptist are contrasted. According to that theory, the Baptist would not be a man at all!

Most think that it originated from Dan 7:13 . Charles holds that it came from the pre-Christian similitudes of the Book of Enoch (vi. 46, etc.). He, with Meyer and Schrer, treats it as having been a current Messianic title; but such is not the opinion of the majority. In Daniel (after Psa 8:5 and 80: 17. in the LXX.), in the Apocalypse and Joh 5:27 , it is used without the article, and in the Synoptics, accordingly, becomes a new title: see Westcott’s note in his posthumous “Commentary on the Gospel of John in Greek,” p. 74 ff.

As used by our Lord Himself, some, as B. Weiss, H. Holtzmann, Harnack, and Dalman, regard it as meaning Messiah (cf. Wellhausen on Luk 6:5 ). This is only admissible as we qualify it with rejected (cf. note 565). So Fairbairn: “It was the Messiah conceived as the suffering Servant of God” (“Philosophy of the Christian Religion,” p. 397 f.).

For an effective reply to Friedrich Delitzsch, who has assigned a Babylonian origin to the name, see Knig, “The End of the Babylonian Captivity of the Bible,” p. 77 f.

Montefiore has a long note on this title in vol. i., pp. 93-106, of his recent work.

128 “To forgive sins.” As to the idea (broached by Germans, followed by Drummond and Schmidt) that forgiveness here means between man and man, it may be said, had the Lord meant no more than that, He would have made it plain, to avoid a charge of blasphemy.

Again, Mason observes that “One might as well say that every man is homeless, or each man’s death may have redemptive value for others” (“Camb. Theological Essays,” p. 450 f.). Upon the topic of forgiveness of sins in general, see below at Luk 11:4 (note 285).

129 “He said to the paralyzed man.” These parenthetical words, as they occur in all the Synoptics, have been deemed proof of use of a written source (H. Holtzmann and his followers). Inspiration is not impaired by such things (note 4): Divine guidance of the Evangelists determined retention, change, or omission of words.

129a Luk 5:30 . – Pharisees of either the “Catholic” or “Evangelical” type, if consistent, would have had to condemn our Lord here for infringing their bugbear of looseness. But, as the Expositor remarks in this chapter, Christ “did not choose His company.” Such choice for His followers is “heresy” () as to which cf. 1Co 11:19 (parties). Cf. 6: 40. and note 147 C, ad fin.

“Their scribes.” Cf. Act 23:9 . Some men of this class seem to have belonged to the Sadducean faction also; of them the Temple would be the stronghold, as the Synagogue that of the Pharisees. Cf. note 23 on Mark, and on the Pharisees of the school of Shammai, note 310 below.

130 Luk 5:32 . – Cf. “Prayer of Manasseh,” 8.

131 Luk 5:33 . – See note 32 on Mark.

132 Luk 5:34 . – “Sons of the bridechamber,” the bridegroom’s invited friends.

133 Luk 5:35 . – This is the Lord’s first public announcement of His death, after He had spoken of it privately to Nicodemus (Joh 3:14 ). See, further, Luk 9:22 , Luk 9:31 , Luk 9:44 ; Luk 12:50 ; Luk 13:32 f.; Luk 17:25 ; Luk 18:31-33 ; Luk 20:9-18 ; Luk 22:14-22 ; besides Luk 24:7 , Luk 24:26 , Luk 24:46 .

Words of Wesley, in his Journal (7th April, 1763) upon Fasting, have a voice for the present day: “Is not the neglect of this plain duty one general occasion of deadness among Christians? Can any one willingly neglect it and be guiltless?” Cf. W. Kelly’s “Lectures on Matthew,” p. 166

134 Luk 5:36-39 . – This parable, in two parts, is the first recorded by Luke. See special note at 8: 10. The variations in the other Gospels should be compared. J. Weiss thinks that Luke has “misunderstood” what he found in Mark, and “stunted” the meaning. See, on the other hand, Wellhausen. The fault is in interpreters not sufficiently regarding the immediate context. Cf. Neander, p. 220 f. (following Chrysostom), and Carr’s notes.

Luk 5:37 f. – The passage shows how, on the one hand, doctrine is cemented by rite; on the other, how rite is worthless without doctrine: our Lord here shows their necessary connection. Rome has robbed the Gospel of its simplicity by her multitude of rites; the Society of Friends has shorn it of rite altogether: such is the evil of extremes. We should not deviate from God’s way either to the right or to the left. Manning’s hesitation, on the eve of his “verting” to Rome, between Romanism and Quakerism singularly illustrates this twofold tendency. Barclay of Ury in his “Apology” uses the logic of the Jesuits, from whom he received his early education.

As to the words and , see Trench, “Synonyms of the New Testament.”

135 Luk 5:39 . – The reading must be understood as doing the work of a comparative.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 5:1-11

1Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. 4When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” 11When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Luk 5:1 “the crowd was pressing around Him” Jesus’ preaching/teaching/healing ministry caused large crowds to follow Him; most of them tried to touch Him.

“listening to the word of God” This is a Lukan phrase (cf. Luk 5:1; Luk 8:11; Luk 8:21; Luk 11:28; and Act 4:31; Act 6:2; Act 6:7; Act 8:14; Act 11:1; Act 12:24; Act 13:5; Act 13:7; Act 13:44; Act 13:46; Act 13:48; Act 16:32; Act 17:13). It is used only once in each of the other Gospels. It reflects a Septuagint idiom.

Sometimes we modern believers think the “word of God” is only the Bible, but in reality, the phrase has a much wider meaning. It refers to all that God has communicated to us. Some of it is recorded in the Bible. Psa 19:7-11 and 119 are OT examples of how the Jews understood this phrase. The NT understanding can be seen in Luk 1:2; Luk 8:11-15; Luk 8:21; Luk 11:28; Luk 24:44. Thank God for the words we do have! We must act on them and not worry about what we do not have. We have all we need for salvation and the Christian life. We must resist our curiosity.

“by the lake of Gennesaret” This body of water goes by several other names.

1. “Chinneroth”

2. the Sea of Galilee

3. the Sea of Tiberias

4. sometimes just “the sea” (cf. Mat 13:1; Mar 4:1, from the Septuagint of Num 34:11; Jos 12:3)

It is a body of water about twelve miles by eight miles and is 680 feet below sea level, surrounded by low rolling hills. The etymology of the term Gennesaret is uncertain. Because it is the name of a land area west of the lake that was very fertile, some suppose it means “princely garden.”

Luk 5:2 “He saw two boats” This Greek term can be used of any size boat. The fact that this boat was manned by several men in Luk 5:2; Luk 5:4-5 implies that at least one was a large fishing boat.

“were washing their nets” Fishing normally was done on the Sea of Galilee at night. Apparently these men had been fishing all night and simply were washing and repairing their nets (cf. Mar 1:19) for the next night.

Luk 5:3 “He got into one of the boats” The press of the crowd was so great that Jesus got into the boat as a means of protecting Himself (cf. Mar 3:9; Mar 4:1) and possibly as a way of amplifying His voice to the large crowd.

“Simon’s” He will be the leader of the Apostolic group. Jesus changes his name to Peter (Cephas) in Mat 16:16-18. He is first called Peter in Luke’s Gospel in Luk 6:14.

“He sat down and began teaching” This is the normal position for rabbis when teaching (cf. Luk 4:20; Mat 26:55), but in this context it would have been safer to sit than stand in a boat.

Luk 5:4 “Put out into the deep water” These are both aorist active imperatives. It was the wrong time of day, the wrong place, and the wrong depth to catch fish, yet Peter obeyed (after arguing briefly, cf. Luk 5:5)!

Luk 5:5 “Master” The Greek term epistats literally means “one placed over.” The term was used of one in charge. This term is also used by Luke in Luk 8:24; Luk 8:45. Luke never uses the term rabbi because he is writing to Gentiles (cf. Luk 5:5; Luk 8:24; Luk 8:45; Luk 9:33; Luk 9:49; Luk 17:13).

“we worked hard all night and caught nothing” Why did Luke record this incident out of all the things Jesus said and did? One reason is that this chapter has a series of incidents that show Jesus’ power over (1) nature; (2) disease; (3) sin. This would have confirmed His new teachings about Himself and the present Kingdom of God. He not only spoke with authority, He acted with authority (cf. Luk 4:32; Luk 4:36).

Still (noting this is still Luke, not John) one wonders whether this is not a slap at human effort, energy, merit, and knowledge. These professional fishermen tried their best with no results, but Jesus’ word was overwhelmingly productive.

Luk 5:6 “they enclosed a great quantity of fish” Jesus, being Lord of all creation, understood well the habits of fish and could control them (cf. Mat 17:27). This is not an example of a great fisherman, but Jesus, God’s agent of creation and Spirit-filled Messiah!

Luk 5:8 “when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet” The phrase is literally “fell at the knees of Jesus.” He fell down in the middle of the fish! Peter, who knew fishing, recognized the miraculous nature of this event and the power of the person!

“Lord” When we interpret the Gospels we must remember they were written well after the events. Those who wrote knew the full story. It is difficult to know how much of their full gospel knowledge is read back into their accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. The term “Lord” is a good example. It is obvious that this term takes on divine attributes after the resurrection (cf. Act 2:36; Rom 10:9-13; Php 2:9-11), but also culturally it could simply be a polite address comparable to our “mister ” or “sir ” (cf. Mat 18:26; Luk 7:6; Luk 9:57; Joh 4:11). It is possible that Luke intentionally plays on this ambiguity (cf. Vincent Taylor, The Names of Jesus, p. 42, examples Luk 7:13; Luk 7:19; Luk 10:1; Luk 10:39; Luk 10:41). This account here is a good illustration. What did Peter mean by kneeling before Jesus and calling Him Lord? It is obvious adoration, but was it worship to Jesus as the incarnate Son of God, the Messiah (cf. Luk 9:20)?

“I am a sinful man” The closer we get to God, the more we recognize our own sinfulness (cf. Job 42:5-6; Isa 6:5). There is also the reassurance that God loves and works with sinful, fallen, marred people (e.g. Moses, David, Apostles). Fallen mankind’s only hope is the gracious character of God and the self-giving work of Christ.

Luk 5:9 “For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish” The miracle astonished the helpers also.

Luk 5:10 “James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon” These would become the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples. All of them were middle-class businessmen from Galilee.

“Do not fear” This is a present middle (deponent) imperative with the negative particle, which usually means stop an act already in process. This is a characteristic Lukan phrase (cf. Luk 1:13; Luk 1:30; Luk 5:10; Luk 8:50; Luk 12:32; Act 18:9; Act 27:24).

“you will be catching men” This Greek phrase implies “catching them alive.” This may be an allusion to Jer 16:16 about YHWH sending fishermen and hunters into the world to find and restore His people. It is possible that the early church’s symbol of a fish for Christianity is related to

1. the acrostic, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”

2. catching fish, used as an evangelistic metaphor

Luk 5:11 “they left everything” After a tremendous catch of fish like this, which was worth so much, they left them. The question has been raised, did they leave them to rot? Obviously not. There were other workers of Zebedee, or possibly they were used to feed the crowd.

Here again, one wonders how much this phrase is meant to symbolically characterize true faith (cf. Luk 5:28; Luk 14:33).

“followed Him” This is probably not the first time they had heard, seen, and talked with Jesus. We learn from John’s Gospel that Andrew had introduced them earlier (cf. Joh 1:29-42). I am sure they had heard Him preach and teach. Possibly they had seen Him perform miracles. It is significant to realize they left everything and immediately followed Him! This was a rabbinical way of acknowledging their officially becoming disciples of Jesus (cf. Luk 5:27-28; Luk 9:23; Luk 9:49; Luk 9:57; Luk 9:59; Luk 9:61; Luk 18:22; Luk 18:28).

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS TO Luk 5:12-32

A. These accounts are paralleled in Mar 1:40-45; Mat 8:1-4; and Mar 2:14-17; and Mat 9:9-13.

B. These incidents show Jesus’ revolutionary attitudes and actions toward lepers and publicans so different from the rabbis of His day.

C. Luke purposefully chose incidents which showed Jesus’ power

1. over nature (Luk 5:1-11)

2. over disease (Luk 5:12-26)

3. and over prejudice and human sin (Luk 5:27-32)

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

And, &c. verses: Luk 5:1-11.

it came to pass. See Luk 1:8.

to hear = and heard. So all the texts. God. App-98.

He. Emphatic, to distinguish Him from the crowds.

stood = was standing.

by = beside. Greek. para. App-101.

the lake, &c. See App-169. Matthew, Mark, and John call it “sea”.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1-11.] THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES. CALL OF PETER AND THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE. The question at once meets us, whether this account, in its form here peculiar to Luke, is identical in its subject-matter with Mat 4:18-22, and Mar 1:16-20. With regard to this, we may notice the following particulars. (1) Contrary to Schleiermachers inference (Trans. pp. 75, 76), it must be, I think, that of most readers, that a previous and close relation had subsisted between our Lord and Peter. The latter calls Him (= ), and : evidently (Luk 5:5, end) expects a miracle; and follows Him, with his partners, without any present express command so to do.

Still all this might be, and yet the account might be identical with the others. For our Lord had known Peter before this, Joh 1:41 ff.; and, in all probability, as one of His disciples. And although there is here no express command to follow, yet the words in Luk 5:10 may be, and are probably intended to be, equivalent to one. (2) The Evangelist evidently intends this as the first apostolic calling of Peter and his companions. The expressions in Luk 5:11 could not otherwise have been used. (3) There is yet the supposition, that the accounts in Matthew and Mark may be a shorter way of recounting this by persons who were not aware of these circumstances. But then such a supposition will not consist with that high degree of authority in those accounts, which I believe them to have: see note on Mark. (4) It seems to me that the truth of the matter is nearly this:-that this event is distinct from, and happened at a later period than, the calling in Matt. and Mark; but that the four Apostles, when our Lord was at Capernaum, followed their occupation as fishermen. There is every thing to shew, in our account, that the calling had previously taken place; and the closing of it by the expression in Luk 5:11 merely indicates what there can be no difficulty in seeing even without it, that our present account is an imperfect one, written by one who found thus much recorded, and knowing it to be part of the history of the calling of the Apostles, appended to it the fact of their leaving all and following the Lord. As to the repetition of the assurance in Luk 5:10, I see no more in it than this, which appears also from other passages in the Gospels, that the Apostles, as such, were not called or ordained at any special moment, or by any one word of power alone; but that in their case as well as ours, there was line upon line, precept upon precept: and that what was said generally to all four on the former occasion, by words only, was repeated to Peter on this, not only in words, but by a miracle. Does his fear, as expressed in Luk 5:8, besides the reason assigned, indicate some previous slowness, or relaxation of his usually earnest attachment, of which he now becomes deeply ashamed? (5) It is also to be noticed that there is no chronological index to this narrative connecting it with what precedes or follows. It cannot well (see Luk 5:8) have taken place after the healing of Peters wifes mother; and (Luk 5:1) must have been after the crowd had now become accustomed to hear the Lord teach. (6) Also, that there is no mention of Andrew here, as in Luk 5:10 there surely would have been, if he had been present. (7) It will be seen how wholly irreconcilable either of the suppositions is with the idea that Luke used the Gospel of Matt., or that of Mark, in compiling his own.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Shall we turn now in our Bibles to Luke’s gospel chapter 5.

The popularity of the ministry of Jesus is growing. Word is being spread around of the miracles that are being wrought by Him, and now wherever He goes people are beginning to jostle and shove in order that they might get close to Him. It made it difficult for Jesus to travel to get around because of the multitudes that, according to Mark’s gospel, at this point were thronging Him wherever He went.

And so here in Luke’s gospel,

It came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God ( Luk 5:1 ),

And that to me is always an exciting situation, when people are pressing to hear the word of God. When this becomes such a priority in the life of people, to just hear the word of God, they pressed to hear it. But,

he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret ( Luk 5:1 ),

Also known as the Sea of Tiberias, also known as the Sea of Galilee. Whenever you are talking about a sea, somehow in my mind you get a vision of a sort of a salt body of water, but the lake of Gennesaret, or it’s to me more of a lake than it is the sea. It’s not salty water, but is fresh water, drinkable. So yet, it is known as the Sea of Galilee.

There were two ships that were standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and he prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship ( Luk 5:2-3 ).

So in order to escape a little from the crowd that was thronging Him, He commandeered Simon’s ship. He got in it, and He said, “Pull on out a little ways,” in order that He might be able to teach the people without them pressing so close that He loses the sight of those that were behind. Now here in the area by Capernaum there is sort of a good slope where the Sea of Galilee comes down, where the banks come down into the Sea of Galilee there, so that just pulling out just a little ways from shore, you’re sort of an amphitheater type of a situation, which made it very conducive to teach the multitude of people who were thronging to hear the word of God.

Now when he was finished speaking to them, he then said to Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught ( Luk 5:4 ).

For a load, you’re going to be pulling in a large catch.

And so Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net ( Luk 5:5 ).

Simon is objecting to the command in a polite sort of a way. “Lord, I am the fisherman, I know how to fish, and I know the time to fish, and I know that the time isn’t now.” As the day gets warmer the fish go to the deeper areas of the lake. And these nets were not really deep-water nets, they were sort of surface nets. They had the floats on the top, and they just cast them out as they are rolling around in a circle in the boat. And then as they complete the circle with the boat having cast the nets around in a circle, then they pull the nets on into the boat, and they are not deep-water type nets. They would catch the fish in the shallower areas in the cooler part of the day. Or in the evening which was usually the best time for fishing. So they’ve been fishing all night, caught nothing, so you assume that this just isn’t the time. “Yet, nevertheless at thy word, I will let down the net.”

Now this to me is interesting, because here we find men laboring all night with no results. Now suddenly Jesus directs them to labor in the same area, and they have phenomenal results. And to me this marks the contrast that usually exists in those efforts that are on our own, and those efforts that are directed by the Lord. I think of all of the time and energy and money that is wasted by man-inspired efforts. We see a task that needs to be done. We sit down and figure out what would be the best way to accomplish this task. We develop our programs, and then we develop the financing in order that we might fund the programs that we have devised. And then we set up the committees, then we set up the ways by which we might implement that program. And certainly in the church of Jesus Christ we have seen some remarkably phenomenal programs established by man.

We have some friends who were pastoring a church in the same denomination that we served for so many years, where we got packaged programs from the denomination. Quick, convenient, you didn’t even have to think of one, they thought of them for you. All you had to do is get your committees and inaugurate them. And, of course, every year you get two of them. You get your spring enlargement program, and that you get the one to beat the summer slump program. And so this church was going to go all out. I mean they had everything all lined out. You take a telephone book, and you go up the pages and each person takes a page of the telephone book, and they call all the people on that page, and invite them to the church. And then, of course, you have a person over that, that calls everybody whose supposed to be calling all the people to make sure they call the people they were supposed to call. And then they filled helium balloons with numbers, and you turn them lose upwind from the city, so that the balloons sort of drop down, and so the numbers are then put in a barrel, and the person that draws the number. And if you bring the number out of your helium, there is a little note telling you there is going to be a drawing, special prize if you there and get the number. So you get the people coming with their numbers so that they might get into the drawing, and perhaps win this special prize that will be given away when the number is drawn out of the barrel. And then, of course, you organize your transportation committees. If a person needs transportation, they’ll drive out, and pick them up, and bring them to church. And I mean it goes on, and on, and on. I mean so many gimmicks, you can’t believe.

And so this particular church thought, “Well, we’re going to really go into this big program, we’re going to go full into it.” And so I was talking to the pastors some six months after the program, and I said, “Well, now it’s been six months since the program was concluded, as you evaluate the results of the program, how many of you have been able to add permanently to your church?” And they said, “Well, there is an eighty-five year old man that we have to drive twenty-five miles to pick up, and he really can’t hear, but he doesn’t get to see people very much, so he just loves to sit around where people are, and he is the only one we were able to add to the membership.”

You know, after spending thousands of dollars on all of these programs to add to the church. There is man’s way of doing it, and then there is the Lord’s way. None directed service can be very unfruitful. But directed service can be exciting.

Now Jesus is directing Peter. Just launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draft. And Peter semi-arguing says, “Lord, we’ve been fishing all night and we’ve caught nothing, nevertheless, at thy word. (If you insist on it, we’ll do it),” not really expecting anything.

How many times I’ve met people who are discouraged because of bad experiences. How many times when we’ve suggested a solution to a person’s problem, they’ll immediately respond, “Oh, I’ve tried that.” But did you try it at the Lord’s direction, or did you try it on your own initiative? It makes a difference when the Lord directs you to do a thing. You can be sure when the Lord is directing your service, that your service for the Lord will not be in vain.

So when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fish: and their net began to brake. So they signaled to their partners, [which were James and John] who were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and they filled both of the ships, so that they began to sink ( Luk 5:6-7 ).

Success beyond their wildest dreams by simple obedience to the command of Jesus. Now the result of the success to me is significant. When we have devised programs, and we put in all of the human energy, and the human effort, and we begin by the human effort to gain a response. You’ve got something that is working, you’ve got something that is attracting people. What do you do with it? You franchise it. You carry it out other places. You develop your success seminars. And you invite others to come and learn how to bait your hook, to make your lure more attractive. So you can gather more fish. But when it is the Lord doing the work, rather than developing your success seminars, and being all puffed up over what’s been accomplished, like Peter you just sort of fall at the feet of Jesus and say, “Lord, I am not worthy, depart from me Lord, I am a sinful man.”

Suddenly you’re aware of God’s work. You’re aware of God’s power. You’re aware of the presence of God, and that is always a humbling experience. No man who has stood in the presence of God can be proud. Standing in the presence of the Lord, conscious presence of the Lord, is always a very humbling experience.

Depart from me, Lord, [Peter said,] I am a sinful man. And he was astonished, and all of those that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so also was James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; for from now on you’re going to catch men. So when they brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him ( Luk 5:8-11 ).

The Lord brought them to the peak, to the ultimate of success in their chosen profession, and then called them to leave it, to follow Him. Their little ships rowing to shore, weighted down in the water by the load of fish. The dream of every Galilean fishermen, and from that point of success the Lord said, “From now on you’re going to catch men.” And they left all to follow Jesus.

Now in the other gospels they do not give us the background to the call of Peter and John. And it would appear from the other gospels that Jesus was just walking by the Sea of Galilee and He saw some fishermen mending their nets, and He said, “Come, take up your cross and follow me.” Or, “Come leave your nets and follow me.” And they dropped their nets and followed Jesus without even knowing Him or seeing Him. That is not so. These men had already experienced the Lord, they knew the Lord. Jesus wasn’t a stranger to them. They knew Him. Now He is calling them to a complete commitment in following Him.

Now it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man was full of leprosy; who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and begged him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him ( Luk 5:12-13 ).

He is going to give us a list of some of the miracles that Jesus was accomplishing. Sort of a variety of miracles. The one directing them and catching the fish, sort of a miracle in nature. Now the miracle of the curing of an incurable disease. Leprosy was one of the most dreaded and loathed diseases in the aged world. If a person had leprosy he was to be ostracized from the community. Nobody could touch him. If they touched him, you would be unclean. Jesus touched him.

Now in another case when Jesus healed lepers, He did not touch them. Jesus did not confine Himself to a particular pattern in doing His work. And I am glad for that. Because we so often are trying to find the formula as though it existed within a formula. Jesus said, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, you hear the sound thereof, but you can’t really tell from whence it is coming, or where it is going. And so is he that is born of the Spirit” ( Joh 3:8 ).

God does not confine Himself to our patterns, to our methods, to our ways. In seminary we had a class in methodology. As always, men is seeking to develop the methods or to learn the methods by which God works. But the interesting thing is that God doesn’t work by any particular method. There are diversities of gifts, and diversities of operations. Yet, it’s the same Lord. So there are different gifts, but even with the same gift, there are different ways by which that gift operates within the individual. The Holy Spirit dividing to each man severally as He wills. And so He always maintains the control of method and the work which is to be done. At best I can only be an instrument through which God does work.

So here we find Jesus touching the man. And the interesting question is, “If thou wilt Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean.” So often when we pray we say, “Now, Lord, if it is your will,” and I am not putting that down. I feel that we should, that whether I say it or not is an underlying fact in every prayer that I ever offer to God. I don’t want my will to be done above God’s. “Now, God, You set Your will aside, because this is what I want You to do.” The purpose of prayer is never the accomplishing of my will. Except as my will has been molded and shaped and conformed to His will. Always the purpose of prayer, the thrust of prayer is the will of God, the accomplishing of the will of God upon the earth. And we need to remember that. Jesus said, “Nevertheless, not what I will, but thy will be done” ( Mar 14:36 ). And that was at the end of the prayer, after He had offered His request, then He made that statement. And that’s not a bad statement for us to make. After laying out to God the things that we desire, I think it is always wise to just say, “Lord, not what I will, but Your will be done.”

Now quite often the Lord is willing to do those things that we desire. When He said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus said, “I am willing, be thou made clean.” And He touched him, and he was cured of his leprosy immediately. Now in the case of the ten lepers that came to Jesus, He didn’t touch them, and they were healed as they went. In the case of this fellow, he was healed immediately. Again, diversities of operations. He doesn’t always work the same way.

Now the problem that would develop if He worked the same way is that, it didn’t happen to me the way it happened to you, then I think, “Oh, God is not doing it for me.” So God keeps His ways diverse, so that when I relate to you what God has done in my life, you then don’t look for my experience that I’ve got, but you look for your own personal experience. For God does not pattern Himself in His work in our lives. And He may work in you in a totally different way, and your reaction may be completely different than my reaction to the work of God.

There is a value to testimony meetings, but there is always a problem with testimony meetings. Because through testimony meetings so oftentimes we seek then to have a similar experience to someone else. And the emphasis in the testimony meetings seems always to be experiential, or this is the way I experienced it, this is how God did it for me, this is what God did for me, and then I begin to think, “Oh, God didn’t do it for me that way, there must be something wrong with me, because I didn’t feel that. I didn’t see the lights flashing. I didn’t get the tingling down my spine. I guess maybe I don’t have it, because I didn’t experience it like someone else.” So God keeps working in a variety of ways so that we don’t try to pattern God after our methods.

So he was healed immediately. Now Jesus said to him,

Don’t tell anybody: but just go, and show yourself to the priest ( Luk 5:14 ),

A marvelous thing about the law of God, the book of Leviticus, is that God in the law provided the way by which a person of an incurable disease could be returned into society and into fellowship in the worship of God when he was cured of the incurable disease. Now that I really like that, because God left Himself space to work. And this is the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. This is the method by which he is to be restored into the full fellowship of the family. And yet, leprosy is incurable. Even to the present day leprosy is incurable, it can be arrested, and they can be brought to an arrested state now in what the call the Hanson’s disease, but it is still incurable. And it was incurable then, and yet God made provision for Him to work sovereignly, even in incurable situations. God always left Himself that space, to inapt, to put into operation His higher laws that supersede the natural laws as we know them. So Jesus said, “Follow the law, go show yourself to the priest.” And, of course, the priest would examine him, and see no white flesh, and see the area where the leprosy was all pink, and new flesh. And so he would set him in the house where he would have to be for seven days, and then he comes back and shows himself to the priest again. He examines him, doesn’t find anything, and then the fellow brings two doves. And the one dove is killed, and the blood is poured with water into a basin. And the second dove is taken and immersed in this bloody water, and set free. And the second dove flying off, the bloody water dripping off his wings, as he takes off, is a symbol of the disease being taken from the man, and his full restoration now into the community. Can you imagine the emotions that a leper must have felt when he saw that dove flying away, and suddenly he realized that he could be restored completely and fully into society? Here he was hopelessly ostracized because of this loathsome, incurable disease, and yet, he always knew, God has wrought a work.

So Jesus told him, “Do what the law tells you to do, show yourself to the priest.” But Jesus could not hide. More and more people were hearing of the miracles that were being accomplished, and the crowds were coming and thronging. And He healed them, and they came actually to be healed from their infirmities. Verse Luk 5:16 :

And Jesus withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed ( Luk 5:16 ).

As we pointed out last week, as we were studying the gospel of Luke, or the week before. The humanity of Jesus is the thing that Luke points out. The Son of man, the human side. And because this is the particular emphasis of Luke’s gospel, Luke makes more mention of the prayer life of Christ than any of the other gospels. Luke gives us insight into the prayer life of Christ. So here again, he shows us, he gives us a little insight into that prayer life of Jesus our Lord. Now all I can say is that, if Jesus as the Son of God felt the necessity of prayer, who do you think you are that you can get by without prayer? If He, being the Son of God, felt it such a necessary part of His life, surely it ought to be a very necessary and considered to be a very necessary part of all of our lives.

Again, the mystery of heaven, I am certain, is that men pray so little. I am sure the angels discuss this all the time. When they watch and observe us going through all of our calamities, all of our troubles, and they are just waiting to be dispatched to help us. And they watch, and we get knocked down and bloodied, and we stand up, and get knocked over again. And I am sure the angels say, “When is that nut going to call? How long is he going to go on until he cries out for help? If he only knew what God has made available to him.” The mystery of the prayerlessness of infirmed man.

Now it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees the doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem: [and I like this,] and the power of the Lord was present to heal them ( Luk 5:17 ).

Now Jesus had began to attract the notice and the attention of a hostile crowd, the Pharisees, the doctors of the law, and they were coming all the way from Jerusalem up to the area of Galilee because they heard of Him. And their purpose of coming was really of being more critical than accepting. Here is a rising movement, a spiritual movement among the people. Now they have pretty well set themselves in a comfortable position as religious leaders. Here is a threat to them. They must come up and listen carefully, and examine Him, so that they can contradict Him, and show where He is at fault, and to dispel any idea that this man might truly be of God, and possibly the Messiah. But while they were there, the power of the Lord was present to heal.

And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with palsy: and they sought a means to bring him in, and lay him before Jesus. But when they could not find a way that they might bring him in because of the multitude, they climbed up on the roof, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus ( Luk 5:18-19 ).

And so you can get the picture. Jesus is sitting there in the house, and the people are all gathered, the multitude is gathered around, and suddenly there is a noise upon the roof, and the tiles are being pulled back, and then the ropes, and here is this guy being let down right in front of Jesus. These guys are ingenious, I admire them, I really do. They are determined. They’ve got a friend, they want help for him, and they are determined to get help. Now I tell you, those are the kind of buddies you need. And so they come with him to the house, carrying him in his bed. They can’t get in, and so they are not to be stopped. And so they let him down right in front of Jesus.

And when he saw their faith ( Luk 5:20 ),

Not the faith of the fellow that was let down, the faith of his friends that brought him. That’s great to be surrounded by friends who believe. And He saw their faith,

and he said to them, Man, your sins are forgiven ( Luk 5:20 ).

Now I imagine the guys upon on the roof said, “No, no, no, Lord, that’s not what we want, we want him to walk home.”

So often in their minds, illness was related to sin. You remember when the disciples were with Jesus, and they saw the blind man, they said, “Lord, who did sin that this man was born blind?” Now they even believed in prenatal sins. While you were in the womb you could sin. I don’t know how, but they believed that you could. “So was it his parents, or was it him? Did he do some sin in the womb that he was born blind? Or was it his parents?” And Jesus said, “No, no, no, this man . . . .” He didn’t really answer why he was born blind, He just said, “That God may be glorified, I must do the works of God while I am with you.” And He healed the man. He never told them why the man was born blind.

People misinterpret that saying, “Well, he was born blind for the glory of God to be revealed.” No, Jesus just said that He must work to glorify God, and thus, He healed the man. He never answered the question. Except that He affirmed that neither he nor his parents sinned. He affirmed that it wasn’t their sin. But they so often related illnesses to sin. Which we haven’t really divorced ourselves from that completely yet. And it’s tragic, that when we see a person who is suffering, we say, “Oh, you must have really done something wrong.”

We were pastoring a church in Tucson years ago, and one of the fellows in the church said, “Would you please pray for my wife tonight that God will help her to confess whatever sin she has been committing? She has been sick for over a month.” And so that idea that somehow illness is related to sin is not completely divorced from the minds of people. If illnesses were directly related to sin, none of us would be strong enough to be here tonight. And it is extremely wrong, and extremely cruel to say to a person, “Well, if you just had enough faith, you would be alright.”

I was talking with Joni Erickson, and she was saying one of the most difficult things about her condition is that there are so many people who feel that they have a special anointing for her healing. And these evangelists, and whatever, who come up and lay hands on her, and then say, “Now stand up.” And then sort of say, “Well, if you only had enough faith, you could get out of that wheelchair.” And that’s one of the most difficult problems that she faces with her condition. That’s cruel. It makes a hardship on her. She is already in a difficult position. But that only increases the hardship. Making a person feel guilty because they are in the condition that they are in. Because surely you must have done something wrong or you don’t have enough faith to change your condition.

Some of the greatest saints of God have had great physical maladies, and actually it was the physical malady that created that depth of character, and that depth of their walk, and relationship with the Lord.

Jesus took care of the most important thing first. You know, it’s more important that your sins are forgiven than that you be healed. It’s better to go into heaven maimed than to go into hell. So Jesus took care of the most important thing first, with the man’s sins. “Man, your sins are forgiven.” Of course He knew that the Pharisees and all were there watching and listening. He was baiting them. I mean, He was looking for a big blowup, which He got. And He was deliberately just baiting them. He knew what their response would be. He anticipated it. And He was deliberately creating it.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? ( Luk 5:21 )

Now, they were right in their assumption. Only God can forgive sins. Jesus wanted them to make that assumption. They were falling right into His trap. They were wrong in thinking that Jesus was speaking blasphemous. What Jesus was actually demonstrating to them was that He was God. So in saying, “Man, your sins are forgiven you,” He is exercising His divine prerogative of forgiving sins, knowing that only God can forgive sins. David said unto God, “Lord, against thee, and thee only have I sinned, and done this great sin in thy sight” ( Psa 51:4 ). Thus, if sin is against God, then only God can forgive sin. And Jesus was deliberately seeking to get this response and reaction, which He did get. And then He closed the trap.

He said unto them, What are you reasoning in your hearts? What is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven you; or, Rise up and walk? ( Luk 5:22-23 )

Well, it would be easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven you.” If you say, your sins are forgiven, who can look in a guys heart and really see? Well, you can say that, but how do you know it’s really happened? How can you prove that the sins were really forgiven? How can you prove that your words really have authority? You can’t prove it. There is nothing that you can see that can prove the authority of that. However, if you say to a fellow who is lame, “Rise up and walk,” it’s very easy to quickly see how much authority you have in your words.

So Jesus said unto them,

But that you may know that the Son of man has the authority upon earth to forgive sins, (he said to the man who was sick of a palsy,) I say unto you, Arise, take up your couch, and go home. And immediately he rose up before them, he took up that whereon he was laying, and he departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen some weird things today ( Luk 5:24-26 ).

Now Jesus was here demonstrating to them His divinity. Doing it in a very clever way, saying first to the man, “Your sins are forgiven,” creating that response, “How can you do that, only God can do that?” Only God has that authority. And thus, by showing that His word did have authority by saying, “Rise up and walk,” He is demonstrating to them that He is God.

Now after these things he went forth, and he saw a publican ( Luk 5:27 ),

Now a publican was a tax collector. The Roman government assessed an area with an certain assessment, and then they auctioned off the job of tax collector. And the tax collector only had to pay to the Roman government that assessment. Anything he could collect above the assessment was his. So they were constantly looking for things to tax. Constantly grabbing people and taxing them for many things. Actually, you had to pay a tax just to be alive under the Roman government. They taxed 10% of the fruit of your crop, and 20% of your oil and wine. They had taxes on just about everything. And you think that our government has been shrewd. All they had to do is read what the Roman government taxed, we’d really be crying even more than we are. The people in those days classified tax collectors with murders and thieves. They probably weren’t so far off, thieves to be sure. In fact, it was extremely rare to find an honest tax collector. They were notoriously crooked. In fact, there was a monument that was raised. They’ve found records of a monument extolling a man because he was an honest tax collector. About the only one I guess in the Roman Empire. So much so, that they made a special monument. This man was an honest tax collector. But that was a rarity indeed. And so the Jews considered tax collectors, quislings, because they were really working for the Roman government. And they made a law that a tax collector could not enter the synagogue. I mean, he was a rank sinner. There was no way he could come into the synagogue. Ranking him with the murders and the thieves, they would not allow him to worship God in the synagogue.

Now here was a tax collector,

named Levi, and he was sitting at his little custom house [where he received his taxes]: and Jesus said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi had a big feast [of course he could afford it] in his own house: and there was a great number ( Luk 5:27-29 )

He invited all of his tax collector friends to come and listen to Jesus. All of the publicans, he invited them to gather together, and Jesus sat down with them.

It’s interesting how that when a person comes to a real relationship with Jesus Christ, the first thing they do is they grab their associates to tell them about it. The only associates he had were tax collectors. So in gathering his associates, he had to gather the tax collectors. They only had fellowship with each other, no one else would fellowship with them. And so he gathered together all of these tax collectors, and the scribes and the Pharisees murmured against it. And they came to His disciples and they said, “Why are you eating and drinking with publicans and sinners?”

You see, a Pharisee if he came near a tax collector would grab his robe and hold it tied around him, because he wouldn’t want his robe to flip out and touch a tax collector, because they were considered unclean. And if he did that he would have to go home and bathe, and change, and wash his cloak, and he couldn’t go to the synagogue for a day, because he was unclean, because his cloak touched the tax collector.

Now here is Jesus eating with them, that’s even worse in their mind, because when you’re eating with someone, you are touching the same bread. And you’re eating bread that that guy touched. “How is it you’re eating with this publicans and sinners?” Eating together was identifying with one another in a very intimate way.

They were murmuring to the disciples, [they were bringing their complaints to the disciples,] but Jesus answered them and said, They that are whole need not a physician; but those that are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance ( Luk 5:30-32 ).

Jesus went out where they were, meet them on their own territory. He ministered to the sick. Those who were sick spiritually. I think that oftentimes in the church we begin to make ourselves sort of sterilized hospitals. And we create almost a sterile environment, where if a sinner would come in he feels so totally uncomfortable, because we are all sitting here in our sterile robes of righteousness.

In England we have a good friend Jim, who pastors a Calvary Chapel affiliate in the area of the northern part near Manchester. And Jim’s ministry is in the pubs. He goes down to the pubs three or four nights a week. And has a tremendous ministry there in the pubs witnessing to the people who are getting drunk. And he is an outstanding witness for Christ.

Oh, he gets a lot of flak from the other ministers in town because he spends so much time in the pub. But he is following the example of the Lord, going where they are at to reach them, and to bring them out.

And so they then brought up the question, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and they make their prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but yours eat and drink? And he said unto them, Can you make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days ( Luk 5:33-35 ).

In those days when a couple got married, it was a two week party. A week before, and a week after. The week before everybody would gather together and they have this big weeklong party, and then they would have the marriage and the consummation of the marriage. And then they would have open house for a week, where they would party for a week. And the bride and the bridegroom would be the host of a party for a week, and their special friends were invited to party with them for a whole week. Now their lives were extremely difficult in heart, and this was probably the only time in their lives where they just have a week off with doing nothing. Because they had to work so hard. And so it was that one week of their life of real partying, now that they are married, then after that it was to work and to the treachery, as life as it was in those days.

Now those special friends that they invited to celebrate that week and party with them and all were called the children of the bridechambers. And so Jesus called his disciples the children of the bridechamber. The bridegroom is with them, they are here to party. “We are here to enjoy and celebrate the fact that I am with them. Now when I am gone, then it will be time for them to fast, but as long as the bridegroom is with them, they are not going to fast, they are just going to enjoy the presence of the bridegroom.”

And then he spake a parable unto them; No man puts a piece of a new garment on an old; if otherwise, then both the new makes a tear, and the piece that was taken out of the new does not agree with the old ( Luk 5:36 ).

They didn’t have preshrunk in those days. So if you took a new patch and sew it into an old garment, the first time you washed it, the new patch not being preshrunk would shrink. Of course, the garment had already been washed enough that all of the shrinkage was out of it. But if you put a new cloth into an old garment, the new cloth as soon as you wash it would shrink, and it just make the tear worse. So Jesus said, “You just don’t put a new patch on an old garment. It’s only going to rip it up more.”

And also he said, No man puts new wine into old bottles ( Luk 5:37 );

Now when they poured the new wine into the wineskins, there was a chemical reaction that created a gas. So if you would pour the new wine into old wineskins, it would cause it to immediately ferment, and this gas would be formed, and the old wineskins, of course, were stiff, because they were old. And being stiff, no give to them, the gas would develop and they just pop. And so you just didn’t put new wine into the old skins, but you put it into new skins that were still soft and pliable. The gas had developed, but they would just expand with the gas, because there was a pliability in the leather. And the wineskins were made of leather. And so Jesus said, “You don’t take the new wine and pour it into the old skins, they’re going to burst on you.”

You put the new wine into new skins; and both then are preserved. And no man having drunk the old wine immediately desires the new; for he says, The old is better ( Luk 5:38-39 ).

Now He is talking about the old religious systems that He was coming up against. He is bringing a new breath of air into the religious scene that had become so stodgy that no one could hardly stand it. Now, rather than coming in to reform that system, putting the new cloth in the old garment, or putting the new wine in the old skins, He is developing a whole new skin for this new work of God.

Now those who are used to the old traditional ways are always upset when something new comes along. They say, “Oh, the old is better.” And we see this demonstrated so often. New ideas, new thoughts are so often immediately rejected. People get caught in their old traditional ways, and they get upset if anything should come along. Well, the old wineskins burst.

Chuck Luk 1:1 ,”Blessed are the flexible, they shall not be broken.”

May God keep us flexible. As I grow older I know the tenancy is to get set in your ways. And I pray, “God don’t let me grow old in that regards, help me to always be open to what You might want to be doing.” I have observed in the history of the church how many times when God wanted to do a fresh work upon the earth, He had to go outside of the organized systems. Because the old skin couldn’t handle the new wine. And so we see this glorious fresh work of God, but he had to create a new skin in order to do it. And those who come from the old systems so often are shocked and appalled at what they see. Kids sitting on the floor. And they just can’t handle what God is doing, because it doesn’t follow our structure. It doesn’t fit into our pattern. And yet, God develops the new skins for His new wine.

“

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Luk 5:1-2. And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

Before folding them up, as if they intended to do no more with them just then, as they had been working all night in vain.

Luk 5:3. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simons, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land.

It is very difficult to speak effectively when the people come too close to the speaker; and, sometimes, a little inconvenience like that may interfere with the flow of the speakers thoughts and words. Even the Saviour seems to have felt that he needed a little breathing space between himself and his audience.

Luk 5:3. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

That was what some people would have called an unconsecrated place, but Christs presence consecrated it, as it does every place where he condescends to meet with us.

Wherere we seek him, he is found,

And every place is hallowed ground.

Luk 5:4. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

Whenever he borrows a pulpit, or anything else, he pays good interest for the loan. Christ will not be in even a boatmans debt. For every cup of cold water given to his disciples in his name the Master will take care to pay.

Luk 5:5. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

Out of personal respect and obedience to Christ, having perhaps but a slender hope of any good coming of it, yet, nevertheless, he will let down the net.

Luk 5:6-7. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them.

For they had launched out so far into the sea so scarcely to be within hearing, so they beckoned to their partners in the other ship, and they rowed out to them.

Luk 5:7. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

We can have too much of a good thing, aye, too much even of the best things, for our poor frail vessel cannot hold all that God would be willing to put into it.

Luk 5:8. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

Not knowing what he said, though he knew what he meant; feeling as if he, so sinful, had come too close to the Lord who was so gracious, so he must not dare to keep near to him. Have you never felt the same as that? If not, methinks you have neither known your Lord, not yet yourselves for the knowledge of Christ, combined with the knowledge of ourselves, is sure to produce this holy shrinking, in which we have no need for anyone to say to us, Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for we are almost ready to put off our very body, for we can scarcely bear the glory of the presence of the Lord.

Luk 5:9-10. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: and so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

He seemed to imply that he should catch them after the same rate, too; and so he did, for the first throw of the net brought in three thousand, and very soon the number caught was increased to five thousand. That was good fishing by those first Gospel fishermen; oh, that we could throw the net as they did!

Luk 5:11-12. And when they had brought the ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him, and it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy:

That is a characteristic touch of Luke, who, as a physician, with a glance of his eye, took in the condition of the man, not as merely a leper, but as one full of leprosy.

Luk 5:12-13. Who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and brought him, saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him,

The perfectly pure One touched the leprous man without himself becoming contaminated. In any other house, the man who touched a leper would have been defiled; but, when Christ comes into contact with impurity, he is not defiled, but he removes it. This is what the gospel is meant to do to the world. We are to go and seek the good of the most fallen and abandoned of men and those who do so, ought to have so much of the spirit of Jesus Christ in them, and so much vitality in their piety, that they will not be tempted by the sin upon which they look, but, on the contrary, will overcome that sin, and impart spiritual health instead of receiving infection. May we be in such a state of health as Jesus was! Then shall we be able to touch the leper, and not be defiled. Jesus touched him,

Luk 5:13. Saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.

Ask him to touch thee also, poor leprous soul; thou who art full of sin, thou who art deeply conscious that the deadly disease of sin is upon thee incurably. Ask him but to touch thee, for the touch of his finger shall make thee clean in a moment. Christs cures are often instantaneous. He, who could speak a world into being with a word, can also speak a man into perfect spiritual sanity with a word.

Luk 5:14-15. And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him:

Some fires burn the more fiercely for being damped, and such was the fame of Christ; it was not to be kept under. The more he bade men be quiet, so much the more went there a fame abroad of him.

Luk 5:15. And great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.

Two words that I long to see linked together in this house: to hear, and to be healed by him. You come to hear; can you not also come to be healed by him of your infirmities?

Luk 5:16. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

The tense of the verb implies that he often did this; it was his habit to withdraw himself for private prayer even in his busiest times, and when he could occupy every minute with great advantage to the people. Thus he gathered new strength from above for each days work; and when there was most to be done, then he took most time to pray. It is an evil economy that tries to take time for other things that should be spent in prayer, for the shortening of prayer will be the weakening of our power.

Luk 5:17. And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Not the Pharisees and doctors of the law; they do not often get healed by Christ, but the power of the Lord was present to heal the multitude. The only people for whom there seems to be no power to heal are these Pharisees and doctors, as will appear by the following narrative.

Luk 5:18. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy:

He had had a stroke of paralysis.

Luk 5:18-19. And they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, By the external staircase,

Luk 5:19. And let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

Probably into the courtyard of the house where Jesus was preaching.

Luk 5:20. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

Laying the axe at the root; not healing the paralysis at first, but forgiving the sin which depressed the mans spirit, and so was, in a measure, the cause of the paralysis. By removing the sin, he raised the mans spirits, and with his renewed spirits, there same back strength. Note that it was when he saw their faith that he said unto the man, Thy sins are forgiven thee.

Luk 5:21. And the scribes and the Pharisees

Here they are, these caviling gentlemen, these Pharisees and doctors of the law,

Luk 5:21-23. Began to reason, saying, Who it this which speaketh blasphemies? ho can forgive sins, but God alone. But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?

He that could do the one could do the other. He who bids the paralyzed man walk is divine; he, therefore, can forgive sin.

Luk 5:24-26. But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, we have seen strange things today.

May we often see such strange things spiritually!

Luk 5:27-32. And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

The murmuring of those Pharisees and doctors of the law had one good result, for it led the Saviour to declare the purpose of his mission to the earth: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Luk 5:1. , moreover it came to pass) This is in close connection with ch. Luk 4:44.[54]-) The people pressed upon Him. Hence is evidenced the patient endurance of the Saviour.

[54] Beng. seems to have subsequently adopted a different opinion, when both in the later Edition of the New Testament he began the fifth chapter with a larger capital letter, to indicate a greater division between it and the last verses of ch. 4; and in the Harm. Ev. he has set down the incidents which are given in ch. Luk 4:42-44, after those which we have in ch. Luk 5:1, etc., as we may see l. c. 48, compared with 35, 36. But as to Transpositions-viz. those which are to be especially attributed to Luke-I should like any one, who desires a brief and powerful suggestion of advice, to weigh well what Beng. has said in his Ordo Temp., pp. 242, 243 (Ed. ii. pp. 211, 212).-E. B.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Luk 5:1-11

3.THE CALLING OF THE FIRST DISCIPLES

Luk 5:1-11

Now it came to pass,-Parallel accounts of this are found in Mat 4:18-22; Mar 1:16-20. Some think that this portion of Luke’s narrative should be placed between the thirty-first and thirty-second verses of chapter 4 Luke often departs from the regular order of events, anticipating some things and passing by others; others think that this call of Peter and his friends is different from the one recorded in Mat 4:18 and Mar 1:16-20. Matthew and Mark do not record Jesus’ preaching from the boat, hence some conclude that this is a different occasion; the order of events is also advanced as another reason against accepting this account as being the same as that given by Matthew and Mark. However no argument can be adduced that will justify making this account given by Luke as another one different from that recorded by Matthew and Mark. We have here a brief account of the multitude that gathered around him and heard “the word of God” as he preached from “the lake of Gennesaret.” This body of water is called by four names in the Bible; it is an expansion of the river Jordan, about twelve miles long and six miles broad. It is called “sea of Galilee,” “lake of Gennesaret,” “sea of Chinnereth” (Num 34:11), “Chinneroth” (Jos 11:2; 1Ki 15:20 ), and “Tiberias” (John:1, 21:1).

2, 3 and he saw two boats standing-These boats were used for fishing. As is common Peter is made prominent; one of these boats belonged to Peter. The boats were empty at this time as the owners had “gone out of them, and were washing their nets.” The servants or the hired men may have been doing this. (Mar 4:20) It seems that they had finished their fishing and that it had been an unsuccessful night’s labor. Jesus entered one of these boats and asked Peter to push it out “a little from the land.” This was done that he might have a better place to teach the multitude that was pressing upon him. The boat being pushed out from the shore and anchored would give him a good pulpit from which to preach to the multitude without being pressed upon and disturbed. He “sat down and taught the multitudes out of the boat.” It was usual for the teacher to sit and teach; Jesus followed this custom here as he did in preaching the Sermon on the Mount. (Mat 5:1.) Jesus here assumed his usual posture in teaching. (Luk 4:20.)

4, 5 And when he had left speaking,-When Jesus ceased speaking to the multitude from the boat, he may have dismissed the people; it appears that he had finished his discourse with a proper ending and then began his conversation with Peter. Jesus commanded that they “put out into the deep,” and when they had done this, he commanded further that they “let down your nets for a draught.” Jesus addressed the others as well as Peter; he seems to have addressed the fishermen collectively. He stated why he wanted them to let down their nets; it was in order to take the fish from the water. This was a trial and test of Peter’s faith. The fishermen had hung out their nets to dry, and were discouraged by their failure to catch any that night.

And Simon answered and said,-Peter is the spokesman here as he was on several other occasions. He said: “Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing.” The word from which “Master” is translated is used only by Luke. (Luke 8 :24, 45 9:33, 49; 17:13.) He always applies it to Jesus; he never uses “Rabbi” as does John. “Toiled” means “suffering, weariness,” and indicates exhausting toil. Peter stood the test, for after expressing himself and telling that they had failed in their efforts during the entire night, but “at thy word I will let down the nets.” “At thy word” means relying on, or on the ground only of thy word I will do as you command. Peter sacrificed his own practical knowledge as a fisherman to the authoritative word of Jesus; his faith was not great, as the sequel shows, but he had the spirit of obedience. Peter was not expecting a miracle and probably, at the best, but a small haul of fish. Peter ‘s act was one purely of faith.

6, 7 And when they had done this,-Here the entire company is included; Peter was the leader and directed the others. They cast out their nets with as much care and skill as they had done the preceding night when they had toiled without success. They enclosed such a large number of fish, “a great multitude of fishes,” is the way Luke describes it, that “their nets were breaking.” Portions of the net gave way, but although through the rents some fishes made their escape, yet those taken were sufficient to fill their boat and the boat of their partners to a sinking condition. Such a wondrous draught of fishes surely filled Peter and others with amazement.

and they beckoned unto their partners-It seems that Peter and Andrew, James and John were all partners. The other boat was either so far from the one in which Peter was as to be unable to be heard, or Peter was so filled with astonishment at the miracle, that “they beckoned” to their partners to come to their rescue. Some have thought that they were all so amazed that they were incapable of speaking and therefore “beckoned unto their partners.” They came and filled their boats until they “began to sink.” The boats were on the point of sinking from the weight of the fishes.

8-10 But Simon Peter, when he saw it,-Peter was an impulsive man; he takes the lead in nearly everything; here he expresses his deep feeling which also expressed the feelings of others. The draught was so far beyond anything he had ever seen or heard of that he is overwhelmed with amazement and with a conviction of the superhuman power of Jesus. “Peter” means “stone”; he was so named when he was first introduced to Jesus. (Joh 1:42.) It was fitting for Luke here to speak of him as “Simon Peter” when relating this deep religious experience which was so essential to his usefulness and character as one of the foundation stones in the spiritual kingdom of Christ. When Peter saw what was done he “fell down at Jesus’ knees” in homage and worshiped.

For he was amazed,-Peter and the servants who were with him were all amazed , even James and John shared in the amazement. The mention of James first here and elsewhere leads to the conclusion that he was the elder brother; John had probably before believed in Jesus as the Messiah; he was doubtless the one who went with Andrew to the dwelling place of Jesus. (Joh 1:39.) He did not at that time give up his occupation, but may have been much with Jesus. Jesus addressed Simon personally and said: “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” James and John were partners with Peter and Andrew. The original from which we get “partners” means “fellowship” and here denotes a common interest and a very close association. “Thou shalt catch men” means literally “thou shalt be catching” men.

11 And when they had brought their boats-When these four had brought their boats to land, they forsook their nets, the ships, the fishes, their friends, hired servants, and their work, and “followed him.” They showed their faith in him and their willingness to pursue their spiritual calling in his kingdom; they forsook all, not merely in form, but in heart. (2Ti 3:5.) Jesus had a great work for these men in saving the lost; they were called under such surrounding circumstances that they showed their faith in following him without a moment’s hesitation. The promptness with which they obeyed the call showed their willingness to sacrifice all for him.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Four of Jesus’ disciples, already called into the relation of discipleship, are here called more definitely to service. Taking command of their vessel, to which in all probability they had returned without warrant, they found Him able to direct them in an earthly calling, and by so doing lifting them to the position from where henceforth, they would catch men.

The coming of the leper revealed an advance beyond the common crowd in his attitude toward Jesus. The leper believed in Jesus’ power to heal. Luke the physician gives a vivid picture of his condition, “full of leprosy.” Nevertheless, the man himself believed in the power of the Lord, but was not sure of His willingness. Quickly and graciously, by touch and word, the Master settled that question.

A picture follows which is a contrast, namely, the doctors of the law critically listening to Jesus while guarding themselves against any new idea. It was then that the strong faith of a few disturbed the assembly when the man who was palsied came on the scene. Jesus spoke the word of the forgiveness of sins to him, whereon Jesus was immediately charged with blasphemy. He demonstrated His authority by healing the man.

Nothing puzzled the religionists of the Lord’s time more than His eating and drinking on terms of familiarity with publicans and sinners. Here He revealed the reason for doing so. He was among men as the great Physician.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

5:1-6:11. From the Call of the First Disciples to the Nomination of the Twelve

This section presents a symmetrical arrangement, which possibly is intentional. The call of a leading disciple (1-11) is followed by two healings which provoke controversy (12-16, 17-26); and then the call of another leading disciple (27-39) is followed by two incidents on the Sabbath, which again provoke controversy (6:1-5, 6-11).

5:1-11. The call of Simon. In Mat 4:18-22 and Mar 1:16-20 the narrative is the call of Simon and Andrew, and of James and John. Here Andrew is not mentioned. And although all obey the call (ver. 11), yet Simon alone is addressed (vv. 4, 10). But the identity of this incident with that narrated by Mt. and Mk. can neither be affirmed nor denied with certainty. In Mt. and Mk. the disciples are fishing; here they are washing their nets before putting them away. The important point is that in all narratives those called are at work. Similarly, Levi is called from his busi ness. It would seem as if none of the Twelve were called when idle.

1. . See detached note at the end of ch. 1. For see on 11:29; for see on 3:21; for see on 8:11; for introducing the apodosis see on 2:21; and for see on ver. 14. All these points, with the analytical (1:7, 10, 20, 21, etc.), are characteristic of Lk. Not often do we find so many marks of his style in so small a compass. Comp. 8:22, 37, 40, 41. For the popular desire to behold Christ see on 4:42. With comp. 23:23; Act 27:20; 1Co 9:16; Heb 9:10; Jos. Ant. xx. 5, 3. It is used in a literal sense Joh 11:38, Joh 21:9. Here it is mainly figurative, but it includes the notion of physical pressure. The distinguishes Jesus from the comp. 4:15, 30.

. With characteristic accuracy Lk. never calls it a sea, while the others never call it a lake. Except in Rev. of the lake of fire, in N.T. is peculiar to Lk, When he uses he means sea in the ordinary sense (17:2, 6, 21:25; Act 4:24, etc).

In AV. of 1611 both here and Mar 6:53 the name appears as Genesareth, following the spelling of the Vulgate; but in Mat 14:34. as Genesaret. The printers have corrected this to Gennesaret. in all three places. is the orthography of the best MSS. in all three places. Josephus writes both (Ant. xviii. 2, 1) and (B. J. iii. 10, 7). 1 Mac. 11:67 we have . But in O.T the lake is called (Num 34:11?; Jos 12:3) from a town of that name near to it (Jos 19:35). Josephus contrasts its fertility with the barrenness of the lower take in the Jordan valley (B. J. iv. 8, 2); the one is the Sea of Life, the other the Sea of Death. See Stanleys fine description of the most sacred sheet of water that this earth contains (Sin. & Pal. pp. 368-378) Farrar, Life of Christ, 1. pp. 175-182; Conder, D. B.2 Gennesaret.

For c. acc. after a verb of rest comp. 18:35; Act 10:6, Act 10:32; Heb 11:12: Xen. Anab. iii. 5, 1, vii. 2, 11.

With (which is the apodosis of ), is to be joined: It came to pass that He was standing, and He saw. It is very clumsy to make parenthetical, and take as the apodosis of .

2. But the sea-folk () or fishermen. It is one of many Homeric words which seem to have gone out of use and then to have reappeared in late Greek. Fishing in the take has now almost ceased. The Arabs dislike the water. The washing of the nets was preparatory to hanging them up to dry. As distinct from , which is used of washing part of the human body, and , which is used of washing the whole of it, is used of washing inanimate objects (Rev 7:14, 22:14; Gen 49:11; Exo 19:10). In Lev 15:11 all three words are used with exactly this difference of meaning. Trench, Syn. xlv.

. The most general term for nets of all kinds, of which (Mat 4:18) and (Mat 13:47) are special varieties. Trench, Syn. lxiv.; D.B. art. Net.

3. . The correct word for putting off to sea (2 Mac. 12:4?; Xen. Hellen. vi. 2, 28): elsewhere in N.T. only Mat 21:18 in the sense of return. For the double preposition comp. (10:35, 19:15) and (10:6). Christ uses Peters boat as a pulpit, whence to throw the net of the Gospel over His hearers. We have a similar scene Mar 4:1, and in both cases He sits to teach, as in the synagogue at Nazareth. Peter was probably steering, and therefore both before and after the sermon he is addressed as to the placing of the boat. But the letting down of the nets required more than one person, and hence the change to the plural (). Non statim promittit Dominus capturam: explorat prius obsequia Simonis (Beng.).

5. Lk. alone uses (8:24, 45, 9:33, 49, 17:13), and always in addresses to Christ. He never uses , which is common in the other Gospels, esp. in Jn., but would no be so intelligible to Gentiles. The two words are not synonymous, implying authority of any kind, and not merely that of a teacher. Here it is used of one who has a right to give orders.

. Through the whole of the best time for fishing they had toiled fruitlessly. Only in bibl. Grk. has the meaning of work with much effort, toil wearisomely (12:27; Act 20:35; Mat 6:28; Jos 24:13, etc.). The original meaning is become exhausted, grow weary (Joh 4:6). Clem. Alex. quotes a letter of Epicures, , (Strom. iv. 8, p. 594, ed. Potter).

. But relying upon Thy word I will have the nets let down. The nevertheless of AV. Cran. and Gen. is too strong: for that we should have (6:24, 35, etc.). For this use of on the strength of, comp. 2:20; Act 4:21. Win. xlviii. d, p. 491 The and show that the includes the employment of others. Excepting Mar 2:4 and 2Co 11:33, is peculiar to Lk. (vv. 4, 5; Act 9:25, Act 9:27:17, Act 9:30). With the faith involved in we may compare (Mat 14:28).

6. . Not a miracle of creation, but at least of knowledge, even if Christs will did not bring the fish to the spot. In no miracle before the Resurrection does Jesus create; and we have no sufficient reason for believing that the food provided at the second miraculous draught of fishes was created (Joh 21:9-13). There is no exaggeration, as De Wette thinks, in, or in (ver. 7). The nets were breaking, i.e. beginning to break, when the help from the other boat prevented further mischief, and then both boats were overloaded. On the masses of fish to be seen in the lake see Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, P. 285, and D.B.2 p. 1074: The density of the shoals of fish in the Lake of Galilee can scarcely be conceived by those who have not witnessed them. They sometimes cover an acre or more on the surface in one dense mass.

The form occurs in poetry (Hom. Il. xviii.571, xxiv.454) and late rose (Strab. xi. 14. 8). It is a collat. form of (Veitch, s.v., and curtius, Etym. 511, 661): but see on 9:42.

7. . Possibly because they were too far off for a call to be heard. The other boat was still close to the shore (ver. 2), for Simon alone had been told to put out into deep water. The verb is freq. in Hom., and occurs in Hdt. and Plato, generally in the sense of nod assent, grant. Here only in N.T. Euthymius. suggests that they were too agitated to call.

Here and Heb 1:9 (from Psa 44:8) we have as a subst. Comp. Heb 3:1, Heb 3:14, Heb 3:6:4, Heb 3:12:8: and see T. S. Evens on 1Co 10:16-18 in Speakers com. As distinguished from (ver. 10; Heb 10:33), which suggests the 4 idea of personal fellowship, describes participation in some common blessing or privilege, or the like. The bond of union lies in that which is shared and not in the persons themselves (Wsctt. on Heb 3:1). For in the sense of assist comp. Php 4:3. In Class. Grk. the act. is more common in this sense. For see on 1:59.

. For see on 1:15; is another favourite word (1:6, 7, 6:39, 7:42; Act 8:38, Act 19:16, Act 23:8); not in Mk. or Jn.They filled both the boats, so that they began to sink: comp. . The act is used 2 Mac. 12:4 of the sinking of persons; by Polybius (2:10, 5) of the sinking of ships; and 1Ti 6:9 of sending down to perdition. Nowhere else in N.T.

8. . This is the only place in his Gospel in which Lk. gives Peter both names, and it is the first mention of the surname: see on 6:14. Syr-Sin. omits .

The constr. . is quite classical (Eur. Or. 1332; comp. Mar 7:25; Soph. O. C. 1606); often with dat. of pers. (8:28, 47; Act 16:29; Mar 3:11, Mar 5:33).

. Not Leave my boat, which is too definite, but, Go out of my vicinity, Depart from me., See on 4:35. It is quite erroneous to introduce here the notion that sailors believe it to be unlucky to have a criminal on board (Cic. De Nat Deor. iii. 37. 89; Hor. Carm. iii. 2. 26). In that case Peter, like Jonah, would have asked to be thrown into the sea. That the Twelve, before their call, were exceptionally wicked, (Barn. v. 9), is unscriptural and incredible. But Origen seems to accept it (Con. Cels. i. 63; comp. Jerome, Adv. Pelag. iii. 2). See Schanz, ad loc. p. 198.

Peter does not regard himself as a criminal, but as a sinful man; and this miracle has brought home to him a new sense, both of his own sinfulness and of Christs holiness. It is not that he fears that Christs holiness is dangerous to a sinner (B. Weiss), but that the contrast between the two is felt to be so intense as to be intolerable. The presence of the sinless One is a reproach and a condemnation, rather than a peril; and therefore such cases as those of Gideon and Manoah (Jdg 6:22, Jdg 13:22), cited by Grotius and De Wette, are not quite parallel. Job (42:5, 6) is a better illustration; and Beng. compares the centurion (Mat 8:8). The objection that Peter had witnessed the healing of his wifes mother and other miracles, and therefore could not be so awestruck by this miracle, is baseless. It frequently happens that one experience touches the heart, after many that were similar to it have failed to do so. Perhaps, without being felt, they prepare the way. Moreover, this was a miracle in Peters own craft, and therefore was likely to make a special impression on him; just as the healing of a disease, known to the profession as incurable, would specially impress a physician.

. The change from (see on ver 5) is remarkable, and quite in harmony with the change of circumstances. It is the Master whose orders must be obeyed, the Lord whose holiness causes moral agony to the sinner (Dan 10:16). Grotius, followed by Trench, points out that the dominion over all nature, including the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas (Psa 8:8), lost by Adam, is restored in Christ, the ideal man and the second Adam. But that Peter recognized this is more than we know. In what follows notice the characteristic and .

9. . This was the basis of their amazement: see small print on 2:33, and comp. Act 14:3 and Rom 5:14 There is no need to make act. in ver. 4, a catching, and pass. here, the thing caught. For a catch in ver. 4; at the catch of fish here. If (B D X, Goth.) is the true reading, both may be act. But if is right, then in both places is pass. In either case we have the idiomatic attraction of the relative which is so freq. in Lk. See small print on 3:19. The word is common in poetry both act and pass. Not in LXX, nor elsewhere in N.T. Note the change of meaning from in ver. 7 to . The verb is freq. in Lk., but elsewhere rare in N.T.

10. . The first mention of them by Lk. In Mt. and Mk. they were in their boat, mending their nets, when Jesus called them; and Mt adds that Zebedee was with them, which Mk. implies (1:20). For see on ver. 7. Are they the same as the ? It is possible that Peter had his in his boat, while the were in the other boat. In any case the difference of word should be preserved in translation. This Tyn. Cran. and Gen. effect, with fellows for and partners for But Vulg. and Beza have socii for both; and RV. follows AV. with partners for both.

. It is still Peter who is singled out for notice. Yet some critics affirm that it is the tendency of this Evangelist to depreciate Peter. For see on 1:13: excepting Mar 5:36 and Rev 1:17, Lk. alone uses the expression without an accusative. Peters sense of unworthiness was in itself a reason for courage. Quo magis sibi displirebat hoc magis Domino placet (Grotius).

. The present moment is a crisis in his life, of which he was reminded at the second miraculous draught of fishes, when the commission given to him now was restored to him after his fall. Excepting 2Co 5:16 and [Joh 8:11], is peculiar to Lk. (1:48, 12:52, 22:18, 69; Act 18:6) Comp. (Mat 24:21; Mar 13:19) and (Rom 8:22; Php 1:5). Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 253.

. Both substantive and verb have special point (men instead of fish; for life instead of for death); while the analytical tense marks the permanence of the new pursuit: comp. 1:20. This last is preserved in Rhem. shaft be taking, following Vulg. eris capiens. Beza seems to be alone in giving the full force of ( and ): vivos capies homines. But to add alive in English deprives men of the necessary emphasis.1 The verb is used of sparing the lives of those taken in battle: , (Hom. Il 6:46). Elsewhere in N.T. only 2Ti 2:26, of the evil one. Comp. the exhortation of Socrates to Critobulus: (Xen. Mem. ii. 6, 28).

11. . Like in ver. 3, this is a nautical expression; freq. in Acts (9:30, 22:30, 23:15, 20, etc.). Comp. , 8:22.

. Even the large draught of fishes does not detain them. They are sure that He who has given them such marvellous returns from their usual business will be ready to provide for them when, at His summons, they abandon their business. The call was addressed to Peter (ver. 10), but the sons of Zebedee recognize that it concerns them also; and they We and follow.

In this late Greek is preferred to and its compounds, and to (which does not occur in N.T.) and its compounds.

The fact that other disciples besides Peter obeyed the call and followed Jesus, is the main reason for identifying this narrative with Mar 1:16-20 and Mat 4:18-22. All three have the important word and Mt. and Lk.have for which Mk. has . But note that Lk. alone has his favourite after (comp. 6:30, 7:35, 9:43, 11:4, 12:10). Against these similarities, however, we have to set the differences, chief among which is the miraculous draught of fishes, which Mt. and Mk. omit. Could Peter have failed to include this in his narrative? And would Mk. have omitted it, if the Petrine tradition had contained it? It is easier to believe that some of the disciples were called more than once, and that their abandonment of their original mode of life was gradual. so that Mk. and Mt may relate one occasion and Lk. another. Even after the Resurrection Peter speaks quite naturally of going a fishing (Joh 21:3), as if it was still atleast an occasional pursuit. But we must be content to remain in doubt as to the relation of this narrative to that of Mk. and Mt. See Weiss, Leben Jesu, I .iii. 4 Eng. tr. 2. PP. 54-59.

This uncertainty, however, need not be extended to the relation of this miracle to that recorded in Joh 21:1-14. It cannot be accepted as probable that, in the source from which Lk. drew, the narrative of the call of Peter has been confused with that of his reinstatement in the office which had been entrusted to him, and so the history of the miraculous draught of fishes which is connected with the one has been united with the other. The contrast between all the main features of the two miracles is too great to be explained by confused recollection. 1. There Jesus is not recognized at first; here He is known directly He approaches. 2. There He is on the shore; here He is in Peters boat. 3. There Peter and John are together; here they seem to be in different boats. 4. There Peter leaves the capture of the fish to others; here he is chief actor in it. 5. There the net is not broken; here it Isa_6. There the fish are caught close to the shore and brought to the shore; here they are caught in deep water and are taken into the boats. 7. There Peter rushes through the water to the Lord whom he had lately denied; here, though he had committed no such sin, he says, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. There is nothing improbable in two miracles of a similar kind, one granted to emphasize and illustrate the call, the other the re-call, of the chief Apostle.

The way in which the Fathers allegorize the two miracles is well known, the first of the Church Militant, the second of the Church Triumphant. R. A. Lipsius would have it that the first is an allegory of quite another kind, the main point of which is the in the other boat. He assumes that James an John are in Peters boat, and explains thus. That Christ first teaches and then suddenly speaks of fishing, tells us that the fishing is symbolical. The fishing in deep water is the mission to the heathen, which Peter at first is unwilling (?) to undertake (comp. Act 10:14). The marvellous draught after the night of fruitless toil is the conversion of many heathen after the failure of the mission to the Jews. This work is so great that Peter with the two other Apostles of the Jews axe unequal to it, and have to call Paul, Barnabas, and help them. Peter then recognizes his former unwillingness (?) as a sia, and both he and the sons of Zebedee are amazed at the success of the mission to the heathen (Gal 2:9). Thus the rejection of Jesus by the people of Nazareth (4:29, 30), and His preaching to the other cities also (4:43) teach the same lesson as the miraculous draught; viz. the failure of the mission to the Jews and the success of the mission to the heathen (Jahrb. fr prot.Theol. 1875, 1. p. 189). The whole is exceedingly forced, and an examination of the details shows that the do not fit. If the common view is correct, that James and John were the in the other boat, the whole structure falls to the ground. Had Lk. intended to convey the meaning read into the narrative by Lipsius, he would not have left the point on which the whole is based so open to misconction. Keim on the whole agrees with Lipsius, and dogmatically asserts that the artificial narrative of Lk. must unhesitatingly abandoned It is full of subtle and ingenious invention Its historical character collapses under the weight of so much that is artificial (Jes. of Naz. 3. pp. 264, 265). Holtzmann also pronounces it to be legendary and consciously allegorical (in loco). Does Peters apprantly inconsistent conduct, beseeching Jesus to depart and yet abiding at His feet, look like invention?

12-16. The Healing of a Leper. Here we certainly have an incident which is recorded by all three Evangelists. The amount: of verbal agreement is very great, and we may confidently affirm that all three make use of common material. Mt. (8:1-4) is the most brief, Mk. (1:40-45) the most full; but Mt. is the only one who gives any note of time. He places the miracle just after Jesus had come down from delivering the Sermon on the Mount.

On the subject of Leprosy see H. V. Carter, Leprosy and Elephantiasis, 1874; Tilbury Fox, Skin Diseases, 1877; Kaposi, Hautkrankheiten, Wien, 1880; and the literature given at the end of art. Aussatz in Herzog; also in Hirsch, Handb. d. Pathologie, 1860.

12. . Hebraistic; in Mat 8:2, but not in Mar 1:40: the is the apodosis to as in ver. 1. No verb follows the as if the presence of the leper were a surprise. Had the man disregarded the law in approaching the crowd? Or had the people come upon him suddenly, before he could avoid them? What follows shows a third possibility. Syr-Sin. Omits .

. This particular is given only by the beloved physician. His face and hands would be covered with ulcers and sores, so that everyone could see that the hideous disease was at a very advanced stage. This perhaps accounts for the mans venturing into the multitude, and for their not fleeing at his approach; for by a strange provision of the law, if the leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that path the plague, from his head even to his feet then the priest shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague (Lev 13:12, Lev 13:13).

. Excepting Mat 9:38, the verb is peculiar in N.T. to Lk. and Paul. It is especially freq. in Lk. (8:28, 38, 9:38, 40, 10:2, etc). In LXX it represents a variety of Hebrew words, and is very common. Here Mk. has .

, . All three accounts have these words, and the reply to them, , , without variation. The is evidence of strong faith in the Divine power of Jesus; for leprosy was believed to be incurable by human means. It was the stroke of God, and could not be removed by the hand of man. But it is characteristic of the mans imperfect apprehension of Christs character, that he has more trust in His power than in His goodness. He doubts the will to heal. He says rather than or because of the pollution which leprosy involved (Lev 13:45, Lev 13:46). In O.T. unclean and clean, not sick and healed, are the terms used about the leper. The old rationalistic explanation, that means to pronounce clean, and that the man was already cured, but wanted the great Rabbi of Nazareth to absolve him from the expensive and troublesome journey to Jerusalem, contradicts the plain statements of the Gospels. He was full of leprosy (Lk.); immediately the leprosy departed from him (Mk. Lk.). If means to pronounce clean, then means be thou pronounced clean. Yet Jesus sends him to the priest (Lk. Mk. Mt.). Contrast the commands of Christ with the Prayers of Moses, Elijah, and Elisha, when they healed. See Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 216.

13. . All three have this Hebraistic amplification. In LXX the phrase commonly occurs in connexion with an act of punishment: Exo 7:5, Exo 7:19, Exo 7:8:1, Exo 7:2, Exo 7:9:22, Exo 7:23, Exo 7:10:12, Exo 7:21, Exo 7:22, Exo 7:14:16, Exo 7:21, 26, 27; Eze 6:14, Eze 6:14:9, 16:27, 25:7, Eze 6:13, 16, 35:3; Zep 1:4, Zep 1:2:13; Jer 6:12, Jer 15:6. In N.T. it rarely has this meaning. Jesus touched the leper on the same principle as that on which He healed on the sabbath: the ceremonial law gives place to the law of charity when the two come into collision. His touch aided the lepers faith.

. Here again (see on 4:40) Mk. has the whole expression, of which Lk. and Mt. each use a part. Mk. has , , and Mt. has . All three have or , Showing that Jesus not merely prepared the way for a cure which nature accomplished, but healed the leper at once by His touch.

14. . Lk.s favourite form of connexion in narrative: vv. 1, 17, 37, 1:17, 22, 2:28, 3:23, 4:15, 6:20, etc.

. The word is specially used of commanders, whose orders are passed along the line (), and is freq. in Lk. (8:29, 56, 9:21; Act 1:4, Act 1:4:18, Act 1:5:28, 40, Act 1:10:42, etc.); rare in Mt. (10:5, 15:35) and Mk. (6:8, 8:6); not in Jn. All the others use and Mt. , both of which are rare in Lk. Here Mt. and Mk. have .

. The charge was given with emphasis ( ) and sternness (), as Mk. tells us. The meaning of it is variously explained. To prevent (1) the man from having intercourse with others before being pronounced clean by proper authority; (2) the man from becoming proud through frequent telling of the amazing benefit bestowed upon him; (3) the priests from hearing of the miracle before the man arrived, and then deciding, out of hostility to Jesus, to deny the cure; (4) the people from becoming unhealthily excited about so great a miracle. Chrysostom and Euthymius suggest (5) that Christ was setting an example of humility, in forbidding the leper to proclaim His good deeds. Least probable of all is the supposition (6) that our Lord desired to avoid the Levitical rites for uncleanness which the unspiritual ceremonialism of the Pharisees might have tried to force upon Him for having touched the leper. The first of these was probably the chief reason; but one or more of the others may be true also.The man would be likely to think that one who had been so miraculously cured was not bound by ordinary rules; and if he mixed freely with others before he was declared by competent authority to be clean, he would give a handle to Christs enemies, who accused Him of breaking the law. In the Sermon on the Mount He had said, Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets (Mat 5:17); which implies that this had been said of Him. The command is further evidence that Jesus did not regard miracles as His chief credentials. And there are many such commands (8:56; Mat 9:30, Mat 9:12:16; Mar 1:34, Mar 3:12, Mar 5:43, Mar 7:36, Mar 8:26).

. Sudden changes to the oratio directa are common after and similar verbs (Act 1:4, Act 1:23:22; Mar 6:8, Mar 6:9?; comp. Act 17:3; Tobit 8:21; Xen. Anab. i. 3, 16, 20). Win. lxiii. 2, p. 725.

. As in the original (Lev 13:49), the sing. refers to the priest who was on duty at the time. Note the exactly as: the reference is to Lev 14:4-10, which enjoins rather expensive offerings. Comp. Mat 1:24. For the form see on 2:22. This charge is in all three narratives almost in the same words. On its import see Hort, Judaistic Christianity, p. 30

. Emundatio (Vulg.), mundatio (f q) purgatio (a), purificatio (d).

. This addition is in all three, and various explanations have been suggested. That (1) the priests may be onvinced of My Divine over; (2) the priests may see that I do of disregard the Law; (3) the people may be convinced that the cure is complete, and that the leper may be readmitted to society; (4) the people may see that I do not disregard the Law. It is the sacrifice which is the , and top, and therefore the second or fourth explanation is to be preferred. Both may be right.1

15. . Lk. does not state, as Mk. does, that this was owing to the mans disobedience. Mt. omits both points. This use of of the spreading of a report is quite classical (Thuc. vi. 46, 5; Xen. Anab. i. 4, 7). The word is a favourite one with Lk.; see on 2:15. The means more than before, more than ever (Joh 5:18, Joh 19:8), or all the more, because of the command not to tell (18:39; Act 5:14, Act 9:22, Act 22:2).

. For miracles mentioned as being numerous, but without details, comp. 4:40, 6:18, 7:21. The constr. is peculiar to Lk. (7:21, 8:2). The usual constr. with . is the acc. (4:23, 40, 9:1, etc.). For comp. 8:2, 13:11, 12; Act 28:9; Heb 11:34, where we have a similar constr.,

16. . The verse forms one of those resting-places with which Lk. frequently ends a narrative (1:80, 2:20, 40, 52, 3:18-20, 4:13, 15, 30, 44). But He on His part, in contrast to the multitudes who came to see Him, was in retirement in the deserts, and in prayer. See on 3:21. The analytical tense expresses what Jesus was engaged in while the multitudes were seeking Him. That they were unable to find Him is not implied here, and Mk. states the opposite. For the comp, 4:30, 6:8, :37, 54, 11:17, 28, 23:9; and for , 9:10. The verb occurs nowhere else in N.T., but is freq. in class. Grk. Lk. alone uses the plur, of (1:80, 8:29). See Bede, ad loc.

For after a verb of motion, to express the rest which is the result of the motion, comp. Mat 14:3; Joh 3:35; 2Co 8:16. Such condensed constructions are not common, if found at all, in earlier writers. The converse use of after verbs of rest is more common (11:7, 21:37; Act 2:39, Act 2:7:4, Act 2:8:20, Act 2:23, Act 2:40, etc.). Win. l. 4. a, p. 514.

17-26. The Healing of a Paralytic. Mat 9:1-8; Mar 2:1-12. We again have a narrative which is narrated by all three Synoptists in a way which shows that they are using common material. Mt. is again the most brief. Mk. and Lk. agree in the details, but differ considerably in the wording. Different translations of the same Aramaic original, or of two very similar Aramaic originals, would account for these similarities and differences. The cast of the opening verse is very Hebraistic, as is shown by by , by and by . See on 4:36 and on 8:22. The is an absolutely indefinite expression, which we have no right to limit. Mt. and Mk. give no date. The phrase is peculiar to Lk.

17. . The first mention of them by Lk., who assumes that his readers know who the Pharisees were. This introduction of them stamps them as hostile to Christ; and we have here the first collision in Galilee between Jesus and the authorities at Jerusalem. On the Pharisees see Jos. Ant. xiii. 5, 9, 10.6, xvii. 2. 4, xviii. 1, 2, 3; B. J. ii. 8. 14; Schrer, Jewish People, II. 2. 26, p. 10; Hausrath, N.T. Times, 1. p. 135; Keim, Jes. of Naz. 1. p. 321; Edersh. L.& T. 1. pp. 96, 97, 310-324.

. The word is formed on the analogy of and , but is not classical. Elsewhere only Act 5:34 and 1Ti 1:7. In all three cases teachers of the Jewish Law are meant, and the term is almost a synonym for in the N.T. sense. That they had come is, of course, a popular hyperbolical expression, and illustrates Lk.s fondness far comp, 6:17.

. The power of Jehovah was present for Him to heal with; i.e. for Jesus to employ in working miracles, of healing. See on 4:36 and comp. 1:35, 24:49; Act 6:8. Hence miracles are often called or out comes of the power of God. Trench, Syn. xci. The failure to see that is the subject, not the object, of produced the corrupt reading (A C D and versions). This corrupt reading produced the erroneous interpretation of as meaning Christ. Lk. often calls Christ the Lord; but in such cases always has the article (7:13, 10:1, 11:39, 12:42, 13:15, 17:5, 6, 18:6, 9:8, 22:61). without the article means Jehovah (1:11, 2:9, 4:18; Act 5:19, Act 5:8:26, Act 5:39, Act 5:12:7). This verse shows us Jesus armed with Divine power and con fronted by a large body of hostile spies and critics. What follows (VV. 19, 26) proves that there was also a multitude of curious spectators, who had not declared for either side, like the multitude round Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Carmel (1Ki 18:21).

Except in quotations from LXX (Mat 13:15; Joh 12:40) and one other passage (Joh 4:47), with act. signif. is peculiar to Lk. (6:19, 9:2, 11, 42, 14:4, 22:51; Act 9:34, Act 10:38, etc.).

18. . Here and wherever St. Luke mentions this disease, he employs the verb , and never . The other N.T. writers use the popular form , and never use the verb, the apparent exception to this, Heb 12:12, being a quotation from the LXX, Isa 35:3. St. Lukes use is in strict agreement with that of the medical writers (Hobart, Med. Lang. of St. Lk. p. 6).

. Into the house, although it has not yet been stated that Jesus was in a house. Mk. tells us that there were four bearers, and that the place was thronged even about the door. For see small print on 1:15.

19.For with a participle expressing a reason see small print on 3:9. With understand and comp. (19:4). Here we should have expected , which some inferior MSS. insert in both places. By what kind of a way emphasizes their perplexity. For the omission of comp. 3:5. Win. xxx. 11, lxiv. 5, pp. 258, 738. The classical illustrates this common ellipse. Blass, Gr. pp. 106, 137.

. Because of the multitude; not through the multitude, a meaning of c.acc. which is found only in poet and freq. in Hom. It was probably by means of outside step that they went up on to the top of, the house. Oriental houses sometimes have such steps; and in any case, ladders could be used. That the was a dwelling-house is not stated. In bibl. Grk. it means a roof rather than a house (Deu 22:8; Jos 2:6, Jos 2:8), and in N.T. seems to imply a flat roof (12:3, 17:31; Act 10:9; Mar 13:15; Mat 10:27, Mat 24:17). It may have been over a large hall on the ground floor. Even if Jesus was teaching in the upper room of a dwelling-house (and the Rabbis often taught there), the difficulty of getting on to the roof and removing a small portion of it would not be very great. Edersh. Hist. of J. N. P. 253.

. The verb is peculiar to Lk. in N.T. (Act 9:25, Act 10:11, Act 11:5); freq. in class. Grk. Mk. has , . Perhaps Lk. thinks of Grco-roman houses, Mk. of Palestinian. We need not infer from that under the tiles was clay or mortar to be dug out. But, if there was anything of the kind to be cut through and removed, this could easily be done without serious consequences to those who were in the crowded room below. Men who had so much at stake, and who had got thus far, would not desist through fear of sprinkling a few persons with rubbish. To make these difficulties, which are very unsubstantial, a reason for rejecting the whole narrative as a legend, is rather childish criticism. The constructor of a legend would not have made his details conspicuously incredible. The suggestion that Jesus was in a gallery outside the house, teaching the multitude in the open court below, is not helpful. In that case, why unroof the gallery? The sick man might have been let down to the front of it.1

. Lk. alone has his favourite The substantive occurs here only. It is the dim. of (8:16, 17:34), and perhaps means here a portion of the mentioned in ver. 18. Not all of what had been used to bring him through the streets would be let down through the roof. Comp. (Act 5:15). Double forms of diminutives are not uncommon e.g. and (2Ti 3:6); (1:59, 66 and (Joh 6:9); and (1:63). Mk. has the inelegant , grabatus (Act 5:15, Act 9:33), for which e Greeks preferred or .

20. . The faith of the man and of those who brought him. All three accounts have the words; but Mt. omits the persevering energy which proved how strong their faith was. We reed not assume the the paralytic himself did not share his friends! confidence.

For a fall discussion of the Meaning of Faith in the New Testament and in some Jewish Writings see detached note on Rom 1:17. Here it will suffice to point out its four main uses for (1) belief in God; (2) belief in His promises; (3) belief in Christ; (4) belief in some particular utterance or claim of God or of Christ. Of these four the last is the commonest use in the Synoptic Gospels, where it generally means belief in the power of Christ, or of God in Christ, to work miracles. The efficacy of Christs power is commonly dependent upon the faith of those who are to be benefited by its exercise, as here. Comp. 7:50, 8:48, 17:19, 18:42. By an easy transition this faith in the power of God or of Christ to work miracles becomes used of the conviction that the believer himself has received power to work miracles. Comp. 17:6. In 18:8 the faith to be found on earth means faith in the Son of Man.

, . Mk. has , and Mt has . It is not likely that Lk., the writer of the Gospel of grace for all, has deliberately changed the more tender address, because it seemed to be unsuitable to one who must, as he thinks, have been a grievous sinner. Comp. 12:14 and 22:58. And we affirm more than we know, if we say that this absolution was necessary for the mans cure, because otherwise he would not have believed that Jesus could heal him, and his faith was essential to the cure. He probably believed, and perhaps knew, that his malady was the direct consequence of his own sin (13:2; Joh 5:14, Joh 5:9:2; 1Co 11:30). But it does not follow from this that faith on his part was thus far absent.

Suidas seems to be right in regarding as a Doric form of the perf. indic. for . But it was admitted rather freely, even by Attic writers. Comp. (Hdt. ii. 165, I; but the reading is not certain) and from (4:16). Win. 14:3. a, p. 96; Veitch, s.v. In Mt. and Mk. the true reading here is : but occurs again 7:47, 48; 1Jn 2:12, and propably Joh 20:23. Some have regarded it as a subjunctive: remissa sunto. Fritzsche (on Mat 9:2) pertinently asks, Quo usu aut more subjunctivum in talibus locis absolute positum defendas?

21. . Not a mere periphrasis for : see on 4:21. Hitherto they had found nothing in His words to excite criticism. Here they seemed to see the opportunity for which they had been watching, and their discussions forthwith began.1 The are evidently the same as the in ver. 17. Neither Mt. nor Mk. mention the Pharisees here; and both of them imply that the criticisms were not uttered aloud: (Mt.), (Mk.). Even here utterance is not stated, for may be used of thoughts (12:17; Mat 21:25).

; An accidental iambic line. We have another ver. 39, if be admitted as genuine. The is contemptuous, as often (4:22, 7:39, 49, 9:9, 14:30, 15:2, etc.). In N.T., as in class. Grk., has the two meanings of evil speaking (Col 3:8; Eph 4:31; 1Ti 4:4; Jud 1:9 : comp. Rom 3:8, Rom 14:16) and blasphemy (Mat 12:31, Mat 12:26:65; Rev 13:6). These cavillers assume that Jesus claimed to have pardoned the man on His own authority, not merely to have said that He knew that his sins have been forgiven by Got And Jesus does not say that they are mistaken in this. He acts on His own authority in accordance with the will of the Father, doing on earth what the Father does in heaven (Joh 5:19, Joh 5:21). For of sins comp. Mat 12:31; Mar 3:28; Rom 4:7, etc.

22. . The compound verb implies thorough and accurate knowledge (1Co 13:12; Rom 1:32; Justin, Try. 3. p. 221 A). The subst. is used of the knowledge of God and of Christ as being the perfection of knowledge: e.g. Pro 2:5; Hos 4:1, Hos 4:6:6; Eph 1:17, Eph 1:4:13; 2Pe 1:2, 2Pe 1:3, 2Pe 1:8, 2Pe 1:2:20; Clem. Alex Pd. ii. i. p. 173 (Lft. on Col 1:9). Comp. the climax in Apost. Const. 7:39, 1, , . On both and see Hatch, Bibl. Grk. p. 8. The latter seems here to mean thoughts (, Mat 9:4) rather than discussions (9:46). In LXX it is used of the counsels of God (Psa 39:6, Psa 91:6). It is, however, more often used in a bad sense (Psa 55:5, 93:11, Psa 145:4, etc.), and is specially freq. in Lk. (2:35, 6:8, 9:47, 24:38). Not in Jn., and only once each in Mt. and Mk.

. This seems to imply that there had been o utterance. Christ read their thoughts. See on Rom 1:21.

23. , . It is in this verse and the next that the three accounts are most similar-almost verbatim the same. The challenge is a very practical one, and the point of it is in the . It is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven, because no one can prove that they are not forgiven. But the claim to heal with a word can be easily and quickly tested.

. Lit. more capable of being done with easy labour (). In N.T. always in the comparative (16:17, 18:25; Mar 10:25; Mat 19:24); but occurs 1 Mal 3:18; Ecclus, 22:15. It is found in Polyb., but not in class. Grk.-For in the sense of whether of two like as quis = uter, comp. 22:27; Mat 21:31, Mat 21:24:17, Mat 21:27:17, Mat 21:21; Xen. Cyr. iii. 1, 17.

24. . This remarkable phrase in all four Gospels is invariably used by Christ of Himself; upwards of eighty times in all. The Evangelists never use it of Him, and no one ever addresses Him by this title. Yet none of the four ever directs our attention to this strict limitation in the use of the phrase, so that their agreement must be regarded as undesigned, and as evidence of their accuracy. D.C.G. art. Son of Man.

In O.T. we have son of man used in three different connexions, and it must be noted that in each case the rendering in LXX is and not . In the Psalms it is used of the ideal man: 8:4, 80:16, 144:3, 146:3. In Ezekiel it is the title by which the Prophet is addressed, 2:1, 3, 6, 8, 3:1, 3, 4, etc. etc.; upwards of eighty times in all. In Daniels night visions (7:13, 14), One like a son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and received a dominion which was universal and eternal. With this should be compared various passages in the Book of Enoch, of which this is specially noteworthy. There I saw one who had a head of days, and His head was white like wool; and with Him was a Second, whose countenance was like the appearance of a man, and His countenance was full of grace, like one of the holy angels. And I asked one of the angels who were with me, and who showed me all the secrets, concerning this Son of Man, who He was, and whence He was, and why He goes with the Head of days. And he answered and said to me: This is the Son of Man who has justice, and justice dwells with Him; and all the treasures of secrecy He reveals, because the Lord of the spirits has chosen Him, and His portion overcomes all things before the Lord of the spirits in rectitude to eternity. And this Son of Man, whom thou hast seen, will arouse the kings and mighty from their couches, and the strong from their thrones, and will loosen the bands of the strong, and will break the teeth of the sinners (46.), This Son of Man is the Messiah. He is called the Anointed, (48:11, 51:4), the Righteous One (38:2, 53:6), the Elect One (passim), and the Lord speaks of Him as my Son (105:2). That these Messianic passages in the Book of Enoch are of Christian origin is the opinion of a few critics, but it is difficult to maintain it. Everything distinctly Christian is absent. This Son of Man or Messiah is not the Word, is not God. That He has lived on the earth is nowhere intimated. Of the historical Jesus, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, or the Ascension, there is not a hint; nor yet of baptism, or of the eucharist, or of the doctrine of the Trinity. Why should a Christian write just what any Jew might accept about the Messiah and no more? But if the whole of the Book of Enoch was written before the birth of Christ, then we have sufficient evidence to show that when Christ was teaching on earth Son of Man was already accepted by the Jews as one title, although not a common one, for the Messiah.1 The idea of a weak and suffering Messiah was unwelcome to the Jews, and therefore a name which emphasized human weakness was not a favourite one. But the very reason which induced them to avoid the title induced our Lord to take it. It expressed His Messiahship definitely enough for His purpose; but it expressed it In that veiled and suggestive way which characterise the whole of His teaching on His own person. At the same time, it conveyed to those who had ears to bear the whole secret of the Incarnation. That which the Jews shrank from and ignored He rather placed in the forefront of His mission (Sanday in the Expositor, Jan. 1891, p. 30, art. On the Title, Son of Man).

. In all three accounts there is room for doubt as the words which this expression qualifies. Here either or . In Mk. and Mt. it may qualify . It is best taken with . But the difference in meaning is not great.

. This is not the apodosis to iva but a parenthesis:1 the apodosis to is Note the emphasis on : to thee I say the crucial words. Clement of Alexandria gives this address to the paralytic in singularly different language: , (pd. i. 2, p. 101, ed. Potter) Probably a paraphrase. For the pres. imperat. see Blass, Gr. p. 191.

25. . Every one of these words is characteristic of Lk. For MK. has his equally characteristic , a feature which recurs Luk 8:44, Luk 8:55, Luk 8:18:43, Luk 8:22:60. Lk. has ten times in the Gospel and six times in the Acts: elsewhere only Mat 21:19, Mat 21:20. For Mt. has and Mk. : see on 1:39. For Mk. has .

. Il doit porter maintenant ce grabat qui la si longtemps port (Godet). The wording is peculiar to Lk., and is perhaps intended to suggest this inversion of relations. Lk. alone records that he glorified God. The phrase is specially. common with him (ver. 26, 7:16, 13:13, 17:15, 18:43, 23:47; Act 4:21, Act 11:18, Act 21:20): once in Mk., twice in Mt., once in Jn.

The reading (R U is an obvious correction to a more usual construction. For the acc. after a verb of rest comp. 21:35; Mat 13:2; Mar 4:38; Joh 21:4; also Plato, sym. 212 D, .

26. Mk. has Mt. nothing. Lk. is fond of the stronger form. He alone records all three emotions-amazement, fear, and gratitude to God. The last is in all three. For comp. Mar 5:42, Mar 5:16:8; Act 3:10; Gen 27:33; 1Sa 14:15; 2Ch 14:14. Mt., whose narrative is much the most brief, adds after , which seems to refer to the preceding . He who is the Son of Man, the ideal representative of the race, had vindicated His claim to possess authority to forgive sins.

. The adj. occurs here only in N.T. In LXX it is not rare (Judith 13:13; Wisd. 5:2; Ecclus. 43:25; 2 Mac. 9:24; 4 Mal 2:13).It is used of the miracles of Jesus in the famous passage, of very doubtful origin, in Josephus: , . (Ant. xviii 3. 3).Whereas (13:17) has reference to the or glory of the agent, refers to the or opinion of the spectators; but in the sense of opinion or belief is not found in N.T. For the mixed form of aor. see small print on 1:59, and comp. 1Sa 10:14 and 2Sa 10:14.

27-39. The Calling of Levi and the Discussion about Fasting. Mat 9:9-17; Mar 2:13-22. In all three narratives this section is connected closely with the healing of the paralytic; but Mt. places both incidents much later, viz. after the return from the country of the Gadarenes.

The common identification of Levi with Matthew is probably correct; but his father must not be identified with the father of James the Less. Matthew is probably a contraction of Mattathias = Gift of God, and this name may have been given to Levi after His conversion, like that of Peter to Simon. Comp. Joseph Barsabbas, surnamed Justus (Act 1:23). In Galilee it was common to have two names; and therefore both names may have been original. But if Levi was the earlier name, and was less well known among Christians, that would account for Mk. and Lk. using it, while Mt. equally naturally would let it be evident that a had become, by Christs mercy, the well-known Apostle. There can be no reasonable doubt that the three narratives refer to same incident. And, as Levi is mentioned in no list of the Twelve, and Matthew is mentioned in all such lists, the identity of Levi the with Mt. the and Apostle need not be doubted. Such doubts, however, are ancient. They existed in the Gnostic commentator Heracleon (Clem. Alex. Strom. iv. 9, p. 595, ed Potter) and were shared by origen. They have been reproduced by Grotius (on Mat 9:9) and Michaelis; and more recently by Sieffert, Neander, Ewald, Keim, and Reuss. But a satisfactory solution, which is not contradicted by any evidence, is not to be rejected because it does not amount to demonstration.

27. . So also Mk., while Mt. has Departure from the town, rather than from the house, is probably meant; and we therefore obtain no evidence as to the site of Capernaum. We may place Capernaurn away from the lake, and yet suppose the to have been close to the shore. The customs collected there went to Herod Antipas, not to the imperia, fiscus (Jos. Ant. xvii. 11, 4, 5; B. J. ii. 6, 3): see on 20:25.

. Looked attentively at, contemplated, a collector, as if reading his character. The verb often implies enjoyment in beholding (7:24; Joh 1:14, Joh 1:32, Joh 1:38; Joh_1 Joh 1:1). For the see on 3:12. The Talmud distinguishes two classes of : the Gabbai or tax-gatherer (e.g. of income-tax or polltax), and the Mokhes or custom-house officer. The latter was specially hated, as having greater opportunities for vexatious exactions, especially from the poor. Levi was one of the latter. The great commercial route from Acre to Damascus, which continued until the crusades as the via maris, passed the lake at or near Capernaum, and gave employment to excisemen (Isa 9:1).

. Mk. as , and Mt. has . The fondness of Lk. for in introducing a name is here conspicuous. Mt. has , and Mk. has neither. Comp. 1:5, 10:38, 16:20, 23:50, and over twenty times in the Acts. Mt. and Mk. have once each. Jn. says (1:6, 3:1, 18:10).

. Excepting in the parallel passages, does not occur in N.T. Nor is it common elsewhere. In Strabo, xvi. I. 27, it seems to mean customs, taxes, and some would render , to receive the customs. But it is more probable that it means the place where dues were collected, the tol bothe (Wic.) or the custom-house (Rhem.). Comp. similarly formed the office of a collector of tenths. Very likely Levi was sitting outside the portitorium. He must have been visible from the outside: the is at, not in.

28. . Lk alone mentions this.1 Note the characteristic , and comp. ver. 11. The fact illustrates the doctrine, to which Lk. often bears witness, that riches are a peril and an impediment, and that the kingdom of God is specially preached to the poor. The statement is against the supposition (D. B.1 ii. p. 969) that Mt. returned to his business afterwards; and it is quite gratuitous to suppose that the statement is a mere reminiscence of ver. 11. In them case why has been changed to ? Syr-Sin. omits .

There is a slight awkwardness in preceding : the rising was the first act in the leaving all and in the following Christ. Both Mt. (?) and Lk. represent the following as habitual, . Mk. regards the single act on this occasion, . With the call, , comp. Joh 1:44, and with the result comp. ver. 11 and Mat 4:19, Mat 4:22. The two combined lead one to the view that this is a call to become an Apostle.

29. . Made a great reception () or banquet. The word is peculiar to Lk., who has again 14:13. The phrase occurs in LXX ( Gen 21:8, Gen 21:26:30; Est 1:3, Est 1:5:4, Est 1:8). Of course means in Levis house, which is not included in . He was not at his house when he left all. The refers to his whole mode of life, his business as a .

It is strange that any one should understand the words either here or Mar 2:15 as meaning in the house of Jesus. Had Jesus a house? If so, how improbable that Levi should hold a reception in it! If the narrator had meant this, must he not have given the name instead of , which would inevitably be misunderstood? Mt. has simply , which possibly means indoors as apposed to the outdoor scene . There is no evidence that Christ had a house at Capernaum. After the call of Simon and Andrew He is entertained in the house of Simon and Andrew (Mar 1:16, Mar 1:29); and after the call of Levi He is entertained in the house of Levi. The new disciple wishes his old friends to make the acquaintance of his new Master. Cest son premier acte missionaire (Godet).

. This proves that the house was a large one, which the house of Jesus would not have been: and it also shows the character of the company, for only social outcasts would sit down at the same table with .

30. . The means the scribes of the Pharisees, i.e. who belonged to that party. Some scribes were Sadducees. That this is the meaning is clear from Mar 2:16. It is pointless, and scarcely grammatical, to make refer to the inhabitants of the place, who have not been mentioned. These scribes were probably not invited guests, but had entered during the meal, like the woman that was a sinner in the house of Simon. The Sinaiticus and other authorities omit , doubtless because it was not clear what it meant.

For , which is not in Mk. or Mt., see Lft, on Php 2:14, and Kennedy, Sources of N.T. Grk. p. 39. The Atticists preferred . Both are probably onomatop.-Note that here, as in vv. 31, 33 and 4:43, Lk. has c. acc. after a verb of speaking, where Mk. (2:16-19) has the dat. See on 1:13.

; The single article (so in all three) brackets them as one class. In Mt. and Mk. the disciples are not included in the charge (, not ); but they both mention that the disciples were sitting at table with Jesus and the , and therefore were open to the charge, Lk., on the other hand, does not mention that the disciples were sitting at table, but his implies it. With comp. Exo 5:14.

31. In all three accounts Jesus ignores the insinuation against His disciples, and answers for Himself. He is responsible for the intercourse with taxcollectors and sinners. For Mt. and Mk. have . This looks like a deliberate change made by Lk. for the sake of a word which would more definitely express health as opposed to sickness. Like for (vv. 18, 24) and for (6:19), these changes may be the result of Lk.s medical training (Hobart, p. 67; Salmon, Int. to N.T. p. 129, 5th ed.). But would Lk. have made changes in a report of Christs words? There would be no need to have scruples, for is only a translation of the Aramaic, and Lk. might think that was a better translation. Christs reply is an argumentum ad hominem, partly ironical. On their own showing the Pharisees had no need of a teacher, while these outcasts were in the greatest need of one.

32. . These words are peculiar to Lk., but in some texts have been transferred to Mk. and Mt. Both and are freq. in Lk. See on 15:7. Obviously those who are really do not need to be called to repentance; but who are ? That is the question which Christs reply suggests. If we had only Mk.s account, we might suppose that what follows took place on some other occasion; but both Lk. and Mt. () connect it with the banquet in Matthews house.

33. . The same who asked the previous question, viz. the Pharisees and their scribes (ver. 30). Mt. says that it was the disciples of John who came up and put this question. Mk. states that both the disciples of John and the Pharisees were keeping a fast at that very time, and joined in asking why Christs disciples did not do so also. We know from Joh 3:26 how jealous the Baptists disciples were of Christ, and therefore ready to criticize. Perhaps they were also jealous of the freedom from legal restraints which His disciples seemed to enjoy. They leave an opening for the reply, You have no need to fast. The four words which follow , viz. the words , are peculiar to Lk. They imply that Christs disciples habitually neglected the frequent fasts which the disciples of John and of the Pharisees kept The fasts on Mondays and Thursdays are probably meant, which were not obligatory, but which some Pharisees observed (18:12). Moses was believed to have gone up Mount Sinai on a Thursday and to have come down on a Monday. The Day of Atonement was the only fast of universal obligation. For comp. 1Ti 2:1; it refers to prayers at fixed times according to rule. The disciples of Jesus seemed to have no rule respecting such things. A late tradition fixes the number of the Baptists disciples as thirty, answering to the days of the month, as the Twelve are supposed to answer to the months of the year (Clem. Hom. ii. 23).- . These words also are peculiar to Lk. in harmony with in ver. 30.

34. Individuals were at liberty to choose their own days for fasting, but they must not select a sabbath or any of the great feasts. Christ suggests another exception, which very possibly was made by the Pharisees themselves. Is it possible to make the guests fast at a wedding? Mt. and Mk. omit the : Can the wedding-guests fast? Would it not be morally impossible to have such a combination? To Johns disciples this parable would come home with special force, for their master had called Jesus the Bridegroom and himself the friend of the Bridegroom.

. The Gammon Hebraism to express those who are closely connected with the : comp. 10:6, 16:8, 20:36; Act 4:36; Mat 28:15; Joh 12:36, etc. In 1 Mal 4:2 means the garrison of the citadel. But in LXX such expressions are not very common (1Ki 1:52; 2Sa 12:5; Gen 11:10). The word seems scarcely to occur in class. GrK., but it is rightly formed (Tobit 6:14, 17). Comp. , , , , , …

35. . But days will come, i.e. days very different from the joyous days of the wedding. It is best to take this clause separately. After it there is an aposiopesis, which is mournfully impressive; and then the sentence begins again.

. There is no in Mt. or Mk., and some texts omit it here, because of its apparent awkwardness. We may take the as beginning a fresh sentence, or as epexegetic of the preceding clause. But days will come-and when the bridegroom shall be taken away, etc. Or, But days will come, yea, days when the bridegroom, etc. The word is in all three, and nowhere else in N.T. It is common in class. Grk., esp. of the moving of fleets and armies.

. Then they will fast-of their own accord. He does not say, Then ye will be able to make them fast, which would be the exact antithesis of what goes before; and the change is significant. Compulsion will be as superfluous then as it would be outrageous now: comp. 17:22. This is the first intimation of His death and departure, after which fasting will be appropriate and voluntary. Its value consists in its being spontaneously adopted, not forcibly imposed. This point is further developed in the short parables which follow. Note the characteristic (not in Mat 9:15), and see on 9:36.

36. . These introductory words are peculiar to Lk., and the phrase is used by no one else (12:41, 13:6, 14:7, 18:1, 20:9). For the characteristic see small print on 3:9, and for see on 1:13. For pairs of parables see on ver. 37 and 13:18.

. This also is peculiar to Lk.s narrative, and it heightens the effect of the parable. Both Mt. and Mk represent the patch as coming from an unused piece of cloth. To tear it from a new garment is an aggravation of the folly. A good garment is ruined in order to mend, and that very ineffectually, an old one. In all three we have for patch; in Mt. and Mk. also; and Mk. for has . In Plutarch and Arrian means tapestry for hangings. In the sense of patch it seems to occur only in Jos 9:11 (5) The Latin translations of vary: commissura (Vulg.), insumentum (a), immissura (d).

( , Lach. Treg.). But if he acts otherwise, i.e. if he commits this folly. Ni caveat errorem (Grotius). The formula is freq. in Lk. (ver. 37, 10:6, 13:9, 14:32), who never uses . is stronger than , and follows both negative (14:32; Mat 9:17; 2Co 11:16) and affirmative sentences (10:6, 13:9, Mat 6:1). It is found in Plato (Rep. iv. 425 E): comp. Hdt. iv. 120. 4. See Fritzsche on Mat 6:1 and Meyer on 2Co 11:16.

. Both he will rend the new garment.-in tearing the patch from it. AV. here goes wrong, although (except as regards the tense) all previous English Versions were right. Reading with A and Vulg. rumpit, Wic. Tyn. Cran. and Rhem. have He breaketh the new, while Cov. has He renteth the new. Beza has the old breaketh the new. Luther and AV. seem to be alone in taking as the nom., Both the new maketh a rent. With , comp. Joh 19:24; Isa 37:1.

. The double marks the double folly. RV. avoids the awkwardness of Both he will rend and the piece, etc., by rendering, He will rend and also the piece, etc. The combination with shows that is object and not subject.

As to the precise meaning, interpreters are not agreed, beyond the general truth that a new spirit requires a new form. But the piece torn from the new garment is probably exemption from fasting. To deprive Christs disciples of this freedom, while He is with them, would be to spoil the system in which they are being trained. And to impose this exemption upon the disciples of John and the Pharisees, would also spoil the system in which they have been trained. In the one case fasting, in the other non-fasting, was the natural outcome of the environment. For a variety of interpretations see Godet, who in his third ed. has changed his own (1888).

37. This second parable carries on and develops the teaching of the first. We have similar pairs of parables in the Mustard-seed and the leaven, the Treasure hid in the Field and the Pearl of eat price, the Ten Virgins and the Talents, the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, the Unwise Builder and the Unwise King. In three respects this second parable differs from the first. (1) The piece of new cloth represents only a fragment of the new system; the new wine represents the whole of it. (2) The new garment and the old one are only marred; the new wine is lost and the old skins are destroyed. (3) Not only is the wrong method condemned, the right method is indicated ( ). The argument is fortiori. If it is a mistake to take the natural out come from one system and force it upon an alien system, much more fatal will it be to try to force the whole of a new and growing system into the worn out forms of an old one. I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes (10:21). The scribes and Pharisees, wise in the letter of the law, and understanding their own cramping traditions, were incapable of receiving the free spirit of the Gospel. Young and fresh natures, free from prejudice and open to new light and new impressions, were needed to receive the new word and preserve it unchecked and untramelled for future generations. On the fitness of the twofold parable to the occasion Bengel remarks, parabolam a veste, a vino: imprimis opportunam convivio.

. For of pouring liquids comp. Joh 13:5; Mat 26:12; Jdg 6:19; Epictet. iv. 19, 12. Skin-bottles, utres, are still in use in the East, made of a single goat-skin (Hom. Il. iii. 247), from which the flesh and bones are drawn without ripping up the body. The neck of the animal becomes the neck of the bottle. Gen 21:4, Gen 21:15, Gen 21:19; Psa 119:83. Comp. Hdt. ii. 121, 20, iii. 9, 2; Hom. Od. v. 265. In Job 32:19 it is said that even new skins are ready to burst when they are full of new wine: comp. 38:37. See Herzog, Pro_2 art. Schlauch; Tristram, Nat. Hist. of B. p. 92.

38. . Here certainly, and perhaps here only in N.T., the difference between and must be marked in translation: New wine must be put into fresh wine-skins. While is new in reference to time, young as opposed to aged is new in reference to quality, fresh as opposed to worn out. Trench, Syn. lx.; Crem. Lex. p. 321. But a fresh heaven and a fresh earth (2Pe 3:13; Rev 21:1), and still more a fresh Jerusalem (Rev 3:12, Rev 21:2), would be intolerable. No English version prior to RV. distinguishes here between and ; and Vulg. has novus for both. None translates skins or wine-skins, but either bottles (Wic. Cran. Rhem., AV.) or vessels (Tyn. Cov. Gen.). The conclusion, , is an interpolation from Mat 9:17 ( B L and Aegyptt. omit).

39. This third parable is peculiar to Lk. While the first two show how fatal it would be to couple the new spirit of the Gospel with the worn out forms of Judaism, the third shows how natural it is that those who have been brought up under these forms should be unwilling to abandon them for something untried. The conversion of an outcast , who has no such prejudices, may be easier than one whose life is bound up in the formalism of the past Grotius, starting from Ecclus. 9:15, , , interprets: Significavit, hoc proverbio Christus homines non subito ad austeriorem vitam pertrahendos, sed per gradus quosdam assuefaciendos esse; which implies that Christ considered Jewish fasting the more excellent way, up to which His disciples must be gradually educated. Moreover, the subito on which this explanation turns is an interpolation: is not genuine ( B C1 L, Boh. th. Arm. omit). Wetstein quotes a multitude of passages to show that old wine was considered to be superior to new, and concludes; Pharisorum austeritas comparatur vino novo, Christi lenitas vino veteri; which exactly inverts the parable. The comparative merits of the old and the new wine are not touched by the parable, but the taste for them. One who is accustomed to old will not wish for new: it does not attract him by look or fragrance. See Hort, Judaistic Christianity, p. 24.

. The reading of A C and Vulg. (, melius) is a manifest corruption. The prejudiced person will not even try the new, or admit that it has any merits. He knows that the old is pleasant, and suits him; and that is enough: he is not going to change. Pharisis doctrina sua antiqua magis erat ad palatum, quam generosa doctrina Jesu, quam illi putabant esse novam (Beng.), and which they would not even taste. Comp. Rom 7:6; 2Co 3:6. If we admit the undoubtedly spurious, we have another iambic line in this verse as in ver. 21: . The whole verse is omitted in D and in most of the best MSS. of the old Latin; but WH. seem to be alone in placing it in brackets as of doubtful authority. On the three parables see Trench, Studies in the Gospels, pp. 168-183.

Jos. Josephus.

AV. Authorized Version.

D. B. Smiths Dictionary of the Bible, 2nd edition.

Trench, Trench, New Testament Synonyms.

Beng. Bengel.

Clem. Alex. Clement of Alexandria.

Gen. Geneva.

Win. Winer, Grammar of N.T. Greek (the page refers to Moultons edition).

Wsctt. Westcott.

Syr Syriac.

Sin. Sinaitic.

B B. Cod. Vaticanus, sc. 4. In the Vatican Library certainly since 15331 (Batiffol, La Vaticane de Paul 3, etc., p. 86).

D D. Cod. Bezae, sc. vi. Given by Beza to the University Library at Cambridge 1581. Greek and Latin. Contains the whole Gospel.

X X. Cod. Monacensis, sc. ix. In the University Library at Munich. Contains 1:1-37, 2:19-3:38, 4:21-10:37, 11:1-18:43, 20:46-24:53.

Goth. Gothic.

Tyn. Tyndale.

Vulg. Vulgate.

RV. Revised Version.

Rhem. Rheims (or Douay).

1 Cod. Brix. has hominum eritis captores, including James and John, although noli timere precedes. D has (from Mt. and Mk.) after the insertion

1 It is worthy of notice, that all the places where our Lord is stated to have met with lepers are in the central districts of Samaria and Galilee . It is just in this district that to this day we find the colonies of lepers most numerous (Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands, p. 19).

A A. Cod. Alexandrinus, sc. v. Once in the Patriarchal Library at Alexandria; sent by Cyril Lucar as a present to Charles 1. in 1628, and now in the British Museum. Complete.

C

C. Cod. Ephraemi Rescriptus, sc. 5. In the National Library at Paris. Contains the following portions of the Gospel: 1:2-2:5, 2:42-3:21, 4:25-6:4, 6:37-7:16, or 17, 8:28-12:3, 19:42-20:27, 21:21-22:19, 23:25-24:7, 24:46-53.

These four MSS. are parts of what were once complete Bibles, and are designated by the same letter throughout the LXX and N.T.

Hist. of J. N. History of the Jewish Nation.

1 For another explanation see Tristram, Eastern Customs, pp.34, 35.

1 It has been suggested that (Mar 2:6) and = ) here are simply different translations of the Aramaic verb, which has the very different meanings of sitting at rest and beginning; or possibly of two verbs which are identical in spelling (Expositor, April 1891, p. 285). See on 3:23. But these possibilities seem to be too isolated and sporadic to be of great value in accounting for differences between the Gospels.

1 Le Livre d Hnoch, en Particulier, lequel tait fort lu dans lentourage de Jsus (Jud Epist. 14) nous donne la clef de lexpression de Fils de lhomme et des ides qui sy rattachaient (Renan, V. de J. p. 11.). It is, of course, quite possible that the writer of the Book of Enoch took the idea from Daniel. For a discussion of the title see Dorner, Person of Christ, Eng. tr. 1:1. p. 54.

1 That this parenthesis occurs in exactly the same place in all three proves that all three made use of a narrative, the form of which was already fixed, either in memory or in writing (Salmon, Int. to N. T. p. 121, 5th ed.). Comp. Luk 8:28, Luk 8:29 with Mar 5:7, Mar 5:8, where we have similar agreement in arrangement.

Wic. Wiclif.

1 Ce seal mot suffit. La parole qui venait de gurir le lpreux, de rendre an paralys le mouvement et de remettre les pchs, transforma soudainement un publicain en disciple (Didon, JC ch. iii. p. 340).

D. Smiths Dictionary of the Bible, 1st edition.

Clem. Hom. Clementine Homilies.

Treg. Tregelles.

Cov. Coverdale.

Tristram, Tristram, Natural History of the Bible.

Cod. Sinaiticus, sc. iv. Brought by Tischendorf from the Convent of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai; now at St. Petersburg. Contains the whole Gospel complete.

L L. Cod. Regius Parisiensis, sc. viii. National Library at Paris. Contains the whole Gospel.

Aegyptt. Egyptian.

Boh. Bohairic.

Arm. Armenian.

WH. Westcott and Hort.

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

New Catchers of Men

Luk 5:1-11

Not their first call, recorded in Joh 1:35-42, but another which preceded their appointment to the apostolate.

The Lord always supersedes us. He superseded Peter in his command of the boat, which he had navigated since he was a lad. There is always a testing-point for the soul. Will you surrender the command and let Christ be captain? If so, in the teeth of great difficulties-for fish are not caught generally in the glare of day-He will fill your boat to the waters edge. He does beyond all we asked or thought.

Christ will be in no mans debt. If you lend Him your boat, He will return it filled with silver fish. The boats were filled; the upper room was filled with the Holy Spirit; and all Marthas hospitality was well repaid when Lazarus was raised.

At the day of Pentecost when Peters net landed 3,000 souls, was not our Lords promise fulfilled? Thrust out a little,is the beginning of long voyages and fishing expeditions with Christ!

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Fishers Of Men — Luk 5:1-11

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simons, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: and so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him- Luk 5:1-11.

Fishers of men! We hear a great deal about that nowadays. This is the first occasion on which our Lord Jesus Christ called men to that high calling. I want you to notice it particularly. We read, And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret. The lake of Gennesaret is the same as the Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias. It is a fresh-water lake, not very large, but very beautiful. One who has seen it can readily visualize what this first verse brings before us. In many places the hills seem to roll gently down to the lake itself, and there is just a very narrow beach so that one standing there would find himself crowded back to the water as people thronged toward him. On the other hand, the people could stand or sit up along the hillside and listen very readily as one spoke to them, either from the shore itself, or as our Lord did, from a boat. Everything about the Sea of Galilee fits in perfectly with the picture that we have in the New Testament. There is one thing that is indisputable: The New Testament was clearly never written by men who simply imagined the stories that they tell. They knew what they were talking about. Every detail of the picture is exact. Luke, himself, perhaps was not among those who had heard the Lord Jesus preach, but he said he had accurate knowledge of all things from the first, and he must have visited the Sea of Galilee. He must have looked over all the country round about, or he could not have given such accurate descriptions of the various places that he mentions in his Gospel. He is recognized, even by unbelievers, as one of the most careful geographers as well as one of the most accurate historians extant.

It is a great moment in ones life when he hears the call to a life of service, in devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ and for the blessing of a lost world. To respond to that call in loving obedience is to enter upon an altogether new and blessed experience, where one lives and moves on a higher plane than ever before. This is something more than conversion or even than consecration. For all who are saved have been born from above and all such are consecrated by God Himself to glorify Him and to do His will in this scene. But to some there comes a higher calling-a summons to leave all in the way of occupation with temporal things and to go forth at His bidding to represent Him as His ambassadors. His anointed ministers, to whom is committed in a special way the great task of taking men alive and then leading them on in the knowledge of Christ. That many imagine they are called to the ministry who are unfitted in every way for such high and holy service is very true, and often more evident to others than to those who are thus self-deluded. But when the Lord truly calls one to go after Him in full-time service, He fits that one for the work which He intends him to do. Possibly, there were never four men who gave less promise of marked ability as preachers of the Word than the fisherman quartet here; yet each of these was chosen by Jesus to fill a special place, and two of them were destined to become known as among the greatest missionary-preachers and teachers of all time. We know very little of Andrew, and James was martyred very early (Act 12:1-2), but Peter and John were granted many years of devoted service and their written ministry has edified untold millions.

The Lord Jesus was standing upon the shore. The people were thronging down to hear Him, crowding Him back toward the blue waters of the Sea of Galilee or the Lake of Gennesaret, as here called. Then Jesus turned about and He saw two fishermens boats in the lake, close to the shore, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. Jesus knew the owners of these boats, and He felt perfectly free to ask for the use of one of them. He entered into one belonging to Simon Peter and asked him to thrust out a little from the land. This was not the first time the Lord had contacted Simon Peter, neither was it the second nor third. We read of the first definite instance in John, chapter one, where two of the disciples of John the Baptist heard their master say, Behold the Lamb of God, and they left John and followed Jesus. They spent all the rest of the day with Him, listening to the wonderful words that fell from His holy lips, and then immediately became exercised about bringing others to Him. We read that one of the two who heard John speak was Andrew, Simon Peters brother-And he first find-eth his own brother Simon, and brought him to Jesus. There is something about the actual arrangement of the Greek text there that has led scholars to believe that it really means this: He was the first of the two to find his brother, implying that John himself found his brother James on that occasion and brought him to Jesus also, but John modestly hides himself and speaks only of that which his friend Andrew did. Andrew found his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus. The Lord Jesus welcomed him and gave him that new name Peter. From this time on Peter was numbered among those who are recognized as disciples of the Lord Jesus, but the disciples of Christ were not necessarily separated from their secular employment. Many delighted to listen to His messages and were taught by Him, and it was later that He separated a little group of twelve, and another group of seventy to go out preaching. So Peter at first continued in his daily work as a fisherman. He was engaged in this occupation when the Lord Jesus asked for the use of his boat. He entered into Simons boat and when He had done so, Jesus sat down in the boat and taught the people.

It is easy to visualize that scene. There were the crowds of people on the hillside. Here is the Lord Jesus sitting in the boat and as He addresses the throng, His voice carries in the clear air to the last one on the hill. He instructs them concerning the kingdom of God, and I can fancy Simon Peter sitting there with all the sense of ownership, thinking, This is my boat, and Jesus is here talking to these people. I am so glad to see them listening to Him. The Lord said some pretty serious things. Peter would be looking around and thinking like so many folks today, I am glad to see so-and-so here; I hope he is taking this in, and I hope so-and-so is getting what she needs. But apparently Peter was not taking in anything. He was just allowing it all to go to the rest of the folks. The Lord Jesus recognized his true state, and his need for something to probe his conscience. So He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. Simon was bewildered and surprised. Jesus was not a fisherman. He was a carpenter, and He had not lived in a town on the lakeside. He lived in Nazareth, some miles away from the lake, and He could not be expected, if He were only a man, to know the right time or the right conditions for fishing. So Peter explains in the next verse that they had been out all night long fishing, and had gotten nothing. So he was amazed when Jesus said to him in broad daylight, probably with the sun shining brightly down, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets. You can imagine an experience like this for Peter, and he, saying to himself, If the fish were not there in the night, certainly they will not be in the sunshine. There is no use expecting to take any fish at this time of day. I know the conditions here too well for that. Of course, our modernistic ministers and preachers have tried to explain the situation like this: they tell us that Jesus happened to look about and saw a school of fish, and instead of saying to Peter, Look, there is a school of fish, He thought it was a good opportunity to make Peter think He was working a miracle and so He said, Let down your nets for a draught. This is an endeavor to make our blessed Lord appear a mere charlatan. But the Lord Jesus wanted to reach the conscience of Peter, so He did something that would make him realize he was in the presence of God Himself.

Let down your nets for a draught. Simon Peter says, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. It had been a most disappointing night. But then, instead of saying it is useless to let down the nets today, he says, Nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net. Jesus did not say, Let down the net. Jesus said, Let down the nets, to prepare for a great draught. Peter said, Well, Lord, we will let down one net anyway. Of course, he felt it was a poor time to fish and he did not expect to get anything, but since Jesus said so, he let down a net. When they had done this they caught a great multitude of fishes, and their net brake. Maybe, if they had let down the nets, that which was used would not have broken so easily. One was not sufficient to hold the great draught of fishes rushing into it, and when they realized that they would not be able to handle this great catch themselves they beckoned unto their partners who were in another ship. I suppose that would be James and John, for they seemed to be working together. They beckoned unto their partners that they should come and help them, and they came and they filled both the ships so they began to I saw a number of ship-loads-boat-loads- come in to Tiberias from the Sea of Galilee, but I never saw such a catch as this threatening to sink the boat. I remember, as they were bringing in a great lot of fish, I was quite surprised, and I said to one of the fishermen, What do you call these fish? and he said, Poisson St. Pierre-St. Peters fish. 1 said, Are these some of the fish that Peter caught? He said, No; but these are some of the children of the fish he didnt catch! His name, though, is linked with them to this day.

They got such a multitude of fish that the boats were almost sinking as they drew them to land. Simon Peter was so stirred by what had taken place that he recognized the fact that no one but the Creator of the fish could ever have commanded the treasures of the deep to come into his net that way. He realized in a moment that he was in the presence, not only of the greatest prophet that had ever risen in Israel; not only of the greatest teacher that had ever come to mankind; not only of the most remarkable miracle-worker that the Jews had ever seen-he was in the presence of God! He fell down at the feet of Jesus, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. When one is brought consciously into the presence of God, it always has the effect of making him realize his own unworthiness and sinfulness. When Job came into the presence of God he said, I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Yet he was the best man living in his day, a man whose outward life was perfect and upright, and a man who feared God; but in the presence of the Lord, with the infinite holiness of God revealed to him, he felt he was but a poor sinner. Isaiah had the same experience. He was one of the most noble and eloquent of all the prophets, a man used of God to preach to others. Yet when he was in the temple one day and God was manifested to him, he cried out, I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips. He heard the seraphim surrounding the throne of God, singing, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! He recognized in a moment that there was a holiness of which he knew nothing and to which he, in himself, could never attain; but when he confessed his sinfulness and said, I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips, one of the seraphs took a coal from off the altar and touched his lips, saying, Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

And now, Simon Peter here, active, energetic, and who had been with the Lord on a number of occasions; who had listened to His teaching and seen His miracles, now, apparently for the first time, recognized Him as God manifest in the flesh; and the result was a complete breakdown on his own part, and he cried, I am a sinful man, O Lord! I wonder if we have all broken down like that before God? The thing that is most natural to the heart of man and most hateful to God, is pride. Most men, we are told, will declare to every one his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find? Speak to the average man about his hope of heaven and he will tell you, Yes, I do expect some day to arrive there. He does trust that eventually he will find his home in that city of the saints; and you ask, On what ground do you expect to be there? Almost invariably he talks to you about his efforts to do good; his attempt to obey the Golden Rule and to love God with all his heart, and to love his neighbor as himself, and that he has never been guilty of any serious offenses. He bases his hope on his own merits. But Gods Word says, By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight. Whenever you find men or women talking about their own righteousness, bolstering themselves up by the records of their own good works you may be sure they have never actually been in the presence of God. Simon Peter exclaims, I am a sinful man; depart from me, as much as to say, I recognize I am not fit to associate with a Holy One such as Thou art. Yet he clings to Him and says, as it were, You will have to send me away, if You do not want me with You. And our Lord never sends any sinner away. If you come, recognizing your guilt and confessing your sin, you may be sure He will receive you.

The Lord Jesus, instead of driving Peter away, said unto him, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. In other words, The very fact, Simon, that you have recognized that in yourself you are a poor sinful man makes you fit to go forth and become a blessing to others. You are going to have a higher calling, Peter. You are not going to spend the rest of your life on the Sea of Galilee fishing, but you are going out at My command to win souls, to bring others to a saving knowledge of the God of all grace; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. Or, as He puts it in another Gospel, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Now do not misunderstand. I do not suppose that the Lord Jesus says exactly those words to everybody. He does not call everybody to give up their temporal employment, and go forth in the ministry of the gospel, or to go out as missionaries to distant lands. But He does call everybody to be devoted to Himself and if devoted to Him, whatever your calling in life, whatever your station, however you may be occupied, you will be enabled to glorify Him, and though it may not be for you to do the work of an evangelist, though it may not be for you to go out as an apostle as Peter did, you will be able to influence others by your life, a life lived for God, which is the best testimony any one can give to the saving grace of God. Fear not. It is true you are a sinner in yourself, but if your trust is in Christ and you are resting in Him who died to save you, in Him who shed His blood to put away your guilt, you can go forth in confidence to serve. From henceforth thou shalt catch men.

God could have sent angels into this world to carry the gospel of His grace to lost men, and I am sure there is not an angel in heaven who would not gladly leave the glory and come down into this world and go up and down among the nations to tell the wondrous story of Christ, who died and rose again. But Christ did not commit to them this precious ministry. He has entrusted it to saved sinners-to you and to me, who, through His grace, know Him as our Redeemer. God give us to be faithful in making known the message to those round about us. We may have to do it in a very quiet way. It may be just a little word here and there. It may be just a short gospel message; it may be a brief testimony that will tell of the saving grace of Christ. All of these may be used as the hooks wherewith we catch men and bring them to know the Lord Jesus Christ for themselves.

This was a crisis in the life of the Apostle Peter, or I should say, the fisherman Peter. It marked the break between his life as a fisherman and that which was to prepare him for the apostleship, for we read, When they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him. Never again was Peter to be engaged in the fishing-business for a living. There was one time, you remember, after the resurrection, when he was still in a somewhat bewildered state, following his denial, that he went down to the Sea of Galilee, and was fishing; and again the Saviour appeared and again a great multitude of fish came into his net, but from that time on we never read of Peter taking up a net again. He devoted his life entirely to carrying the gospel message to a lost world. They forsook all, and followed Him. I take it that they here included, at least, the four men-Peter, Andrew, James, and John. This was really their induction into the apostolate. They gave up their temporal employment and from this time on they were associated with Jesus as He went from place to place, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. So, after three-and-a-half years of association with Him they were prepared, when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, to go forth declaring the gospel of His grace in power; so that multitudes, both of Jews and Gentiles, were saved. In this way they proved the truth of the Lords words, From henceforth thou shalt catch men. I cannot conceive of any higher calling on earth than that of being used of God to bring precious souls to Himself. Who would shrink from such service when commissioned by so wondrous a Master! To be a fisher of men is one of the greatest privileges one can enjoy.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Luk 5:1-11

Fishers of Men.

I. This passage reminds us that discipleship comes before apostleship. Peter had been, for at least some months, a docile learner in the school of Christ before he was called here to forsake all, and follow Him as an Apostle. They who would teach others about the Lord must first be acquainted with Him themselves.

II. That the knowledge of self, obtained through the discovery of Christ, is one of the main elements of power in seeking to benefit others. It is not a little remarkable that when God has called some of His greatest servants to signal service He has begun by giving them a thorough revelation of themselves, through the unveiling to them of Himself. Thus, when He appeared to Moses at the bush, the first effect was that Moses trembled and durst not behold, and the ultimate issue was that he cried, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent:… but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” Peter recognised the deity of Jesus through the miracle; but the light of that Godhead did, at the same time, flash into his own heart, and reveal him unto himself as he had never had himself revealed unto him before. Then came the Master’s “Fear not,” with its soothing influence; and thus, through his discovery of himself, and his knowledge of his Lord, he was prepared for his apostolic service.

III. That the work of the Christian ministry demands the concentration of the whole man upon it. These first Apostles “forsook all, and followed Christ.” This was their response to the call to active and official service by the Lord. Their ordination came later, but their acceptance of the call was now, and was signalised by their withdrawal from their ordinary pursuits.

IV. That the higher life of the ministry lifts into itself, and utilises all the experiences of the lower life that preceded it. “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” This phrase tells us (1) that if we would catch men we must use the right kind of net; (2) that we must follow men to their haunts if we would win them for Christ; (3) that we ought to improve special seasons of opportunity.

W. M. Taylor, Peter the Apostle, p. 36.

References: Luk 5:1-11-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 11; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 154; W. Scott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 88; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 33; vol. v., p. 193; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 350; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 342. Luk 5:4.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 287; Ibid., Sermons, vol. viii., No. 443; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. ii., p. 51: Talmage, Old Wells Dug Out, p. 323. Luk 5:4-6.-S. Leathes, Truth and Life, p. 147; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 225; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 422. Luk 5:4-11.-Ibid., vol. ii., p. 560.

Luk 5:5

I. The great multitude of fishes was the reward of the disciples’ ready and willing obedience. It was the justification of their unshaken confidence in Jesus; none ever relied on Him and was deceived. It was their remuneration for placing their time and their boat at Christ’s disposal, to do with them what seemed good in His sight. It would convince them that no one should ever work in God’s service, and be a loser for doing so. Above all, it was to be an encouragement to Simon and his partners to enter with all their heart upon the ministry of the word with which they were now to be entrusted. That would involve them in work very toilsome, and often thankless; but undertaken at the command of Christ, and with His never-failing help and countenance, it could not be in vain.

II. The text bids us persevere in the path of duty, whatever may be its discouragements. It tells us after failure to try again in the Name of the Lord, seeking His aid, committing ourselves to Him. It seems to say, “Be not weary in welldoing; for in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not.” The lesson is a hard one to learn, but it has been learned, and that effectually. To hope against hope, to struggle in the face of failure, is no easy task for flesh and blood. But many have so struggled, and have eventually brought the whole to good effect. Any one who is really anxious to do good, or to correct what is amiss in his own immediate sphere, may derive encouragement from this passage of Scripture. It seems to say, “Do not be daunted by apparent failure. Persevere, and all shall come right in the end.” Act like the obedient and confiding fisherman, “At Thy word I will let down the net.” “Be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

J. Edmund, Sixty Sermons, p. 285.

Luk 5:5-6

Obedience to the word of Christ, and the success with which it is crowned.

I. Obedience to the word of Christ-“Nevertheless at Thy word.” It is wise to have authority for every work we undertake. To know that we have authority, and a sufficient one, is more than half the inspiration of our life. It is enough for the soldier that he has the authority of his officer, for the officer that he has the authority of his general, for the ambassador that he has the authority of his king; and for the Christian labourer it is enough that he has the authority of Christ. Nothing short of this authority would either inspire or justify us in pursuing the work to which we have set our hands. Be sure of this, that Peter would have turned a deaf ear to any other voice than that of Christ if it had enjoined a like command. But he is willing to try at Christ’s word. “Nevertheless,” said Peter, that is, not because of success, but in spite of failure, “at Thy word I will let down the net.” And still the word “nevertheless” is on the lips of the Church. The night had been discouraging, and the Church has its discouragements, too; but nevertheless it has to do the work given it to do by the word of Christ

II. Look at the result of this obedience. It had in it not much of cheerfulness, nor, perhaps, any faith, but it was obedience under trying circumstances, and as such it was crowned with success. The failure of the previous night was not unforeseen or unarranged. Christ was in that failure as much as in the success that followed it. He saw those fishermen at their work in that long, profitless night, and He meant they should bring back empty nets. It was part of His gracious purpose to teach them that without Him they could do nothing, and that with Him they could do all things. Empty nets without His blessing, and full nets with it. And this lesson they were to remember henceforth when they should become fishers of men. The night of failure was not without its lesson and its benefit. We can do worse than fail-we can succeed, and be proud of our success; we can succeed, and burn incense to our net; we can succeed, and despise those who fail; we can succeed, and forget the Hand whose it is to give or to withhold, to kill or to make alive. He is but a weak and worthless man who can only labour so long as he succeeds, fight as long as he conquers, run as long as he wins the race. Such a fair-weather soul is not fit for any kingdom, least of all for the kingdom of God.

E. Mellor, The Hem of Christ’s Garment, p. 272.

References: Luk 5:5.-J. Vaughan, Sermons, 10th series, p. 117; Spurgeon, Ibid., vol. xxviii., No. 1,654; J. Menzies, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 271; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 213; vol. viii., p. 267; C. J. Vaughan, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 225. Luk 5:5, Luk 5:6.-C. Girdlestone, A Course of Sermons, vol. i., p. 149.

Luk 5:6

What was the teaching of this miracle for the Apostles and for us?

I. To Peter, indeed, and his fellows it was the Divine assurance that henceforth their life was to be spent for Him alone. No more fishing on the Lake of Galilee; henceforth they must toil night and day to save souls alive. The miracle was their warranty that, so only they abide within the ship of God’s holy Church, so only they have Christ with them all days, directing and protecting; however futile, humanly speaking, their work may be, it cannot fail. Christ the Source and Centre of the Church’s life on earth, in heaven; for time, for eternity; Christ using human instruments to draw souls out of the waters of this troublesome world, and bring them safe to the eternal shore; this surely was the meaning of the miracle for Peter and for us.

II. Yet, further, it tells me that whatsoever I take in hand, if I fail to bid Jesus Christ be my Friend, must end in loss. All success in life, success in home, success in business, success in scientific pursuits, depends on Jesus Christ’s help. “Without Me ye can do nothing.” Men may think to dispense with Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God; but their efforts are doomed to failure. How shall I then secure this presence? By making everything in life a matter of prayer. Referring all to Him; not merely things appertaining to my soul’s needs, but my daily business, my home life, my recreation, my pleasures. So does our daily life become supernatural, Divine; the light of God’s countenance shines full upon us; our lives are simple, natural, bright, lovely, all because they are lives of faith in God; they are lived in God, referred to Him in every detail; they have Him for their end; failure is impossible.

III. Yet more. Did not this miracle teach St. Peter a salutary lesson of Divine Omnipotence? The eye of Jesus Christ could reach the depths of the Sea of Galilee; He knew exactly where and when the fish would be found. He who could read the secrets of the Sea of Galilee could also read the secrets of Peter’s heart, read his selfishness, read his faithlessness, his impetuosity, and his cowardice. He knows us, yet He bids us know ourselves, that knowing ourselves, and bewailing our wasted life, He may say to us, Fear not.

T. Birkett Dover, The Ministry of Mercy, p. 34.

References: Luk 5:6.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 62; W. C. E. Newbolt, Counsels of Faith and Practice, p. 157. Luk 5:7.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 65; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 150.

Luk 5:8

It is easy to trace the way by which Peter’s thoughts had travelled to this conclusion. The miracle-such a thing as had never been seen before on those familiar waters-had taken a wonderful hold upon the fisherman’s mind. His veneration for the mighty Stranger who had done it at once rose to the highest. From the contemplation of the wonderworker the eyes of his mind, as they are wont, turned, and in a moment turned in upon himself, and the contrast became intolerable. He was softened at the moment that he was convinced, and upon his melted heart’s conscience he wrote the large, deep characters of sin.

I. The greatest and surest test of every man’s state before God is this, “What is sin?” How does he feel to sin? In a child, I always notice, that quick perception of sin in little things, and a keen distress at it, is the most certain index of early piety. And, as it is in childhood, so it is in the Christian’s after-life, which is childhood over again; the measure of the saint is always the depth of his convictions.

II. Until the spiritual eye has been fully opened, the sense of the distance which there is, and which the natural mind feels there ought to be, between God and the sinner, is ever strong in thoughtful, serious, and really converted persons. In one this feeling becomes despair. The soul dares not to admit the thought that it could ever be received into the love of God. The dread of the sin of presumption-from which it is the farthest off-is ever haunting it. (2) In another man this feeling destroys all present sense of God’s mercy. A real deprecation of sin, acting unscripturally, leads to a wrong perception of the entire spirit of the Gospel. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

III. It is an unspeakable comfort to know the awful prayer that Peter made in ignorance was never answered. Christ did not depart from him. Thank God, He knows when to refuse a prayer. He never leaves those who are only ignorant. On the contrary, Christ instantly gave Peter something more than forgiveness. He gave the employment to him which ensured his pardon: “Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” Those who have ever feared lest they have lost the love of one whose love they most prized, will best understand the delicacy and the beauty of this way of treating a discouraged disciple.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 1874, p. 209.

Consider what it was that could lead St. Peter to wish the Lord to go away and depart from him; what he could mean, and what he could be feeling, that should make him shrink from Christ, and actually, on his knees, beg Him to go away and leave him, at the very moment when He had shown so signal a proof of His Divine power and goodness.

I. St. Peter’s words in the text were the natural exclamation of wonder; and with wonder a natural shrinking back from One so good, so holy, so powerful, and so Divine. 1 think Peter felt as though he said: “Thou art too good, too great for me to be near Thee. Let me be Thy disciple farther off. Do not come to me; I am not good enough for Thy near company. Depart from me. I shrink, in uneasiness and distress of mind, from Thy closer presence.” I believe this to be the true account of St. Peter’s meaning, and of the feeling with which he spoke; and if it is so, it seems to me one which is very common. Men, conscious of sin, conscious of weakness, and not very much in earnest, do shrink from God in this sort of way. It is possible that their shrinking may seem to themselves like modesty and humility; but it is a shrinking away from God, and it may be extremely serious in its consequences. In its extremest form it is none other than the same thing which the poor creatures, possessed with devils in the country of the Gergesenes, cried out, “What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?”

II. But mark the difference in these two cases. In the one, a man shrinks altogether away from God, flies from Him, will not believe His love; is sure that he is quite hopelessly lost and ruined, falls into despair and that terrible recklessness of unclean living which is the characteristic of despair. And so he falls into complete and hopeless rebellion, and his end is utter loss and death. In the other case, a man, penetrated with the sense of his unworthiness and sin, also shrinks, or at least is tempted to shrink, away from God; he feels disposed to cry, with St. Peter, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” But he knows that he must not yield to such a temptation. He soon recalls and repents of his faithless cry. He learns by grace to trust his Saviour’s love. He learns to repent of the yielding, such as it was, to the temptation of shrinking away. There may have been some likeness in the original feeling of the two, but the one has ended in despair, and the other in the high estate of a favoured apostle, one of the chief seats in the everlasting kingdom of glory.

G. Moberly, Parochial Sermons, p. 180.

References: Luk 5:8.-G. Calthrop, Words Spoken to My Friends, p. 239; Bishop Lightfoot, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 177; J. Martineau, Endeavours after the Christian Life, p. 147; F. W. Robertson, The Human Race and Other Sermons, p. 125; G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons and Addresses in Marlborough College, p. 9. Luk 5:10. Church of England Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 54.

Luk 5:12-13

(with Luk 5:20)

I. So long as there is any religion at all in the world it will, of course, busy itself with the eternal question of the difference between right and wrong. It will, in some sense, make itself the champion of right and the enemy of wrong. But then wrongdoing may be very differently regarded, even by religious men. Roughly speaking, it may be regarded as directed either against man or against God; either as an injury or an offence; either as a weakness or a wickedness; either as a defect or a sin. Roughly speaking, again, the world takes the former view, Scripture the latter. The sentence of worldly men and of the natural conscience is, “I have injured him, and I must do what I can to make amends.” The sentence of Scripture is that of the Psalmist, “Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.”

II. If at any time sin as sin is thought little of, the prevalent ideal of goodness among Christians will be that of doing good to man rather than walking humbly with God. Philanthropy, in short, will take the place of holiness. And I think we see many signs of this at the present day-signs which we are bound to hail with thankfulness, even while, as Christians, we note their deficiencies.

III. Christ assumes our sinfulness as the very basis of His work. He speaks to us as sinners, but as sinners loved, not despised; and there is all the difference. His deeds have an interest indeed, and a charm for thousands, and thousands who are, as yet at least, but little burdened by a sense of sin. But it was not to interest these that He lived and died. He came not to call the righteous, or the sensible, or the indifferent, or the critical, but sinners to repentance. That was His distinguishing work. All other works-the unfelt duties He has revealed, the dormant philosophy He has stimulated, the social kindness He has aroused, the august institutions He has founded and hallowed-all these works, glorious as they are, are but secondary to His great design. He is, first and chief, the Friend of sinners. “He shall save His people from their sins.” He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied; by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.

H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, 2nd series, p. 252.

References: Luk 5:12, Luk 5:13.-M. R. Vincent, God and Bread, p. 227. Luk 5:12-26.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., pp. 124, 132; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 134. Luk 5:13.-Parker, Hidden Springs, p. 324. Luk 5:14-21.-Ibid., p. 128, Luk 5:15.-Outline Sermons to Children, p. 139.

Luk 5:16

I. When we read in this and in so many other passages that our blessed Lord in the days of His flesh offered prayers unto God, it greatly concerns us that we do not accept an explanation only too commonly suggested of these His prayers. It is sometimes said that Christ our Lord prayed by way of example, that so He might teach us the duty of prayer, and that His prayers had no other purpose and meaning but this. Doubtless He was our example in this as in every other point. But His prayers were no such hollow, unreal things, as we must needs confess them to have been, if such was the only intention which they had. Our Lord, the head of the race of men, but still man as truly as He was God, prayed, as any one of His servants might pray, because-in prayer is strength; in prayer is victory over temptation; in prayer, and in the grace of God obtained through prayer, is deliverance from all evil.

II. If times of prayer were needful for Christ, how much more for all others; for as He was in the world, so are we; the only difference being that we lie open to the injurious influences which it exerts, as He neither did nor could; that the evil in the world finds an echo and an answer in our hearts which it found not at all in His. In a world where there is so much to dissipate and distract the spirit, how needful for us is that communion with God, in which alone the spirit collects itself at its true centre, which is God again; in a world where there is so much to ruffle the spirit’s plumes, how needful that entering into the secret of the pavilion, which will alone bring it back to composure and peace; in a world where there is so much to sadden and depress, how blessed that communion with Him, in whom is the one source and fountain of all true gladness and abiding joy; in a world where so much is ever seeking to unhallow our spirits, to render them common and profane, how high the privilege of consecrating them anew in prayer to holiness and to God.

R. C. Trench, Sermons in Westminster Abbey, p. 138.

References: Luk 5:16.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. vi., p. 205; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 9th series, p. 128; Homilist, vol. vi., p. 229. Luk 5:16-26.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii., No. 981. Luk 5:17.-Ibid., vol. xii., No. 720. Luk 5:18-25.-G. Macdonald, Miracles of Our Lord, p. 145. Luk 5:22, Luk 5:25.-N. Smyth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 72. Luk 5:26.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 88.

Luk 5:27

The text tells us of the power which Christ exercised over the mind, the will, and the affections. “Follow Me, follow Me,” and immediately he rose up, and followed Him. There was power-power over the mind, power over the will, power over the affections; and that is the demonstration beyond all parallel that Christ is God. Now, about this Levi. We know very little about him, except that he was a Jew, a native of Galilee, and that he was a publican-that is, a collector of the Roman taxes. Now for a Roman citizen to become a collector of the taxes upon the Jews was an offence to them, for it carried the conviction constantly to their minds that they were a subjugated people; but that a Jew should be so far recreant to the honour of his country and to the feeling of his people as to take office under the Roman government for such a purpose, it carried the conviction home still further. How did Levi come to follow Christ? There are four things that will help us to determine the reality of his conversion.

I. First, the change of occupation in obedience to Christ. The rule is to continue in that calling in which we were unless the providence of God, or some other reason, justifies the change. There are but two exceptions to this rule. The first is where the business in which a man is called, converted, is itself injurious to himself and his fellowmen. The other is where a man is called to a different field of labour.

II. The second evidence is the sacrifice endured. Levi sacrificed the source of his wealth. The publicans did get rich; he forsook it, gave it up. You know it takes grace to do that.

III. The third evidence is his identifying himself with Christ. He did not act as Nicodemus did, who said, “I will come round the corner at night;” nor like Joseph of Arimatha, who was secretly a disciple. He was no neutral; he came right out, identified himself with Jesus Christ, to go where He went, and suffer or rejoice as He suffered or rejoiced.

IV. I have one more evidence-his concern for his fellowmen. It is added, “He made a great feast in his own house, and there was a great company of publicans and others that sat down with them.” Why did he make that feast? Levi understood human nature; he knew that more people would come to a feast than to a prayer meeting. He made a feast; he called the publicans to it; he designed to tell them why he had determined to quit that business. He made a public profession of religion. He had a hope that as he had experienced a saving benefit, so those others would also desire to share it with him. If any individual should bring in such evidences as Levi’s in proof of his conversion, I take it that he would be received into the Church.

J. Patton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 120.

Luk 5:27-28

How was it that a man like Levi, with aims so low and pleasures so earthly, was found to listen, not only with willingness, but with profit and attention, to the teachings of the Lord Jesus? We cannot explain that difficulty away by saying that our Saviour spoke seldom or leniently of this particular class of men; for it would be difficult to name any sin, save hypocrisy, which He reproved with greater frequency and severity than covetousness. Anything more opposite than the tone of His preaching to the state of public teaching and practice it would be impossible to conceive, and yet the fact is incontestable, that in this class of publicans our Saviour found numerous disciples and one apostle. How, then, are we to explain it? The result was due, I believe,

I. To the honesty of the Lord Jesus Himself. In censuring sinners He reproved all alike, not only the poor and despised, but also the nominally pious and respectable. No station was so lofty as to lift the offender above the reach of His censure; no profession so pious or respectable as to cloak from his searching eye the pride, or lust, or covetousness, which might lurk concealed beneath it. By such a prophet the publicans could bear to be censured, who told the Pharisees that they were accursed outcasts, that their phylacteries and broad garments, and greetings in the market-place, were all hypocrisy. If, then, we are desiring that the love of Christ should touch men’s hearts, and change their lives, let us endeavour to be more like our Saviour. More bold and true in what we say; more simple and self-denying in what we do; practising no more than what we believe and what we intend.

II. But then, in the second place, if we would worthily follow the Lord Jesus, our Master, we must not only imitate His truthfulness and self-denial, but we must be content, like Matthew, to leave all in order to do it; content, that is to say, with no more of this world’s wealth and honour and pleasant things, than are consistent with a simple and holy-hearted surrender of our wills and ways to the will and direction of our blessed Saviour. If there be any pleasure, any pursuit, any friend, any indulgence, any gain, which is inconsistent with the devotion of our life and work and heart to the service and glory of our Lord, all that must be given up without reservation; we must throw it off and cast it behind us, finally and decisively, as Matthew did, when, rising up from the toll-booth at the call of the Saviour, he deserted his occupation for ever.

Bishop Moorhouse, Penny Pulpit, No. 536.

I. One of the most conspicuous instances of the attractive power of Jesus is presented by the narrative in our text. The Lord laid a spell on Matthew, and he yielded in a moment. Christ drew him irresistibly, imperially. He swept him with Him in His progress as a satellite is swept by its sun. And what was the secret of the spell? The Man Christ Jesus embodied all the higher thoughts, influences, aspirations, and hopes, by which His life had ever been blessed. Man is double. He is what he is, what the world and the devil have made him, and he is what he was meant to be, what his soul pines to be-his idea. And he and his idea dwell together, strange comrades in this case of flesh. The one is and suffers; the other dreams, and while it dreams is blessed.

II. The Lord came by as Matthew was brooding there; the Lord comes by as you sit brooding; He is the Author and Finisher of those dreams. His is the voice which has often spoken to you in night watches, and stirred your aspirations; in bitter sorrow He has come to you and kindled your hope; out of the depths He has lifted you to visions of a glorious future, and made the germs of all blessed fruits stir in the cold breast of your despair. Every voice of the better nature, every pining of the nobler heart, every vision of the purer imagination, every stirring of the immortal spirit that you have from God, every sigh for deliverance from sin, every resolution to fight it out, God helping you, with the devil, is the Lord’s inspiration; and they all rise up and beckon you to follow Him, when Jesus of Nazareth at length draws near. “And Matthew left all, rose up, and followed Him.” Young man, standing there by the devil’s toll-booth, paying in the tax of thy young life to his accursed treasury, go thou and do likewise.

J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 106.

References: Luk 5:27-29.-Homilist, new series, vol. vii., p. 141; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 190. Luk 5:27-32.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 20. Luk 5:27-39.-W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 154. Luk 5:28.-G. Huntington, Sermons for Holy Seasons, p. 249.

Luk 5:29

Our Lord’s example teaches us what sort of employment is always, perhaps so far as we can pursue it, the most useful to our souls; it shows us, at any rate, what business there is which we can none of us safely neglect altogether; for that which Christ did always, Christ’s servants cannot certainly be justified if they never do. And this business consists in mixing with others, not in the mere line of our trade or calling, and still less for mere purposes of gaiety; but the mixing with others, neither for business, nor yet for pleasure, but in the largest sense of the word, for charity.

I. It will, then, be seen how many persons there are who have need to be reminded of this duty. They who really live mostly to themselves are indeed in these days very few, and embrace only that small number of persons whose time is principally spent in study; that is, men who are devoted to literature or science. But those who, while they mix with others, yet do it in the line of their business, or for pleasure’s sake, include a very large portion of the world indeed. Statesmen, lawyers, soldiers, sailors, tradesmen, merchants, farmers, labourers-all are necessarily brought much into contact with their fellowmen; there is no danger of their living in loneliness. And persons of no profession-the young, and women of all ages, in the richer classes especially-they desire society for the pleasure of it; they think it dull to live out of the world. For it is very possible that neither of these two large classes of people may mix with others in the way that Christ mixed with them; they may do it for business or for pleasure, but not for charity.

II. To those, then, who are not inclined to be idle, but who, whether from necessity or from activity of mind, are sure to have plenty of employment, nay, who are so much engrossed by it that it leaves them, as was the case with Christ, “no leisure so much as to eat,” it becomes of great consequence, not only that they should be as busy as Christ was, but that part of their business, at least, should be of the same kind; not only that they should be fully employed, but that their employment may, in part at least, be of that sort, as, when they fail, they cause them to be received into everlasting habitations.

T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. ii., p. 164.

Reference: Luk 5:31.-D. Fraser, Metaphors of the Gospels, p. 95.

Christian Mutual Tolerance. Christ is here claiming for His disciples that their spiritual life be left to unfold itself naturally; that they be not fettered with forms; that they be not judged by religious traditions and old habits; that they be free to show themselves glad when they have cause of gladness, and that their expressions of sorrow and their self-discipline follow their feeling of sorrow and their need of discipline.

I. Christ’s vindication of freedom to all His disciples. We cannot ante-date maturity nor hurry experience. Endeavour not to force a young and vigorous, even though incomplete, Christian character into the mould and habit of an older one, which may perchance, in its turn, be too despondent, too cheerless; but rather notice and admire how God develops each according to its own vitality, and appoints to each its proper sphere and mode of service. There is a work to be done by the young, and God has given them the impulses for it. Their native energy will be always breaking through their conventionalities; the new wine will burst the bottles. Put the new wine into new bottles, and both will be preserved.

II. Christ’s plea for consideration of one another. Be patient, Christ is saying to those who were offended at the exuberance of His disciples; they will not always be as joyous as they are now. The realities of life and the variations of Christian experience will surely take away from younger disciples the undue exaltation which shocks the elder saints. Without your schooling they will pass through much tribulation. They will be sober enough, subdued enough, by-and-by. While the more sombre Christians attempt to bind their sadness as a law on the whole Church, there will surely be strife and bitterness, insincerity, unfitness for the stress of the Christian conflict. But the life which Christ develops in its own fitting forms will give the joyous, confident Christian, matured by painful discipline, sympathy even with those whose sadness is the sadness of doubt. He will be very gentle with them, for His own life has taught Him that without full and abiding confidence in Jesus religious experience must be a gloomy thing. The new wine is better than the old. Not only is Christianity better than Judaism; even under the Gospel the new days are better than the old. God gives His best blessings latest. “Thou hast kept the good wine till now.”

A. Mackennal, Christ’s Healing Touch, p. 218.

References: Luk 5:33.-F. W. Robertson, The Human Race and Other Sermons, p. 190. Luk 5:33-39.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 69; D. Fraser, Metaphors of the Gospels, p. 106. Luk 5:35.-J. Keble, Sermons from Lent to Passiontide, p. 410. Luk 6:1-12.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 95; A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 88; F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, p. 82. Luk 6:1-49.-E. Aston, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 327. Luk 6:6-11.-Homilist, vol. vi., p. 166.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 5

1. The Miraculous Drought of Fishes. (Luk 5:1-11)

2. The Leper Healed. (Luk 5:12-16)

3. The Paralytic Healed. (Luk 5:17-26)

4. The Call of Matthew and the Feast (Luk 5:27-29)

5. The Scribes and Pharisees Answered (Luk 5:30-35)

6. The Parable of the Garment and the Bottle. (Luk 5:36-39.)

Luk 5:1-11

Two miraculous draughts of fishes are found in the Gospels. The one here at the beginning of His ministry; the other after His resurrection. (Joh 21:1-25). Both demonstrate His power as Lord over the animal creation. Here the net broke (or began to break), in the other miracle it did not break. Peter is prominent in both. Here he falls at His feet crying out, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. The divine presence, made known by the miracle, showed Peter his own condition. The Lord graciously calms his fear. The soul that sinks down at the blessed feet of the Lord and owns his sinfulness is safe. He came to seek and to save what is lost. And more than that. He calls into service. Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. They left all and followed Him. It would have been strange if they had done anything else. The highest and best besides knowing the Lord as our Saviour is to follow Him and to be obedient to His call.

Luk 5:12-16

Luke describes the leper as being full of leprosy. The terrible disease had advanced so as to cover the entire body. Leprosy is the most awful, incurable disease. It is a living death and one of the best illustrations of sin and its ravages. He has the power, and He alone, to heal the leper, as He is the only One who can heal the spiritual leprosy. Then great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed. How men were attracted to Him and sought Him! But He went instead into the wilderness to pray. He felt the need as the perfect man to seek the Fathers presence. He has given us an example. It is the pattern we should follow.

Why is it that there is so much apparent religious working, and yet so little result in positive conversions to God,–so many sermons, and so few souls saved,–so much machinery, and so little effect produced,–so much running hither and thither, and yet so few brought to Christ? Why is all this? The reply is short and simple. There is not enough private prayer. The cause of Christ does not need less working, but it does need among the workers more praying. Let us each examine ourselves, and amend our ways. The most successful workmen in the Lords vineyard, are those who are like their Master, often and much upon their knees.–Bishop Ryle

Luk 5:17-26

The same miracle is reported by Matthew and Mark. (Mat 9:2-8; Mar 2:1-12). See annotations there.

Luk 5:27-29

The Publican Levi is Matthew, the writer of the Gospel of Matthew. He was a tax-gatherer and as such despised by his own brethren, because he was serving the hated Roman government. Tax-gatherers and sinners the Son of Man came to call. Levi left all and followed him. That he became at once a witness for the Lord is seen by the feast he made and the large number of tax-gatherers he had invited.

The concluding verses of this chapter we have already considered in the preceding Gospels.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Chapter 25

Nevertheless, At Thy Word

In this portion of holy scripture the Holy Spirit gives us his record of the call of our Lords first three disciples. This is a more detailed account of their call to the work of the ministry than we have had before. May he by whom these words were inspired teach us the lessons they are intended to convey to us.

It is obvious that these eleven verses are intended to show us something of what is involved in believing and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. We must both trust and obey the Son of God. Obedience does not save us or sanctify us; nevertheless, where there is no obedience there is no salvation and no sanctification. Where faith comes, obedience follows.

Pressed To Hear

Luke tells us that the people pressed upon the Lord Jesus to hear the Word of God. When they did, the Lord Jesus gave them their desire. Learn then that those who seek to hear the Word of God shall be taught of God.

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simons, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship (Luk 5:1-3).

Here is a multitude of eternity bound men and women pressing upon the Saviour to hear the Word of God. What a blessed press! Like Mary, these men and women chose that one thing needful. They sat at Christs feet to hear his word.

What Peter saw here, he later experienced in Caesarea, at the house of Cornelius (Act 10:33). Cornelius said to Peter, as he arrived to preach, Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.

Blessed are they who come to the house of God to hear the Word of God. They who come to be fed shall be fed. They who come to be taught shall be taught. They who come seeking comfort shall find comfort. They who come seeking grace shall find grace. They who come seeking Christ shall find Christ. Hear what God himself says about this. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right (Isa 45:19).

Human Instruments

In Luk 5:4, we see how that our great and glorious Lord God condescends to use human instruments to perform his great and wondrous works. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

The catching of this great draught of fish was miraculous; but the fishermen were just fishermen. The boats were just boats. The nets were just nets. But they were fishermen, boats and nets God was pleased to use.

There are many who object to this plain revelation of Scripture, fearing that it limits God and gives men a hand in Gods operations of grace. Moses did not part the Red Sea. God parted the sea using Moses rod. The disciples did not multiply the loaves and fish. The Lord Jesus did that; but he let those blessed men distribute food to the hungry. He who raised Lazarus from the dead could have easily moved the stone from the mouth of the tomb; but he chose to use men like you and me to roll away the stone from the mouth of the tomb. So, too, in the salvation of chosen, redeemed sinners, God condescends to work by means of human instruments. It is written, It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

The instruments God uses are themselves utterly useless and insufficient for their work; and they acknowledge that fact. Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. Why was this the case? Was it because there were no fish in the sea? No. Were they unskilled in their work? Certainly not. These were master seamen. Were they lacking in diligence? No. They had toiled all night. Why, then, had they caught nothing? Because we must ever be reminded that the instruments themselves are worthless and useless. Our Saviour said, Without me, ye can do nothing. But with him, we can do all things.

When the Son of God is at the helm of the boat, by some mysterious power, hordes of fish are drawn into the net.

The Lord usually performs his work in the most unlikely places. Our Master always chooses the most unlikely people as the objects of his grace, the most unlikely men to be his servants, and the most unlikely places to perform his works. He commanded the disciples to launch out into the deep. But, if you fish in lakes, you know that you are not likely to catch many fish in the deep waters.

Faith And Obedience

Faith is obedient to Christ. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net (Luk 5:5). Let men say what they will, God says, Faith without works is dead; and it is. Men may attempt, if they dare, to justify disobedience, but faith is obedient to the will and Word of God. Believers are not rebels, but willing servants.

The Master said, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a great draught. This was a command which was manifestly contrary to reason and contrary to experience. These men had been fishing all night. But it was Christ the Lord who gave the command. And obedience to the Word and will of God requires immediate, unquestioning, selfless, self-denying compliance. Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

Trust and obey, trust and obey,

For theres no other way

To be happy in Jesus,

But to trust and obey.

John B. Sammis

Christ Our God

And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken (Luk 5:6-9).

There may be some things involved in Peters prayer which are not commendable. But I know this. What Peter here expressed is exactly what sinners feel when they see the glory of God in Christ. When sinners are made to see the goodness, grace, power, and glory of God in Christ, they are overwhelmed at their unworthiness to stand before his presence.

This miracle performed by our Saviour caused Peter to be overwhelmed with a sense of the Saviours Godhead. This is evident from the fact that he fell down at the Masters feet, crying out, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Peter seems to have remembered, suddenly, what the Lord had said to Moses in the Mount. Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live (Exo 33:20). Thinking, as holy men did in ancient times, he concluded that the sight of God meant immediate death. That is clearly what Manoah thought, when the angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Christ) appeared to him and his wife and did wondrously. He said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God (Jdg 13:22).

Suddenly remembering these things, Peter was overwhelmed with a conscious sense of sin and begged the Lord to depart from him. He was convinced that nothing short of omnipotent power could have produced such a miracle as he had seen. He was suddenly seized with a sense of the fact that he was in the immediate presence of God, the Almighty!

Honour For Honour

God honours those who honour him. In his word of judgment to Eli concerning his sons the Lord God said, Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed (1Sa 2:30).

Nothing honours God like obedient faith. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice (1Sa 15:22). When Peter launched out and let down his nets, he caught the fish; and faithfulness in small things always leads to greater things. So, we read in Luk 5:10 that Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. Peter, James, and John, who were faithful to Christ as fishermen, were made by Christ to be fishers (catchers) of men!

Three Demands

Read Mat 4:19 and Luk 5:11 together and you will see that the call of Christ demands and produces three things. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (Mat 4:19) And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him (Luk 5:11).

When the Master calls sinners by his grace, and when he calls men saved by his grace into the work of the ministry, he requires three things from them, three things which only he can produce, but three things we must give.

Faith: If we would be the servants of God, if we would be men-fishers, we must believe him!

Forsaking: If we would follow Christ, we must forsake all to do so.

Following: If we would be used of God, we must obey him: his will, his Word and his Spirit.

An Allegory

This historic event, like all historic events recorded in holy scripture, has an allegorical meaning. The whole event is a remarkable picture and type of the history of Gods church and its work in this world. The ships carrying Christ and his people across the sea with the Word of God represent gospel churches. The fishermen are representatives of gospel preachers and their work. The net cast is the gospel of the grace of God, which we preach to all men. The sea represents the world. The shore represents eternity. The miraculous draft of fish caught and brought to shore represents the success of our labours in compliance with the Masters Word, the salvation of Gods elect.

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

it: Luk 8:45, Luk 12:1, Mat 4:18-22, Mat 11:12, Mar 1:16-20, Mar 3:9, Mar 5:24

the lake: Num 34:11, Chinnereth, Jos 12:3, Chinneroth, Mat 14:34, Mar 6:53

Reciprocal: Jos 11:2 – General Jos 13:27 – Chinnereth Eze 39:11 – on the east Mat 15:29 – unto Mar 4:1 – so that Luk 8:40 – the people Joh 6:1 – the sea Joh 10:41 – many 1Th 2:13 – the word of God

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

ON HEARING SERMONS

The people pressed upon Him to hear the word of God.

Luk 5:1

This eagerness of the people to hear Christ is full of instruction, and both of encouragement and caution to all in every age who preach and who hear the Word of Grace.

I. Motive.Some desired to hear Christ from mixed and even unworthy motives; some came from curiosity, impelled by the desire of knowing something new; some came for bread, or for healing, or for some other form of temporal aid; some came to cavil, to catch Him in His words, to betray Him. But some came to hear Christ because their hearts felt the charm of His words and the Divine power of His message. Still does the Divine Word prove its power by drawing the hearts of men unto itself.

II. Method.To hear it profitably men must listen to it

(a) With reverence, as to a word higher than that of man.

(b) With attention, as to what is of vital interest and concern.

(c) With candour, as prepared to weigh all that is said, although it may be opposed to their prejudices.

(d) With prayer, that the Spirit may accompany the message to the heart.

(e) With frequency, as remembering that not one lesson, not many lessons, can exhaust the riches of heavenly truth.

III. Purpose.The purpose for which the Word of God should be heard is essentially spiritual.

(a) To appropriate it in faith. They truly hear who truly believe.

(b) To obey it with cheerfulness and diligence. Blessed are they who hear the word of God, and do it!

Illustrations

(1) Speaking of the plain of Gennesareth, Josephus says: One may call this place the ambition of Nature, where it forces those plants that are naturally enemies to one another to agree together; it is a happy contention of the seasons, as if each of them laid claim to this country, for it not only nourishes different sorts of autumnal fruits beyond mens expectation, but preserves them a great while. It supplies men with the principal fruits, grapes and figs, continually during ten months of the year, and the rest of the fruits as they ripen together throughout the whole year.

(2) It was no brilliant lecturer, no mere fascinating improviser that gathered that eager throng. Imperfectly as He may have been understood to the full extent of His teaching, all felt that He was a teacher of quite another order from any they had ever known. It was nothing less than the Word of God that men crowded to hear from the lips of Christ; and the craving which drew men after Him then was one which has never passed away; it still works mightily in human hearts; now, as of old, through many an avenue of approach, men are pressing upon Him for satisfaction of that self-same craving; and the time is assuredly coming, notwithstanding adverse signs, when the pressure shall be more intense yetnay, when the words once whispered in hatred and alarm, shall be literally true: Behold! the world is gone after Him.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE MODERN SERMON

The text serves to suggest thoughts af a general kind.

I. It opens up the whole question of religious appeal and Christian preaching.What is there, we may ask, in common between the eagerness with which men pressed of old upon Christ Himself, and that with which they will flock to listen to the teacher who preaches about Christ? Doubtless the disparity is great, indeed, between the teaching of the Divine Master and that of the worthiest individual who bears His commission. Yet what men seek to gather from the imperfect utterances of His ministers is what they sought from Himit is the Word of God.

II. Another consideration is that preaching, in the original sense of the word, is a thing now unknown in Christian lands.To preach in the language of the New Testament means to proclaim Christ as a Saviour to those who never before heard of Him. The modern sermon is a new means of grace. It is one that has grown up in the Church of Christ in answer to the instinctive demands of believers; it is to satisfy the need which every Christian feels of having the chords continually touched which link Divine truth to his common life. For more than a generation the demand for sermons has been steadily growing. The people have truly pressed upon the ministers of the Gospel to hear the word of God. It is a great mistake to imagine that the clergy have invented this want. It is the people who call for sermons, and their ministers with revived zeal have set themselves to meet the demand; notwithstanding charges of dulness, sameness, and emptiness which have been levelled against preachers, the clergy know full well that the omission of the sermon would be generally regarded as a loss. It should be remembered that preaching must, for the most part, be all that it is sometimes censured for being, commonplace and repetition. The preacher may, and should, exercise his skill in clothing his great message with freshness, and in diversifying the application of truth; to bring out of his treasure things new and old; to face the intellectual difficulties, the moral perils, the social problems of his time; but for all that, one theme alone must be paramounthe has to preach Christ in all His fullness, and to bring the mind of Christ to bear to consecrate the present, and to keep supreme the interests of the soul, to point ever to that unseen world to which it belongs, and for which it is to prepare.

III. But what is it that gives to preaching its attractiveness still in a day when there are so many influences at work which tend to discredit and invalidate it? Is it not because there is that in the individual hearer which must always contribute to the effect of a sermon? Every hearer has a history of his own. Many can testify that the sermons which have helped them have not been those which a mere critic would have pronounced remarkable; indeed, the preachers words may have been lost upon the majority of his congregation, and yet some hearts there, whose soil God has prepared, at some critical point in their lifes history, perhaps, have heard words which just met the sorrow or the doubt or the fear which held possession of them. No wonder, if those who have gone through such an experience, believe it possible, even through the weak and faltering utterances of man, to hear the very Word of God.

Rev. Canon Duckworth.

Illustration

The vision must precede the message, and the message declare the vision. The age calls for preachers who are seers, men who with pure hearts see God, who behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, who discern the signs of the times, who with anointed eyes see under the surface of things, and with open vision watch the movements of men in the light of the Incarnate Christ. The age calls for preachers who are prophets as well as seers. Men who speak what they know, and testify what they have seen, whose preaching may not be with enticing words of mens wisdom, but is in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, who will not hesitate to declare the whole counsel of God, and who scorn to apologise for preaching the full Gospel of Christ. The general reinstatement of preaching as a Divine institution suited to modern needs would issue in a widespread readjustment of the Church to the age. The people will always come to hear, if only the clergy have always something worth hearing to say. The Gospel of Christ is still the power of God unto salvation, and still the cry is heard, What must I do to be saved?

(THIRD OUTLINE)

CONCENTRATIVE CHRISTIANITY

The text tells us that the people pressed to listen to the gracious words of Christ. It tells little of their motives.

I. Those of our time, too, can press to hear the Word of God. Of diffusive religion we have abundance; a concentrative Christianity is what we require. And to believe itto commune with our own hearts and be stillis the finest preparative for external usefulness.

II. There are two ways in which the revelation of the will of God through Christ may be presented to our minds.

(a) We may know it as a mass of doctrines and commands offered to our acceptance as beings possessed of reasonable faculties, and demanding from our understandings a simple assent to these truths.

(b) We may know it in such a sense and degree as that it becomes the prevailing principle of all our actions and the presiding director of our inmost thoughts, the soul of our souls, the fountain of our moral being, the central force of the whole system of life and conduct. To which of these classes does our acquaintance with the Word of God belong?

Illustration

Archbishop Davidson in his Visitation Charge has a telling passage on preaching. If it be, he says, that we are enabled by painstaking study and elaborate preparation and care to produce that which will be pointed and pithy, and make itself felt as a direct message from God to the human soul, in ten minutes, then be it so, and thank God. But if it be merely that we think people are pleased and satisfied now with the ten minutes rather than with the little longer time which used to be more customary; if Gods people so like it that therefore we can do with it, and say a few words, as it is called, leaving the big thought of the responsibility of the teacher to God and his fellow-men to be discharged in a lighter way than before, then surely we are missing some of the very largest part of the trust which God has laid upon us in a day when education is wider and our own reading ought to be more deep and thorough. Facilities for obtaining knowledge are taken advantage of by everybody, and people who are preaching should now utter words worth hearing, because the result of elaborate and painstaking care.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

IN THE PREVIOUS chapter we saw the Lord Jesus coming forth in the power of the Spirit to announce the grace of God, and being confronted at once with mans rejection. We saw that nevertheless He pursued His way of grace unmoved by it. This chapter now presents us with a series of lovely pictures, illustrating what grace accomplishes in the case of those who receive it. Four men come before us-Peter, the leper, the paralytic, Levi-and a different feature marks each. They follow one another in an order which is moral, if not strictly chronological.

Both Matthew and Mark tell us how the Lord called the four fishermen to be His followers, but only Luke informs us as to the miraculous draught of fishes, which made so profound an impression upon Peter. The Lord had used his boat and would not be his debtor, but grace it was that poured so abundant a recompense back upon him. It was made the more striking by the fact that they had just been spending a laborious and wholly fruitless night. Now there was not merely abundance but super-abundance. Where futile labour had abounded, there rich results did much more abound. The only breakdown was in connection with their ability to conserve what grace gave.

Peters boat went out twice into the lake, once by night, when fish might be expected, once by day when they would not be. The place was the same on both occasions, so were the men, and so was their equipment. What made the difference? One thing, and one thing only. Christ had stepped into the boat. Peter had his eyes opened to see this fact, and it evidently made the Saviour shine before him in a light that was Divine. Finding himself in the presence of God, even though it was God present in the fulness of grace, wrought in Peters heart conviction of his own sinfulness.

Now this is the first thing that grace brings with it-conviction of sin. It produces it in deeper measure than ever did the law, and it attracts while producing it. Herein lies the wonderful contrast. The law of Moses, when given at Sinai, wrought conviction of unfitness on the part of the people, but it repelled them and sent them afar off from the burning mountain. Grace in the person of Jesus so convicted Peter that he confessed himself to be full of sin, and yet casting himself at Jesus knees, he got as near to the Saviour as ever he could.

The next incident, fittingly enough, is about a man, not exactly full of sin, but full of leprosy, which is a type of sin. So full of leprosy was he that he felt himself to be too repulsive an object to count with confidence upon the kindness of Jesus. He was confident of His power but rather dubious as to His grace. So he approached with the words, If Thou wilt… revealing himself to be wholly filled with leprosy and partly filled with doubt. The grace of the Lord instantly rose to its full height. All power was in His word, yet He put forth His hand and touched him, as if to wipe out of his mind for ever the last lingering doubt and set him perfectly at ease.

Now here we see that grace brings cleansing, a cleansing which the law did not bring though it made provision for the recognition by the priests of any cleansing which should be at any time effected by the power of God. Here was the power of God at work in the fulness of grace, and it was a lovely sight indeed! We do not wonder that great crowds came together to hear and be healed, as verse Luk 5:15 records.

Do not miss verse Luk 5:16. Jesus has taken the place of Man in dependence upon God, acting by the power of the Spirit. Grace has been freely flowing from Him, and He takes time for communion in prayer, withdrawn from the haunts of men, before further coming into contact with human need.

Next comes the case of the man smitten by paralysis and reduced to a state of utter helplessness. Nothing is said as to his faith, though striking and energetic faith was displayed by the men who brought him, and the Lord abundantly answered it. The Pharisees and doctors of the law, who were present, fill in a kind of dark background to the picture. They had plenty of needs and the power of the Lord was present to heal them, since grace brings its ample supplies freely and for all. They were present however to give and not to receive. What they gave was criticism, and it proved to be wrong! They flung out their criticisms and missed the blessing.

The man got the blessing-power was conferred upon him. This was just what he needed. The man full of sin not only needs cleansing from his sin but also power over his sin, and he needs that power in connection with forgiveness. Evidently in the case of this man his paralysis was the result of his sin, and the Lord dealt with the root of the trouble before addressing Himself to the fruit. This is the way that grace ever takes, for there is never anything superficial about its methods. The criticising Pharisees could no more deliver the mans body from the grip of paralysis than they could deliver his soul from the guilt of his sins. Jesus could do both: and He proved His power to accomplish the wonder of forgiveness, which was outside human observation, by performing the wonder of healing right before their eyes.

The Pharisees were quite right in believing that no one save God can forgive. But when they heard Him give absolution they denounced Him as a blasphemer. We deduce from it that He is God. We each have to face this crisp and clear-cut alternative, and happy for us it is if we have made the right decision. The healing the man received was given in God-like fashion. He rose up a strong man, able to shoulder his couch at once and march off to his house. He did so glorifying God, and the beholders were moved in the same way. Grace, when displayed, does lead to the glory of God.

In the fourth place Levi comes upon the scene, and he illustrates the fact that grace supplies an Object for the heart. When Jesus called him he was occupied in the pleasant task of receiving money. His mind and heart was instantly diverted from his money and he began to follow the Lord, with the result that we next see him reversing the process, and dispersing by giving to the poor according to Psa 112:9. Levi invited a great company of publicans and others to his feast, showing how at once his thoughts had been brought into concert with his newly found Lord, and that he had caught the spirit of grace. Yet Christ was the real Object of the feast, for it says Levi made Him a great feast in his own house. The Pharisees were entirely out of sympathy with this spirit of grace, but their objections only served to bring forth the great saying, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

All that we have been saying might be summarized in this:-Grace produces conviction of sin, and then works cleansing from sin. Then it confers power, and also conforms the recipient to the likeness of the One in whom it is expressed. Christ becoming Levis Object, we can see how he began to catch the spirit of his Master.

From verse Luk 5:33, and onwards into chapter 6, another thing begins to emerge pretty clearly; and that is that grace conducts out of bondage and into liberty. The Pharisees disliked grace and were very strong as to the fastings and prayers and other ceremonies prescribed by the law. The law generates bondage and grace brings liberty: this is taught very fully in the Epistle to the Galatians. The full truth expounded there could not be made known until the death and resurrection of Christ were accomplished and the Spirit had been given, still here we find the Lord beginning to speak of the things so soon to shine forth clearly. He uses parabolic or illustrative language, but His meaning is clear. Being the true Messiah, He was the Bridegroom, and His presence with His disciples forbade their being under these restrictions.

Then, further, He was introducing that which was new. In Him the grace of God was beginning to shine out, and like a piece of new cloth it could not be treated as a patch to be put on the old garment of the law. The new will impose such a strain upon the old fabric that it will tear, and also there will be no suitability between the new and the old. They will prove to be wholly incongruous.

Again, changing the figure, grace with its expansiveness may be likened to the action of new wine; whereas the forms and ordinances of the law are marked by the rigidity of old bottles. If the attempt is made to confine the one within the other, disaster is certain. New vessels must be found capable of containing the new power.

In this striking way did the Lord indicate that the grace of God, which had arrived in Himself, would create its own new conditions, and that the carnal ordinances instituted in Israel under the law were only imposed on them until the time of reformation (Heb 9:10). But at the same time He indicated that men naturally prefer law to grace-the old wine suits them better than the new. One great reason for this is that by the very fact of giving the law to men it is supposed that they may be capable of keeping it; whereas grace is proffered upon the assured basis that man is a hopelessly lost creature.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

1

Gennesaret was another name for the Sea of Galilee. The people were the ones meant by the common people in Mar 12:37. They were not prejudiced as were the priests and scribes, and manifested a hunger to hear the teaching of Jesus.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

[To hear the word of God, he stood by the lake, etc.] for they were wont to teach also without the synagogue and Beth Midrash; in the highways and in the streets. “Rabban Jochanan Ben Zaccai taught in the street before the Mountain of the Temple the whole day.” See the Gloss upon it: “Ben Azzai taught in the streets of Tiberias.”

This custom R. Judah forbade in this canon: “Let not the doctors teach their disciples in the streets.” And accordingly he severely rebuked R. Chaijam, because he taught his brothers’ sons in the street.

And yet it is related of the same R. Judah, R. Judah sat labouring in the law [labouring in the word and doctrine; as the expression is 1Ti 5:17], “before the Babylonish synagogue in Zippor: there was a bullock passed by him to the slaughter, and it lowed.” This bullock because he did not deliver from the slaughter, he was struck with the toothache for the space of thirteen years.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

WE have, in these verses, the history of what is commonly called the miraculous draught of fishes. 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.-For another thing, there is a singular similarity between this miracle worked at the beginning of our Lord’s ministry, and another which we find Him working after His resurrection, at the end of His ministry, recorded by John. (Joh 21:1-6.) In both we read of a miraculous draught of fishes. In both the Apostle Peter has a prominent place in the story. And in both there is, probably, a deep spiritual lesson, lying below the outward surface of the facts described.

We should observe, in this passage, our Lord Jesus Christ’s unwearied readiness for every good work. Once more we find Him preaching to a people who “pressed upon Him to hear the word of God.” And where does He preach? Not in any consecrated building, or place set apart for public worship, but in the open air;-not in a pulpit constructed for a preacher’s use, but in a fisherman’s boat. Souls were waiting to be fed. Personal inconvenience was allowed no place in His consideration. God’s work must not stand still.

The servants of Christ should learn a lesson from their Master’s conduct on this occasion. We are not to wait till every little difficulty or obstacle is removed, before we put our hand to the plough, or go forth to sow the seed of the word. Convenient buildings may often be wanting for assembling a company of hearers. Convenient rooms may often not be found for gathering children to school. What, then, are we to do? Shall we sit still and do nothing? God forbid! If we cannot do all we want, let us do what we can. Let us work with such tools as we have. While we are lingering and delaying, souls are perishing. It is the slothful heart that is always looking at the hedge of thorns and the lion in the way. (Pro 15:19; Pro 22:13.) Where we are and as we are, in season or out of season, by one means or by another, by tongue or by pen, by speaking or by writing, let us strive to be ever working for God. But let us never stand still.

We should observe, secondly, in this passage, what encouragement our Lord gives to unquestioning obedience. We are told, that after preaching He bade Simon “launch out into the deep and let down his net for a draught.” He receives an answer which exhibits in a striking manner the mind of a good servant. “Master,” says Simon, “we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing: nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net.” And what was the reward of this ready compliance with the Lord’s commands? At once, we are told, “they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.”

We need not doubt that a practical lesson for all Christians is contained under these simple circumstances. We are meant to learn the blessing of ready unhesitating obedience to every plain command of Christ. The path of duty may sometimes be hard and disagreeable. The wisdom of the course we propose to follow may not be apparent to the world. But none of these things must move us. We are not to confer with flesh and blood. We are to go straight forward when Jesus says, “go;” and do a thing boldly, unflinchingly, and decidedly, when Jesus says, “do it.” We are to walk by faith and not by sight, and believe that what we see not now to be right and reasonable, we shall see hereafter. So acting, we shall never find in the long run that we are losers. So acting, we shall find, sooner or later, that we reap a great reward.

We should observe, thirdly, in this passage, how much a sense of God’s presence abases man and makes him feel his sinfulness. We see this strikingly illustrated by Peter’s words, when the miraculous draught convinced him that One greater than man was in his boat. We read that “he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

In measuring these words of Peter, we must of course remember the time at which they were spoken. He was, at best, but a babe in grace, weak in faith, weak in experience, and weak in knowledge. At a later period in his life he would, doubtless, have said, “Abide with me,” and not, “depart.” But still, after every deduction of this kind, the words of Peter exactly express the first feelings of man when he is brought into anything like close contact with God. The sight of divine greatness and holiness makes him feel strongly his own littleness and sinfulness. Like Adam after the fall, his first thought is to hide himself. Like Israel under Sinai, the language of his heart is, “let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Exo 20:19.)

Let us strive to know more and more, every year we live, our need of a mediator between ourselves and God. Let us seek more and more to realize that without a mediator our thoughts of God can never be comfortable, and the more clearly we see God the more uncomfortable we must feel. Above all, let us be thankful that we have in Jesus the very Mediator whose help our souls require, and that through Him we may draw near to God with boldness, and cast fear away. Out of Christ God is a consuming fire. In Christ He is a reconciled Father. Without Christ the strictest moralist may well tremble, as he looks forward to his end. Through Christ the chief of sinners may approach God with confidence, and feel perfect peace.

We should observe, lastly, in this passage, the mighty promise which Jesus holds out to Peter: “Fear not,” He says, “from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

That promise, we may well believe, was not intended for Peter only but for all the Apostles,-and not for all the Apostles only, but for all faithful ministers of the Gospel who walk in the Apostles’ steps. It was spoken for their encouragement and consolation. It was intended to support them under that sense of weakness and unprofitableness by which they are sometimes almost overwhelmed. They certainly have a treasure in earthen vessels. (2Co 4:7.) They are men of like passions with others. They find their own hearts weak and frail, like the hearts of any of their hearers. They are often tempted to give up in despair, and to leave off preaching. But here stands a promise, on which the great Head of the Church would have them daily lean: “Fear not, thou shalt catch men.”

Let us pray daily for all ministers that they may be true successors of Peter and his brethren, that they may preach the same full and free Gospel which they preached, and live the same holy lives which they lived. These are the only ministers who will ever prove successful fishermen. To some of them God may give more honor, and to others less. But all true and faithful preachers of the Gospel have a right to believe that their labor shall not prove in vain. They may often preach the Word with many tears, and see no result of their labor. But God’s word shall not return void. (Isa 55:11.) The last day shall show that no work for God was ever thrown away. Every faithful fisherman shall find his Master’s words made good: “Thou shalt catch men.”

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Notes-

v4.-[Launch out into the deep.] Let us note that this command must have been peculiarly trying to a fisherman’s faith. The deep waters are not generally the waters in which fish are taken in lakes.

v6.-[Their net brake.] The word rendered “brake” would have been better translated, “began to break,” just as a similar word in the next verse is translated, “began to sink.” That the net did not actually break, is clear from the context. It “was breaking,” or “on the point of breaking.”

v10.-[Thou shalt catch men.] It has been often remarked, and with much justice, that the Greek word translated “catch,” means literally “take alive.” It is only used here and in one other place, 2Ti 2:26, a passage which is often much misinterpreted, but rightly understood is a remarkable parallel to our Lord’s words in this place.

Let us not forget, in reading this miracle, that holy and good men in every age have seen in it a remarkable type and emblem of the history of Christ’s Church in the world. They have regarded the ships as emblems of the Churches,-the fishers of Ministers,-the net of the Gospel,-the sea of the world,-the shore of eternity,-and the miraculous draught of the success attending work done in strict compliance with Christ’s word. There may be truth in all this. But it needs to be cautiously and delicately used. The habit of allegorizing and seeing hidden meanings in plain language of Scripture has often done great harm.

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Luk 5:1. The multitude. His influence was already great.

The lake of Gennesaret, i.e., the Sea of Galilee (see on Mat 4:18). Luke alone uses the former name.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Here observe, 1. That our Saviour used the sea as well as the land in his passage from place to place to preach the gospel; and the reasons why he did so might probably be these:

1. To show Nature’s intent in making of the sea: namely, to be sailed upon, as the land to be walked upon.

2. That Christ might take occasion to manifest his Deity, in working miracles upon the sea: namely, by calming of the waves and stilling of the winds.

3. It might be to comfort sea-faring men in their distresses, and to encourage them to pray to such a Saviour as had an experiemental knowledge of the dangers of the sea: it were well if sailors would consider this, and instead of inuring themselves to the language of hell when they go down into the deep, would direct their prayer unto Christ, and look up to him; who now in heaven has the remembrance of what he himself endured and underwent here on earth, and on the sea.

Observe, 2. The circumstance of time, when Christ used to put forth to sea: it was usually after he had wrought some extraordinary miracle, which set them on admiring and commending of him; as after he had fed so many thousands, with a few barley loaves and fishes, presently he put forth to sea, shunning thereby all popularity and vain-glorious applause from the multitude which he was never ambitious of, but industriously avoided.

Observe, 3. That after our Saviour’s resurrection, we never find him sailing any more upon the seas. For such a fluctuating and turbulent condition, which necessarily attends sea voyages, was utterly inconsistent with the constancy, stability, and perpetuity, of Christ’s estate when risen from the grave. The firm land better agreeing with his fixed state, he keeps upon it, till his ascension into heaven.

Observe, 4. That Christ scruples not to preach to the people in, and out of the ship: He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Sometimes we find our holy Lord preaching upon a mountain, sometimes in a ship, sometimes in a house, as often as may be in a synagogue. He that laid hold of all seasons for preaching the gospel, never scrupled any place which conveniency offered to preach in; well knowing that it is the ordinance that sanctifies the place, and not the place the ordinance.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Luk 5:1-10. As the people pressed upon him, with great eagerness, to hear the word of God Insomuch that no house could contain them: they perceived Christs word to be the word of God, by the divine power and evidence that accompanied it, and therefore they were eager to hear it. It seems the sermons which Jesus had preached in his last tour through the country had made a great impression on the minds of the people who heard him; for they either followed him to Capernaum, or came thither soon after his return in great numbers, in expectation of receiving still further instruction from him. He stood by the lake of Gennesaret Elsewhere called the sea of Galilee, Mar 1:16; and the sea of Tiberias, Joh 6:1; being distinguished by these names, because it was situated on the borders of Galilee, and the city of Tiberias lay on the western shore of it. The name Gennesaret seems to be a corruption of the word Cinnereth, the name by which this lake was called in the Old Testament. See note on Mat 4:13. It appears from Mar 1:16, that Jesus had been walking on the banks of this lake. And he saw two ships Two small vessels, as the word , frequently occurring in the gospels, evidently means, though in the common versions rendered ships. They were a sort of large fishing-boats, which Josephus calls , observing that there were about two hundred and thirty of them on the lake, and four or five men to each. Standing by the side of the lake, or aground near the edge of the lake, as Dr. Campbell renders , observing that the vessels are said to be, not , in the lake, namely, at anchor, but , at, or beside the lake. But the fishermen were gone out of them After the labour of a very unsuccessful night; and were washing their nets Namely, in the sea, as they stood on the shore. And he entered into one of the ships Namely, Simons With whom, as well as with his brother Andrew, he had formed some acquaintance on the banks of Jordan, while John was baptizing there. See Joh 1:37-42 : and prayed that he would thrust out a little from the land Jesus desired this, that he might avoid the crowd, and at the same time be more conveniently heard. And he taught the people out of the ship The subject of his discourse at this time is not mentioned by the evangelist; he introduces the transaction only because it was followed by an extraordinary miracle, which he is going to relate. When he had left speaking, he said unto Simon Who was the owner of the boat, and his own disciple; Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught Christ intended by the multitude of fishes, which he would make Simon catch, to show him the success of his future preaching, even in cases where little success was reasonably to be expected. And Simon said, We have toiled all the night and taken nothing A circumstance this, which one would have thought, says Henry, should have excused them from hearing the sermon; but such love had they to the word of God, that it was more reviving and refreshing to them than the softest slumbers.

Nevertheless, at thy word In obedience to it, and dependance on it; I will let down the net Though they had toiled to no purpose all night, yet at Christs command they are willing to renew their toil, knowing, that by relying on him, their strength should be renewed as work was renewed upon their hands. Observe, reader, we must not presently quit the callings in which we are engaged, because we have not the success in them which we promised ourselves. The ministers of the gospel in particular must continue to let down their nets, though they have, perhaps, toiled long, and caught nothing. They must persevere unwearied in their labours, though they see not the success of them. And in this they must have an eye to the word of Christ, and a dependance thereupon. We are then likely to have success, when we follow the conduct of Christs word. And they enclosed a great multitude of fishes The net was no sooner let down, than such a shoal of fishes ran into it, that it was in danger of breaking, or rather did break in many parts. How vast was that power which brought such a multitude of fishes into the net! But how much greater and more apparently divine was the energy which, by the ministration of one of these illiterate men, converted at once a much greater number of souls, and turned the despisers and murderers of Christ into his adorers! And they beckoned to their partners which were in the other ship Namely, James and John, who, it seems, were at such a distance from them, that they were not within call; that they should come and help them To secure this vast draught of fishes, and bring them safe to the shore. Such a draught had, doubtless, never been seen in the lake before. Wherefore it could not miss being acknowledged plainly miraculous, by all the fishermen present, especially as they had toiled in that very place to no purpose the whole preceding night, a season much more favourable than the daytime for catching fish in such clear waters. Peter in particular was so struck with the miracle, that he could not forbear expressing his astonishment in the most lively manner, both by words and gestures: he fell down at Jesuss knees In amazement and confusion; saying, in deep self-abasement, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord And therefore utterly unworthy to be in thy presence. He believed the holy God was peculiarly present with the person who could work such a miracle; and a consciousness of sin made him afraid to continue in his presence, lest some infirmity or offence should expose him to some more than ordinary punishment. Observe here, reader, 1st, Peters acknowledgment was very just, and one which it becomes us all to make, I am a sinful man, O Lord: for even the best of 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? 2d, His inference from it was not just: if we be sinful men, as indeed we are, we should rather say, Lord, for that very reason, while we own ourselves most unworthy of thy presence, we most importunately entreat it: Come unto me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man, and if thou stand at a distance from me, I perish! Come and recover my heart from the tyranny of sin; come and possess it, and fix it for thyself. But, considering what reasons sinful men have before the holy Lord God to dread his wrath, Peter may well be excused in crying out, on a sudden, under a sense of his sinfulness and vileness, Depart from me, O Lord. Though Peter was the only person who spake on this occasion, the rest were not unaffected. James and John, who were partners with him Were also struck with astonishment, and, doubtless, were also humbled before him. But Jesus encouraged them all, and especially Simon, saying, Fear not: from henceforth thou shalt catch men Instead of doing thee any harm, I from this time design to employ thee in much nobler work, in which I will give thee such happy success, that thou shalt captivate men, in greater abundance than those fishes thou hast now caught: enclosing them in the net of the gospel, and drawing them out of the gulf of ignorance, sin, and misery, to the land of life eternal. The original expression here is very emphatical, , Thou shalt be employed in catching men alive: it is spoken in allusion to those fishes and beasts that are caught, not to be killed, but to be put into ponds and parks.

Thus by a signal miracle our Lord, 1st, Showed his dominion in the seas as well as on the dry land; and over its wealth as well as over its waves; and that he was that Son of man, under whose feet all things were put. 2d, He confirmed the doctrine he had just preached out of Peters ship, and proved that he was at least a preacher come from God. 3d, He repaid Peter for the loan of his boat; and manifested that his gospel now, as his ark formerly, in the house of Obed-Edom, would be sure to make ample amends for its kind entertainment; and that Christs recompenses for services done to his name would be abundant, yea, superabundant. And lastly, he hereby gave a specimen to those who were to be his ambassadors to the world, of the success of their embassy; that though they might for a time, and in some particular places, toil and catch nothing, yet, that they should be made the instruments of enclosing many in the gospel net, and bringing them to Christ and salvation, present and eternal.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1. The Call of the Disciples: Luk 5:1-11.

The companions of Jesus, in the preceding scene, have not yet been named by Luke (they besought Him, Luk 4:38; she ministered unto them, Luk 4:39). According to Mark (Mar 1:29), they were Peter, Andrew, James, and John. These are the very four young men whom we find in this narrative. They had lived up to this time in the bosom of their families, and continued their old occupations. But this state of things was no longer suitable to the part which Jesus designed for them. They were to treasure up all His instructions, be the constant witnesses of His works, and receive from Him a daily moral education. In order to this, it was indispensable that they should be continually with Him. In calling them to leave their earthly occupation, and assigning them in its place one that was wholly spiritual, Jesus founded, properly speaking, the Christian ministry. For this is precisely the line of demarcation between the simple Christian and the minister, that the former realizes the life of faith in any earthly calling; while the latter, excused by his Master from any particular profession, can devote himself entirely to the spiritual work with which he is entrusted. Such is the new position to which Jesus raises these young fishermen. It is more than simple faith, but less than apostleship; it is the ministry, the general foundation on which will be erected the apostolate.

The call related here by Luke is certainly the same as that which is related, in a more abridged form, by Matthew (Mat 4:18-22) and Mark (Mar 1:16-20). For can any one suppose, with Riggenbach, that Jesus twice addressed the same persons in these terms, I will make you fishers of men, and that they could have twice left all in order to follow Him? If the miraculous draught of fishes is omitted in Matthew and Mark, it is because, as we have frequent proof in the former, in the traditional narratives, the whole interest was centred in the word of Jesus, which was the soul of every incident. Mark has given completeness to these narratives wherever he could avail himself of Peter’s accounts. But here this was not the case, because, as many facts go to prove, Peter avoided giving prominence to himself in his own narrations.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

XXX.

JESUS CALLS FOUR FISHERMEN TO FOLLOW HIM.

(Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum.)

aMATT. IV. 18-22; bMARK I. 16-20; cLUKE V. 1-11.

a18 And walking b16 And passing along by the sea of Galilee [This lake is a pear-shaped body of water, about twelve and a half miles long and about seven miles across at its widest place. It is 682 feet below sea level; its waters are fresh, clear and abounding in fish, and it is surrounded by hills and mountains, which rise from 600 to 1,000 feet above it. Its greatest depth is about 165 feet], he [Jesus] saw atwo brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, {bthe brother of Simon} casting a net in {ainto} the sea [The New Testament speaks of three kinds of nets, viz.: the amphiblestron, which is only mentioned here; the sagene, mentioned only at Mat 13:47; and the dictua, which is mentioned in all other places. The dictua was a casting-net; the sagene, a seine or dragnet; and the amphiblestron was a drawnet, a circular bell-shaped affair, which was thrown upon the water, so that it spread out and [161] caught, by sinking, whatever was below it]; for they were fishers. [Though Simon and Andrew had been companions of Jesus on at least one journey, they did not as yet understand that his service would require all their time. The facts that Jesus now temporarily resided at Capernaum afforded them an opportunity to return to their old occupation, which they readily embraced. Fishing was then a prosperous trade on the lake of Galilee.] b17 And Jesus said {ahe saith} bunto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. [It was an invitation to follow, that they might be instructed by hearing his teaching and beholding his work. Jesus called them from a lower to a similar but higher labor. He calls all honest tradesmen in this manner. He invites carpenters to build his temple, servants to serve the great King, physicians to heal immortal souls, merchants to invest in pearls of great price, etc. The fisherman found many points of resemblance between the old and new calling, such as, 1, daily hardships and dangers; 2, earnest desires for the objects sought; 3, skill and wisdom in the use of means, etc. Disciples are fishers, human souls are fish, the world is the sea, the gospel is the net, and eternal life is the shore whither the catch is drawn.] a21 And going on from thence ba little further, ahe saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, bwho also were in the boat awith Zebedee their father, mending their {bthe} nets. [They also, like Peter and Andrew, were at work when Jesus found them. God calls the busy to his business. For instances where God had called the busy, see cases of Moses ( Exo 3:1, Exo 3:2), Gideon ( Jdg 6:11), Saul ( 1Sa 10:1-3), David ( 1Sa 16:11-15), Elisha ( 1Ki 19:19-21), Matthew ( Mat 9:9), Saul ( Act 9:1-6). Moreover most of these were called from lowly work, for such is God’s method ( 1Co 1:26-29). We should note two reasons why God chose the lowly and unlearned: 1, their minds being free from prejudice were more ready to entertain new truth; 2, the strength of the gospel was made more apparent by the [162] weakness of its ministers ( 1Co 2:3-5, 2Co 4:7, Zec 4:6). Of these two brothers, James was the first apostolic martyr and John the last survivor of the twelve. James was beheaded about A.D. 44 ( Act 12:1, Act 12:2); and John, after upwards of seventy years of Christian service, died at Ephesus about A.D. 100.] 20 And straightway he called them [From Matthew and Mark we would suppose that Jesus was alone when he called the two sets of brothers, and that with them he immediately left the lake. But we learn from Luke that he taught and worked a miracle before leaving the lake]: c1 Now it came to pass, while the multitude pressed upon him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret [This body of water bore many names. It was anciently called Chinnereth ( Num 34:11), or Chinneroth ( Jdg 12:3), from a fortified town ( Jos 19:35) and district ( 1Ki 15:20) in Naphtali bearing that name. It is here called Gennesaret, from a plain of that name upon its northwestern shore (which may be a corruption of the old name Chinnereth.) It received its name, Galilee, from the district to which it belongs, and in later times it bore the name Tiberias ( Joh 6:1), from the city of that name on its western shore]; 2 and he saw two boats standing by the lake: but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. [We may conceive of the fishermen, in answer to Jesus’ call, drawing their boats together to the point where he stood upon the shore. Then, as Jesus stood teaching, they occupied themselves in the shallow water behind by washing their nets while they listened to him.] 3 And he entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. [He did this that he might avoid the press, and that the people might be better able both to see and to hear.] And he sat down [the usual attitude or posture of a teacher] and taught the multitudes out of the boat. 4 And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a [163] draught. [“Put out” is in the singular, being addressed to Simon alone; “let down” is plural, being addressed generally to those in the boat.] 5 And Simon answered and said, Master, we have toiled all the night, and took nothing: but at thy word I will let down the nets. [“Master” is a broader word than “Rabbi”; it indicates a superior, but does not confine his superiority to matters of instruction. The words of Peter show a willingness to oblige or honor Jesus, but are devoid of hope as to the thing proposed. Night was the time for fishing ( Joh 21:3); and the proper place to cast the net was near the shore; but if Jesus wished to fish by daylight in the middle of the lake, Simon was not too weary to humor the wish.] 6 And when they had done this, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their nets were breaking [that is, the nets began to snap when they tried to lift them out of the water]; 7 and they beckoned unto their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. [This indicates that they were well out into the lake, where it was easier to beckon than to shout explanations. Some think the marvel wrought by Jesus made them speechless, but they were so engrossed in the magnitude and value of the catch that the full glory of the miracle had not yet come upon them.] And they came, and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [They probably ran a second net under the one which enclosed the fishes, and by thus doubling the strength of the net were able to draw the fish up between the boats. A great load thus suddenly dumped in the side of a boat will cause it to list, dip water and threaten to sink. Such appears to have been the case here until the loads were so distributed as to right the ships.] 8 But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was amazed, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken [This miracle came home to the soul of Peter because it was wrought in his own boat, with his own nets, and concerned his own business. [164] Religion is only powerful as it becomes personal. Peter’s request shows how deeply the miracle impressed him. It gave him that sense of the divine presence which never fails to overwhelm the hearts of men. No man can behold God in his glory and live ( Exo 33:20-23, Exo 20:18, Exo 20:19); and though there have been exceptions where men have seen God or his representatives and lived ( Exo 24:9-11, Jdg 6:21-23, Jdg 13:22, Jdg 13:23, Isa 6:1-5, Dan 10:16-19, Gen 32:30); yet no man, not even the purest, has ever stood in the presence of God or his ministers without feeling such a sense of weakness and sinfulness as to almost extinguish life– Rev 1:17, Job 42:5, Job 42:6]; 10 and so were also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. [Jesus here shows the purpose for which this miracle had been wrought. It was a prophetic type or picture which foreshadowed the triumphs of the day of Pentecost and other seasons when the apostles had great ingatherings of souls through the preaching of the gospel.] 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they astraightway cleft all [that is to say, Peter and Andrew], bleft the nets [but James and John], aleft the boat and their father, bZebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him. {cfollowed him} [The four partners, boats, different kinds of nets, hired servants, etc., and the fact that Salome, the wife of Zebedee, was one of those who ministered to Christ out of her substance ( Mat 27:55, Mat 27:56, Luk 8:3), all indicate a business of respectable proportions: a fact which suggests that the church of Christ would catch more souls if all its parts were in partnership. Evidently when the four men left the boats and nets Zebedee took charge of them. While the four rightly recognized that the divine call was superior to their earthly obligations, there is nothing which leads us to imply that their sudden departure discomfited Zebedee. The call of Christ here marks a change in their relationship to him. Hitherto discipleship had not materially interfered with [165] business, but this present call separated them from their occupation, and prepared them for the call to be apostles which came later, and which required them to be his constant companions– Mar 3:14.]

[FFG 161-166]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Luke Chapter 5

Man, He was come for men. He will associate others (chap. 5) with Himself in this glorious work. He has a right to do it. If He is in grace a servant, He is so according to the full power of the Holy Ghost. He works a miracle well adapted to strike those whom He would call, and which made them feel that everything was at His disposal, that all depended on Him, that where man could do nothing He could do everything. Peter, stricken in conscience by the presence of the Lord, confesses his unworthiness, but drawn by grace goes to Christ. Grace raises him up, and appoints him to speak of itself to others-to fish for men. Already it was not a preacher of righteousness among the people of God, but one who drew into His net those that were afar off. He attracted to Himself as the manifestation on earth of the power and the character of God. It was grace which was there.

He was there with the will and the power to heal that which was a figure of sin, and incurable but by the intervention of God. But God had intervened; and in grace He can say, and says, to one who acknowledged His power but doubted His will, I will, be thou clean. [13] Yet He submitted to Jewish ordinances as one obedient to the law. Jesus prayed, as a man dependent on God. This was His perfection as a man born under the law. Moreover, He must needs acknowledge the ordinances of God, not yet abrogated by His rejection. But this obedience as man became a testimony; for the power of Jehovah alone could heal leprosy, and He had healed it, and the priests were to acknowledge that which had been done.

But He brings pardon as well as cleansing. He gives a proof of this by removing all infirmity, and imparting strength to one who had none. This was not the doctrine that God could pardon. They believed that. But God had intervened, and pardon was present. They would no longer have to wait for the last day, nor for a day of judgment, to know their condition. A Nathan would not be required to come and proclaim it on the part of a God who was in heaven while His people were on earth. Pardon was come, in the Person of the Son of man come down to earth. In all this, Jesus gave proofs of the power and the rights of Jehovah. In this instance it was the fulfilment of Psa 103:3; but, at the same time, He gives these proofs as accomplished by the power of the Holy Ghost, without measure in man, in His own Person the true Son of God. The Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins: in fact, Jehovah was come, a man on earth. The Son of man was there before their eyes, in grace, to exercise this power-a proof that God had visited them.

In both these instances [14] the Lord, while displaying a power fitted to extend, and that was to extend, beyond this sphere, displays it in connection with Israel. The cleansing was a proof of the power of Jehovah in the midst of Israel, and the pardon was in connection with His government in Israel, and therefore proved itself by the perfect cure of the sick man, according to the psalm already quoted. [15] No doubt, these rights were not limited to Israel, but at that moment they were exercised in connection with this nation. He cleansed, in grace, that which Jehovah alone could cleanse. He pardoned that which Jehovah alone could pardon, taking away all the consequence of their sin. It was, in this sense, a governmental pardon; the power of Jehovah present, fully to restore and re-establish Israel-wherever, at least, faith could profit by it. Afterwards, we shall find pardon for peace of soul.

The call of Levi, and that which follows, shews that not only was this power of grace to extend beyond Israel, but that the old vessel was not able to bear it. It must form a vessel for itself.

We may also remark here, on the other hand, that faith is characterised by perseverance. In the consciousness of the evil, an evil without remedy, and in the assurance that One able to heal is there, it does not allow itself to be discouraged-does not put off the relief of its need. Now, the power of God was there to meet this need.

This terminates that part of the narrative which reveals, in a positive way, divine power, visiting the earth in grace, in the Person of the Son of man, and exercised in Israel, in the condition in which it found them.

That which follows characterises its exercise in contrast with Judaism. But that which we have already examined is divided into two parts, having distinct characters which deserve to be noticed. First, from chapter 4:31-41, it is the power of the Lord manifesting itself on His part, as triumphing (without any particular connection with the mind of the individual) over all the power of the enemy, whether in sickness or in possession. The power of the enemy is there: Jesus casts it out, and heals those who are suffering from it. But, secondly, His occupation is to preach. And the kingdom was not only the manifestation of a power which casts out all that of the enemy, but of a power which brought souls also into connection with God. We see this in chapter Psa 5:1-12. Here their condition before God,-sin, and faith, are in question-in a word, all that belonged to their relationship with God.

Here, consequently, we see the authority of the word of Christ upon the heart, the manifestation of His glory (He is owned as Lord), conviction of sin, just jealousy for His glory, in the sense of His holiness which should keep itself inviolate; the soul taking Gods part against itself, because it loves holiness and respects the glory of God, even while feeling the attraction of His grace; so that, owing to this, everything is forgotten-fish, nets, boat, danger: one thing already possesses the. soul. The Lords answer then dispels all fear, and He associates the freed soul with Himself in the grace which He had exercised towards it, and in the work which He wrought in behalf of men. It was already delivered morally from all that was around it; now, in the full enjoyment of grace, it is set free by the power of grace, and wholly given to Jesus. The Lord-perfect manifestation of God-in creating new affections by this revelat ion of God, separates the heart from all that bound it to this world, to the order of the old man, in order to set it apart for Himself-for God. He surrounds Himself with all that is delivered, becoming its centre; and, indeed, delivers by being so.

He then cleanses the leper, which none but Jehovah could do. Still He does not come out of His position under the law; and, however great His fame, He maintains His place of perfect dependence as man before God. The leper, the unclean, may return to God.

He next forgives. The guilty one is no longer so before God; he is pardoned. At the same time he receives strength. Nevertheless it is still the Son of man who is there. In both cases faith seeks the Lord, bringing its need before Him.

The Lord now exhibits the character of this grace in connection with its objects. Being supreme, being of God, it acts in virtue of its rights. Human circumstances do not hinder it. It adapts itself by its very nature to human need, and not to human privileges. It is not subject to ordinances, [16] and does not come in through them. The power of God by the Spirit was there, and acted for itself, and produced its own effects, setting aside that which was old-that to which man was attached, [17] and to which the power of the Spirit could not be confined. The scribes and Pharisees would not have the Lord associate with the wicked and disreputable. God seeks those who need Him-sinners-in grace.

When they ask why His disciples do not observe the customs and the ordinances of John and the Pharisees, by which they guided the legal piety of their disciples, it is that the new thing could not be subjected to the forms that belonged to that which was old, and which could not sustain the strength and energy of that which came from God. The old were the forms of man after the flesh; the new, the energy of God, according to the Holy Ghost. Moreover it was not the time for a piety that took the form of self-mortification. What else could man do? But the Bridegroom was there.

Nevertheless, man would prefer that which was old, because it was man, and not the energy of God.

Footnotes for Luke Chapter 5

13: If a man touched a leper, he was unclean. But here grace works, and Jesus undefilable touches the leper (God in grace, undefilable, but a man touching the defiled thing to cleanse it.

14: The call of Peter is more general in this respect, that it is connected with the Person of Christ. Nevertheless, although he was a fisher of men (a word used evidently in contrast with the fishes he was occupied with), he exercised his ministry more particularly with regard to Israel. But it was power in the Person of Christ that governed his heart; so that it was fundamentally, the new thing, but as yet in its connection with Israel, while extending beyond them. It is at the end of chapter 7 and in chapter 8 that we enter on ground beyond the narrow limits of Israel.

15: Compare Job 33:1-33; Job 36:1-33 and Jam 5:14-15 -the first outside dispensations, and James under Christianity. In Israel, it is the Lord Himself in sovereign grace.

16: Christ, born under the law, was subject to them; but that is a different thing. Here it is a divine power acting in grace.

17: But here also the Lord, in giving the reasons why the disciples did not follow the ordinances, and the institutions, of John and of the Pharisees, connects them with the two principles already pointed out-His position in the midst of Israel, and the power of grace which went beyond its limits. The Messiah, Jehovah Himself, was among them, in this grace (in spite of their failure under the law, in spite of their subjection to the Gentiles) according to which Jehovah named Himself I am the Lord that healeth thee. At least, He was there in the supremacy of grace for faith. Those therefore who owned Him as the Messiah, the husband of Israel, could they fast while He was with them? He would leave them: without doubt that would be their time to fast. Moreover, secondly, it is always impossible. He could not adapt the new cloth of Christianity to the old garment of Judaism, in its nature incapable of receiving its energy, or adapting itself to grace, worn out withal as a dispensation by sin, and under which Israel was, in judgment, made subject to the Gentiles. Besides, the power of the Spirit of God in grace could not be restricted to the ordinances of the law. It would destroy them by its very strength. The call of Levi violated, and most openly, all the prejudices of the Jews. Their own fellow-countrymen were the instruments of their masters extortion, and reminded them in the most painful manner of their subjection to the Gentiles. But the Lord was there in grace to seek sinners. That which the Holy Ghost sets before us is the presence of the Lord, and the rights which are necessarily attached to His Person and to His sovereign grace, which had come into Israel, but necessarily went beyond its limits (setting aside, consequently, the legal system which could not receive the new thing). This is the key to all these narratives. Thus, also, in that which follows respecting the sabbath, the one case shews the supremacy which His glorious Person gave Him over that which was the sign of the covenant itself; and the other, that the goodness of God cannot abdicate its rights and its nature. He would do good even on a sabbath-day.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

CHAPTER 12

THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES

Luk 5:1-11. And it came to pass, while the multitudes were pressing on Him to hear the word of God, and He was standing near the Lake Genesareth [i.e., the Sea of Galilee], and He saw two ships standing by the lake, and the fishermen having gone from them were washing their nets, and entering into one of the ships, which belonged to Simon, He requested him to shove out a little from the land, and sitting down, He was teaching the multitudes from the ship. And when He ceased speaking, He said to Simon, Lead out into the deep, and spread your nets for a draught. And Simon, responding, said to Him, Master, toiling through the whole night, we caught nothing; but at Thy word I will spread the net. And doing this, they caught a great multitude of fishes; and their net was breaking, and they beckoned to their comrades in the other ship, having come to assist them; they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were sinking. Simon Peter, seeing, fell before the knees of Jesus, said to Him, Depart from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord; because affright took hold of him, and all those who were with him, on account of the draught of fishes which they received; likewise, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were companions of Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Fear not; from now you shall be catching men. And hauling their ships up on the land, leaving all, they followed Him. Mark (Mar 1:20) says: Immediately He called them. And leaving their father Zebedee in the ship, with the hired hands, they departed after Him. The beautiful sea of Galilee, clear as a crystal, limpid and bright, sixteen and a half miles long, seven and a half miles wide, with seventy miles of coast, one hundred and thirty feet deep, this day abounds in a vast variety of most excellent fish. My hotel-keeper said he caught five thousand pounds at a single draught. The prophetic desolation has been on that country so long being mainly given up to the wandering Arabs, who exhibit but little skill in fishing they have accumulated in vast quantities, ready for the returning children of Abraham, who are fast coming back, and quite a number have recently gathered about this beautiful sea, so memorable in the history of our Lord. This scene took place near Capernaum, headquarters of our Savior and His disciples, and resulted in the call of Peter and Andrew who were brothers, sons of Jonah, and James and John, who were brothers, the sons of Zebedee and Salome. They were professional fishermen, and, as we see before, owned ships i.e., fishing-boats and hired hands, to serve them in their business. Hence it seems that they were doing well. While this wonderful and miraculous draught of fishes, looking like they had struck such a run of luck that they would certainly get rich quickly, was calculated so to encourage them in their business that they would certainly hold on; but grace prevails and gets the victory. They leave their ships, and their hired hands their livelihood, and with no prospect of temporal support, relying only on the good providence of God, they forsake all and follow Jesus, who has already assured them that He will make them fishers of men. How magnificantly true! Who can count the numberless host that had been won for Jesus through the living ministry of these four apostles, and their words of steel and lightning left shining in God’s blessed Book? This wonderful miracle, right on the spot where they had fished all night (a better time than the day) and caught nothing; now they catch so many that they fill both ships, and they are sinking under the intolerable quantity of large and splendid fishes no wonder they tare overwhelmed with the realization that they are in the presence of a Superhuman Being; the very consciousness of the Almighty inundates them with reverential awe, and appalls them with the apprehension of the Divine presence and power. Consequently, Peter naturally deeply sensitive and excitable, shouts:

Lord depart from me, because I am a sinful man. Peter was not sanctified till Pentecost, three years subsequently; hence he is affrighted with the realization of his sinful nature. O what a happy choice did these four bright young men make when they exchanged their fishing-boats for the silver trumpet! The manner of their lives, inured to the hardships of sea and land, toiling all night, exposed to the chilly waters and the arduous, constant toil, had proved to them a most valuable gymnasium, which had developed in them an iron constitution, and eminently prepared them for the conflicts, exposures, privations, burdens, and toils of missionary life, far better than any theological curriculum they could have gone through. While intellectual culture is not to be depreciated, but continued through this life and, doubtless, coming eternity, the physical constitution and the spiritual experiences and enduements constitute the preponderant qualifications of a gospel preacher.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Luk 5:3. He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Here he used those beautiful parables, in Matthew 13.; but Matthews gospel being extant, St. Luke does not repeat the parables in this place.

Luk 5:5. Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. The obedience of Peter is the point which arrests attention, and in a case where success was improbable. How much he shames those christians who boast of faith and love to Christ, but lifting up the little finger, except in concidence with their own will, is a cross at which the lukewarm shrink, and lose the glory that follows implicit obedience.

Luk 5:10. Henceforth thou shalt catch men. The Lord spake this to Peter, while on his knees; but the words of Matthew, I will make you fishers of men, were spoken to James and John, as well as to Peter and Andrew. Peter had obeyed him as a prophet, in casting his net: now he followed him as the Messiah, the Son of God.

Luk 5:17-18. As he was teaching, in some large house whose door had opened to the Saviour, there were pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. So far Luke enlarges on Mat 9:1-7. Those doctors and religious men had come to see and to hear the new prophet. They saw the miracle on the paralytic and approved; but on hearing the voice of pardon, they affected to be horrified at the blasphemy. We find them afterwards asking for a sign, supposed by our divines to be a cloud of glory, like that which appeared in the desert. This cloud would no more have converted them than it did their fathers. The carnal mind cannot be converted. The Lord therefore promised them the sign of his resurrections; yea, the resurrection of the rejected stone, which should crush their nation to powder.

Luk 5:27. He saw a publican named Levi, or Matthew. He asked not for time and proof as we do, for he knew him. He knew that he had an ardour of soul commensurate to the glory of the work. He knew that he had a heart that would make every sacrifice, whether of gain or promotion, which the work of the Lord required. He knew that Matthew would act with decision, would resign his office, would make a friendly supper for his colleagues, and cast himself on the providence of God. And what did Matthew lose? Did not the Saviour give him in this world a hundredfold reward of evangelical glory, and in the world to come the first reward of life everlasting. Oh that we had more of Matthews faith.

REFLECTIONS.

Lovely is the family of Christ in every view: sincere piety, godly simplicity, benevolence, and love, are its uniform characteristics. This family, as it was first formed near Jordan, merely on the ground of piety and brotherhood, was all simplicity and love. Joh 1:45-51. A good man could not be in their company without loving them, in defiance of public prejudice. In the course of a few months, these friends in the Lord met again; for things which seem accident and chance with men, are the ordinations of divine providence. Jesus, after his circuit through Galilee, visited the towns on its spacious lake; and being pressed by the multitudes, he stepped on board a fishing boat for the convenience of address, but he knew his own designs.

Christ pays good wages to those who make sacrifices, or who suffer for his name. He has promised them a hundredfold reward in this life; and this day in the draught of fish he gave St. Peter a pledge in hand, that he might trust for the future. Yes, and he gave it when Peter could scarcely believe in the taking of a single fish. Master, said he, we have toiled all night and taken nothing; nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net.

This miraculous draught of fish impressed St. Peters mind with exalted ideas of the godhead of Christ. He saw his omniscience, as knowing the shoals which sport in the deep. He saw his omnipotence, as having the sovereignty of all creatures in his hand. He no longer regarded Jesus as a great prophet, or an Elijah, but as inhabiting the fulness of the godhead, for he gave not the fish in the name of the God of Abraham, but from his inherent sovereignty. Hence, from the presence of Christ, Peter made the transition to his own unworthiness and sins. Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, oh Lord. Before the casting of the net, it was, Master, we have toiled all night: now it is, depart from me, oh Lord. I am too mean to deserve the least notice of him who reigns in the worlds above, as in the deeps below. Thus grace conferred on gracious souls, humbles them at the Lords feet. Jacob was overpowered with astonishment and awe, when JEHOVAH the Angel departed. Gen 32:30. Isaiah also, when he saw the glory of the Messiah, said, I am a man of unclean lips: chap. 6. Joh 12:41. Hence, all who are called and commissioned of God to preach the gospel, should have exalted ideas of Him who sent them out into the world. This will abase them as sinful dust in his presence, and give an air of majesty to their ministry which mortals are unable to resist.

Ministers who engage with Christ must have an unlimited confidence in his providence and care. Peter and Andrew having received the promise, I will make you fishers of men, left all and followed him. So did James and John, who presently received a similar call. The supply of fish would be a most encouraging pledge of future mercies, and a happy token of the great success they should have in their Lords work. Let ministers learn, so far as circumstances will admit, to give themselves wholly to the work, and the Lord will enlarge their sphere, and supply their lack. It is a consolation to them that they have not thrust themselves into the work. The inward call, long concealed by the bashful modesty of youth, in its more delicate and private appearance, received the sanction of the church; and ultimately, those who are authorized to judge, called them forth to the work. Let them therefore persevere under the blessing of God, and the good wishes of his people; and in the world to come they will be found to stand high in the divine favour, and receive the great reward.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Luk 5:1-11. The Call of the First Disciples (cf. Mar 1:16-20*, Mat 4:18-22*).The eager crowds that attend Jesus show His need of assistants. The simpler story of Mk. and Mt. is here replaced by one which introduces a miraculous catch of fish. The similarity with John 21 leads us to think that Lk. (who has no Galilean appearances of the Risen Jesus) may have used that incident here. Nor is it difficult to discern symbolism in the story; the deep water is the Gentile world, but Peter, though the preaching of the Gospel to the Jews had been a failure, is reluctant to enter on a wider mission (cf. Act 11:1-18). The concentration of the narrative on Peter (James and John are only just mentioned, Andrew not at all), may be due to the growing interest in Peter at the time when Lk. wrote. The tradition about his call would tend to become longer and fuller.

Luk 5:1. lake of Gennesaret: Lk. gives the sea of Galilee its correct name.

Luk 5:4. put out: singular, addressed to Peter.let down: plural, to all in the boat.

Luk 5:5. Master: Lk. uses this Gr. term in reference to Jesus six times in place of the Jewish Rabbi.

Luk 5:6. If we press the symbolic interpretation this may refer to the threatened rupture between the narrower and wider sections of the Church (cf. Acts 15).

Luk 5:8. The name Peter is introduced at this critical point in the apostles experience. His exclamation of dread at the near presence of Divine power recalls Jdg 6:22, Isa 6:5; cf. 1Ki 17:18. Note the use of Lord, recalling OT Yahweh. Lk. is careful to record the words as setting in sharp contrast the sin of the disciple and the holiness of the Saviour (cf. Luk 5:32).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

PETER, JAMES AND JOHN CALLED AS DISCIPLES

(vs.1-11)

It is good to read in verse 1 that by the Lake of Gennesaret (or Sea of Galilee) the people pressed upon the Lord Jesus, not to see miracles, but to hear the Word of God. Two fishing boats were nearby, the fishermen taking time to wash their nets. We elsewhere read of Simon and Andrew “casting a net into the sea” (Mar 1:16), typically the labor of evangelists in fishing for men; then of James and John “mending their nets” (Mar 1:19), picturing a restorative, pastoral work, to revive one’s energy for effective service. The washing of nets speaks of keeping one fitted for service by the washing of water by the Word (Eph 5:26), similar to feet-washing (Joh 13:1-38), for defiling contacts will hinder our service.

To avoid the pressure of the crowd, the Lord used Simon’s boat, anchored just off the shore. There He sat down to teach the people (v.3). The sea speaks of the Gentile nations, and it is symbolically from a Gentile viewpoint that He spoke, as in Luke generally. His message is one of grace that in its essence includes Gentiles as fully as Jews. His sitting down reminds us of His present sitting at God’s right hand while proclaiming grace through His servants on earth.

When the Lord finished speaking, He called for action, telling Simon to launch out into the deeper water and let down the nets. Simon protested that he and others had worked all night (the most likely time for catching fish) without success. Yet he accepted the Lord’s word in measure at least: he let down one net, though the Lord had said “nets.” Too often, sadly, our obedience is only partial. The fish were too many for the net and it broke (v.7). This account is in contrast to Joh 21:11, where the Lord in resurrection gave orders that were obeyed and the net was dragged to land rather than the fish gathered into the boat and the net did not break. In Luke two boats were loaded to capacity and were near to sinking. The blessing that God is willing to give is more than our limited vessels can accommodate.

Such results from the Lord’s simple words astonished Peter and the others with him at the greatness of this Man of lowly, gentle character. Peter felt his own sinful unworthiness in His presence and confessed it in falling at His knees. But while he says “depart from me,” yet he does not himself depart. Indeed for his own sinful condition he needed the grace of this faithful Son of Man. While we too are utterly unworthy to be near to Him, yet it is the only place in which our wretched condition can be met, and the grace of His heart delights in the fellowship of those who trust Him as Lord and Savior.

More than this, the Lord’s words to Simon Peter assure him that he is not only loved by the Lord, but he will be useful to Him and of blessing to others. Simon was not to fear, for he would catch men (v.10). This experience with the fishes, together with the Lord’s words, has such an impression on Simon, James and John that they leave behind their former employment and follow the Lord. It is the Lord’s word that is authoritative, yet in grace He often supplements it with evidence of His power on our behalf, to encourage our hesitant hearts.

THE LEPER AND THE PARALYTIC HEALED

(vs.12-26)

In a certain city a man full of leprosy implored the the Lord Jesus to heal him (v.12). The name of the city is not mentioned, for leprosy is a type of the corruption of sin that is found in every city. In verse 5 Peter’s toiling all night depicts the energy of the flesh, which required the grace of God for correction. The corruption of the flesh now required the same grace. The man, falling on his face, expressed his confidence in the Lord’s power to heal him, but was not sure as to His willingness to do so. Lovely is the grace of the Lord’s heart that promptly responded, “I will.” This word, with the touch of His hand, a close contact, produced immediate results. While other people would be defiled by contact with a leper, His touch removed the disease with its defilement.

The Lord charged the man to tell no one (v.14), for he does not want advertising. But as the law instructed, the former leper was to show himself to the priest and offer a suitable sacrifice for his ceremonial cleansing. This would be an unquestionable testimony, which priests could not honorably ignore.

In spite of the Lord making no display of His marvelous work, His fame was spread through the whole region and large crowds were attracted, both to hear and to be healed. It may seem to us that this was a great opportunity for preaching: indeed how many preachers would be excited by such a prospect! But He withdrew into the wilderness and prayed (vs.1-16). How profitable a lesson for us if we tend to think much of “numbers”! He was not influenced by the excitement that was awakened. The presence of God is much more important than crowds of people. He was guided fully by God, not by the apparent interest of the people, which, as He knew, could as easily turn into hateful rejection, for it was the crowd later that cried out for His crucifixion.

Another case is told us now, not necessarily in chronological order, but in moral sequence. The Lord was teaching in a house, with many Pharisees and doctors of the law present, not only from the towns of Galilee, but also from Judea and Jerusalem. The healing power of the Lord was evident at the time, as it was not in Nazareth (Mar 6:5).

A paralyzed man was brought in a bed — a picture of the helplessness of the flesh, which is our sinful nature inherited from Adam. Those who carried him were not thwarted by the crowd in the house, but took him to the housetop, there breaking up the tiling of the roof to let the man down before the Lord (vs.18-19). Let us not be too dismayed by whatever formidable difficulties there may seem to be in the way of our bringing helpless people to the Lord. Persistent, believing prayer will accomplish true results. Their faith was immediately rewarded.

However, the Lord does not first heal his body. He assures him of something much greater: his sins are forgiven. Certainly only one who knew the heart of the man could say this. The Scribes and Pharisees reasoned in their hearts along this line, that God alone can rightly forgive sins. This was true, but how ignorant they were of the greatness of the person before their eyes! Not only did He know the man’s heart, He knew their hearts and their thoughts and answered them in such a way as ought to have convinced them that, while He claimed the title “Son of Man,” He was more than this: He was the omniscient God, the Son (vs.21-24).

Yet the Lord had come in lowly grace as Man on earth to perfectly represent God. He asked which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven you,” or “Rise up and walk.” For men to say either would produce no results. To prove His authority as regards forgiving sins, He illustrated visibly His authority as Son of Man over disease. At His word the paralyzed man immediately rose up and walked. Not only was the paralysis healed, but the body, previously in disuse with muscles atrophied, was given strength for immediate activity — carrying his couch to his home, When such grace and power was so marvelously exercised, who could dispute the grace and power of the Lord Jesus to forgive sins?

The grace of God thus is seen as capable of meeting man’s helplessness occasioned by sin, just as it is sufficient in dealing with the flesh’s energy and its corruption. The healed man glorified God, while all who saw it were amazed and gave glory to God, being filled with fear and wondering awe.

THE CALL OF LEVI

(vs.27-32)

In verse 27 the Lord speaks only two words to Levi, a tax collector. Such men were Jews having a franchise to collect taxes for the Roman government, and this was obnoxious to the strictly orthodox Jew, specially since many of these would demand more than was due and keep the extra. From the very place of his taking in the money, Levi is called by the Lord, “Follow Me.” Grace produces a mighty change in regard to the selfishness of the flesh: the power of the word of the Lord had immediate effect. Levi left his lucrative business, rose up and followed Him (v.28).

In contrast to Levi’s previous selfishness, we see in verse 29 his making a great feast for a great company. Levi is called “Matthew” in Mat 9:9, for it was quite common for one man to have two names. When Matthew wrote of this feast Himself (Mat 9:10), he neither mentions himself as the host, nor of its being a great feast, but says only, “Jesus sat at the table in the house.” Grace had wrought such a work in Levi’s heart that he had become genuinely unselfish and seeking no recognition of his unselfishness. His one desire in this was to have others present to hear the word of His Lord and Master. Other tax collectors were present, together with those not designated in any way (v.29).

However, Scribes and Pharisees expressed their haughty criticism, not to the Lord, but to His disciples, for their eating with tax collectors and sinners. Because of their personal feeling against tax collectors, they classed them with the general run of “sinners” who probably did not zealously follow the rituals and regulations of the religious leaders. Such rituals were only a cover-up for their own sins, but their proud self-righteousness did not admit this. This self-righteousness of the flesh is its worst feature. The Scribes and Pharisees were not cured because they would not admit they were diseased: they felt no need of correction. This itself is disease in its most advanced and alarming state.

The Lord answered them in such a way that ought to have made them ashamed of themselves, as well as to have caused them concern about their own sinful condition. Those who are well, He says, have no need of a physician, but those who are sick (vs.31-32). He was Himself the divine Physician, come in grace, to meet the need of those sick because of sin — not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (v.32). How could they criticize a mission so gracious as this? Why did they not see themselves in their true light as sinners in need of repentance and of the grace of the Lord Jesus?

WHY DID HIS DISCIPLES NOT FAST?

(vs.33-39)

Now that we have been told of the Lord eating with publicans and sinners, the question arises as to why the disciples of John and also the followers of the Pharisees often practiced fasting, and “making prayers,” yet the disciples of the Lord Jesus ate and drank rather than fasting. The Lord had spoken of calling sinners to repentance (v.32), and the Jews considered fasting as being repentance, for it was an outward act intended to signify self-sacrifice or repentance, and often accompanied true repentance. But fasting itself was not repentance. John the Baptist had preached repentance to prepare Israel to face the Lord Jesus, but when repentance had done its work in turning people to the Lord Himself, they now had an Object to lift their hearts above their former state. To be occupied with one’s own state after having the Lord Jesus revealed to the heart, is not faith. To choose the mere sign of repentance in preference to Christ Himself only proved that true repentance was lacking. The disciples of the Pharisees considered fasting a work of merit, while refusing the Lord Jesus. The Lord answers that the children of the bride chamber would not fast while the Bridegroom was with them. The presence of their Lord Himself was cause for rejoicing, but when He would be taken away from them by way of death, and later ascend to heaven, then they would fast (v.35), not merely physically, but in soul and spirit, in sorrow and self discipline because of His absence.

THE OLD MUST GIVE PLACE TO THE NEW

(vs.36-39)

Such principles of truth as the above must be kept clearly distinct from one another, and the Lord speaks a parable to show this important distinction. No one is so ignorant as to cut off piece of cloth from a new garment to repair an old one (v.36). It would not take long to cause a tear when they are joined, and also the two will not match. The new garment of the grace of Christianity is not intended merely to patch up the old garment of a broken law, that is, to improve man in the flesh. This is a misuse of grace and will be of no help to the law. The two principles are distinct. What people need is the new garment, which means discarding the old one altogether. The four cases in this chapter, Peter, the leprous man, the paralyzed man and Levi all illustrate the receiving of the totally new garment.

Also, new wine, the Lord says, is not put into old wineskins (v.37). Glass bottles were unknown at that time, and containers were made of skins of small animals. Their life was short because of the fermentation of the wine, causing the skins to stretch so as to be useful only once. This is a picture of the vessels (individuals) receiving the new ministry of the grace of God. The vessels too must be new, that is, if they are not born again by the power of the Spirit of God, they are unable to contain the vital reality of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Old vessels (those not born anew) will have no proper appreciation of grace: it will prove too much for their capacity and “burst” them: they will perish. But the new vessel is capable of preserving the new wine. Further, the vessel itself (because it is new) is also preserved. The pure grace of God is perfectly suited to one who has been born of God.

Verse 39 reminds us of the difficulty that many had in leaving Judaism and embracing Christianity. Peter (in Act 10:1-48) seemed little prepared to carry the grace of God to Gentiles, for it was unlawful for a Jew to even enter a Gentile’s home (v.28). Also in Act 15:1-41 we see the mistaken effort of Jewish believers to mix the grace of God with their old garment of law. Only the powerful energy of the Spirit of God in the apostles overcame this grave danger. Many otherwise godly Jews still felt the old was better, though in fact the new was infinitely superior.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 1

The Lake of Gennesaret, or Sea of Galilee, was about seventeen miles long and six broad, and was surrounded by a beautiful and romantic country, which was inhabited by a simple-minded people. The whole region has become sacred, as the scene of our Savior’s childhood and youth, and of his early public ministrations. His labors in this secluded province, sometimes among the fishermen upon the shores of the lake, and sometimes in the villages, or in the solitudes of the neighboring mountains, contrast strongly with the more public and exciting scenes of the closing year of his life, among the crowds and imposing magnificence of Jerusalem.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

CHAPTER 5

Ver. 6.–They inclosed a great multitude of fishes-for Peter had said, “At Thy word I will let down the net.” “Behold here the fruit and reward of obedience. Jesus did this-1. In order that by providing them with food, He might prepare them for their vocation and ministry. I have chosen you to be My disciples, make not excuse that ye must work for your livelihood as fishermen. Behold this miraculous draft of fishes, and believe that I am able to provide you with all things necessary for life more easily and more abundantly than ye are able to provide them yourselves. 2. To teach from this miracle, that they were soon to become successful fishers of men.

Ver. 7.-And they beckoned unto their partners-becausefrom joy and wondering astonishment they were unable to speak.

Ver. 10.-Fear not (be not lost in astonishment, from henceforth you are to be fishermen in a higher sense of the word), from henceforth thou shalt catch men. from , which means-

First, to hunt or catch some living thing, hence the Arabic translates it, from henceforth thou shalt be a fisherman, for thou shalt fish for and take men. Thou, Peter, shalt catch men, not by wounding and disabling them, as wild animals are taken; but as fish which are unhurt by the net, so thou shalt catch men not by violence or force, but through the power and operation of the spirit.

Secondly (if we derive the word from and or , to quicken, or recall to life. Hence S. Ambrose (Hexam., lib. v. cap. vi.) “Thou shalt be a life-giver to men;” and the Syriac, “Thou shalt be a fisher of men, to recall them to life.” Fishermen, indeed, catch fish to provide themselves with food, but thou, 0 Peter, art to become a fisher of men, not to destroy them, but to give them life by raising them from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness, for like as fish taken from the water die, so men caught by thee become dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, and, in a sense, as fish are assimilated by those who feed on them, so do those who are inclosed in the Gospel net, become in very truth members of Christ. Figuratively, the ship of Peter is the Church, the head of which is Peter and his successors. The Pope is therefore the chief fisherman to whom the words of Christ apply, “Thou shalt catch men.” It is the duty, therefore, of the Roman Pontiff directly and by means of others to convert the heathen, as the early occupants of the see of Rome converted the Roman people and sent apostolic men to preach the word of life to heathen lands.

Thus S. Gregory sent Augustine to convert the English people.

S. Ambrose observes, that some men, e.g., the martyrs, like fish, are taken by the hook; others, i.e., the body of the faithful, by the net, and adds, “Nets are the means whereby the Apostles catch men, for nets do not destroy but preserve what they take, and bring to the surface that which is floating below.”

Nets are called in Latin “retia,” because they are retentive “retinentia,” of that which they have taken.-Gloss.

Ver. 32.-I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance i.e., to call them by means of repentance to grace and future glory. Hence as S. Ambrose acutely remarks, “If grace flows from repentance, he who thinks little of repentance forfeits grace.”

Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary

5:1 And {1} it came to pass, that, as the people {a} pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

(1) Christ reveals to the four disciples whom he had taken unto himself the office of the apostleship, which would be committed unto them in the future.

(a) Did as it were lie upon him, so desirous were they both to see him and hear him, and therefore he taught them out of a ship.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

4. The call of Peter, James, and John 5:1-11 (cf. Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20)

Luke’s account of this incident is the longest of the three. Luke stressed Peter and omitted any reference to Andrew, his brother (Mat 4:18; Mar 1:16). He characteristically focused on single individuals that Jesus’ touched wherever possible to draw attention to Jesus. He also stressed the sovereignty and holiness of Jesus as well as these disciples’ total abandonment of their possessions to follow Jesus. Jesus repeated the lesson of this incident after His resurrection (Joh 21:1-14).

Luke placed this account in his Gospel after the Capernaum incidents rather than before them as Mark did (Mar 1:14-28). He probably arranged his material this way to stress Jesus’ sovereignty over people having established the general program of Jesus’ ministry. [Note: Ibid., p. 876.] The emphasis on Jesus’ sovereignty continues through chapter 5. This was not the first time Jesus had talked with Peter and the other disciples mentioned. Andrew had told his brother Peter that he had found the Messiah (cf. Joh 1:41). However these disciples’ thought of the Messiah as their contemporaries did. They expected a political deliverer who was less than God. Jesus had to teach them that He was God as well as Messiah. This lesson and its implications took all of Jesus’ ministry to communicate.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

These verses give the setting for the incident. Again Luke pointed out that the crowd was listening to the word of God (Luk 5:1; cf. Luk 4:32; cf. Luk 4:36). The people were so interested that they pressed upon Jesus. Jesus put some distance between them and Himself by teaching from a boat not far off shore.

Luke described the Sea of Galilee as a lake, as most of His readers would have thought of it. Gennesaret was the town and plain on its northwest coast from which it received its name.

Luke’s characteristic attention to detail is obvious in that he referred to two boats, setting the stage for Luk 5:7. Evidently the fishermen had used large dragnets (Gr. diktau) when they had fished all night, which Zebedee, James, and John were now washing and mending (Mat 4:21; Mar 1:19; Luk 5:2). Peter and Andrew were using a smaller round casting net (Gr. amphibleston), throwing it into the water from close to shore (Mat 4:18; Mar 1:16).

"It was a busy scene; for, among the many industries by the Lake of Galilee, that of fishing was not only the most generally pursued, but perhaps the most lucrative." [Note: Edersheim, 1:473.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 10

THE CALLING OF THE FOUR.

WHEN Peter and his companions had the interview with Jesus by the Jordan, and were summoned to follow Him, it was the designation, rather than the appointment, to the Apostleship. They did accompany Him to Cana, and thence to Capernaum; but here their paths diverged for a time, Jesus passing on alone to Nazareth, while the novitiate disciples fall back again into the routine of secular life. Now, however, His mission is fairly inaugurated, and He must attach them permanently to His person. He must lay His hand, where His thoughts have long been, upon the future, making provision for the stability and permanence of His work, that so the kingdom may survive and flourish when the Ascension clouds have made the King Himself invisible.

St. Matthew and St. Mark insert their abridged narrative of the call before the healing of the demoniac and the cure of Peter s mother-in-law; and most expositors think that St. Luke’s setting “in order,” in this case at least, is wrong; that he has preferred to have a chronological inaccuracy, so that His miracles may be gathered into related groups. But that our Evangelist is in error is by no means certain; indeed, we are inclined to think that the balance of probability is on the side of his arrangement. How else shall we account for the crowds who now press upon Jesus so importunately and with such Galilean ardour? It was not the rumour of His Judaean miracles which had awoke this tempest of excitement, for the journey to Jerusalem was not yet taken. And what else could it be, if the miraculous draught of fishes was the first of the Capernaum miracles? But suppose that we retain the order of St. Luke, that the call followed closely upon that memorable Sabbath, then the crowds fall into the story naturally; it is the multitude which had gathered about the door when the Sabbath sun had set, putting an after-glow upon the hills, and on whose sick He wrought His miracles of healing. Nor does the fact that Jesus went to be a guest in Peter’s house require us to invert the order of St. Luke; for the casual acquaintance by the Jordan had since ripened into intimacy, so that Peter would naturally offer hospitality to his Master on His coming to Capernaum. Again, too, going back to the Sabbath in the synagogue, we read how they were astonished at His doctrine; “for His word was with authority;” and when that astonishment was heightened into amazement, as they saw the demon cowed and silenced, this was their exclamation, “What a word is this!” And does not Peter refer to this, when the same voice that commanded the demon now commands them to “Let down the nets,” and he answers, “At Thy word I will”? It certainly seems as if the “word ” of the sea-shore were an echo from the synagogue, and so a “word” that justifies the order of our Evangelist.

It was probably still early in the morning for the days of Jesus began back at the dawn, and very often before when He sought the quiet of the sea-shore, possibly to find a still hour for devotion, or perhaps to see how His friends had fared with their all-night fishing. Little quiet, however, could He find, for from Capernaum and Bethsaida comes a hurrying and intrusive crowd, surging around Him with the swirl and roar of confused voices, and pressing inconveniently near. Not that the crowd was hostile; it was a friendly but inquisitive multitude, eager, not so much to see a repetition of His miracles, as to hear Him speak, in those rare, sweet accents, “the word of God.” The expression characterizes the whole teaching of Jesus. Though His words were meant for earth, for human ears and for human hearts, there was no earthliness about them. On the topics in which man is most exercised and garrulous, such as local or national events, Jesus is strangely silent. He scarcely gives them a passing thought; for what were the events of the day to Him who was “before Abraham,” and who saw the two eternities? what to Him was the gossip of the hour, how Rome s armies marched and fought, or how “the dogs of faction” bayed? To His mind these were but as dust caught in the eddies of the wind. The thoughts of Jesus were high. Like the figures of the prophet’s vision, they had feet indeed, so that they could alight and rest awhile on earthly things though even here they only touched earth at points which were common to humanity, and they were winged, too, having the sweep of the lower spaces and of the highest heavens. And so there was a heavenliness upon the words of Jesus, and a sweetness, as if celestial harmonies were imprisoned within them. They set men looking upwards, and listening; for the heavens seemed nearer as He spoke, and they were no longer dumb. And not only did the words of Jesus bring to men a clearer revelation of God, correcting the hard views which man, in his fears and his sins, had formed of Him, but men felt the Divineness of His speech; that Jesus was the Bearer of a new evangel, God s latest message of hope and love. And He was the Bearer of such a message; He was Himself that Evangel, the Word of God incarnate, that men might hear of heavenly things in the common accents of earthly speech.

Nor was Jesus loth to deliver His message; He needed no constraining to speak of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Only let Him see the listening heart, the void of a sincere longing, and His speech distilled as the dew. And so no time was to Him inopportune; the break of day, the noon, the night were all alike to Him. No place was out of harmony with His message the Temple-court, the synagogue, the domestic hearth, the mountain, the lake-shore; He consecrated all alike with the music of His speech. Nay, even upon the cross, amid its agonies, He opens His lips once more, though parched with terrible thirst, to speak peace within a penitent soul, and to open for it the gate of Paradise.

Drawn up on the shore, close by the water’s edge, are two boats, empty now, for Simon and his partners are busy washing their nets, after their night of fruitless toil. Seeking for freer space than the pushing crowd will allow Him, and also wanting a point of vantage, where His voice will command a wider range of listeners, Jesus gets into Simon s boat, and requests him to put out a little from the land. “And He sat down, and taught the multitudes out of the boat,” assuming the posture of the teacher, even though the occasion partook so largely of the impromptu character. When He dispensed the material bread He made the multitudes “sit down;” but when He dispensed the living bread, the heavenly manna, He left the multitudes standing, while He Himself sat down, so claiming the authority of a Master, as His posture emphasized His words. It is somewhat singular that when our Evangelist has been so careful and minute in his description of the scene, giving us a sort of photograph of that lake side group, with bits of artistic colouring thrown in, that then he should omit entirely the subject-matter of the discourse. But so he does, and we try in vain to fill up the blank. Did He, as at Nazareth, turn the lamps of prophecy full upon Himself, and tell them how the “great Light” had at last risen upon Galilee of the nations? or did He let His speech reflect the shimmer of the lake, as He told in parable how the kingdom of heaven was “like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind”? Possibly He did, but His words, whatever they were, “like the pipes of Pan, died with the ears and hearts of those who heard them.”

“When He had left speaking,” having dismissed the multitude with His benediction, He turns to give to His future disciples, Peter and Andrew, a private lesson. “Put out into the deep,” He said, including Andrew now in His plural imperative, “and let down your nets for a draught.” It was a commanding voice, altogether different in its tone from the last words He addressed to Peter, when He “requested” him to put out a little from the land. Then He spoke as the Friend, possibly the Guest, with a certain amount of deference; now He steps up to a very throne of power, a throne which in Peter’s life He never more abdicates. Simon recognizes the altered conditions, that a Higher Will is now in the boat, where hitherto his own will has been supreme; and saluting Him as “Master,” he says, “We toiled all night, and took nothing; but at Thy word I will let down the nets.” He does not demur; he does not hesitate one moment. Though himself weary with his night-long labours, and though the command of the Master went directly against his nautical experiences, he sinks his thoughts and his doubts in the word of his Lord. It is true he speaks of the failure of the night, how they have taken nothing; but instead of making that a plea for hesitancy and doubt, it is the foil to make his unquestioning faith stand out in bolder relief. Peter was the man of impulse, the man of action, with a swift-beating heart and an ever-ready hand. To his forward-stepping mind decision was easy and immediate; and so, almost before the command was completed, his swift lips had made answer, “I will let down the nets.” It was the language of a prompt and full obedience. It showed that Simon s nature was responsive and genuine, that when a Christly word struck upon his soul it set his whole being vibrating, and drove out all meaner thoughts. He had learned to obey, which was the first lesson of discipleship; and having learned to obey, he was there fore fit to rule, qualified for leadership, and worthy of being entrusted with the keys of the kingdom.

And how much is missed in life through feebleness of resolve, a lack of decision! How many are the invertebrate souls, lacking in will and void of purpose, who, instead of piercing waves and conquering the flow of adverse tides, like the medusae, can only drift, all limp and languid, in the current of circumstance I Such men do not make apostles; they are but ciphers of flesh and blood, of no value by themselves, and only of any worth as they are attached to the unit of some stronger will. A poor broken thing is a life spent in the subjunctive mood, among the “mights” and “shoulds,” where the “I will ” waits upon” I would “. That is the truest, worthiest life that is divided between the indicative and the imperative. As in shaking pebbles the smaller ones drop down to the bottom, their place determined by their size, so in the shaking together of human lives, in the rub and jostle of the world, the strong wills invariably come to the top.

And how much do even Christians lose, through their partial or their slow obedience! How we hesitate and question, when our duty is simply to obey! How we cling to our own ways, modes, and wills, when the Christ is commanding us forward to some higher service! How strangely we forget that in the grammar of life the “Thou wiliest” should be the first person, and the “I will” a far-off second! When the soldier hears the word of command he becomes deaf to all other voices, even the voice of danger, or the voice of death itself; and when Christ speaks to us His word should completely fill the soul, leaving no room for hesitancy, no place for doubt. Said the mother to the servants of Cana, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” That “whatsoever” is the line of duty, and the line of beauty too. He who makes Christ s will his will, who does implicitly “whatsoever He saith,” will find a Cana anywhere, where life s water turns to wine, and where life s common things are exalted into sacraments. He who walks up to the light will surely walk in the light.

We can imagine with what alacrity Simon obeys the Master s word, and how the disappointment of the night and all sense of fatigue are lost in the exhilaration of the new hopes. Seconded by the more quiet Andrew, who catches the enthusiasm of his brother’s faith, he pulls out into deep water, where they let down the nets. Immediately they enclosed “a great multitude” of fishes, a weight altogether beyond their power to lift; and as they saw the nets beginning to give way with the strain, Peter “beckoned” to his partners, James and John, whose boat, probably, was still drawn up on the shore. Coming to their assistance, together they secured the spoil, completely filling the two boats, until they were in danger of sinking with the over weight.

Here, then, we find a miracle of a new order. Hitherto, in the narrative of our Evangelist, Jesus has shown His supernatural power only in connection with humanity, driving away the ills and diseases which preyed upon the human body and the human soul. And not even here did Jesus make use of that power randomly, making it common and cheap; it was called forth by the constraint of a great need and a great desire. Now, however, there is neither the desire nor the need. It was not the first time, nor was it to be the last, that Peter and Andrew had spent a night in fruitless toil. That was a lesson they had early to learn, and which they were never allowed long to forget. They had been quite content to leave their boat, as indeed they had intended, on the sands, until the evening should recall them to their task. But Jesus volunteers His help, and works a miracle whether of omnipotence, or omniscience, or of both, it matters not, and not either to relieve some present distress, or to still some pain, but that He might fill the empty boats with fishes. We must not, however, assess the value of the miracle at the market-price of the take, for evidently Jesus had some ulterior motive and design. As the leaden types, lying detached and meaningless in the “case,” can be arranged into words and be made to voice the very highest thought, so these boats and oars, nets and fish are but so many characters, the Divine “code” as we may call it, spelling out, first to these fishermen, and then to mankind in general, the deep thought and purpose of Christ. Can we discover that meaning? We think we may.

In the first place, the miracle shows us the supremacy of Christ. We may almost read the Divineness of Christ s mission in the manner of its manifestation. Had Jesus been man only, His thoughts running on human lines, and His plans built after human models, He would have arranged for another Epiphany at the beginning of His ministry, showing His credentials at the first, and announcing in full the purpose of His mission. That would have been the way of man, fond as he is of surprises and sudden transitions; but such is not the way of God. The forces of heaven do not move forward in leaps and somersaults; their advances are gradual and rhythmic. Evolution, and not revolution, is the Divine law, in the realm of matter and of mind alike. The dawn must precede the day. And just so the life of the Divine Son is manifested. He who is the “Light of the world” comes into that world softly as a sunrise, lighting up little by little the horizon of His disciples thought, lest a revelation which was too full and too sudden should only dazzle and blind them. So far they have seen Him exercise His power over diseases and demons, or, as at Cana, over inorganic matter; now they see that power moving out in new directions. Jesus sets up His throne to face the sea, the sea with which they were so familiar, and over which they claimed some sort of lordship. But even here, upon their own element, Jesus is supreme. He sees what they do not; He knows these deeps, filling up with His omniscience the blanks they seek to fill with their random guesses. Here, hitherto, their wills have been all-powerful; they could take their boats and cast their nets just when and where they would; but now they feel the touch of a Higher Will, and Christ s word fills their hearts, impelling them onward, even as their boats were driven of the wind. Jesus now assumes the command. His Will, like a magnet, attracts to itself and controls their lesser wills; and as His word now launches out the boat and casts the nets, so shortly, at that same “word,” will boats and nets, and the sea itself, be left behind.

And did not that Divine Will move beneath the water as well as above it, controlling the movements of the shoal of fishes, as on the surface it was controlling the thoughts and moving the hands of the fishermen? It is true that in Gennesaret, as in our modern seas, the fish sometimes moved in such dense shoals that an enormous “take” would be an event purely natural, a wonder indeed, but no miracle. Possibly it was so here, in which case the narrative would resolve itself into a miracle of omniscience, as Jesus saw, what even the trained eves of the fishermen had not seen, the movements of the shoal, then regulating His commands, so making the oars above and the fins below strike the water in unison. But was this all? Evidently not, to Peter’s mind, at any rate. Had it been all to him, a purely natural phenomenon, or had he seen in it only the prescience of Christ, a vision somewhat clearer and farther than his own, it would not have created such feelings of surprise and awe. He might still have wondered, but he scarcely would have worshipped. But Peter feels himself in the presence of a Power that knows no limit, One who has supreme authority over diseases and demons, and who now commands even the fishes of the sea. In this sudden wealth of spoil he reads the majesty and glory of the new-found Christ, whose word, spoken or unspoken, is omnipotent, alike in the heights above and in the depths beneath. And so the moment his thoughts are disengaged from the pressing task he prostrates himself at the feet of Jesus, crying with awe-stricken speech, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” We are not, perhaps, to interpret this literally, for Peter s lips were apt to become tremulous with the excitement of the moment, and to say words which in a cooler mood he would recall, or at least modify. So here, it surely was not his meaning that “the Lord,” as he now calls Jesus, should leave him; for how indeed should He depart, now that they are afloat upon the deep, far from land? But such had been the revelation of the power and holiness of Jesus, borne in by the miracle upon Peter s soul, that he felt himself thrown back, morally and in every way, to an infinite distance from Christ. His boat was unworthy to carry, as the house of the centurion was unworthy to receive, such infinite perfections as now he saw in Jesus. It was an apocalypse indeed, revealing, together with the purity and power of Christ, the littleness, the nothingness of his sinful self; that, as Elijah covered his face when the LORD passed by, so Peter feels as if he ought to draw the veil of an infinite distance around himself the distance which would ever be between him and the LORD, were not His mercy and His love just as infinite as His power.

The fuller meaning of the miracle, however, becomes apparent when we interpret it in the light of the call which immediately followed. Reading the sudden fear which has come over Peter s soul, and which has thrown his speech somewhat into confusion, Jesus first stills the agitation of his heart by a word of assurance and of cheer. “Fear not,” He says, for “from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” It will be observed that St. Luke puts the commission of Christ in the singular number, as addressed to Peter alone, while St. Matthew and St. Mark put it in the plural, as including Andrew as well: “I will make you to become fishers of men.” The difference, however, is but immaterial, and possibly the reason why St. Luke introduces the Apostle Peter with such a frequent nomination for “Simon” is a familiar name in these early chapters making his call so emphatic and prominent, was because in the partisan times which came but too early in the Church the Gentile Christians, for whom our Evangelist is writing, might think unworthily and speak disparagingly of him who was the Apostle of the Circumcision. Be this as it may, Simon and Andrew are now summoned to, and commissioned for, a higher service. That “henceforth” strikes across their life like a high watershed, severing the old from the new, their future from their past, and throwing all the currents of their thoughts and plans into different and opposite directions. They are to be “fishers of men,” and Jesus, who so delights in giving object-lessons to His disciples, uses the miracle as a sort of background, on which He may write their commission in large and lasting characters; it is the Divine seal upon their credentials.

Not that they understood the full purport of His words at once. The phrase “fishers of men” was one of those seed thoughts which needed pondering in the heart; it would gradually unfold itself in the after months of discipleship, ripening at last in the summer heat and summer light of the Pentecost. They were now to be fishers of the higher art, their quest the souls of men. This must now be the one object, the supreme aim of their life, a life now ennobled by a higher call. Plans, journeys, thoughts, and words, all must bear the stamp of their great commission, which is to “catch men,” not unto death, however, as the fish expire when taken from their native element, but unto life for such is the meaning of the word. And to “take them alive” is to save them; it is to take them out of an element which stifles and destroys, and to draw them, by the constraints of truth and love, within the kingdom of heaven, which kingdom is righteousness and life, even eternal life.

But if the full meaning of the Master s words grows upon them an aftermath to be harvested in later months enough is understood to make the line of present duty plain. That ” henceforth” is clear, sharp, and imperative. It leaves room neither for excuse nor postponement. And so immediately, “when they had brought their boats to land, they left all and followed Him,” to learn by following how they too might be winners of souls, and in a lesser, lower sense, saviours of men.

The story of St. Luke closes somewhat abruptly, with no further reference to Simon’s partners; and having “beckoned” them into his central scene, and filled their boat, then, as in a dissolving-view, the pen of our Evangelist draws around them the haze of silence, and they disappear. The other Synoptists, however, fill up the blank, telling how Jesus came to them, probably later in the day, for they were mending the nets, which had been tangled and somewhat torn with the weight of spoil they had just taken. Speaking no word of explanation, and giving no word of promise, He simply says, with that commanding voice of His, “Follow Me,” thus putting Himself above all associations and all relationships, as Leader and Lord. James and John recognize the call, for which doubtless they had been prepared, as being for themselves alone, and instantly leaving the father, the “hired servants,” and the half-mended nets, and breaking utterly with their past, they follow Jesus, giving to Him, with the exception of one dark, hesitating hour, a life-long devotion. And forsaking all, the four disciples found all. They exchanged a dead self for a living Christ, earth for heaven. Following the Lord fully, with no side-glances at self or selfish gain at any rate after the enduement and the enlightenment of Pentecost they found in the presence and friendship of the Lord the “hundredfold” in the present life. Allying themselves with Christ, they too rose with the rising Sun. Obscure fishermen, they wrote their names among the immortals as the first Apostles of the new faith, bearers of the “keys” of the kingdom. Following Christ, they led the world; and as the Light that rose over Galilee of the nations becomes ever more intense and bright, so it makes ever more intense and vivid the shadows of these Galilean fishermen, as it throws them across all lands and times.

And such even now is the truest and noblest life. The life which is “hid with Christ” is the life that shines the farthest and that tells the most. Whether in the more quiet paths and scenes of discipleship or in the more responsible and public duties of the apostolate, Jesus demands of us a true, whole souled, and life-long devotion. And, here indeed, the paradox is true, for by losing life we find it, even the life more abundant; for

“Men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves to higher things.”

Nay, they may attain to the highest things, even to the highest heavens.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary