Luke 5 – The Call of the Disciples and Power to Heal
Luke 5 is filled with movement—Jesus calls fishermen to follow Him, heals a leper with a touch, and forgives a paralyzed man in full view of the crowd. As His popularity grows, so does the controversy surrounding Him. This chapter shows the tension between tradition and transformation.
From the Shore to the Heart
Christ steps into Peter’s boat, but He’s after something deeper—his heart. What begins with fishing ends in full surrender. From cleansing the unclean to dining with sinners, Luke 5 reveals a Savior who comes close, calls the unqualified, and challenges the religious.
✔ Jesus calls common fishermen to become fishers of men.
✔ A leper is cleansed by Christ’s compassionate touch.
✔ A paralytic is forgiven—revealing Jesus’ divine authority.
✔ Jesus dines with sinners, stirring religious opposition.
📖 Luke 5:32 – “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
🔎 Luke 5 reminds us that God calls the willing, cleanses the unclean, and forgives the humble.
Luke Chapter 5 - Overview
Luke 5:1–11 – The Miraculous Catch and the Call to Follow
📖 Luke 5:4 – “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”
🔎 Jesus meets them in the ordinary—after a long, empty night of fishing. His command to try again is an invitation to trust beyond experience. It’s a call to faith that overrides exhaustion, logic, and past disappointment. Where man sees limits, Jesus reveals abundance—but only after obedience. This moment symbolizes how God’s greatest work often begins right after our own efforts fail.
📖 Luke 5:6 – “They inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.”
🔎 Obedience leads to abundance. The miracle reveals Christ’s authority not just over demons or disease—but over nature itself. This act confirms that nothing is beyond His power—not the forces of evil, nor the laws of nature. The broken net symbolizes both the overwhelming grace of God and the new mission these disciples would carry. When Jesus directs the effort, even the impossible becomes reality.
📖 Luke 5:8 – “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
🔎 Peter’s response isn’t about fish—it’s about holiness. Encountering Jesus exposes our unworthiness and calls us to repentance. The abundance of the catch breaks through Peter’s physical world and hits his spiritual core. In the presence of divine power, Peter sees himself clearly—a sinner in need of mercy. This moment reflects what happens when grace collides with human frailty: not pride, but awe-struck humility.
📖 Luke 5:10 – “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”
🔎 Jesus doesn’t reject Peter’s humility—He redeems it. Peter’s brokenness becomes his calling. The mission shifts from nets to souls. In a moment, the trajectory of Peter’s life is transformed. No longer defined by what he catches, but by who he is called to reach, Peter learns that surrender leads to significance. Jesus turns his confession into commission.
📖 Luke 5:11 – “They forsook all, and followed him.”
🔎 True discipleship costs everything. The call to follow Jesus means leaving comfort, identity, and livelihood behind. This verse is a radical turning point—the fishermen don’t just leave boats, but their entire way of life. Following Jesus demands more than admiration; it calls for surrender. It’s the moment where the temporary is traded for the eternal, and human plans are exchanged for divine purpose.
Luke 5:12–26 – Cleansing the Leper and Forgiving the Paralytic
📖 Luke 5:13 – “And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean.”
🔎 Jesus breaks social and ceremonial boundaries by touching the leper. His compassion transcends law and fear. What others avoided, Jesus embraced—and healed.
📖 Luke 5:14 – “Show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing…”
🔎 Jesus honors the law of Moses, instructing the man to fulfill the ritual in Leviticus 14. His miracles are not rebellions but fulfillments.
📖 Luke 5:16 – “And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.”
🔎 Amid rising fame, Jesus retreats to commune with the Father. Ministry power flows from private prayer. His pattern shows that intimacy with God must come before public ministry. In a world hungry for influence, Jesus chooses stillness—reminding us that spiritual clarity, endurance, and authority are sustained not in crowds but in quiet communion. True strength is born in solitude with God.
📖 Luke 5:20 – “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.”
🔎 The paralyzed man came for healing but received forgiveness first. Jesus shows that spiritual restoration outweighs physical need.
📖 Luke 5:24 – “That ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins…”
🔎 The miracle confirms His identity. Only God can forgive sin. By healing the man, Jesus proves His authority as the divine Son.
Luke 5:27–39 – A New Way and a New People
📖 Luke 5:27 – “And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican… and said unto him, Follow me.”
🔎 Levi (Matthew) is a tax collector—despised by Jews and considered a traitor working for Rome. Yet Jesus calls him publicly, without shame or hesitation. This act shatters social and religious expectations. Christ seeks the rejected, not the respected—He looks past occupation and reputation to see the heart willing to follow. Grace doesn’t wait for worthiness; it transforms the unworthy.
📖 Luke 5:29 – “Levi made him a great feast… there was a great company of publicans.”
🔎 Celebration follows transformation. Levi opens his home to Jesus and the lost. Evangelism often starts with hospitality. Levi’s response reveals that encountering grace stirs immediate action. His table becomes a platform for outreach, and his home turns into a sanctuary of invitation. Where religion may exclude, grace sets a feast—and Jesus is always at the center.
📖 Luke 5:31 – “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.”
🔎 Jesus defines His mission: not to the self-righteous, but to sinners. His kingdom is for the humble, the hurting, and the hungry. This declaration flips religious expectations upside down. The physician goes where the sickness is—and so does Christ. He offers restoration, not reward; mercy, not merit. It’s not about earning a place at the table, but receiving an invitation no one else would send.
📖 Luke 5:37–38 – “New wine must be put into new bottles.”
🔎 Jesus teaches that the new covenant can’t fit into old religious forms. Grace, like new wine, requires fresh hearts and renewed minds. The religious leaders clung to rigid systems, but Jesus introduced a living faith that couldn’t be confined by tradition. The wineskins represent hearts and minds—if they remain hardened, the life and movement of the Spirit will burst them. To receive Christ fully, we must be spiritually flexible, open to transformation, and willing to let go of outdated patterns. This is not about reforming the old—it’s about becoming a new creation.
Luke Chapter 5 - Deeper Study
Overview: From Shorelines to Households
🔹 Timeframe: Early in Jesus’ public ministry, shortly after His baptism and temptation.
🔹 Setting: Sea of Galilee, small towns of Galilee, private homes, and synagogues.
🔹 Theme: Jesus calls disciples, forgives sins, heals outcasts, and redefines righteousness.
🔹 Connection to Future Events: Levi’s calling leads to Gospel authorship. The healing of the paralytic points to resurrection power. The wineskins parable prepares us for the coming church age.
Key Takeaways
🔑 Jesus calls the unqualified and transforms the willing.
🔑 Holiness flows from proximity to Christ—not outward ritual.
🔑 Forgiveness is greater than healing.
🔑 Religious tradition must yield to spiritual renewal.
🔑 The gospel is for outcasts, sinners, and all who respond.
🔑 Private prayer fuels public power.
Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment
🔮 Jesus cleanses like Elisha (2 Kings 5 – Naaman’s leprosy).
🔮 He forgives like God alone (Psalm 103:3).
🔮 His table fellowship with sinners prefigures the great wedding feast (Revelation 19:9).
Historical & Cultural Context
📜 Lepers were outcasts, considered cursed and contagious.
📜 Paralysis was seen as divine judgment—healing implied divine favor.
📜 Tax collectors were traitors to Israel in Roman eyes.
📜 Old wineskins refer to rigid religious systems unable to hold living truth.
💡 Final Reflection: Are You Willing to Follow?
Jesus didn’t just call fishermen or tax collectors—He called anyone willing to leave it all behind. Luke 5 challenges us to drop our nets, abandon our excuses, and follow Him fully.
📌 Are you stuck in tradition or open to transformation?
📌 Will you let Jesus touch what others avoid?
📌 Have you allowed Him to heal your soul—not just your situation?
📖 Luke 5:11 – “They forsook all, and followed him.”
🔥 His invitation still echoes today. Will you answer the call? – Cleansing the Leper and Forgiving the Paralytic.
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
Luk 5:1 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,
Luk 5:2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
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 5:4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
Luk 5:5 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 5:6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
Luk 5:7 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.
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.
Luk 5:9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
Luk 5:10 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.
Luk 5:11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
Luk 5:12 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Luk 5:13 And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
Luk 5:14 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.
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.
Luk 5:16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
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.
Luk 5:18 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.
Luk 5:19 And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.
Luk 5:20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.
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?
Luk 5:22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
Luk 5:23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
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 5:25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
Luk 5:26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.
Jesus Calls Levi
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.
Luk 5:28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
Luk 5:29 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.
Luk 5:30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
Luk 5:31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
Luk 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
A Question About 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?
Luk 5:34 And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
Luk 5:35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
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.
Luk 5:37 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.
Luk 5:38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
Luk 5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
Date Written
Around 60-62 AD
Written By
Luke the physician
Language
Greek
Verses
39