Luke 5

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 39 verses.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

• Papyrus 4 (AD 150–175; extant verses: 3–8, 30–39)
• Papyrus 75 (175–225)
• Codex Vaticanus (325–350)
• Codex Sinaiticus (330–360)
• Codex Bezae (~400)
• Codex Washingtonianus (~400)
• Codex Alexandrinus (400–440)
• Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450)
• Codex Guelferbytanus B (5th century: extant verses 1–4).

{{Main|Miraculous catch of fish}}

File:Coptic luke (ch. 5-5-9), 8th century (The S.S. Teacher's Edition-The Holy Bible - Plate XX).jpg

Verses 1–11 report the call of Jesus' first disciples. Jesus arrives at the Lake of Gennesaret, or Sea of Galilee. Biblical scholar William Smith suggests that "there was a beautiful and fertile plain called 'Gennesaret'" at the northwestern angle of the Sea of Galilee, and "from that was derived the name of 'Lake of Gennesaret'" used by Luke in {{bibleverse||Luke|5:1|NKJV}}.Smith, W. (1901), [https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/smiths-bible-dictionary/galilee-sea-of.html Galilee, Sea of] in Smith's Bible Dictionary According to Eric Franklin, Gennesaret was the district to the south of Capernaum,Franklin, E., 59. Luke in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), [https://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 The Oxford Bible Commentary]{{rp|933}} where Jesus' ministry in chapter 4 had been set.

Here Jesus proceeds to preach the "word of God" to the many listeners,(verse 1) using Simon's fishing boat as a platform. There were two boats there, the fishermen having worked in the lake were now washing their nets. Jesus chose Simon (Peter)'s boat: the other boat belonged to James and John. Johann Bengel sees an indication of the "priority" of Peter in Jesus' choice.Bengel, J. A. (1742), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/bengel/luke/5.htm Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament] on Luke 5, accessed on 7 April 2025

Afterwards he asks the fishermen to go out "into deep water" (verse 4) to start fishing again. They are reluctant, as they had been unsuccessful during the night before, but following his request they catch a large load and are amazed. Jesus then calls Simon (Peter) and his partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, into his ministry, and says to Simon: "From now on you (singular) will be catching people".[http://biblehub.com/greek/zo_gro_n_2221.htm Englishman's Concordance: ζωγρῶν] Presbyterian writer Marvin Vincent notes that "both Matthew and Mark make the promise to be addressed to Peter and his companions; Luke to Peter alone".Vincent, M. (1886), [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/vws/luke/5.htm Vincent's Word Studies] on Luke 5, accessed 30 May 2018

The story of the calling of the first disciples is also told in Mark [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=48&chapter=1&version=31 1:16–20] and Matthew [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=4&version=31 4:18–22], although Matthew's account also includes Andrew, Simon's brother. The story is expanded by Luke, who links it to the miraculous catch of fish. Luke also has already revealed that Jesus had healed Simon's mother-in-law establishing a link between the two.{{bibleverse||Luke|4:38-39|NIV}}: New International Version Franklin notes an emphasis on Simon Peter's discernment of "the presence of God in Jesus", comparable to the prophet Isaiah's reaction to his vision of "the Lord of Hosts" in {{bibleverse||Isaiah|6:5|NKJV}}:{{rp|933}}

:Woe is me, for I am undone!

:Because I am a man of unclean lips. (Isaiah 6:5)

:Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. (Luke 5:8) {{bibleverse||Luke|5:8|NCB}}: New Catholic Bible (2019){{efn|These passages are aligned in the Revised Common Lectionary for use on the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time), Year C.Vanderbilt Divinity Library, [https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=384&z=e&d=18 Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany], accessed on 9 February 2025}}

The calling of the first disciples is related in a different manner in John's Gospel, not in connection with the miraculous catch of fish, and with Andrew being the intermediary who brings Simon to Jesus.{{bibleverse||John|1:35-42|ESV}}

In the final chapter of John's Gospel,{{bibleverse|John|21:1-14}} the evangelist relates a later miraculous catch of fish, when the risen Jesus encounters seven of his disciples fishing again at the lake. At first, they do not recognize him. Then Jesus asks them to fish on the right side of the boat. They catch a large load and then recognize who he is.

{{Main|Jesus cleansing a leper}}

Jesus encounters a leper who falls on his face, beseeching him directly, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean" (verse 12b). Jesus touches him—an unusual gesture, as lepers were quarantined according to the Jewish Law (Leviticus 13–14)—and heals him: "be thou clean". Healing occurs in an instant. Jesus asks him to present himself to the priest. This will provide an official confirmation of the healing and, along with an offering, comply with the Law, "just as Moses commanded" (verse 14).

Jesus is now followed by many who listen to him and want to be healed. Luke comments that he often retreated into the wilderness to pray.{{bibleverse|Luke|5:16|NKJV}}: New King James Version. The word "often" is inserted by the NKJV editors Jesus' habit of spending time in prayer is mentioned several times in Luke: 3:21, here, 6:12, 9:18, 9:29,Meyer, H. A. W. (1880), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/luke/5.htm Meyer's NT Commentary] on Luke 5, translated from the German sixth edition, accessed 2 September 2023 and 22:41. John Gill notes that he "withdrew" to "rest from the fatigues of preaching and healing diseases", and (also) prayed.Gill, J., [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/luke/5.htm Gill's Exposition on Luke 5], accessed on 8 April 2025

{{Main|Healing the paralytic at Capernaum}}

File:Christus heilet einen Gichtbrüchigen.jpg, 1780]]

Jesus is teaching in a house with Pharisees and teachers of the Law in attendance. Luke points out that the members of the religious authorities come from Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. There is a paralyzed man and his friends bring him to Jesus, by lowering him from above through the roof of the house. When Jesus sees the faith of his friends, he declares that his sins are forgiven. In the eyes of the religious authorities, Jesus' act of forgiveness represents blasphemy. He knows their thoughts and challenges them: which is easier, to forgive sins or to heal? (Anybody can say he forgives sins.) Jesus then commands the man to get up, take his mat, and go home. Jesus' instantaneous healing proves his authority to forgive sins.{{cite book |author=Craig A. Evans |title=New International Biblical Commentary |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |page=[https://archive.org/details/luke0000evan/page/89 89] |isbn=0-943575-31-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/luke0000evan/page/89 }} The people praise God, but with the seemingly silent presence of the religious authorities Luke has started to set the stage for the growing conflict. This story is also related in Mark 2.{{bibleverse|Mark|1:1-12}}

In John 5, Jesus also heals a paralyzed man (at the pool of Bethesda), which brings him into conflict with the religious authorities, because the healing takes place on the Sabbath.

{{Main|Calling of Matthew}}

Jesus calls on Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. Levi does so immediately. Later he arranges for a big feast for Jesus and other tax collectors are in attendance. Pharisees and some teachers of the law complain that Jesus is feasting with tax collectors and other outcasts. Tax collectors are despised as they collaborate with the Romans and tend to enrich themselves. Jesus' answer is that people who are healthy do not need a doctor, he has come to help those who need to repent. This event is also related in {{bibleverse||Mark|2:13-17|NKJV}} and in {{bibleverse||Matthew|9:9-13|NKJV}} (where the tax collector is called Matthew).

{{Main|Fasting}}

Criticism arises about the conduct of Jesus' disciples, their lack of fasting and praying—in contrast to the disciples of John the Baptist and those of the Pharisees, they eat and drink instead. In reply, Jesus likens himself to a bridegroom and his disciples to guests of the wedding feast. Now, while he is still with them, is the time to celebrate, but he also, for the first time in his ministry, points to his death. Fasting will be appropriate when he has departed: in {{bibleverse||Acts|13:2-3|NKJV}} "we are told that they did fast".Farrar, F. W. (1891), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/luke/5.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges] on Luke 5, accessed 15 July 2020

{{Main|New Wine into Old Wineskins}}

The response to the criticism about fasting is immediately followed by a double parable.Kee, A., [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1560184.pdf The Old Coat and the New Wine: A Parable of Repentance], Novum Testamentum, Vol. 12, Fasc. 1 (Jan., 1970), pp. 13-21 Jesus compares "old" and "new": firstly, a new patch of garment is not fit for an old garment, and secondly, new wine is not fit for old wineskins. The reasons are clear: tearing a new piece of clothing to fix an old clothing would destroy the new one and may not fit, and using old wineskins that have already been stretched by use may not accommodate new wine that will expand the old wineskin beyond its limits during fermentation: they burst and all is lost. The parable is also recounted in {{bibleref2|Matthew|9:14-17}} and {{bibleref2|Mark|2:21-22}}, but only Luke uses the term παραβολὴν, (parabolēn, a parable) in his account.

A traditional interpretation of the double parable is that Jesus' new teaching cannot be accommodated by the old patterns of thought:Craig A. Evans, page 96 His ministry differs from the Jewish tradition.James R. Edwards, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0MjWS_4La_EC&pg=PA91 The Gospel According to Mark], Eerdmans, 2002, {{ISBN|0-85111-778-3}}, pp. 91-92. This interpretation of the incompatibility of the "New" and the "Old" may date back to Marcion and has also been used as an argument by later reformers within the Church.{{Cite web |url=http://gracecommentary.com/luke-5_33-39/ |title=Grace Commentary Luke 5:33-39 |access-date=2013-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914130458/http://gracecommentary.com/luke-5_33-39/ |archive-date=2015-09-14 |url-status=dead }}

:And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better'.{{bibleverse|Luke|5:39|NKJV}}: NKJV

Jesus proceeds to declare that old wine is usually preferred to new wine{{snd}}"the old [wine] is better"{{snd}}a comment not found in the other two synoptic gospels.{{rp|934}} This verse gives rise to some difficulty in interpretation. If Jesus is teaching a separation from Judaism, would he say that the old is better? A number of explanations have been given. One view holds that the line does not belong here and should be disregarded or removed, a view taken by Marcion. Another view proposes that Jesus is just pointing out that old and familiar patterns are hard to shed. Another explanation suggests that Jesus is trying to save the Old, and the New refers to the teachings of his critics. Other explanations retranslate the Greek original words differently in an attempt to make sense of the statement.

A different approach is the proposal not to assume that Jesus is talking about "old" and "new" religious teachings, but about his ways of choosing disciples. So Jesus uses new methods (new clothes) to provide new men (wineskins) with a new message (wine). He does not reject the "Old", but the "Old" is limited and not accessible to everybody. As he starts his ministry he demonstrates that his reach is inclusive, thus he finds the sinners, the rejected, the poor and the sick.

The interpretation favored by John Calvin looks at old garments and old wineskins as representations of Jesus' disciples. In his [http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/calvin/cc31/cc31084.htm Commentary on Matthew, Mark, and Luke] he explains that the new wine and unshrunk cloth represent the practice of fasting twice a week. Fasting this way would be burdensome to the new disciples, and would be more than they could bear.

• Fish
• Tax collector
• Wine

{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=Luke5.26|and they glorified God and were filled with awe. {{bibleref2|Luke|5:26|NRSV}}, New Revised Standard Version }}

}}

{{reflist|refs=

{{Cite book

|last=Aland

|first=Kurt

|authorlink=Kurt Aland

| last2 = Aland

| first2 = Barbara

| authorlink2 = Barbara Aland

| others = Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.)

|title=The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism

|publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

|year=1995

|location=Grand Rapids

|page=96

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pYDsAhUOxAC

|isbn=978-0-8028-4098-1}}

}}

• {{bibleverse|Luke|5|KJV}} King James Bible - Wikisource
• [http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=1&b=3&c=5 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate]
• [http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=Luke+5 Online Bible at GospelHall.org] (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
• [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=5 Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway] (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)

{{sequence

| prev = Luke 4

| list = Chapters of the Bible
Gospel of Luke

| next = Luke 6

}}

{{Gospel of Luke}}

Luke 05

Category:Sea of Galilee