Luke Chapter 5 shows Jesus calling sinners, cleansing the unclean, forgiving sins, and challenging the religious expectations of His day.

The chapter begins beside the lake.

Crowds are pressing in to hear the word of God. Jesus gets into Simon Peter’s boat and teaches from the water. After He finishes teaching, He tells Simon to put out into the deep and let down the nets for a catch.

Simon answers honestly:

“Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

That is an important phrase:

“At your word.”

Peter is an experienced fisherman. Jesus is telling him to do something that may have seemed pointless after a failed night of fishing. But Peter obeys the word of Christ.

The result is overwhelming. They catch so many fish that the nets begin to break. They signal to their partners in the other boat, and both boats become so full they begin to sink.

This is not just a fishing story.

It is a revelation of who Jesus is.

“Depart from Me, for I Am a Sinful Man”

When Simon Peter sees the catch, he falls down at Jesus’ knees and says:

“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Peter does not merely see fish.

He sees glory.

He realizes he is in the presence of someone far greater than an ordinary teacher. The miracle exposes Peter’s own unworthiness.

This is often how grace works. When Christ reveals His power and holiness, we see ourselves more honestly.

Peter does not say, “I am impressive. You should choose me.”

He says, “I am sinful.”

But Jesus does not leave Peter in fear.

He says:

“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Jesus calls the sinful man into His service.

That is grace.

This connects with Luke Chapter 3: Repentance, Fruit, and the Salvation of God, where John calls people to repentance and prepares the way for Christ. Luke 5 shows Jesus actually calling repentant sinners to follow Him.

Peter and the others bring their boats to land, leave everything, and follow Him.

That was a particular call on them as disciples and future apostles. It does not mean every Christian must abandon ordinary work, family responsibilities, or earthly duties in the exact same way. But it does show that when Christ calls, He becomes greater than everything else. Faith in Jesus changes our priorities, our direction, and our obedience.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

Next, Luke tells us about a man full of leprosy.

When he sees Jesus, he falls on his face and begs:

“Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

That sentence is full of faith.

He does not question Jesus’ power.

He says, “You can.”

The question is whether Jesus is willing.

Jesus stretches out His hand and touches him, saying:

“I will; be clean.”

Immediately the leprosy leaves him.

The touch matters.

A leper was unclean. People would avoid him. But Jesus does not become unclean by touching the man. Instead, the man becomes clean by the power of Christ.

Jesus tells him to show himself to the priest and make an offering, as Moses commanded. That shows Jesus is not careless with the Law. The cleansing must be publicly confirmed according to the command.

This connects with what Matthew emphasizes in Matthew Chapter 5: The Sermon on the Mount and the Righteousness of the Kingdom: Jesus does not abolish the Law and the Prophets. He fulfills them.

Jesus Withdraws to Pray

As news about Jesus spreads, great crowds gather to hear Him and to be healed.

But Luke says:

“He would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”

That is easy to pass over, but it matters.

Jesus is not driven by crowds. He is not addicted to public attention. He does not let popularity control His mission.

He withdraws to pray.

This shows the true humanity of Christ. The Son lives in perfect communion with the Father. His ministry is not performance. It flows from obedience, prayer, and fellowship with God.

This also connects with Luke Chapter 4: Temptation, Rejection, and the Authority of Christ, where Jesus resists temptation, refuses Satan’s shortcut, and continues His mission under the Father’s will.

The Paralytic and the Forgiveness of Sins

Then Luke tells us about a paralyzed man whose friends bring him to Jesus.

Because of the crowd, they cannot find a way inside. So they go up on the roof, remove tiles, and lower him down before Jesus.

When Jesus sees their faith, He says:

“Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

That may seem surprising.

The obvious need is paralysis. But Jesus addresses the deeper need first.

The scribes and Pharisees question this:

“Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Their theology is correct on that point.

Only God can forgive sins.

The problem is that they do not recognize who is standing before them.

Jesus knows their thoughts and asks which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven you,” or to say, “Rise and walk”?

Both are easy to say.

But the healing will visibly prove His invisible authority to forgive.

So Jesus says:

“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…”

Then He tells the paralytic:

“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

Immediately the man rises, picks up what he had been lying on, and goes home glorifying God.

This connects directly with Mark Chapter 2: The Son of Man Has Authority, where Mark tells the same event and emphasizes Jesus’ authority to forgive sins.

The main point is not merely that Jesus can heal.

The main point is that Jesus can forgive.

Jesus Calls Levi

After this, Jesus sees a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth.

He says:

“Follow me.”

Levi leaves everything, rises, and follows Him.

That is a strong phrase again:

“leaving everything.”

Peter left his nets.

Levi leaves his tax booth.

Different men. Different lives. Same call.

In the text, Jesus calls these particular men into discipleship in a very direct way. For Peter and Levi, following Jesus meant leaving their previous work behind.

For readers today, the application needs to be handled carefully. Jesus may not be calling every believer to leave his or her job in the same outward way. But He does call every believer to repent, believe, and follow Him. That means sin cannot remain lord. Old patterns cannot remain untouched. A person cannot receive Christ and keep the same relationship to sin.

Levi then makes a great feast in his house. There is a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.

The Pharisees and scribes complain:

“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus answers:

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

Then He says:

“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

This is one of the clearest statements in the chapter.

Jesus does not deny that these people are sinners.

He came for sinners.

But He calls sinners to repentance.

That is the Gospel.

This connects with John Chapter 4: Living Water and the Savior of the World, where Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman and brings living water to someone others might have avoided. Christ does not avoid sinners in need of mercy.

He calls them.

He cleanses them.

He forgives them.

He changes them.

The Question About Fasting

The people then ask Jesus why John’s disciples fast, and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but Jesus’ disciples eat and drink.

Jesus answers with a wedding image:

“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?”

The point is that Jesus’ presence changes the moment.

Fasting is not bad. Jesus does not abolish fasting forever. He says the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away, and then they will fast.

But while Jesus is present with His disciples, it is a time of joy.

The bridegroom has come.

That image becomes more significant as the New Testament unfolds. Jesus is not merely a teacher giving religious advice. He is the bridegroom who has come for His people.

New Wine and Old Wineskins

Jesus then gives images of a new garment and new wine.

No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. That would ruin the new garment and not properly match the old.

No one puts new wine into old wineskins. New wine expands as it ferments, and old skins would burst. New wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

Jesus is teaching that His coming cannot simply be patched onto old religious expectations.

He is not merely adding a small improvement to the old order.

He is bringing fulfillment.

The kingdom has come in Him.

The old covenant signs, sacrifices, and structures pointed forward. Now Christ Himself is here.

This does not mean the Old Testament was wrong. It means the Old Testament was always moving toward Christ.

But not everyone welcomes the fulfillment when it arrives.

This connects with Mark Chapter 4: Hearing the Word and Trusting the Lord of the Storm, where the kingdom begins like seed and grows by God’s power. In Luke 5, Jesus shows that His kingdom cannot be contained by merely external religion.

“The Old Is Good”

Luke includes one more sentence that is easy to miss:

“And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”

This helps explain the resistance Jesus is facing.

People often prefer what is familiar. If they are used to the old wine, they may not immediately desire the new. In the context of Luke 5, this points to resistance against Jesus and His kingdom.

In that original setting, many were comfortable with old religious patterns. They understood fasting in the old categories. They understood separation from tax collectors and sinners. They understood the old wineskins.

But Jesus is bringing something new because He is the fulfillment of what came before.

For us today, the resistance may not always look like clinging to old religious structures. It may look like clinging to a familiar way of life. People may prefer the life they already know, even when that life includes sin. They may prefer their habits, their pride, their bitterness, their lust, their self-rule, their comfort, or their identity apart from Christ.

So yes, this sentence does show resistance to Christ.

Not because Christ is worse.

Not because the new wine is lacking.

But because sinners often prefer what they already know.

The old may feel comfortable simply because it is familiar.

From a Christian Reformed lens, this reminds us that sinners do not naturally welcome grace when it confronts their pride, habits, and sin. We need God to open our hearts so that we do not cling to our old life while refusing the life Christ gives.

The Message of Luke Chapter 5

Luke Chapter 5 shows Jesus calling, cleansing, forgiving, and making all things new.

Peter sees the miracle and confesses his sin.

Jesus calls him anyway.

The leper asks if Jesus is willing.

Jesus says, “I will.”

The paralytic is lowered through the roof.

Jesus forgives his sins and heals his body.

Levi is sitting at the tax booth.

Jesus says, “Follow me.”

Tax collectors and sinners gather at a feast.

Jesus says He came not for the righteous, but for sinners to repentance.

The question of fasting arises.

Jesus says the bridegroom is here.

The old wineskins cannot hold the new wine.

And some resist the new wine because they prefer what is familiar.

From a Christian Reformed lens, this chapter is full of grace.

The sinful do not make themselves worthy.

The unclean do not cleanse themselves.

The paralyzed do not raise themselves.

The tax collector does not first repair his reputation and then come to Christ.

Jesus comes with authority.

Jesus speaks the word.

Jesus forgives sins.

Jesus calls sinners to repentance.

Jesus makes the unclean clean.

Jesus brings the new wine of the kingdom.

That is the heart of Luke Chapter 5.

Christ does not call people because they are already whole.

He is the physician for the sick.

He calls sinners to repent, believe, and receive the life only He can give.