Luke 5

Lu 5:1-11.

MIRACULOUS

DRAUGHT OF

FISHES--CALL OF

PETER,

JAMES, AND

JOHN.

Not their first call, however, recorded in

Joh 1:35-42;

nor their second, recorded in

Mt 4:18-22;

but their third and last before their appointment to the

apostleship. That these calls were all distinct and progressive,

seems quite plain. (Similar stages are observable in other eminent

servants of Christ.)

3. taught . . . out of the ship--(See on

Mt 13:2).

4. for a draught--munificent recompense for the use of his boat.

5. Master--betokening not surely a first acquaintance, but a

relationship already formed.

all night--the usual time of fishing then

(Joh 21:3),

and even now Peter, as a fisherman, knew how hopeless it was to "let

down his net" again, save as a mere act of faith, "at His word" of

command, which carried in it, as it ever does, assurance of success.

(This shows he must have been already and for some time a follower of

Christ.)

6. net brake--rather "was breaking," or "beginning to break," as in

Lu 5:7,

"beginning to sink."

8. Depart, &c.--Did Peter then wish Christ to leave him? Verily no.

His all was wrapt up in Him

(Joh 6:68).

"It was rather, Woe is me, Lord! How shall I abide this blaze of glory?

A sinner such as I am is not fit company for Thee." (Compare

Isa 6:5.)

10. Simon, fear not--This shows how the Lord read Peter's speech.

The more highly they deemed Him, ever the more grateful it was to the

Redeemer's spirit. Never did they pain Him by manifesting too lofty

conceptions of Him.

from henceforth--marking a new stage of their connection with Christ.

The last was simply, "I will make you fishers."

fishers of men--"What wilt thou think, Simon, overwhelmed by

this draught of fishes, when I shall bring to thy net what will beggar

all this glory?" (See on

Mt 4:18.)

11. forsook all--They did this before

(Mt 4:20);

now they do it again; and yet after the Crucifixion they are at their

boats once more

(Joh 21:3).

In such a business this is easily conceivable. After pentecost,

however, they appear to have finally abandoned their secular

calling.

Lu 5:12-16.

LEPER

HEALED.

(See on

Mt 8:2-4.)

15. But so, &c.--(See

Mr 1:45).

Lu 5:17-26.

PARALYTIC

HEALED.

(See on

Mt 9:1-8).

17. Pharisees and doctors . . . sitting by--the highest testimony yet

borne to our Lord's growing influence, and the necessity increasingly

felt by the ecclesiastics throughout the country of coming to some

definite judgment regarding Him.

power of the Lord . . . present--with Jesus.

to heal them--the sick people.

19. housetop--the flat roof.

through the tiling . . . before Jesus--(See on

Mr 2:2).

24. take up thy couch--"sweet saying! The bed had borne the man; now

the man shall bear the bed!" [BENGEL].

Lu 5:27-32.

LEVI'S

CALL AND

FEAST.

(See on

Mt 9:9-13;

and

Mr 2:14.)

30. their scribes--a mode of expression showing that Luke was writing

for Gentiles.

Lu 5:33-39.

FASTING.

(See on

Mt 9:14-17.)

The incongruities mentioned in

Lu 5:36-38

were intended to illustrate the difference between the genius of

the old and new economies, and the danger of mixing up the one

with the other. As in the one case supposed, "the rent is made worse,"

and in the other, "the new wine is spilled," so by a mongrel mixture

of the ascetic ritualism of the old with the spiritual freedom of the

new economy, both are disfigured and destroyed. The additional

parable in

Lu 5:39,

which is peculiar to Luke, has been variously interpreted. But the

"new wine" seems plainly to be the evangelical freedom which Christ was

introducing; and the old, the opposite spirit of Judaism: men long

accustomed to the latter could not be expected "straightway"--all at

once--to take a liking for the former; that is, "These inquiries about

the difference between My disciples and the Pharisees," and even

John's, are not surprising; they are the effect of a natural

revulsion against sudden change, which time will cure; the new

wine will itself in time become old, and so acquire all the added

charms of antiquity. What lessons does this teach, on the one hand,

to those who unreasonably cling to what is getting antiquated; and, on

the other, to hasty reformers who have no patience with the timidity of

their weaker brethren!