Luke 5

http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+5/

Jesus taught by the Sea of Galilee, and He saw some fishermen cleaning their nets. He went up to Simon and asked him to take the boat a little off shore so that all the people could hear Him. Simon complied, and after Jesus finished teaching, He told Simon to lower the nets in the deeper water. Simon told Jesus that he and his partners fished all night and caught nothing, but he still lowered his nets. He started catching so many fish that he had to call James and John, his fishing partners, over to help him haul in the catch. Simon fell on his face and told Jesus to leave because Simon is sinful. At once, Simon knew who Jesus was and believed. He also knew that he was not worthy of being in the presence of God, but Jesus was all about doing things despite our sin. Jesus told Simon not to be afraid and to come with Him to catch people instead of fish. Simon, John, and James left everything and followed Jesus. I think that the phrase "and didn't look back" should be added on. They knew that a relationship with Jesus was worth so much more than anything that they had that it was an instantaneous decision to follow Christ.

At one town, Jesus encounters a man with a skin disease. The man bows down and says if Jesus wants to, He can heal the man. Jesus says He wants to and touches the man, and the man is clean. A recurring theme with these healings is Jesus touching the sick. In those times, the Old Testament was the only Word of God, and it said that if a sick person, who was considered dirty, touched a non-sick person, the non-sick person also became dirty. Jesus, however, never becomes dirty. He is so clean, because He is God and dirty things are ungodly things, that there is nothing dirty enough to make Him dirty. He takes on the sins of the world, but He comes up clean again. Jesus tells the man to not tell people what happened but to go instead to the temple, present himself to the priest, and offer the sacrifices required of him. The news of Jesus continues to spread. Even with the crowds following, Jesus always made time to be alone in prayer. Jesus' time revolved around God. These are how our priorities should be set.

Jesus taught in front of some Pharisees. Some men tried to bring their paralyzed friend, who was on a stretcher, to Jesus, but they could not find a way in. Finally, they got up onto the roof, removed some tiles, and lowered the man on his stretcher in front of Jesus. Jesus was amazed by their faith, and He told the paralyzed man that He forgave the man's sins. The Pharisees were shocked by this, and they said to each other that Jesus dishonors God because only God can forgive sins. Jesus knew what they were thinking and said that it may be easier to say your sins are forgiven than get up and walk. He tells them that He has the authority to forgive sins on Earth. Then, He tells the man to get up and walk, and the man does. All of the people who saw this were amazed, and they could hardly believe what they had witnessed.

Jesus sees a tax collector named Levi (later Matthew) in his booth. Jesus tells Levi to follow Him. Levi gets up, leaves everything, and follows Jesus. Tax collectors were corrupt, and that made them rich. Jesus called this corrupt man, and Levi left all of his wealth to follow Jesus. Then, he threw a party for Jesus at his home. Many other tax collectors came. The Pharisees complained about why Jesus ate with tax collectors and other sinners. Jesus told them that healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do. In the same way, Jesus came for those who know they need a savior, not those who think they have God's approval. We have to confess that we need Jesus in order for Him to save us, and most of the Pharisees thought they were good with God, and they missed out on their chance with Jesus.

The Pharisees also complain that Jesus' disciples don't fast. Jesus tells them that wedding guests don't fast while the groom is still there. Later, the groom leaves and the guests fast. Jesus and God are often compared to a groom in Scripture. Jesus is foretelling His death although no one realizes it. At that time, the disciples will fast out of obedience, but right now, all they have to do is follow Him. Then, Jesus gives two illustrations. The first is about tearing a new coat to patch an old, and that would tear the old fabric. Then, He talks of putting new win in old wineskins, which would burst the skins. He talks of the new way of doing things because Jesus came. There is a difference now. The new way overpowers the old way, and it doesn't make sense to use the old way when the new way is so much better. But He adds on a final thought that many people will reject the new wine because the like the old wine. Many of the Jewish people rejected Jesus, especially when He was on trial. Jesus says this is primarily because they like the way things are, and they don't want to have to do things the new way.