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1–11. Simon's calling. – 12–26. Healing the leper and the paralytic. – 27–39. Feast at the publican Levi. Luke 5:1. One day, when the people were crowding around Him to hear the word of God, and He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, During the sermon that Christ held, standing on the very shore of Lake Gennesaret (see Matt. 4:18), the people began to crowd Him so much that it was difficult for Him to stay on the shore longer (cf. Matt. 4:18; Mark 1:16). Luke 5:2. He saw two boats standing on the lake; and the fishermen, leaving them, washed their nets. "They washed the nets". Evangelist Luke pays attention only to this work; other evangelists also talk about mending nets (Mark 1:19) or only about casting nets (Matthew 4:18). It was necessary to wash the nets in order to free them from shells and sand that had fallen into them. Luke 5:3. Entering one boat, which was Simon's, He asked him to sail a little from the shore and, sitting down, taught the people from the boat. Simon was already a disciple of Christ (see John 1:37 et seq.) - only he was not yet called, like the other apostles, to constantly follow Christ and continued to engage in fishing. For the position of Christ in the boat during the sermon, see Mark 4:1. Luke 5:4. When he had stopped teaching, he said to Simon, “Sail out into the deep and let down your nets to catch.” Luke 5:5. Simon answered Him: Master! We toiled all night and caught nothing, but at Your word I will let down the net. Luke 5:6. Having done this, they caught a great many fish, and even their net was broken. Luke 5:7. And they gave a sign to the comrades who were on the other boat to come help them; and they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. The Lord invites Simon to swim further to a deep place and cast nets there to catch fish. Simon, addressing the Lord as “Mentor” (ἐπιστάτα! - instead of the “rabbi” often used by other evangelists), notes that a catch can hardly be expected; he and his comrades tried to fish even at night - during the best hours for fishing - and, however, they did not catch anything. But still, by faith in the word of Christ, which, as Simon knows, has miraculous power, he fulfills the will of Christ and receives enormous booty as a reward. This prey is so great that the nets have already begun to break in some places, and Simon and his companions began to make hand signals to the fishermen who remained in another boat near the shore, so that they would quickly come to their aid, but shouting was unnecessary due to the distance of Simon’s boat from the shore. The “comrades” obviously kept an eye on Simon’s boat all the time, since they heard what Christ said to Simon. Luke 5:8. Seeing this, Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus and said: Depart from me, Lord! because I am a sinful person. Luke 5:9. For horror seized him and all those who were with him from this fishing of fish they caught; And Simon and the others who were there were extremely frightened, and Simon even began to ask the Lord to get out of the boat, because he felt that his sinfulness could suffer from the holiness of Christ (cf. Luke 1:12, 2:9; 1 Kings 17:18). “From this catch” - more precisely: “the catch that they took” (in Russian translation inaccurately: “those caught by them”). This miracle especially struck Simon, not because he had not seen the miracles of Christ before, but because it happened according to some special intentions of the Lord, without any request from Simon himself. He realized that the Lord wanted to give him some special assignment, and fear of the unknown future filled his soul. Luke 5:10. also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's companions. And Jesus said to Simon: Do not be afraid; From now on you will catch people. Luke 5:11. And, having pulled both boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him. The Lord calms Simon and reveals to him the purpose that he had when he miraculously sent Simon a rich catch of fish. This was a symbolic action that indicated to Simon the success that he would have when he began to convert entire masses of people to Christ with his preaching. The evangelist, obviously, was presented here with the great event that took place mainly thanks to the preaching of the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost, namely, the conversion of three thousand people to Christ (Acts 2:41). "Left everything" Although the Lord addressed only Simon alone, obviously the other disciples of the Lord realized that the time had come for all of them to leave their usual activities and travel with their Teacher. However, this was not yet the calling of the disciples to apostolic service; this happened later (Luke 6:13 et seq.). Negative criticism points out that the first two evangelists say nothing about the miraculous catch of fish, and concludes that the Evangelist Luke here merged into one event two completely different events in time: the calling of the disciples to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:18–22) and the miraculous catch of fish after the resurrection of Christ (John 21). But the miraculous catch in the Gospel of John and the miraculous catch in the Gospel of Luke have completely different meanings. The first speaks of the restoration of the Apostle Peter in his apostolic ministry, and the second only speaks of preparation for this service: here Peter is only just beginning to think about the great activity to which the Lord is calling him. Therefore, there is no doubt that this is not at all the catch reported by the Evangelist John. But in this case, how can the first two evangelists and the third be reconciled? Why don't the first two evangelists say anything about catching fish? Some interpreters (for example, Keil), realizing their powerlessness to resolve this issue, argue that the Evangelist Luke does not have in mind the calling that the first two evangelists talk about (Interpretation on Ev. Matthew, Chapter IV). But the whole situation of the event does not allow us to think that it could be repeated and that the Evangelist Luke was not talking about the moment in the Gospel history that the Evangelists Matthew and Mark have in mind. Therefore, it would be better to say that the first two evangelists did not attach such importance to the symbolic fishing that it had in the eyes of Luke. In fact, the Evangelist Luke, who described the preaching activity of the Apostle Peter in the book of Acts and, obviously, had long been interested in everything that had to do with this apostle, it seemed very important in the Gospel to note the symbolic foretelling of the success of the future activity of the Apostle Peter, which is contained in the story of the miraculous catch of fish. Luke 5:12. When Jesus was in a certain city, a man came covered with leprosy and, seeing Jesus, fell on his face, begging Him and saying: Lord! if you want, you can cleanse me. Luke 5:13. He stretched out his hand, touched him and said: I want you to be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him. Luke 5:14. And He commanded him not to tell anyone, but to go and show himself to the priest and offer a sacrifice for his cleansing, as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. (See Matthew 8:2–4; Mark 1:40–44). The Evangelist Luke follows Mark more here. Luke 5:15. But even more so, the rumor about Him spread, and a great multitude of people flocked to Him to listen and to be healed of their illnesses by Him. Luke 5:16. But He went into deserted places and prayed. Evangelist Luke remained silent about the leper’s disobedience (cf. Mark 1:45). “Moreover”, i.e. to an even greater extent than before (μᾶλλον). The prohibition to speak only further encouraged people to spread rumors about the Wonderworker. Luke 5:17. One day, while He was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from all the places of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, were sitting there, and the power of the Lord appeared in healing the sick, - Luke 5:18. behold, some brought a man who was paralyzed on a bed, and tried to carry him into the house and lay him before Jesus; Luke 5:19. and, not finding where to carry him because of the crowd, they climbed onto the top of the house and through the roof lowered him with his bed into the middle before Jesus. Luke 5:20. And He, seeing their faith, said to the man: Your sins are forgiven you. Luke 5:21. The scribes and Pharisees began to reason, saying: Who is this that blasphemes? who can forgive sins except God alone? Luke 5:22. Jesus, understanding their thoughts, answered and said to them, “What are you thinking in your hearts?” Luke 5:23. What is easier to say: your sins are forgiven you, or to say: get up and walk? Luke 5:24. But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic: I say to you, get up, take up your bed and go to your house. Luke 5:25. And he immediately stood up before them, took what he was lying on, and went to his house, praising God. Luke 5:26. And horror seized everyone, and they glorified God and, being filled with fear, said: “We have seen wonderful things today.” (See Matthew 9:2–8; Mark 2:3–12). Evangelist Luke makes some additions to the narrative of the first two evangelists. “In one day”, i.e. on one of those days, precisely during the journey undertaken by the Lord (see Luke 4:43 et seq.). “Teachers of the law” (see Matthew 22:35). “Of all places” is a hyperbolic expression. The motives for the arrival of the scribes and Pharisees could be very diverse, but, of course, an unfriendly attitude towards Christ prevailed among them. “The power of the Lord”, i.e. the power of God. Evangelist Luke, where he calls Christ Lord, writes the word κύριος with an article (ὁ κύριος), and here it is written κυρίου - without an article. “Through the roof”, i.e. through the tiles (διὰ τῶν κεράμων) with which the roof of the house was laid. They dismantled the tiles in one place (in Mark 2:4, the roof appears to be something that needs to be “dug out”). “He said to the man, “They are forgiven...” - more correctly: “He said to him, “The man! "Having understood their thoughts." Some critics point out here that the Evangelist Luke contradicts himself: he just said that the scribes reasoned among themselves out loud, so that Christ could hear their conversations, and now he says that Christ penetrated into their thoughts, which they kept to themselves, as the Evangelist Mark noted. But there is no contradiction here. Christ could hear the conversation of the scribes among themselves - Luke was silent about this - but at the same time He penetrated with His thoughts the secret thoughts that they hid. They, therefore, according to the Evangelist Luke, did not express everything they thought... The impression made by this miracle on the people (verse 26), according to the Evangelist Luke, was stronger than Matthew and Mark portrayed it. Luke 5:27. After this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collection office, and he said to him, “Follow Me.” Luke 5:28. And he, leaving everything, stood up and followed Him. Luke 5:29. And Levi made a great feast for Him in his house; and there were many publicans and others who sat with them. Luke 5:30. The scribes and Pharisees murmured and said to His disciples: Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Luke 5:31. Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick; Luke 5:32. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:33. They said to Him: Why do John’s disciples fast often and say the prayers of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink? Luke 5:34. He said to them, “Can you force the sons of the bridal chamber to fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Luke 5:35. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. Luke 5:36. At this he told them a parable: no one puts patches on old clothes after tearing them off new clothes; Otherwise, the new one will be torn apart, and the patch from the new one will not fit the old one. Luke 5:37. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and flow out on its own, and the skins will be lost; Luke 5:38. but new wine must be put into new wineskins; then both will be saved. Luke 5:39. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately wants new, for he says: old is better. The evangelist Luke describes the calling of the tax collector Levi and the feast he arranged in accordance with Mark (Mark 2:13–22; cf. Matt. 9:9–17), only occasionally supplementing his story. “Saw” is more correct: “began to look, observe” (ἐθεάσατο). “Leaving everything”, i.e. your office and everything that was in it! “Followed” - more precisely: “followed” (imperfect past tense verb ἠκολούθει, according to the best reading, means constant following of Christ). "And others who reclined with them." So the evangelist Luke replaces Mark’s expression “sinners” (Mark 2:15). He talks about the fact that there were “sinners” at the table in verse 30. "Why were John's disciples...". Evangelist Luke does not mention that the disciples of John themselves turned to Christ with questions (cf. Matthew and Mark). This is because he reduces this picture, which the first two evangelists divide into two scenes, into one scene. Why John's disciples found themselves this time together with the Pharisees is explained by the similarity in their religious exercises. In fact, of course, the spirit of the Pharisees' fasts and prayers was completely different from that of the disciples of John, who in his time denounced the Pharisees a lot (Matthew 3). The prayers that John’s disciples performed—only the Evangelist Luke mentions this—were probably set for different hours of the day, the so-called Jewish “Shema” (cf. Matt. 6:5). “At this he told them a parable...”. Having explained that the Pharisees and disciples of John cannot make any complaints about the failure of Christ’s disciples to fast (there is no talk of prayer, because, of course, Christ’s disciples also prayed), the Lord further explains that, on the other hand, His disciples should not harshly condemn the Pharisees and disciples of John for strictly adhering to the Old Testament decrees or, better yet, the habits of old. In fact, you cannot take one piece from new clothes in order to repair old ones: a piece from new clothes will not fit with old clothes, and the new one will also be damaged by such a cutting. This means that to the Old Testament worldview, on the basis of which even the disciples of John the Baptist, not to mention the Pharisees, continued to stand, one should not add only one piece of the new, Christian worldview, in the form of a free attitude to the fasts established by Jewish tradition (not the Law of Moses). What will happen if John’s disciples borrow only this freedom from Christ’s disciples? Otherwise, their worldview will not change in any way, but meanwhile they will violate the integrity of their own view, and at the same time the new teaching, Christian, with which they will later have to become acquainted, will lose the impression of integrity for them. “And no one pours in...” . Here is another parable, but with exactly the same content as the first. New wine must be poured into new wineskins, because it must ferment and the skins will stretch very much. Old wineskins will not withstand this fermentation process, they will burst - but why sacrifice them in vain? They may be useful for something... It is clear that Christ here again points out the futility of forcing John’s disciples, who are unprepared to accept His teaching in general, to learn just one rule of Christian freedom. For now, let the bearers of this freedom be people who are able to perceive and assimilate it. He, so to speak, excuses John’s disciples for the fact that they still form some kind of separate circle, standing outside of communication with Him... The same excuse for John’s disciples is contained in the last parable that old wine tastes better (verse 39). The Lord wants to say by this that for Him it is quite understandable that people who are accustomed to certain orders of life and have internalized certain views for a long time cling to them with all their might and that the old seems pleasant to them... You might be interested in: