From Fishermen to Disciples

This blog post accompanies my YouTube reading of Luke Chapter 5. You can watch it here if you like.

Video Reading Luke Chapter 5

Occasionally, I get so caught up in the joy of the Gospel message that I am hasty in what I say. On this occasion a dear friend spotted my over exuberance and gently pulled me back a little. Thank you, Edna!

In my post reading thought, I excitedly exclaimed that Simon Peter, James and John were all saved after forsaking the hugest catch of their fishing career to follow Jesus. My thoughts, hallelujah! Simon is saved because he believes that Jesus is Lord and Christ. I'm a huge Peter fan and I always cheer loudly when following his journey of faith. When he sinks into the water, I barely notice because I'm still cheering the fact that he walked at all! There's something about his personal struggles with his very human nature that I identify with.

With the help of loving and faithful friends, more experienced than myself I'm reminded that salvation is a journey that starts when God plants a seed in us. I apologise for maybe being guilty of taking Simon Peter, James and John over the finishing line when they had only just gotten off the starting blocks.

Scripture doesn't tell us that they were saved at that very moment but it does tell us that, three fishermen became committed disciples of Jesus Christ that day.

Let's dive into the published and respected commentaries to find out more.

Enduring Word Commentary

I learnt something new in the first few paragraphs of this commentary. I had no idea that the Sea of Galilee was known by a few different names. I'm not sure that I had realised that it was not even a sea, in the strictest sense of the word. It's more officially, a lake fed by run off water from the mountains. The commentary, helpfully confirms that the Lake of Gennesaret is the Sea of Galilee.

This was another name for the Sea of Galilee, as it is more familiarly known. It was also sometimes called the Sea of Tiberias.

There is welcome clarity in this commentary relating to the miracle catch of fish on Simon's boat. The commentary provides some context on the word 'Master' as used by Simon to address Jesus in response to Jesus asking him to put the boat out.

b. Master, we have toiled all night: The particular ancient Greek word Luke used for Master (epistata) is unique to Luke’s Gospel. The word has the ideas “commander,” “leader,” or perhaps even “boss.” With this title, Peter showed he was willing to take orders from Jesus.

The commentary helps us to understand that there is power in every word spoken by Jesus. It is after all, the Word of God. Simon responds in faith.

d. At Your word I will let down the net: This was Peter’s great statement of faith, and trust in Jesus’ word. God’s people throughout all ages have lived and gone forth with this confidence in the word of Jesus.

· At Your word, there was light.

· At Your word, the sun, moon, stars, and planets were created.

· At Your word life came to this earth.

· At Your word creation is held together and sustained.

· At Your word empires rise and fall; history unfolds His great plan.

It's a wonderful reminder of who Jesus is. This is THE JESUS, the second person of the Trinity. The eternal Jesus who is and was and will forever be one with God the Father, alongside the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit!

The commentary reminds us that Jesus has already healed Simon's Mother-in-law. He's seen Jesus perform miracles but this miracle brings Simon to his knees.

a. He fell down at Jesus’ knees: Jesus had already miraculously healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:38-39). Yet there was something about this miracle of the blessed catch that made Peter worship Jesus and surrender himself to Him.

I welcomed the following words that help to balance out my thoughts on the state of Simon Peter's faith at this point. His declaration, though faithful has room to grow.

iii. We might say that Peter’s prayer was good, but there is even a better prayer to pray: “Come nearer to me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

Moving on to Jesus's miraculous healing of the man with leprosy. I found some context around the severity of the leprosy experienced and the the condition would have been fatal, had Jesus not healed him.

i. “In Palestine there were two kinds of leprosy. There was one which was rather like a very bad skin disease, and it was the less serious of the two. There was the one in which the disease, starting from a small spot, ate away the flesh until the wretched sufferer was left with only the stump of a hand or a leg. It was literally a living death.” (Barclay)

This commentary provides some wonderful context on Jewish law relating to leprosy if you want to dive deeper. The point that I found useful to understand was the extent that lepers were shunned. Jesus was reaching out to someone who was abandoned by society to death. It's a glorious example of the grace, mercy and compassion of Christ.

iii. For these reasons leprosy was considered a picture of sin and its effects. It is a contagious, debilitating disease that corrupts its victim and makes him essentially dead while alive. Therefore society and religious people scorned lepers. Rabbis especially despised them, and saw lepers as those under the special judgment of God, deserving no pity or mercy.

This poor man was willing to come to Jesus as his last hope. It paints quite a picture! He's going to die and there is no-one but Jesus who can help him. I imagine his pitiful self image based on how others felt about him and treated him. Considered unclean, he could not go to the temple to offer a sacrifice to cleanse him of sin (Jewish custom and law). I imagine he may have felt completely unworthy and beyond any form of redemption until he heard about Jesus.

b. Lord, if You are willing: The leper had no doubt about the ability of Jesus to heal; his only question was if Jesus was willing to heal. This was significant because leprosy was so hopeless in the ancient world that healing a leper was compared to raising the dead; yet this leper knew that all Jesus needed was to be willing.

I really recommend this commentary if you want to understand every verse in this chapter. It's full of very rich context!

https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/luke-5/

Bible Ref Commentary

This is not a verse by verse commentary, it provides a nice summary. I was interested in the clarity provided around the chronology of events. It points out that whilst Luke sets out an orderly account, it is not always strictly chronological. Where appropriate, Luke groups the narrative around themes.

Although Luke has carefully placed his Gospel within the context of history (Luke 3:1–2), his record is not meant to be strictly chronological. His "orderly account" (Luke 1:3) is largely thematic. Though biblical scholars have labeled Luke 4:14—9:50 Jesus' "Galilean Ministry," not all of the events occur within the borders of Galilee. The title differentiates this period from Jesus' Travelogue to Jerusalem (Luke 9:50—19:27) and the events that occur in and near Jerusalem (Luke 19:28—24:53).

That may be useful to know if we find ourselves in conversation with the kind of people who like to question why timing sometimes appear to be different in the four gospel accounts.

It's a brief, quick to read summary that's perfect for clarifying understanding before moving on to the next chapter. I'll finish with a snippet that reflects on repentance. Levi (Matthew) has hit the ground running as a disciple by calling sinners to Jesus.

Levi's repentance echoes Peter's. Levi's invitation to other sinners to meet Jesus reflects Jesus' promise that Peter and the others would fish for people. The setting of the feast draws the attention of religious leaders and will later be the basis of Jesus' comparison of Himself to John the Baptist (Luke 5:27–32; 7:24–35).

For the full commentary, follow the link and remember to click the appropriate link alongside the chapter text.

https://www.bibleref.com/Luke/5/Luke-chapter-5.html

Bible Hub Commentary

I skipped to the end of this very full verse by verse commentary for some context on the old and new wine. The commentator makes an interesting observation that Luke includes a little extra information around what Jesus said about the old and new wine. The theory put forward, that maybe Paul had suggested the inclusion. That seems to be guessing but nevertheless, they provide some useful historical context following the thought through

This new wine seems, in those days, generally to have been considered preferable, but to men who had been drinking the old, age-softened vintage, the new would seem fiery and even harsh. The Greek word rendered in the Authorized Version "better," in the older authorities is positive instead of comparative. The translation should therefore run," the old is good." The argument would be the same: Why change what we have been drinking for something new? surely the old wine is good? Such passages as Nehemiah 10:35; Proverbs 3:10; Hosea 4:11; Haggai 1:11, bear out the above statement, that in those days, among the Jews of Syria, Palestine, and the adjacent countries, new sweet wine was a favourite beverage among wine-drinkers

I'm confident you'll find a treasure trove of context and scholarly pondering in this commentary. Follow the link to read through.

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/luke/5.htm

Thank you so much for reading my blog where I aim to provide links to helpful and respected Bible commentary. Any thoughts, comments or questions, I'd love to hear them. I'm always very happy to dive into a fact finding mission if I can help.