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Luke 5

Jesus reveals his authority to cleanse and forgive, calling sinners to repentance and drawing people into life with him.

Jesus teaches a crowd from Simon’s boat beside the lake of Gennesaret, then directs the fishermen to a catch that strains their nets. Simon, James, and John leave everything to follow him. Jesus cleanses a man with leprosy and forgives and heals a paralyzed man, drawing objections from religious teachers. He then calls Levi, a tax collector, and eats at his feast. Disputes over his companions and his disciples’ fasting lead to sayings about a bridegroom, garments, and wineskins.

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1Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.
3He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night and caught nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.”
6When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking.
7They beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
8But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”
9For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught;
10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.”
11When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.
12While he was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”
13He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately the leprosy left him.
14He commanded him to tell no one, “But go your way and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing according to what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”
15But the report concerning him spread much more, and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
16But he withdrew himself into the desert and prayed.
17On one of those days, he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by who had come out of every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was with him to heal them.
18Behold, men brought a paralyzed man on a cot, and they sought to bring him in to lay before Jesus.
19Not finding a way to bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop and let him down through the tiles with his cot into the middle before Jesus.
20Seeing their faith, he said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
22But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, answered them, “Why are you reasoning so in your hearts?
23Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?
24But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, arise, take up your cot, and go to your house.”
25Immediately he rose up before them, and took up that which he was laying on, and departed to his house, glorifying God.
26Amazement took hold on all, and they glorified God. They were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”
27After these things he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and said to him, “Follow me!”
28He left everything, and rose up and followed him.
29Levi made a great feast for him in his house. There was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining with them.
30Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”
31Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do.
32I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
33They said to him, “Why do John’s disciples often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink?”
34He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?
35But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days.”
36He also told a parable to them. “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old garment, or else he will tear the new, and also the piece from the new will not match the old.
37No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled and the skins will be destroyed.
38But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.
39No man having drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Luke 5:8The overflowing catch brings Peter to his knees in confession, setting the scene for Jesus’ reassurance and call.
Luke 5:31Jesus’ picture of a physician explains his presence at Levi’s feast among people the religious teachers condemn.
Luke 5:32Jesus names repentance as the purpose of his call to sinners, explaining the welcome that has drawn criticism.
Where this chapter reaches

Matthew and Mark recount the cleansing of a man with leprosy, the forgiveness and healing of a paralyzed man, and disputes over meals and fasting. John records another miraculous catch involving Peter, sharing the pattern of Jesus directing fishermen whose efforts have yielded nothing.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about Jesus’ response when Peter asks him to leave?

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How does Jesus’ explanation of Levi’s feast shape your understanding of repentance?

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Questions people ask about Luke 5

What does catching people mean in Luke 5?

Jesus uses Simon’s work as a fisherman to describe his new calling: “From now on you will be catching people alive.” The image points toward gathering people to Jesus. Simon’s response, together with James and John, is to leave the boats and follow him. The chapter does not describe every task this calling will involve.

Why does Jesus forgive the paralyzed man before healing him?

Jesus’ declaration of forgiveness raises the question of his authority, since the scribes and Pharisees recognize that forgiveness belongs to God. Jesus then heals the man as evidence that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. The account does not say the man’s paralysis resulted from a particular sin.

What do the new wine and old wineskins mean in Luke 5?

The sayings follow a dispute about fasting while Jesus is present. New wine needs fresh skins; forcing it into old ones causes loss. The image warns against forcing what Jesus brings into forms that cannot contain it. The closing preference for old wine acknowledges resistance to the new, though its precise force is debated.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).