Luke Chapter 5

• My comments begin with the definition of the word, “disciple” since it represents a substantive theme within not only Luke chapter 5, but also within the broader scope of Christianity.
  
  Definition of: disciple
  Etymology: Middle English, from Old English (discipul) & Anglo-French (disciple), from Late Latin and Latin; Late Latin (discipulus) follower of Jesus Christ in his lifetime, from Latin, pupil
  Date: before 12th century
  
  1: one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: as
  a: one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ's followers according to the Gospel accounts
  b: a convinced adherent of a school or individual
  
  Synonyms: follower

• My first set of questions originates with the title of the first 11 verses of chapter 5, “The First Disciples”.

How intentional was the selection of the First Disciples?

How well did Jesus know them?
How were they chosen?
Was there anything special about them?
Did they fully comprehend to what they were agreeing when becoming disciples?

Clearly, without strenuous extrapolation, these questions can also be directly applied to the lives of all subsequent followers/believers in Christ.

In any case, from what I gathered, none of the aforementioned questions is made irrefutably clear from the verses in chapter 5. Instead, there appears to be conflicting evidence at least regarding how well Jesus knew the people who would later become His First Disciples.

• Simon Peter is first mentioned in Luke 4:38 in reference to the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law. Therefore, considering that the chapters in Luke appear to be in chronological order, it is reasonable to assume that Jesus had some prior relationship with Simon before their meeting at the lake of Gennesaret as mentioned in Luke 5:1-3. Supporting this conclusion is the fact that Simon refers to Jesus as Master in 5:5.
  
  However, 5:11 states, "When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.” Hence, it appears that Simon Peter, James, and John only became Jesus’ followers after the miraculous catch of fish (5:6-7). Why then was Simon doing as Jesus asked and referring to Him as Master and Lord prior to him leaving everything and following after Him?
  
  I use the preceding examples to illustrate that it is unclear what kind of relationship Jesus had with His disciples prior to them agreeing to follow Him.

• Without copying and pasting the entire first eleven verses of chapter 5, I am left with the question of how intentional Jesus’ actions were regarding the selection of His Disciples. In other words, did Jesus simply choose Simon Peter, James, and John because they were fishermen coincidentally standing near the shore when Jesus happened to be at the lake?
  
  Luke 5:1-2 states, “Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.”
  
  The use of the word “happened” reasonably leads the reader to infer that Jesus may have been near the lake as a matter of circumstance and not by intention or purpose. This interpretation would then imply that the selection of His disciples was not predetermined.
  
  On the other hand, by substituting the word “occurred” for “happened” in 5:1, I would be more willing to take the view that Jesus being at the lake was purposeful and by extension so too were the subsequent events, which He orchestrated to enable Simon Peter, James, and John to follow Him.

• There is something about 5:4 that is meaningful yet for some reason I lack the ability to fully articulate my thought. Perhaps it is that I again am left wondering how deliberate Jesus’ actions were when “he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’"
  
  In other words, did Jesus have a predetermined plan as to how the events of that day would unfold exactly as they did, or were His actions more spontaneous where He thought to himself something along the lines of:
  
  “Hey, I happen to be at a lake today. These fishermen seem like they’d make good Disciples. Now, I need to convince these guys that I am God personified. I know I can do anything, but since their nets are empty, what better way to convince them than to have them haul in a miraculous catch of fish? Yes, I think that will do the trick, and so I’ll go with that strategy.”
  
  Anyway, I hope you get my point.

• There seems to be a pattern emerging that whenever God, His representative angel (Gabriel), or Jesus interact with humans in a supernatural manner, the very first words spoken are “Do not fear (be afraid)…” as stated in Luke 5:10; 1:13; 1:30; and 2:10. I don’t know if this is material or not, but it just seems interesting.
  
  Additional questions arise from 5:10 where, “Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’" Going back to one of the original questions I posed at the beginning of the entry, does anyone think it reasonable that Simon fully understood what he was getting into when Jesus said that to him? Nonetheless, we can infer that Simon was so moved that he still decided to follow Jesus.
  
  Perhaps the inference is that faith in Jesus Christ, as evidenced by His very first followers, has never been about intellectual concession. Instead, it has more to do with submission and obedience in spite of the lack of full comprehension.

• In 5:12-26 titled, “The Leper and the Paralytic”, we see Jesus gaining acclaim as both a speaker and a healer. One interesting observation is that Jesus appears to perform His miraculous healing in response to other’s requests. On the other hand, we can compare this to Jesus’ interaction at the lake with Simon, James, and John where Jesus acted miraculously on his own volition.
  
  Therefore, this would seem to support my observation from Luke chapter 1 where I noted that it appears that God (and now Jesus) works in at least two different ways. He answers the petitions (requests) of those that call to Him (the sick), and He also works without being asked (the Disciples).

• 5:16 notes, “But Jesus would often slip away to the wilderness (lonely places) and pray” in relation to His seemingly hectic schedule of public speaking and healings.
  
  As noted by some of my fellow Luke bloggers (Su, I think), it is significant that Jesus appears to acknowledge the importance and essential application of solitary prayer with God.

• In 5:20, Jesus states, “’Friend, your sins are forgiven’” in response to a paralytic man. Interestingly, after all of the many healings performed by Jesus, this appears to be the first instance of Him equating or substituting the forgiveness of sins (spiritual healing) with physical healing.
  
  This brings up an interesting point. What was more important to Jesus, the forgiveness of sins which thereby provided a path to eternal salvation from God (and by definition released one from eternal punishment), or the physical healing of people, which provided a more temporal relief?
  
  The answer to this question appears to be addressed in 5:23-24 where Jesus responds to accusations of blasphemy resulting from the comment He made in 5:20.
  
  In 5:23-24, Jesus states, “’Which is easier: to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and walk, but 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, get up, take your mat and go home.’"
  
  From this comment, I think it is reasonable to infer that Jesus performed the miraculous physical healings as a means to achieve a greater objective, which was to prove that he was able to save those who were heretofore destined for eternal damnation.

• Again, the issue of how predetermined or intentional Jesus’ selection of His Disciples was surfaces in 5:27-28, which states, “After that, He went out and noticed a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting in his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.”
  
  It appears much clearer in this instance that the selection of Levi was in fact not predetermined. I find it challenging to interpret 5:27-28 in any other manner than to think that Levi’s selection was somewhat serendipitous or opportune.
  
  Also interesting and different from the selection of Simon, James, and John, was that for some reason it was not mentioned that Jesus needed to convince Levi (Matthew) to follow Him. Levi somehow just did.

• In 5:31-32, Jesus provides one of the most direct and unambiguous explanations for His time on earth in which He responds to those questioning Him by stating, “’It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’” Hooray!

• After numerous readings, I still do not grasp the parable of the wineskin in any substantive manner.