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| Chapter 5 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 Now when He was through speaking, He said unto Simon, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." 5 And Simon answering said unto Him, "Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net." 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net began to break. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, who were in the other boat, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9 For he was astonished, and all those who were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, "Fear not. From henceforth thou shalt catch men." 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him. 12 ¶ And it came to pass when He was in a certain city, behold, a man full of leprosy, seeing Jesus, fell on his face and besought Him, saying, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." 13 And He put forth His hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be thou clean." And immediately the leprosy departed from him. 14 And He charged him to tell no man, but, "Go and show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing according as Moses commanded, as a testimony unto them." 15 But so much the more His fame spread abroad, and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed. 17 ¶ And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who had come from every town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18 And behold, men brought in on a bed a man who was taken with a palsy, and they sought means to bring him in and to lay him before Him. 19 And when they could not find a way to bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down on his couch through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when He saw their faith, He said unto him, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" 22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answering said unto them, "What reason ye in your hearts: 23 whether it is easier to say, ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 24 But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive sins," He said unto the one sick with the palsy, "I say unto thee, arise and take up thy couch and go into thine house." 25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today." 27 ¶ And after these things He went forth and saw a publican named Levi, sitting in the customhouse, and He said unto him, "Follow Me." 28 And he left all, rose up, and followed Him. 29 And Levi made Him a great feast in his own house, and there was a great company of publicans and of others who sat down with them. 30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against His disciples, saying, "Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?" 31 And Jesus answering said unto them, "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 33 And they said unto Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees, but thine eat and drink?" 34 And He said unto them, "Can ye make the attendants of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days." 36 And He spoke also a parable unto them: "No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; otherwise, both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. 37 And no man putteth new wine into old wineskins; else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins shall perish. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 No man also, having drunk old wine, straightway desireth new; for he saith, ‘The old is better.’ " |
How is your Faith? Peter is challenged. Thrust out a little. v1-7 The Lake of Gennesaret, also known as the Sea of Galilee or Sea of Tiberias, was the scene of the next events. For sometime now Jesus had been preaching and healing around the area, He was followed everywhere by the people wanting to hear and see this teacher. On this day the crowds were pressing close to hear and see Jesus, it made it difficult for Him to teach. Jesus needs a pulpit for the people to hear Him. Seeing some fishermen, washing their nets, by their fishing boats, He asks to sit in one and moor a few feet out away from the shore. Sound travels well over water so it was a perfect way for the people to hear the Words of God and yet prevented people getting close. What did Peter feel, he was tired, fished all night, wants to clean and repair the nets, but now is forced to listen to the words of Jesus. Launch out into the deep water. The fishing boat was owned by Simon, he and his fishermen partners, James and John, sons of Zebedee, had been out fishing all night and had caught nothing. They were very tired and depressed and probably not in the mood for the next words of Jesus. "Take the boat out into the deep water, put your nets into the water and you will catch your fish." You can imagine the thoughts of Simon, and expert fisherman, "We’ve been fishing all night, you cannot catch fish at this time of day," yet something tells him to obey these instructions, and a record catch is made. Peter obeys, God blesses. The catch was so big that the nets began to break, calling for help by the fishermen in the other boat. Even then it was such a large catch, the two boats were so full of fish, that they began to sink. v8,9 Peter, suddenly realizing that he is in the presence of a deity, falls down on his knees, Jesus was not just a teacher who could heal, He controlled the world. The big challenge - "follow me!" The previous orders were just preparation, now they had to make a decision for their future. v10,11 Now we learn of the real purpose of this event, Peter, James and John were called to join Jesus ‘to catch men for God.’ Their boats, their nets, this way of life was put aside to follow and serve Jesus. v12-26 Jesus heals a leper and paralyzed man. Leprosy, an infectious disease of the skin, nerves, muscles and bones. It is due to the infection of a germ, bacterium, and can cause severe disfigurement and disable the person. It appears to be caught by very close or direct contact with an infected person. After infection, exposure, often the effect does not appear until years later. There are two main types. The first causes a few discoloured patches on the skin, with loss of feeling in that area. The second type is far more severe, this attacks the nerves and skin, causing a loss of feeling. The muscles become paralyzed and creates deformities of body. The infection will eventually cause death of fingers, toes, ears, even the nose tissue. There is general tissue damage all over the body. Because of the effect and danger of infection, anyone with leprosy was isolated and lived outside the town. If they moved about they had to cry "Unclean!" to warn the people. See Leviticus 13:1-46 for rules on leprosy. Matt 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-44 v12-14 A man full of leprosy approaches Jesus for help, the people would have rapidly moved away as he approached Jesus. The man knew that Jesus held his future in His hands, in faith he asks "Lord, heal me. I know you can if you want to." "You can make me clean" the man is saying, but he knows it is up to Jesus. "I want to heal you. Be Healed!" said Jesus, healing was immediate and then Jesus reaches out to touch the man, possibly the first touch of love the man had felt for a long time. v14 The man must have wanted to shout with joy but Jesus tells him to stay quite and get clearance according to the law from the priest, Leviticus 13:1-46. v15 The man obviously was not silent and neither were those who saw the healing of leprosy, many people were coming to hear and see this man Jesus. v16 Jesus with draws Himself for rest and communion with His Father. Matt 9:2-8; Mark 2:1-12 v17-26 The scene now moves to a house, full of people and religious leaders from the area. v18 A paralyzed man is brought by his four friends to be healed, but there are so many people they cannot get near Jesus. The house at that time had flat roofs, so the four take the man on his bed up onto the roof, remove a part of the roof and lower the paralytic man down to Jesus. v20 Jesus knows the reason for this man’s illness, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." Illness is not always because of a sinful action, in this case Jesus knew this was the cause and removed the problem. v21-25 This statement by Jesus immediately caused a problem for the religious leaders present. "Only God can forgive sins, who is this man claiming to be God?" Jesus, knowing their thoughts, turns to them. "Why do you have these thoughts? Which is easier, tell the man your sins are forgiven," which cannot be proved. Or to prove I have power to forgive sins by showing this power with the command "Stand up and walk." Jesus now turns to the man and commands him to "Stand up and walk home," which the man does immediately. v26 "This man has power over illness and sins, who is He?" People were amazed yet full of fear. v27-39 The call of Levi. Matt 9:9; Mark 2:13,14. Tax-gatherer, was often called publican in New Testament text. The Jewish nation was under the control of Rome, the Jews therefore had to pay taxes to the Roman Empire. Often the tax collector for the area was a Jew, he was considered a traitor, betraying his own people as he collected the tax money for the Romans, often over charging, he then lived on money that he had collected from his fellow Jews after giving the Romans their part of the tax. A tax-gatherer would probably not be allowed to attend the synagogue and would only associate with Jews who were also tax-gatherers or possibly lived on the wrong side of the law. v27,28 Levi, also called Matthew, was sitting collecting the taxes when Jesus passes by. We do not know if there had been any previous contact, but it seems not, Jesus turns to Levi and called him to "Follow Me." In those few seconds Matthew decides tax-gatherer against a life with Jesus, without hesitation, Matthew turns away from his rich life as a tax man to become a disciple. v29,30 Full of gratitude Matthew produces a feast at his home, inviting Jesus and disciples and all his tax-gatherer friends. However, as usual, the event is being watched and commented upon by the religious leaders. The self-righteous Pharisees and scribes expressed concern to the disciples, that it was very bad for Jesus to mix with "publicans and sinners." v31,32 The response of Jesus included a hidden insult to the Pharisees and scribes, "I have come to help the sick only," He is saying that the Pharisees and scribes were healthy and did not need to repent. But Jesus knew their hearts, there righteousness was really self-righteousness, a thin skin of visible purity covering an evil heart and desires. Until they were prepared to admit that they needed healing Jesus could not heal them. v33-35 The Pharisees try to compare the actions of Jesus against their behaviour and that of John the Baptist. This comment introduced the act of fasting, going without food for a short period. The Pharisees etc. had a tradition that fasting showed how spiritual they were, so each Monday and Thursday they would go without food from sunrise to sunset, often making their face white so everyone could see how they were suffering. Jesus was against the hypocrisy of this tradition, not necessarily against the act of fasting, if done for the right reason. Jesus told the Pharisees and scribes that there was a time to fast and a time for joy and feasting. Jesus makes a small reference to the coming sad days of the Cross, but for now we have a time of joy. v36-39 A Parable. Wine and liquids were often stored in a bag or bottle made out of animal skin. No one will put new wine, which would be fermenting, into last years old skins because they would have become stiff, brittle and breakable due to the previous years use. The old traditions of Judaism would not adjust to the new time of grace from God, so attached were the Jews to the old wineskins of tradition that they were preferred to the new truth of salvation through the grace and death of God’s Son, which would pay the price of sin for ever. |
Easy English Translation
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