If you would take up your Bibles, we are back in the gospel of Luke tonight. You can find Luke chapter 5 on page 860 in the Bibles located in the pew in front of you. We looked previously at the first four chapters of Luke’s gospel in which we heard the glad tidings, the good news about the arrival of Jesus and about the beginning of His ministry. And in some ways, the scene shifts over these next few chapters, that this part of Jesus’ ministry is about Him calling His disciples. He’s teaching them, He’s equipping them, and He will, in the end, send them out to carry on His ministry, to carry out His mission in the surrounding villages and countryside. And we find in these chapters really the basics of Christian discipleship.
And I wonder if you have ever noticed how much of Christianity hangs on the smallest of words – words like, “in.” We are “in Christ” by faith. We are “in Christ” a new creation. We are secure. We are safe. We are beloved. We are accepted in Christ for all of eternity. And the word, “with.” There’s so much comfort in that little word, “with.” “Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will never leave you or forsake you. Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We are never left to suffer or to struggle or to navigate the Christian life on our own because God is with us from start to finish, even throughout eternity. Then there’s a word like, “all.” Paul says in Colossians 3:11, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.” It’s such a small word but it covers a lot, doesn’t it? It’s big. It’s open. It’s welcoming. And yet, at the same time, that little word “all” is demanding. Isn’t it? And sometimes we can be unsettled by the word, “all.” I think we find that in the gospel of Luke when the angels announce the coming of Jesus’ good news. These are glad tidings for “all people.” And then when we read tonight we find that the first disciples, they left everything; they left “all” to follow Jesus.
So what we’ll see in this passage that we’ll read tonight is that Jesus is calling His disciples, He’s calling with all authority, He calls all people or all kinds of people, and He calls for all commitment, for commitment with everything. Let’s ask God to help us as we read that we would understand and apply this passage to our own lives. Let’s pray.
Father, we thank You for Your Word. We praise You for the clarity of Your Word. We praise You for the way Your Word confronts us and unsettles us and calls us out of sin and darkness and into life and light and peace and into Your presence, into a relationship with You. We give You thanks that You have called us into a relationship with Your Son Jesus Christ. And we pray now as we rely and rest upon the gift of the Holy Spirit that You would illumine these words to us, that we would understand with our minds and our hearts, that we would live out the Gospel in our lives for Your glory. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Luke chapter 5:
“On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’ And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one, but ‘go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.’ But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you.’ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, ‘Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, ‘Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the man who was paralyzed—’I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.’ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen extraordinary things today.’
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’”
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever.
Jesus Calls with All Authority
The first thing we see in this passage is that Jesus calls with all authority. And that’s been clear to us already if you have been with us in the first few chapters of the book of Luke. It’s that Jesus preached with a word that possessed authority and it was with authority and power that He commanded the unclean spirits and they came out of Him. Well He continues to demonstrate that very same authority in chapter 5 and He turns what was a long, frustrating night of fishing into a record day in the careers of Peter, James and John. If this was it for them and their fishing career, then they definitely went out on top. They had a great night of fishing and because it was at Jesus’ command that Peter let down his net and he brought in so many fish that their nets began to break.
I heard a great illustration from the writer, Michael Lewis, a few weeks ago. Lewis says that, “A good writer is like a fly fisherman, like a good fly fisherman.” Because he says that, “A good fly fisherman can see the fish under the water. He can’t really see them but he knows where the fish are. He knows that the fish are under the water and he knows exactly where to cast his line.” Lewis is saying that a writer is like that. He can see where a story is when there is no story there. And he begins to write and develop his story. He compares it to a good fly fisherman.
That’s not what we see here. This is not Jesus with a talent for fishing. He doesn’t just know where to cast the nets. It’s because Jesus has authority. It’s not His expertise or His experience as a fisherman. It’s because He has authority over the entire lake. He has authority over all the fish. He has authority over all of nature and that’s what causes Him to bring about this astonishing catch of fish. It’s because He commands it to happen. And we see the very same thing with the leper. He heals the leper because He commands it to happen. He heals him with a word. And He heals the paralytic with a word. He says to him, “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And what happens? Immediately the paralytic rises up and he takes his bed and he goes home. These are two conditions, two ailments that did not have a cure. There was nothing that anyone could do for these men, and yet Jesus is able to heal them. He has the authority to heal disease and disability.
But we see even more than that, don’t we, because we see that His authority extends even into His ability to forgive sins. That’s the big takeaway, isn’t it? The big takeaway from His healing the paralytic is not the extreme measures that his friends go to in order to get the man to Jesus, although they go to extreme measures and demonstrate great faith. And the big takeaway is not even that the man gets up and walks away. No, it is what we read in verse 24 – “That you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. I say to you, ‘Rise, pick up your bed and go home.’” You see, that was the man’s most desperate need. That’s what he needed more than anything, was the forgiveness of his sins, and Jesus is able to do just that. He has authority over the sea. He has authority over sickness. But He even has authority over sin.
But there’s one other thing that we need to see as Jesus demonstrates His all-encompassing authority in this passage, and it’s this. It’s that Jesus initiates and delivers the call to discipleship and He does so with authority. Jesus does not say, “Here are some claims about Me that I want you to consider.” He doesn’t say, “Give Me a try.” No. What does He say? He says, “From now on, you will be catching men.” Verse 27, “Follow Me.” These are commands from Jesus. These are commands to be obeyed by faith so that the faith to Jesus is obedience to His command. There’s a phrase that Paul uses in the book of Romans. He mentions it in the first chapter and also in the last chapter and the phrase is, “the obedience of faith.” “The obedience of faith.” Now that phrase, “the obedience of faith,” is one of those phrases that scholars and commentators will footnote you to death in their debate over what case, what specific case the Greek is in that instance. And they’ll say it’s two different things. The obedience of faith can be the obedience that comes from faith, or it is the obedience that is faith. In other words, faith is an act of obedience. Well both of those are true. Saving faith leads to an obedient life, but saving faith is also obedience to the call of the Gospel. And that’s what we find here in this passage. We find that Jesus has all authority and His call to follow Him is authoritative. It demands obedience.
And maybe that’s the call that you need to hear tonight. Jesus is calling you right now in the preaching of the Gospel. Don’t ignore it. Don’t delay. Don’t put it off until another time. His Word demands our attention because He demands our attention. And He demands our obedience. “Follow Me,” He says. The only appropriate response is to follow Him, to trust in Him and to come to Him in faith. That’s Jesus’ authority as He calls in this passage.
Jesus Calls All People
The second thing we see is that Jesus calls all people. He calls all kinds of people. I wonder if you notice that in this passage that this is an assorted collection of people in this chapter. It almost seems a little scattered. We go from these fishermen to a leper to a paralytic to a tax collector. These men would have had nothing in common. There was no common ground between each of these individuals here except for maybe two things. And one is that they would have been considered second class citizens. These were men of no reputation. Or maybe even worse, these were men of a poor reputation, a bad reputation. Peter, James and John were fishermen. Remember, later on in the book of Acts we read that Peter and John were preaching and they shock the crowds. Why? Because the crowds said, “They perceived that they were uneducated, common men.” Uneducated, common men. And I’m guessing that Peter, James and John were not the most polished and groomed men either. They wouldn’t have been ones that gave off the vibe of “ocean” or “beach” or “driftwood.” They were going to give off the vibe of “fish.” That’s what they would have smelled like!
One of our members sells fresh seafood here in Jackson. He was telling the story one time that he went to the grocery store after work and he could hear one aisle over some people having a conversation and they said, “Man, the seafood section of the grocery store is really fishy right now!” And he kind of looked at himself and looked at his wife and said, “That’s not the seafood section. That’s us!” They had been working with fish all day and they smelled like fish! That’s not something that’s going to attract people to them. Fishing is hard, dirty work. It’s not prestigious. It’s not impressive. And that’s who Peter, James and John are. But at least we could say it’s work. They had a steady occupation, which is more than we could say about the paralytic and the leper. Lepers were those who were cut off from society. They were dependent entirely upon the charity of others and leprosy can refer to a number of different skin conditions but what they were known as, oftentimes, were the walking dead. The walking dead. That’s what leprosy was in this day. And the paralytic was not much better. There was a stigma associated with disability. There would have been insults that were hurled at them. There would have been jokes that were made about someone who was disabled in this way. It reminds me of Derek Kidner in his commentary on the Psalms. He makes this comment that the irony of those who are most in need of our care and attention are oftentimes the ones who least attract it. And oftentimes because of their need, they repel people. That’s what we find with the leper and the paralytic.
But when it came to scorn, there really would have been few more scorned and despised than the tax collector. Why is that? The tax collectors worked for the Roman government. They were oftentimes guilty of skimming a little off the top and taking more taxes than they were allowed in order to boost their own revenues. They were considered by the people to be traitors and thieves. In fact, we don’t have to look very far to find what people thought of them, because when Jesus ate at Levi’s house, what do the Pharisees and scribes say about the people that He was eating with? He says, “You were eating with tax collectors and sinners.” Well those are basically synonyms in that day. Tax collector, you could replace tax collector with the word “sinner.”
That’s what they thought of them, which is actually the second basic link between all of the individuals in this passage. They’re sinners. Because when Peter realized what Jesus had done in bringing in this massive catch of fish, what did he say in verse 8? He says, “Depart from me for I am a sinful man.” And what do we find with the leper? The leper goes from being unclean to being clean. The paralytic, he came to Jesus for healing but when Jesus saw their faith what did He say to him? “Son, your sins are forgiven.” And then when we hear the Pharisees and the scribes grumbling at Jesus eating with the tax collector, He says, “I have not called the righteous but sinners,” verse 32. That’s the thread that is woven all throughout this whole passage. It’s what ties each of these stories together. It’s sin.
And when we say that Jesus calls all people, that means that Jesus calls not those who have it all together and who are all cleaned up. No, it’s those who are in desperate need of forgiveness, who need a Savior. It’s those who need Jesus. You see, that’s the starting point for Christian discipleship. The most basic fact of Christian discipleship is this – it is that Jesus pursues and calls sinners. And that seems almost too simplistic even to mention. It’s so basic. And yet we have to keep that in mind every step of the way as we seek to follow Christ and to live a life to honor and glorify Him because it’s all about grace. And there is nothing that we can ever do to make ourselves qualified for Jesus, and yet on the other hand, there is nothing that we could ever do to disqualify us from coming to Jesus in a relationship with Him. That’s what sets Christianity apart. That’s what sets Christianity apart from every other way of life. Everything else will say, “You’ve got to do this and live this way and be this way or be from a certain place and merit and earn it and do enough right things to find satisfaction and joy.” Not Christianity. Not Christian discipleship. It’s that we are bankrupt and we are in desperate need of salvation and forgiveness.
You see the implications of this? The implications of this basic fact of Christian discipleship that Jesus calls and pursues sinners is that sinners belong here. Sinners belong in the community of faith in Christ. It also means that sinners are here, that we are sinners. We are a collection, a community of sinners. What does that mean? It means that we are going to have to extend grace to one another and patience and kindness and forgiveness. That we will have to bear with one another. It means that we help one another along as we follow Christ, no matter where we may be in our walk and whatever level of maturity we may be, we help one another along, not condemning but giving a helping hand, showing others the way of love and forgiveness, to walk with Christ, to imitate Him, to follow Him.
I was struck on Good Friday in our service in just the little section around me, I looked around and this very point that Jesus calls all people, all kinds of people, really came home to me. I looked around in my little section on Good Friday and there were at least six or seven different nationalities, different backgrounds, people from different backgrounds sitting all around me. It was a beautiful picture of what the Gospel does. The Gospel reaches out to all types of people and brings into one people, the people of God, the Church. The Gospel does that. Only the Gospel does that.
And you know I think when we come to a passage like this we have to ask ourselves another question. “Where are the lepers and the paralytics and the tax collectors among us?” And are we pursuing those who are marginalized and downcast? Are we pursuing and extending the call of the Gospel to the broken and the addicted and the messy and the difficult? Are we calling on them, forming relationships with them and calling on them to follow Jesus? I’m convinced that that’s going to happen outside of regularly scheduled ministry events. It may happen outside of our D-groups, but this is the call of Christian discipleship. It’s that those who are outside would come in. And we oftentimes don’t do that. Why? Because it seems impossible. It is impossible. We can’t do it on our own. But remember who has all authority. Jesus has all authority and Jesus came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Who are we to put a limit or restriction on the “all” to whom Jesus came to call? I wonder.
Think about the people in your own life right now. Who are the people in your life who maybe seem too messy, too complicated to be a part of the Church, to be a part of the Christian discipleship? Who are those people? Who are the ones that God is calling you to? Bringing into your life, placing in front of you opportunities to share the love, the forgiveness, the grace, the mercy, the salvation, the acceptance of Christ Jesus. Those are the ones Jesus calls us to go to just as He came for all kinds of people.
Jesus Calls for All Commitment
Now one last aspect of following Jesus that we need to notice in this passage. And it is that Jesus calls for all commitment. We notice what Simon Peter and James and John do. Verse 11, “They left everything, they left all, and they followed Jesus.” Levi, we’re told in verse 28, he responded to Jesus’ call to follow Him and what did he do? “Leaving everything, leaving all, he rose and followed Him.” See what they are doing is they are committing to a costly, a complete, a sacrificial way of following Jesus. I wonder if that describes our discipleship – leaving all to follow Jesus.
I read an article that was written several months ago in a national magazine. It was talking about some of the troubles in the wide, evangelical Church. And the writer said he was talking to a friend of his who, they were discussing some of the issues in the evangelical Church, and he left him with a question that was haunting to him. I guess it was haunting to me because I’ve gone back to it over and over again over the last several weeks, but the question is this – “How many people look at churches in America these days and see Jesus?” Do we look like Jesus? Are we following Him? Are we imitating His ways? And the reason that question, I think, is so convicting to us, is because we have a hard time leaving everything to follow Jesus. It’s hard to leave success, to leave popularity, to leave influence or power or comfort. We oftentimes want Jesus to fit into our lifestyle instead of leaving our lifestyle to follow Jesus. And we can be guilty of trying to fit Jesus or slot Him into the open areas, open times in our calendar, in our schedules, instead of orienting our calendars and our schedule around Christ. Following Jesus demands our whole life for our whole life. It’s a lifelong commitment. It means taking up our marriages, our parenting, our career, our school work, our friendships, our social life, our relationships, and devoting them completely to the service and worship of Christ.
Where does that sort of devotion come from? Where does that sort of discipleship come from? It comes from recognizing that Jesus calls sinners. It comes from recognizing that very basic fact of Christian discipleship. Jesus calls sinners. That when we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly. That He rescued us when we did not deserve it. He loved us when we were unlovable. He went to the cross for us. He took the curse for us. He died for us, in our place, and He defeated sin and death by His resurrection for us. He’s the only one that can rescue us from our sin and our misery and from death. How could we not devote ourselves to Him with all of our lives for our whole life? And Jesus paid it all, all to Him we owe. Let’s pray.
Father, we praise You for the Gospels and for these stories, accounts of the messiness of life and of the obvious need of salvation and rescue. Would You help us to see that need in ourselves, that we would run to Christ and cling to Him, that we would leave all and follow Him. Help us to live lives of service and devotion to You. And would You help us as we commit ourselves to Christ more and more that You would also use us in making disciples and bringing others from all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of mess and dysfunction to find peace and joy in Christ. We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, amen.