Nevertheless at Thy Word: The Miraculous Catch, the Healed Leper, and the New Wine of Luke 5

A few years ago I was building a dining table from black walnut. I had the boards laid out on sawhorses in the garage, and I had spent the better part of a weekend jointing and planing them flat. The grain was running the right way, the color was good, and I had a clear picture in my head of what the finished table would look like. I clamped the first glue-up and stepped back. Then I noticed the problem. The joints were tight on the top face but open underneath by about a sixteenth of an inch. I had clamped in the wrong order. The glue had already started to set. I had to take the whole thing apart, scrape the partially cured glue off, and start over. It took twice as long the second time.

The difference between a project that works and a project that does not is not always about skill. Sometimes it is about whether you are willing to set aside what you think you know and try something different. That is the thread that runs through Luke 5.

Meaning of Catch Men in Luke 5

Jesus is standing by the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd is pressing in on Him. He sees two empty boats on the shore. The fishermen are washing their nets, which means they are done for the day and probably frustrated because the night shift produced nothing. Jesus gets into Simon's boat and asks him to push out a little way from the land. He sits down and teaches the people from the boat.

Then He turns to Simon and tells him to go out into the deep and let down the nets for a catch.

Simon Peter is a professional fisherman. He has been doing this his whole life. He knows that you fish at night in the shallows, not during the day in the deep water. What Jesus is asking makes no sense from a fishing perspective. But Simon says something that has stuck with me for years.

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.

Luke 5:5

"Nevertheless at thy word." That is the hinge of the whole chapter. Simon is saying I know my trade and I know this will not work, but I trust you more than I trust my experience. He lets down the net and the catch is so large the net starts to break. He signals to James and John in the other ship to come help and they fill both boats until they start to sink.

Simon's reaction is not celebration. He falls at Jesus's knees and says depart from me for I am a sinful man. The miracle did not make him feel worthy. It made him feel exposed. And Jesus responds with the line that changes everything: "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men."

That is the call. Not an invitation to do better at fishing. A complete redirection of what the skill is for. The nets are going to be filled with people now.

Why Did Jesus Heal the Leper by Touching Him

A man covered with leprosy comes to Jesus and says if you are willing you can make me clean. Jesus does something remarkable. He reaches out and touches him. In Jewish law touching a leper made you ceremonially unclean. That was the rule. But Jesus touches him anyway and the leprosy leaves.

He touched the man before He healed him. That is what stands out to me. There was no need for physical contact. Jesus could have spoken the word from ten feet away and the man would have been clean. But He touched him anyway. The touch was the part the man needed. He had probably not been touched by another person in years.

Jesus tells him to go show himself to the priest and make the offering that Moses commanded. This was not a suggestion. It was how the law worked. The priest had to certify the healing for the man to be readmitted to the community. Jesus followed the procedure so the man could go back to his life.

How Did the Paralytic Get to Jesus in Luke 5

This is one of my favorite stories in the Gospels because of the friends. A man who cannot walk needs to get to Jesus and the house is packed. There is no way through the door. So his friends carry him up to the roof, remove the tiles, and lower him down on his bed into the middle of the room right in front of Jesus.

I have pulled enough roofing nails to know how hard it is to get through a roof. Those tiles were not coming off quietly. There was debris falling on people inside. The friends were making a mess and they did not care.

When Jesus sees their faith, He says to the paralytic, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee."

The scribes and Pharisees start questioning this immediately. Who can forgive sins but God alone? It is the right theological question. Jesus knows what they are thinking and He answers it by healing the man. Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven or rise up and walk? The answer is neither if you do not have the authority. Jesus heals the man to prove that He has the authority to do both.

The paralytic picks up his bed and walks home. The friends carried him in and he walked out.

After this, Jesus goes out and sees a tax collector named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom. He says two words: "Follow me." And Levi leaves everything and follows Him. Then Levi throws a great feast at his house with a large company of publicans and sinners. The Pharisees complain about who Jesus is eating with. And Jesus gives them the line that summarizes His whole ministry: "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick."

Difference Between New Wine and Old Bottles Parable

The Pharisees also want to know why Jesus's disciples do not fast like John's disciples do. Jesus answers with three short parables about cloth and wine and containers. You do not put a piece of new cloth into an old garment. You do not put new wine into old bottles. The new wine will burst the old skins and both are lost.

I think about this when I am working with wood. You cannot force green wood into a rigid frame that is built for seasoned lumber. The wood will move and the frame will crack. The gospel requires a container that can flex. The old legalistic structures could not hold what Jesus was bringing. The new wine needed new skins.

That is what the call of Levi and the healing of the paralytic and the miraculous catch are all pointing toward. Jesus is doing something that does not fit inside the old expectations. You cannot pour it into the same vessels. The vessel itself has to change.

This chapter connects directly to the nature of the call to discipleship that Jesus extends, and the cost of following Him once you say "nevertheless at thy word."

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Simon Peter feel he was too sinful for Jesus to be in his boat?

Simon was a fisherman who knew the Sea of Galilee and knew the odds of a daytime catch were zero. When the nets filled anyway, he realized he was standing in the presence of someone with power that did not come from this world. It made his own failures feel enormous in comparison. That is humility, not self-hatred.

What does it mean to catch men?

It means the skill set that Simon developed as a fisherman was about to be redirected. Instead of pulling fish out of the water, he would be gathering people into the kingdom. The trade is the same. The target changes.

Why did Jesus forgive the paralytic's sins before healing his body?

He was making a point about what the deeper problem actually is. Physical paralysis is real and visible. But sin is the thing that separates us from God in a way that no amount of physical healing can fix. By healing the body He proved He had the authority to deal with the soul.

What is the significance of the new wine and old bottles metaphor?

New wine expands as it ferments. Old skins are brittle and have already been stretched. If you put new wine into old skins the containers burst. Jesus was saying the gospel of grace cannot be forced into the rigid legal structures of the old covenant. The container has to be flexible. The heart has to be willing to be reshaped.

Why did Jesus eat with publicans and sinners?

Because that is where the sick people were. The whole point of the physician metaphor is that you do not go to a doctor if you are healthy. Jesus was not avoiding the people who needed Him most. He was going directly to them.

Closing

I scraped that glue off the walnut boards and reclamped them in the right order. The table came out fine. You would never know it had gone wrong unless I told you. But I remember the feeling of having to admit that my first approach was not working and that I needed to do it differently.

That is what happens all through Luke 5. Simon has to admit his fishing strategy failed. The paralytic has to let his friends tear a hole in a stranger's roof. Levi has to walk away from his tax table. Every one of them had to let go of something before they could receive what Jesus was offering. The new wine does not go into old bottles. The bottles have to be new.

— D.