Luke 5 Commentary
The gospel isn’t one “size fits all”. Peter and team are mesmerized by a miracle. In an instant, they see the apex of their business but it immediately becomes useless in the presence of a higher calling. Matthew isn’t climbing up. He is already up there among the affluent. His calling is even more remarkable!
The Pharisees are right. Only God and God alone can forgive sin. But there is no problem here; Jesus is God. The Pharisees and the scribes don’t know that yet. Yes, it is a great teaching aid but like the miracle of fish, will it connect the seeker to his Maker? The LORD underlines the importance of forgiveness. It is more important than the physical healing.
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Verse 31. Has the LORD just declared Matthew’s team sick? Yes, like the leprous man and the paralyzed man, these men and women are sick. They need a doctor.
Now we can understand why the LORD Jesus told the paralyzed man his sins were forgiven. Sinfulness was his real and biggest sickness.
The Pharisees, again, have problems with Jesus. He eats with sinners. They are right; holiness and sinfulness never mix. In our sinfulness, we can never be near the holiness of God. The irony is that the Pharisees and the scribes weren’t clean either. Christ came to be the bridge between this permanent divide.
Peter declared himself sinful and wanted the LORD to “Go away from me, LORD, I am a sinful man”. But the LORD Jesus calls him to be a follower. Matthew isn’t any better but the LORD calls him to be a follower. The stubborn and ‘righteous’ Pharisees don’t want to taste the new wine. But the old wine is terrible. It creates a permanent divide between the Creator God and humanity – the Pharisees included.
An easy take from today’s chapter is Jesus’ response to the leprous man: “I am willing, be clean.” It simply melts the heart that the LORD can be willing to heal and change a man’s destiny forever. Simply sweet!
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