Luke 5-6: After You Hear from Jesus

We read Luke 5 and 6 and watch Jesus call unlikely people, heal with compassion, and confront religious resistance with calm authority. We also slow down to hear Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount and wrestle with Jesus’ warning that the storm-proof life is built on obedience, not just familiarity. 
• Jesus’ unhurried pace and the reminder that trusting God means we are not behind 
• The miraculous catch of fish and Peter’s response of awe and humility 
• Jesus healing a man with leprosy and the pattern of withdrawing to pray 
• Friends lowering a paralyzed man through a roof and Jesus forgiving sins 
• Pharisees reacting to Jesus’ authority and the question of what real faith looks like 
• Calling Levi the tax collector and the meaning of eating with sinners 
• New wine and new wineskins as a picture of kingdom change 
• Sabbath conflicts and Jesus healing the withered hand 
• Jesus praying all night and choosing the twelve apostles 
• Blessings and woes in Luke 6 and how they challenge comfort and status 
• Loving enemies, practicing mercy, refusing judgment, and choosing forgiveness 
• The house on rock as a call to listen and do, not just hear 

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Transcript

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Hey, this is the Out Loud Bible Podcast, and this is Mike. We're reading through the book of Luke, which I like to summarize as what Jesus felt. Luke really zooms in on the humanity

A Slower Pace With Jesus

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of Jesus. And last episode, we read Luke 3 and 4, where we saw Jesus start his ministry. He was baptized by John the Baptist, which kind of signified the beginning of his public ministry. And then, interestingly enough, he didn't go out into public. He went out into the wilderness by himself, where he fasted, he went without food for 40 days, he was tempted by Satan. And then we pick up the story today, but it's a good reminder that we don't need to go about things with the pace that we think we do. Jesus waited 30 years before he began his ministry. It wasn't until he was 30 years old that he stepped out into any sort of public appearance. And even then he didn't take what little momentum there was, maybe at that Jordan River baptism and try to go blow it up. And all right, let's do this. No, he went out into the wilderness. And I'm sure people wondered, wait, where did that guy go that John was talking about? I thought this was the Messiah. Where'd he go? Right? Jesus goes about his life with a different pace, and I think it's a good reminder for us. We who want to keep pushing toward the next thing and achieve the goals and get known by more people and make more connections, that if you go about things led by the Holy Spirit, as Jesus demonstrated perfectly, then your route is not going to look as direct or as fast as you may expect or want. If you're trusting God, if you're leaning into the Holy Spirit's direction and guidance in your life, then I tell you what, you are not behind. You're not behind schedule. You're not slow. If that's an encouragement to you, praise God. And if it doesn't hit you right now, that's okay, maybe later. But for now, let's jump right back into the book of Luke, here in Luke chapter 5, where we find Jesus calling some disciples. Now that's not unusual for rabbis at the time, like Jesus was, a

The Miraculous Catch And Calling

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teacher, to call disciples and have them follow him. That's not unusual. What was unusual for Jesus was the type of people that he called to follow him. Let's check it out here in Luke chapter 5 and 6 in the New English Translation. Now Jesus was standing by the lake of Genneseret, which, by the way, is another name for the Sea of Galilee. That's probably the more common name as we read the Bible. Other authors call it the Sea of Tiberius. It just is kind of different names for the same body of water, depending on where the author was from or what their family or region called it. That's all. So Jesus was standing by the lake of Geneseret, and a crowd was pressing around him to hear the word of God. And he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's. By the way, Simon does know who Jesus was. Simon's mother-in-law was healed by Jesus in the last episode that we read, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. And then Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Hey, put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch. Simon answered, Master, we worked hard all night and got nothing. But at your word, I'll lower the nets. When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets started to tear, so they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and they filled both boats so that they were about to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Come away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. For Peter and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's business partners. And then Jesus said to Simon, Don't be afraid, from now on you'll be catching people. So when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came to him who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground and begged him,

Healing Leprosy And Withdrawing To Pray

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Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean. So he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said, I'm willing, be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him. Then he ordered the man to tell no one, but commanded him, Go and show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering for your cleansing as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds were gathering together to hear him and to be healed of their illnesses. Yet Jesus himself frequently withdrew to the wilderness and prayed. Now on one of those days while he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem,

Roof Faith And Forgiven Sins

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and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher, and they were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus, but since they found no way to carry him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on the stretcher through the roof tiles right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, Friend, your sins are forgiven. Then the experts in the law and the Pharisees began to think to themselves, who is this man who's uttering blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? When Jesus perceived their hostile thoughts, he said to them, Why are you raising objections within yourselves? Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, stand up and walk. But so 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, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home. Immediately he stood up before them, picked up the stretcher he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all, and they glorified God. They were filled with awe, saying, We have seen incredible things today. After this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. Follow me, he said to him. And then he got up and followed him, leaving

Levi’s Table And New Wineskins

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everything behind. Then Levi gave a great banquet in his house for Jesus, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with him. But the Pharisees and their experts in the law complained to his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus answered them, Those who are well don't need a physician, but those who are sick do. I haven't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Then they said to him, Well John's disciples frequently fast and pray, so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours continue to eat and drink. So Jesus said to them, You can't make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them, at that time they will fast. He also told them a parable. No one tears a patch from a new garment and sows it on an old garment. If he does, he'll have torn the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins if he does. The new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled and the skins will be destroyed. Instead, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. No one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says the old is good enough. Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples picked some heads of wheat, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. But some of the Pharisees said, Why are you doing what's against the law

Sabbath Clashes And Choosing The Twelve

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on the Sabbath? Jesus answered them, Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? How he entered the house of God, took and ate the sacred bread which is not lawful for any to eat, but the priests alone, and gave it to his companions? Then he said to them, The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. On another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching. Now a man was there whose right hand was withered. The experts in the law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, get up and stand here. So he rose and stood there, and then Jesus said to him, I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? To save a life or to destroy it? After looking around at them all, he said to the man, Stretch out your hand. The man did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with mindless rage and began debating with one another what they would do to Jesus. Now it was during this time that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent all night in prayer to God. And when morning came he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles, Simon, who he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaus, Simon, who was called the Zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Then he came down with them and stood on a level place, and a large number of his disciples had gathered, along with a vast multitude from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon. They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who suffered from unclean spirits were cured. The whole crowd was trying to touch him because power was coming out of him and healing them all. Then he looked up at his disciples and said, Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God belongs to you. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you'll be satisfied.

Blessings Woes And Enemy Love

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Blessed are you who weep now, for you'll laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject you as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy because your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors did the same things to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you've received your comfort already. Woe to you who are well satisfied with food now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all peoples speak well of you, for their ancestors did the same things to the false prophets. But I say to you who are listening, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on the cheek offer the other as well. And from the person who takes away your coat, don't withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks you, and don't ask for your possessions back from the person who takes them away. Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to be repaid, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners so that they may be repaid in full. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting nothing back. Then your reward will be great, and you'll be sons of the Most High, because he's kind to ungrateful and evil people. Be merciful, just as your father's merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you'll be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap, for the measure you use will be the measure you receive. He also told him a parable. Someone who's blind cannot lead another who is blind, can he? Won't they both fall into a pit? A disciple is not greater than his teacher, but

Mercy Forgiveness And Self-Examination

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everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? How can you say to your brother, Oh brother, let me remove the speck from your eye while you yourself don't see the beam in your own? You hypocrite. First, remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. For no good tree bears bad fruit. Nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs aren't gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from brambles. The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good. And the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart. Why do you call me Lord, Lord and don't do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them into practice.

Build On Rock By Doing

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I'll show you what he's like. He's like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. But the person who hears and does not put my words into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against that house, it collapsed immediately, and was utterly destroyed. Well, that section of Jesus' teaching is often called the Sermon on the Mount, and it's most famously in Matthew five through seven, but here we do see another retelling of it, a shorter retelling of it here in Luke 6 we don't hear all that often because Matthew five through seven gets most of the press. But was there something in Luke's telling of the Sermon on the Mount that hit you a little bit different? Something that makes you go, hmm, that's good, that's something to lean into, and not just lean into, not just listen to, but actually do, as he says. You know, the man who built his house on a solid rock wasn't just the man who built his life on Jesus, like, you know, oh, I'm a Christian, therefore I'm safe when the storm hits. I think we tend to oversimplify that parable. Did you catch it? The man who built his house on solid rock is what Jesus compares a person who listens to Jesus' instructions and does what he says. It's the obedience part that keeps us safe in the storm. Not just calling Jesus Lord. And in this section that we read today, we saw different groups of people. Some who built their house on solid rock, who do what Jesus says and take action based on what Jesus says and who he says he is. Like the friends, what hey, you need you need friends like the kinds of friends who are gonna rip open a roof to get you to Jesus when you're unable to, when you feel like you're weak, when you feel like you don't have any other options, you need some friends who are like, hey, we're taking you to Jesus, we're gonna rip the roof down if we need to. Get you some friends like that. That is faith in action. Get some friends like Peter and James and John were, who were like, oh, you know what? If he says, well, that's what we should do, I I sounds crazy to me, but you know what? Let's just do it. And then reaping the benefits of obedience to Jesus and coming together and working together and strengthening each other. And then when it comes time to follow Jesus, you know what? Hey, we're already in it. We're following Jesus together. Get yourself some friends like that who are building on the bedrock of doing what Jesus says and following Jesus together. The alternative is those Pharisees who know a whole lot and were always there, seemingly listening to everything Jesus was saying, but never doing what he said. It's not enough to be around Jesus, it's not enough to just listen to Jesus, it's not enough to study everything that he says. Hear it out loud Bible. I hope that it's not just listening to the word of God. Oh, that sounded nice. Oh, I I understand it. That's great. I I'm I'm glad you can understand it. I hope you catch some things that maybe you hadn't caught before, but it can't stop there. We've got to do something about it. If you don't have something in mind right now of like, ooh, that's what I got to change or that's what I got to pray for right now, based on our reading today, go back and read Luke chapter 6, starting in verse 20 is that section of Jesus' teachings. Go ahead and read that and see if there's anything in there that is like, you know what, that is an area that I don't completely line up with. And just start with a prayer. God, can you help me to be obedient in this way? Can you help me to do what you say in this way? I don't know where to start, but can you help me? That's a great step. That's a great step of action and a great step of faith. Don't just be listeners, be doers of what Jesus says, and that provides the foundation that you need in every storm. That's the Thinking Out Loud thought for the day. We'll see you next time on Out Loud Bible Podcast.