Luke Chapter 5
Overview:
The first Talmidim are
chosen
Healing of the Leper
Yeshua Healed ALL who were
sick
The Healing of the Paralyzed
Man
Levi called to be His Talmidim
Parable of the Wineskins
Luk 5:1 Now it happened, while the multitude pressed
on him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Ginosar.
Lake Kinneret. The Sea of Galilee (see Mt 4:18N). [1]
Luk 5:2 He saw two boats
standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing
their nets.
Luk 5:3 He entered into
one of the boats, which was Shim`on's, and asked him to put out a little from
the land. He sat down
and taught the multitudes from the boat.
By doing this Yeshua’s voice carried over the water and people and all would be able to hear him speak and see Him with out any obstructions.
Luk 5:4 When he had
finished speaking, he said to Shim`on, "Put out into the deep, and let
down your nets for a catch."
Luk 5:5 Shim`on answered
him, "Master,
we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the
net."
Jewish New Testament Commentary:
Rabbi, Greek epistateÆs, “overseer, superintendent, taskmaster, inspector, leader,
chief”; by etymology it means “one who stands over”; most English versions
render it “master.” According to Oepke in Kittel, ed., Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament (Volume 2, pp. 622–623), the word, used in
the New Testament only by Luke (here, 8:24, 45; 9:33, 49, 17:13) translates
Hebrew “rabbi,” which the other synoptic writers transliterate. [2]
Luk 5:6 When they had
done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking.
Luk 5:7 They beckoned to
their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They
came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
Luk 5:8 But Shim`on Kefa,
when he saw it, fell down at Yeshua's knees, saying, "Depart from me, for
I am a sinful man, Lord."
Luk 5:9 For he was
amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught;
Luk 5:10 and so also were
Ya`akov and Yochanan, sons of Zavdai, who were partners with Shim`on. Yeshua
said to Shim`on, "Don't
be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive."
Luk 5:11 When they had
brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.
Yeshua begins to call His Talmidim. Yeshua blessed the obedience of Kefa by allowing Him to use his boat, in return He blessed their business by providing them with an abundance of fish that they previously could not catch. Yeshua demonstrates that He is well able to provide for those whom He has called to follow Him. He also tells them that now they will be used to fish for people to bring the news of Salvation/Yeshua.
We can not out give YHWH, when we allow our resources, our gifts and talents no matter how insignificant they may seem, to be used by Him, He in turn blesses what we have given him and multiplies it back to us in abundance.
Luk 5:12 It happened,
while he was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man full of leprosy. When
he saw Yeshua, he fell on his face, and begged him, saying, "Lord, if you want to, you
can make me clean."
Luk 5:13 He stretched out
his hand, and touched him, saying, "I want to. Be made clean."
Immediately the leprosy left him.
Luk 5:14 He charged him to
tell no one, "But go your way, and show yourself to the Kohen, and offer
for your cleansing according to what Moshe commanded, for a testimony to
them."
It is YHWH’S will for men to be healed. Yeshua did not hesitate for one second to heal this tormented man. He also instructed him to go to the temple as was the Jewish custom ….
Rabbie Jack (Ya’akov) Farber of Congregation Melech Yisrael Toronto
Canada
Matthew 8:3-4 And Yeshua put forth
his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his
leprosy was cleansed. And Yeshua saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go
thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded,
for a testimony unto them.
Now
remembering that this event took place at the beginning of Yeshua's public
ministry, and that no where in the Tanach was there ever recorded that a Jewish
person was healed of a Tzara'at, this healing must have had quite an impact on
the Jewish community.
Often
when Yeshua performed a miracle, Yeshua instructed the recipient of that
miracle not to tell anyone. However this being the case here, Yeshua did
instruct this man to go directly to the Priest and offer the sacrifice
prescribed in Torah. What an impact this man must have had on the Temple higher
achy when he arrived claiming healing of a Tzara'at. Immediately the Priest
would have to perform an extensive investigation into the man's history and the
circumstances of his healing. Through that investigation the Priest would have
traced the miracle back to Yeshua. Therefore in performing this miracle Yeshua
was sending sort-of-speak a telegram (for lack of a better expression), to the Jewish
leadership that the Mashiach had arrived.
Evidence
of Torah observance in the Brit Chadasha is overwhelming and very significant
in our understanding of Yeshua as a Torah observant Jew who did not do away
with the Torah (law), as some insist on teaching.
Luk 5:15 But the report
concerning him spread much more, and great multitudes came together to hear,
and to be healed by him
of their infirmities.
Luk 5:16 But he withdrew himself into the desert, and prayed.
Yeshua was a man of prayer. He knew the importance of spending time alone with His Father. If Yeshua needed to spend time alone in prayer, we need to follow His example as well.
Luk 5:17 It happened on
one of those days, that he was teaching; and there were Perushim and teachers
of the Torah sitting by, who had come out of every village of the Galil,
Yehudah, and Yerushalayim. The power of the Lord was with him to heal them.
Luk 5:18 Behold, men brought a paralyzed
man on a cot, and they sought to bring him in to lay before Yeshua.
Luk 5:19 Not finding a
way to bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and
let him down through the tiles with his cot into the midst before Yeshua.
Luk 5:20 Seeing their faith, he said to
him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."
How did Yeshua see there faith? By their actions!
Luk 5:21 The scribes and
the Perushim began to reason, saying, "Who is this that speaks
blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"
Luk 5:22 But Yeshua,
perceiving their thoughts, answered them, "Why are you reasoning so in
your hearts?
Luk 5:23 Which is easier to say, 'Your
sins are forgiven you;' or to say, 'Arise and walk?'
Luk 5:24 But 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, arise, and take up your cot, and go to your house."
Luk 5:25 Immediately he
rose up before them, and took up that which he was laying on, and departed to
his house, glorifying God.
Luk 5:26 Amazement took
hold on all, and they glorified God. They were filled with fear, saying,
"We have seen strange things today."
Yeshua points out when He
said; Which is
easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you;' or to say, 'Arise and walk?'
that disease is a result of sin, and that forgiveness of sin
brings healing. He also demonstrated to
them that He the Messiah had authority over sin, sickness and death and the
result was YHWH was glorified and people were in AWE of what they had witnessed.
Luk 5:27 After these
things he went out, and saw a tax collector named Levi[3]
sitting at the tax office, and said to him, "Follow me!"
Luk 5:28 He left
everything, and rose up and followed him.
Luk 5:29 Levi made a great
feast for him in his house. There was a great crowd of tax collectors and
others who were reclining with them.
Luk 5:30 Their scribes and
the Perushim murmured against his talmidim, saying, "Why do you eat and
drink with the tax collectors and sinners?"
Luk 5:31 Yeshua answered
them, "Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who
are sick do.
Luk 5:32 I have not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Repentence – Hebrew - Teshuvah-
Sinners. This term came
to be used by the P<rushim to refer to
prostitutes, thieves and others of low reputation whose sins were blatant and
obvious, not the kind the establishment winked at. Yeshua taught that those who
considered themselves not sinners but “righteous” (v. 13) were in fact worse,
because they made themselves unteachable (see also Yn 9:38–41). [4]
Luk 5:33 They said to him,
"Why do Yochanan's talmidim often fast and pray, likewise also the talmidim
of the Perushim, but yours eat and drink?"
Luk 5:34 He said to them,
"Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast, while the bridegroom is
with them?
Luk 5:35 But the days will
come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those
days."
Ref: Mattiyahu 9:14-
I fast twice a week.
There is no evidence that the Pharisees as a group fasted twice a week,
although they did fast “frequently” (Mt 9:14). The Talmud speaks of one who
“undertakes to fast every Monday and Thursday throughout the year” as not
unusual but nevertheless not the norm (Ta‘anit 12a). Within the framework of
trusting God, fasting was and is a normal part of a believer’s life (Isaiah
58:1–12, Mt 6:16–18, 9:14–17). [5]
Luk 5:36 He also told a parable to them. "No one puts a
piece from a new garment on an old garment, or else he will tear the new, and
also the piece from the new will not match the old.
Luk 5:37 No one puts new
wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will
be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
Luk 5:38 But new wine must
be put into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.
Luk 5:39 No man having
drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, 'The old is better.'"
Resource Link: Rabbinic Parables
–David Biven
Vs 16-This verse and the next speak to the
issue of whether faith in Yeshua the Messiah can be combined with Judaism. Here
the old coat is Judaism. The unshrunk cloth is Messianic faith which has not
been adapted (“shrunk”) to the framework of Judaism as currently practiced.
(“Shrinking” here is simply an aspect of Yeshua’s “patch” metaphor. It does not
imply that Messianic faith must be diminished in order to fit into Judaism.)
Combining unadapted Messianic faith with traditional Judaism doesn’t work—the
patch tears away from the coat; that is, faith in Yeshua apart from
Judaism—and, later on in the case of Gentiles, faith in Yeshua apart from the
foundational truths about God taught in the Tanakh—is useless and worthless. Not only that, but it leaves a
worse hole—attempting to combine unadapted Messianic faith with traditional
Judaism leaves Judaism worse off than before. The implication is that one must
shrink the new cloth—adapt Messianic faith to Judaism—for Yeshua does not imply
that there is anything wrong with patching an old coat! The early Messianic
Jews did adapt Messianic faith to Judaism, but the later Gentile Church did
not. Instead, some forms of Gentile Christianity became paganized precisely
because the Tanakh was forgotten or underemphasized. Messianic Jews today are
once again trying to bring New Testament faith back to its Jewish roots.
Vs
17- Whereas in v. 16 Messianic faith has to be adapted to Judaism, here it is
Judaism which must be adjusted to Messianic faith. If one tries to put new wine,
Messianic faith, into old wineskins, traditional Judaism, the faith is lost and
Judaism ruined. But if Judaism is freshly prepared, reconditioned so that it
can accommodate trust in Yeshua the Messiah, both the faith and the renewed
Judaism, Messianic Judaism, are preserved.
This understanding is
undergirded by the writer’s careful choice of words: “new” (Greek neos) wine, “fresh” (kainos) wineskins.
“Neos” means “new” in respect to time, implying immaturity or
lack of development. “Kainos” means “new” or
“renewed” in respect to quality, contrasting with “old” or “not renewed” and
implying superiority. Old wineskins have lost their strength and elasticity, so
that they cannot withstand the pressure of new wine still fermenting, although
an old wineskin can be restored to service if its useful qualities are renewed.
The meaning of the figure
is that the new wine of Messianic living cannot be poured into old religious
forms if they remain rigid. But if the old religious forms become “fresh,” they
can accommodate Yeshua. When “kainos” is rendered “new,” as
in many translations, the implication seems to be that Judaism cannot possibly
be a suitable framework for honoring Yeshua the Jewish Messiah—only the “new
wineskin” of Gentilized Christianity will work. This is a peculiar conclusion,
especially if it is recalled that Yeshua was speaking with his fellow Jews. As
rendered here the point is that the only vessel which can hold the new wine of
Messianic life in a Jewish setting is a properly renewed, restored,
reconditioned and refreshed Judaism, such as Messianic Judaism was in the first
century and aims to be now.
Taken
together, verses 16 and 17 imply that both Messianic faith and Judaism should
adjust to each other. However, the accommodating must be true to God’s Word; on
that there is no room for compromise. See 13:52&N. [6]
For Further Study:
Do some research on Leprosy to get a better understanding of
this disease according to the Torah
Reference: The Miracles of Yeshua
-
[1]The Jewish New Testament
Commentary,
(Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications) 1996.
[2]The Jewish New Testament Commentary, (Clarksville, MD: Jewish
New Testament Publications) 1996.
[3] A tax-collector named L’vi seems to be the same as
Mattityahu (Mt 9:9). At Mk 2:14 he is called L’vi Ben-Chalfai (Levi, son of
Alpheus); but this Chalfai is apparently different from the Chalfai who was
father of Ya‘akov (Mt 10:3, Mk 3:18, Lk 6:15, Ac 1:13). Since people then as
well as now often had more than one name, it is not surprising to find
differences between the several lists of the Emissaries (Mt 10:2–4, Mk 3:16–19,
Lk 6:14–16, Ac 1:13).
Being named L’vi, he was almost certainly a descendant of Ya‘akov’s son L’vi and therefore a member of the tribe set aside to do the work connected with the Temple. Another member of this tribe who came to trust in Yeshua was Bar-Nabba (Ac 4:36). Acts 6:7 informs us that “a large crowd of cohanim were becoming obedient to the faith” (the cohanim or priests are a clan within the tribe of L’vi). In today’s non-Messianic Judaism cohanim and Levites still retain certain rights and responsibilities distinct from those of other Jews. For example, in the public reading of the Torah in an Orthodox synagogue a cohen reads first and a Levite reads second; the third to seventh readings may be done by any Jewish man. [3]
[4]The Jewish New Testament
Commentary,
(Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications) 1996.
[5]The Jewish New Testament
Commentary,
(Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications) 1996.
[6]The Jewish New Testament
Commentary,
(Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications) 1996.