Have you ever been asked to drop everything you are doing to go on an adventure? Maybe you had plans to watch a football game and then your grandma called and said she was stranded at the airport and needed a ride. Being the caring grandchild you are, I’m sure you swiftfully turned off the television set and came to her rescue. What if somebody asked you to drop everything and devote the rest of your life to a mission to save the world, likely costing you your very life in the process. Would you do it? In the first section of Luke chapter 5, Jesus calls His disciples to do precisely that.

Verses 1-11.

Jesus was God in human form and the multitudes pressed about Him to hear the word of God. When you look at a map of Israel during the time of Jesus, you see that He didn’t travel more than about 100 miles from where He was born and the scope of His ministry was minute compared to the amount of people living in the world at the time. Yet His teaching and healing ministry was so effective that He had to get into a fishing boat just to have separation from the multitude that was pressing in on Him.

Although Jesus was God in human flesh He didn’t begin His ministry with a global launch. He began in His own backyard and became successful quickly being “One who taught with authority and not as the teachers of the law,” according to Mark 1:22. For those who wish to follow in their Master’s footsteps, the best place to begin is at home as Jesus did. The gospel doesn’t require clever marketing and a massive launch. It requires teaching as “One who has authority.” If Christ is in you and you are called then you also have authority. So go.

Four fishermen were the first to be called. It wasn’t a coincidence that Jesus happened upon the Lake of Gennesaret and found some fishermen with boats. As Jesus walked in His ministry calling we can be sure God led Him right to these four young men, and in particular right into Simon’s boat. When He finished speaking He turned to Simon and called him to the deep end saying, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (4).

Being the leader of the christian movement, one would expect Simon to be eager to do some deepsea fishing and prove his worth immediately. But instead he kicked off his discipleship training with doubt and discouragement, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net” (5).

God didn’t allow these four fishermen to catch anything all night long. He needed to put their fishing business out of business in order to show them how to be about the Father’s business. A reluctant Simon Peter obeyed His new boss and caught so much fish that he had to call his friends over to come help with the catch that began sinking both their boats.

Jesus’ plan was to reach Jerusalem, Judea, and the ends of the earth but He wasn’t going to do it alone. He didn’t just want fish from the Sea of Galilee, but from every lake, river, sea, and ocean on the earth. There were so many fish ready to be caught and so many boats ready to be sunk, and He is calling believers from every occupation and corner of the earth to answer the call. He’s calling you.

When we decide to answer the call, then God takes over. We may answer reluctantly and be like Peter who cried, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (8). But it is not about our strength and abilities but God’s alone. The word to every believer remains, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men” (10).

In those days, disciples followed their teaching rabbi around. The term “follow” is a technical term in Luke and Acts signifying discipleship. Almost every one of Jesus’s disciples who forsook all and followed Him paid for it with their very lives. Do we have the courage to follow Jesus as they did?

Verses 12-16.

Out of all the infirmities mentioned in the Bible – blindness, paralysis, deafness, muteness, among others – none received as much attention as leprosy. We often think of leprosy as a contagious skin disease that starts as a small spot and ends up eating away limbs until they are no more, and certainly this is true. Yet in the ancient world, leprosy was used broadly to include other diseases such as psoriasis, lupus, and ringworm.

Not only was leprosy terrible physically, it was isolating socially. According to Jewish laws and customs people had to remain six feet away from a leper, and if the wind was blowing from a leper’s direction towards somebody they had to keep 150 feet away. Lepers were scorned both by the common people and especially by rabbis who considered them to be under special judgment by God.

Enter a man full of leprosy who comes up to Jesus while He is in a certain city, who falls flat on his face and implores Him, saying: “Lord if you are willing, You can make me clean” (12). Jesus knew that this man was untouchable and considered under special divine judgment. He knew that the only thing more defiling than touching a leper was touching a dead body. He knew that leprosy was a picture of sin and its rotting effects on the bodies and souls of mankind, and what does He do?

He reaches out His hand and touches him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed” (13). Immediately the leprosy left him. It doesn’t matter how terrible the disease or how much of a taboo touching him was, Jesus reached out and touched him, healing him instantly. This is the power of God.

He gives two instructions after this, first to tell no one and second to follow the law of Moses by making a cleansing offering. It is not certain why Jesus commanded those who were healed to not talk about it. Perhaps it was to test their obedience or He was trying to lessen the amount of people trying to get to Him, but the word got out anyway and more people came to hear Him and be healed.

The second instruction was to make an offering to the priest. According to Leviticus 14, those who were cleansed from leprosy had to go before a priest and make an offering in order to be restored to the community. Jesus first breaks Jewish norms and laws by touching this man, then He instructs him to follow Mosaic law by making an offering.

Verse sixteen says that He often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. Jesus experienced the stress and business of life as we do and needed to get away. Sound familiar? Some withdraw into anxious thoughts, others withdraw to their local tavern, and still others withdraw into media oblivion. Jesus withdrew to pray. Be sure of this, wherever you go first when life becomes overwhelming is your primary source of strength. Is it the bottle or is it prayer? If our Lord Jesus chose prayer and He was perfect, then how much more should we as sinners be desperate for God’s strength?

Questions:

1. Jesus calls his first disciples in verses 1-11. How can your discipleship story be reflected in this story of forsaking all to follow Jesus?
2. Why do you think Jesus commanded the healed leper to show himself to the priest if Jesus himself fulfilled the law (12-16)?
3. Jesus often withdrew into lonely places to pray (16). Where do you withdraw when life gets stressful?