The Savior for All: He Calls Sinners
Luke 5 shows the Savior reaching for the people no one else would touch.
A fisherman who feels too sinful to be near Him. A leper whom no one could embrace. A paralyzed man whose friends had to dig through a roof. A tax collector who was a national traitor.
In every case, the Savior for All does not wait for these people to climb up to Him. He goes down to them. He calls them by name. He sits at their table.
This chapter shows the gospel pattern: the Savior comes not for the righteous but for sinners.
A miraculous catch
Jesus is standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. The crowd is pressing in to hear the word of God. He sees two boats. He gets into one — Simon's — and asks him to put out a little from the land. He sits down and teaches the people from the boat.
When He finishes, He says to Simon:
"Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."
Simon answers: "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."
They enclose a great number of fish — so many that the nets are breaking. They signal to their partners in the other boat. Both boats fill so full they begin to sink.
"Depart from me"
When Simon Peter sees it, he falls down at Jesus' knees:
"Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
For he and all who are with him are astonished at the catch they have taken — James and John, the sons of Zebedee, the partners of Simon.
This is the right response to the holy. When you really see who Jesus is, you really see who you are. Peter does not say teach me more. He says depart.
Jesus answers him:
"Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
The Savior does not depart from the sinner who knows he is a sinner. He calls him to follow.
The Savior for All begins by calling a man who confessed himself too sinful to be near Him. This is the gospel before it is preached.
They bring their boats to land. They leave everything and follow Him.
A leper made clean
In one of the cities, a man is full of leprosy. When he sees Jesus, he falls on his face and begs Him:
"Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."
A leper was excluded from the community. Untouchable. Cursed.
Jesus stretches out His hand and touches him:
"I will; be clean."
Immediately the leprosy leaves him.
The Savior for All does not keep His distance from the untouchable. He touches first. And in touching, He cleanses — instead of becoming defiled. This is the gospel in a gesture.
He charges him to tell no one but to go and show himself to the priest and make the offering Moses commanded. But the report about Him spreads abroad even more. Great crowds gather to hear and to be healed.
Jesus would withdraw to desolate places to pray.
Through the roof
On one of those days, He is teaching. Pharisees and teachers of the law are sitting there, who have come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord is with Him to heal.
Some men are carrying on a bed a man who is paralyzed. They seek to bring him in and lay him before Jesus. Finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they go up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles, right in the middle, in front of Jesus.
Jesus sees their faith and says:
"Man, your sins are forgiven you."
The scribes and Pharisees begin to question: "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Jesus perceives their thoughts:
"Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…"
He says to the man:
"I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home."
Immediately the man rises before them, picks up what he had been lying on, and goes home, glorifying God.
Amazement seizes them all. They glorify God and are filled with awe:
"We have seen extraordinary things today."
The Savior for All addresses the deeper need first. The body matters — but the soul matters more. And He has authority over both.
Levi the tax collector
After this He goes out and sees a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth:
"Follow me."
Tax collectors were not just hated for taking money. They were collaborators with Rome — Jews who profited from the oppression of their own people. They were considered traitors.
Levi rises and leaves everything and follows Him.
Levi throws a great feast for Him in his house. A large company of tax collectors and others are reclining with them at table.
The Pharisees and their scribes grumble at His disciples:
"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
Jesus answers:
"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
This is the Savior's mission stated plainly. He came for the people who knew they needed Him. Not for those who thought they did not.
A question about fasting
They say to Him: "The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink."
Jesus answers:
"Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days."
He calls Himself the Bridegroom. His disciples are wedding guests. There is a time to fast — but not while the Bridegroom is here.
New wine
He tells them a parable. No one tears a piece from a new garment to patch an old one. No one puts new wine into old wineskins.
"New wine must be put into fresh wineskins."
The Savior for All did not come to patch up the old religious system. He has come to inaugurate something new — a new covenant in His blood.
And the chapter ends with a soft warning:
"No one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'"
The greatest barrier to receiving Christ is preferring the religion we already had. The Savior for All cannot be poured into the wineskin of self-righteousness. He requires a new heart, a new wineskin, a new way.
Closing prayer
Father, thank You that the Savior came not for the righteous but for sinners — for the Peters who feel unworthy, the lepers who feel untouchable, the paralyzed who cannot help themselves, and the Levis who have done deep harm. We come knowing we are sick. Receive us, forgive us, heal us, and pour Your new wine into our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.
