Chapter 5:12-26 The Leper and the Paralytic

5:12 And it came to pass, when He was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.

This man is said to be full of leprosy; he had that distemper in a high degree, which the more fitly represents our natural pollution by sin; we are full of that leprosy, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot there is no soundness in us.

5:13 And He put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.

Ask him to touch thee also, poor leprous soul; thou who art full of sin, thou who art deeply conscious that the deadly disease of sin is upon thee incurably.

5:14 And He charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

He charged him to tell no man - Those whom Christ hath healed and cleansed must know that He hath done it in such a way as for ever excludes boasting.

5:15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of Him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.

[1.] By His preaching. They came together to hear Him, and to receive instruction from Him concerning the kingdom of God. 

[2.] By His miracles. They came to be healed by Him of their infirmities; that invited them to come to hear Him, confirmed His doctrine, and recommended it.

5:16 And He withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
The tense of the verb implies that He often did this; it was His habit to withdraw Himself for private prayer even in his busiest times, and when He could occupy every minute with great advantage to the people. 

Thus He gathered new strength from above for each day’s work; and when there was most to be done, then He took most time to pray. 

It is an evil economy that tries to take time for other things that should be spent in prayer, for the shortening of prayer will be the weakening of our power.

5:17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

There were Pharisees, and doctors of the law, sitting by; not sitting at his feet, to learn of Him; They sat by as spectators, censors, and spies, to pick up something on which to ground a reproach or accusation.

5:18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring Him in, and to lay him before Him.

And behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy - Four men brought him, as Mark says.

5:19 And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

And when they could not find by what way - As by the door, or in at a window of the house: they might bring him in; to Jesus, in the house: because of the multitude; which was about the door, and all the fore part of the house: they went upon the housetop; by a ladder, or pair of stairs, which usually were on the outside of houses; the houses of the Jews being flat roofed: and let him down through the tiling with his couch, into the midst before Jesus; that is, they untiled the roof, or took away the tiles which were about the trap door, or passage, into the inside of the house; and so making it wider, let down the man upon his couch, or bed, into the middle of the room and of the people, just before Jesus, where He was sitting;

5:20 And when He saw their faith, He said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

Christ, in what he said to this man, taught us, when we seek to God for health, to begin with seeking to him for pardon.

5:21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

And the Scribes and the Pharisees began to reason - To think and say within themselves, and it may be to one another, in a private manner: Who can forgive sins but God alone? and if Christ had been a mere man, though ever so good a man, even a sinless one, or ever so great a prophet, He could not have forgiven sin; but He is truly and properly God, as His being a discerner of the thoughts of these men, and His healing the paralytic man in the manner He did, are sufficient proofs.

5:22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?

But when Jesus perceived their thoughts - Being God omniscient;
He answering said unto them, what reason ye in your hearts? This He said, not as being ignorant what their reasonings were, for it is before said He perceived their thoughts, but to expose the wickedness of them.

5:23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?

Whether is it easier to say - thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, rise up and walk? Neither of them could be said by a mere man.

5:24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (He said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
But that ye may know, that the son of man - Whom the Scribes and Pharisees took for a mere man, in which they were mistaken;

5:25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

And immediately he rose up before them - As soon as ever these words were spoken by Christ, the man, before sick of the palsy, finding himself perfectly well, got off of his couch, and stood up on his feet before the Scribes and Pharisees, and all the people: glorifying God; both for the healing of his body, and for the pardon of his sins; each of which he knew none but God could do.

5:26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

Strange things - Παραδοξα, paradoxes. A paradox is something that appears false and absurd, but is not really so: or, something contrary to the commonly received opinion. 

We have seen wonders wrought which seem impossible; and we should conclude them to be tricks and illusions, were it not for the indisputable evidence we have of their reality.

Chapter 5:1-11 The First Disciples

5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
The people pressed upon Him - There was a glorious prospect of a plentiful harvest, but how few of these blades came to full corn in the ear! To hear with diligence and affection is well; but a preacher of the Gospel may expect that, out of crowds of hearers, only a few, comparatively, will fully receive the truth, and hold out to the end.
To hear the word of God - Του λογον του Θεου, The doctrine of God, or, the heavenly doctrine.

5:2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

And saw two ships standing by the lake - Or two fishing boats; which were, as the Arabic version renders it, "detained by anchors at the shore of the lake"; the one belonging to Peter and Andrew, and the other to Zebedee, and his two sons, James and John: but the fishermen were gone out of them - that is, either the above persons, or their servants: and were washing their net -; on shore; they having gathered a great deal of soil and filthiness, but had caught no fish; and therefore were cleansing their nets, in order to lay them up, finding it to be in vain to make any further attempts.

5:3 And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

And taught - out of the ship - They pressed so much upon Him on the land, through their eagerness to hear the doctrine of life, that He could not conveniently speak to them, and so was obliged to get into one of the boats; and, having pushed a little out from the land, He taught them. The smooth still water of the lake must have served excellently to convey the sounds to those who stood on the shore;

5:4 Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

He said unto Simon, launch out into the deep - he spoke to Simon Peter, being the master of the vessel, to thrust it out, or put it off further into deep water, more convenient for fishing; and let down your nets for a draught - of fishes: His meaning is, that he would give orders to his servants, to put out the vessel to sea, to take their nets and cast them into the sea, in order to take and draw up a quantity of fish, which was their business.

5:5 And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net.

Simon - said - Master - ΕπιϚατα. This is the first place where this word occurs; it is used by none of the inspired penmen but Luke, and he applies it only to our blessed Lord. 

It properly signifies a prefect, or one who is set over certain affairs or persons: it is used also for an instructor, or teacher. 

Peter considered Christ, from what he had heard, as teacher of a Divine doctrine, and as having authority to command, etc.

5:6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

they enclosed a great multitude of fish - in their net, which by the secret divine power of Christ, were gathered together just in that place, where by His order they cast the net:
and their net brake - with the weight and number, of the fishes.

 
5:7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

We can have too much of a good thing, aye, 

too much even of the best things, 

for our poor frail vessel cannot hold all 

that God would be willing to put into it.

5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

he fell down at Jesus' knees - The Arabic and Persic versions read, "at" His "feet": he fell on his knees before Him, and threw himself prostrate at His feet, as a worshipper of Him, and a supplicant unto Him: saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man - We must all, like Peter, own ourselves to be sinful men, therefore Jesus Christ might justly depart from us. But we must beseech Him that He would not depart; for woe unto us if the Savior depart from sinners!

5:9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

Far he was astonished, and all that were with him - His brother Andrew, and the servants they had with them to manage the vessel, and cast the nets: at the draught of the fishes they had taken - being so large and numerous, as the like was never seen, nor known by them before.

5:10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

Thou shalt catch men - Ανθρωπους εσῃ ζωγρων, Thou shalt catch men alive; this is the proper signification of the word.

5:11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him. 

They forsook all, and followed Him - God expects this from every person.... Jesus intended to call Peter, James, and John, to become His disciples; 

*and that they might see the propriety and importance of the call, 

He: -
1st. Teaches in their presence, that they may know His doctrine.
2dly. He Works a Miracle before their eyes, that they might see and be convinced of His power.
3dly. He Calls them to go forth with this doctrine, and through this power, that they might teach the ignorant, and be successful in their work.