Take a few minutes to catch up and pray that God would bless you through the reading of His word.

Read Luke 5:1-16

[5:1] On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, [2] and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. [3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” [5] And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” [9] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, [10] and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

[12] While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” [13] And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. [14] And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” [15] But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. [16] But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Observation

• What is the setting for this story (v. 1-2)?
• What did Jesus teach from (v. 3)? To whom did it belong (v. 3)?
• What did Jesus tell Peter to do (v. 4)? 
  • How did Peter respond (v. 5)?
  • Why were Jesus’ instructions hard to follow for him (v. 5)?
  • Why did Peter ultimately do it (v. 5)?
  • What happened as a result (v. 6-7)?
• How did Peter respond to this miracle (v. 8)?
  • What does he call Jesus (v. 8)?
  • Who else was there (v. 10)?
  • How did they respond (v. 9)? What did they do (v. 11)?
  • What did Jesus tell them they would be doing in the future (v. 10)?
• Where does the next incident take place (v. 12)?
  • What does the man with leprosy do (v. 12)? What does he say (v. 12)?
  • What does Jesus do (v. 13)? What does he say (v. 13)? 
  • What happens as a result (v. 13)?
• What did Jesus tell the man to do as a result (v. 14)? What did he forbid him from doing (v. 14)?
• What happened as a result of this miracle (v. 15)? How did Jesus respond (v. 16)?

Interpretation

• What did Peter realize about Jesus after the miraculous haul of fish?
  • Why does Peter bring up the fact that he is sinful? He was probably a fairly normal, moral Jew. What does he mean when he says that he is a sinful man?
  • Why would he want Jesus to go away after a miracle like that?
  • In light of that, what is the significance of Jesus’s word in v. 10?
  • How is the response of the disciples (v. 11) the only appropriate way for them to react to what they had witnessed?
• How does the story of the leper (v. 12-13) add depth and contrast to the story if Peter catching the fish?
  • How was the leper unclean?  How was Peter unclean (v. 8)?
  • What did the leper know about Jesus? What did he do as a result? How is that similar to and also different from Peter’s interaction with Jesus?
  • From this passage, would you say that Jesus wants “unclean” people to come to him? 
• Why do you think Jesus instructed the man to tell people about what had happened (v. 14)?
• Is it significant that Jesus would get away from the crowds to pray?

Application

• How can you cultivate an awareness of your own sinfulness?
• How can you cultivate an awareness of God’s holiness? How might that help you fight sin in your life?
• Is there anything in your life that stops you from going to Jesus when you feel spiritually “unclean”? How should you think about that in light of this passage?

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