Every party includes a specific and well-planned guest list. Some guest lists are very exclusive, including only a select number of guests and a specific type of guests who are invited. In contrast, other guest lists are very inclusive, with a large number of people included and many different backgrounds of people welcome to the party. Understanding the guest list is arguably the most important aspect of party planning. After all, if you have no guests, then there is no party at all. During Jesus' day, the religious leaders acted like party planners who had the most exclusive guest lists. Within their religion, they treated religion as their own exclusive club that had very exclusive requirements to join them. Imagine their dismay when Jesus came and offered an invitation to everyone to join, even those who were deemed "unfit" by the religious leaders.
Luke 5 records Jesus calling His disciples to follow Him. Now, in Jesus’ day, Jewish rabbis only allowed the “best of the best” men to follow them. Those who were not chosen to be followers of a Jewish rabbi went on to pursue other occupations. While Jewish rabbis were choosy and only selected the “best of the best,” Jesus operated differently. He chose the most unexpected people to follow Him. Luke 5 reveals that the first disciples Jesus called were fishermen. Now, the fact that they were fishermen meant that they had not been chosen to follow any other rabbi. Yet, Jesus saw these men and issued the invitation of a lifetime: “Don't be afraid! From now on, you'll be fishing for people!" (verse 10). The next disciple whom Jesus called in Luke 5 would have been even more shocking. He saw a tax collector named Levi, who is more commonly known as Matthew, and said to him, "Follow me and be my disciple" (verse 28). As a tax collector, Levi was viewed as an enemy of the nation of Israel because he collected taxes from the Israelites on behalf of the Roman government. Even more, tax collectors often collected more than was required and kept the extra money for themselves. As a result, no self-respecting Jewish rabbi would choose a tax collector to be one of his disciples. And yet, that is exactly what Jesus did. He invited Levi to be His disciple, one of the 12 men who walked alongside Him during His three years of ministry on earth.
By choosing the most unconventional men to follow Him and be His disciples, Jesus was making an announcement about the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom is for anyone who places their faith in Him. He did not come for a select group of people. He came for everyone to have an opportunity to receive forgiveness from sin and eternal life with Him by placing their faith in Him. What a wonderful, gracious, God we serve!
Read through the verses in the Going Deeper section below carefully. Pay attention to how Jesus interacted with the first disciples whom He called in this passage of Scripture. Then, write a prayer of thanksgiving to God. Thank Him for His extravagant invitation for all to follow and place their faith in Him! He has been so good to each one of us!
1One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.
8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” 11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
12 In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”
13 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 14 Then Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone what had happened. He said, “Go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”
15 But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
17 One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus.
18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, 19 but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
21 But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 23 Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!”
27 Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him.
