Luke 5:1-6:16 shows that Jesus has unique authority wherever he acts—over work, uncleanness, sin, fellowship, fasting, and the Sabbath. His authority calls for trust, repentance, and a willingness to leave old loyalties behind. As opposition from religious leaders grows, Jesus begins to form a renewed people around himself by choosing the Twelve.

Jesus’ public ministry begins here with teaching. The crowd presses in to hear “the word of God,” showing that his message is central, not secondary to his miracles. From Simon’s boat, Jesus teaches and then tells Simon to let down the nets in deep water. Simon has worked all night and caught nothing, yet he obeys Jesus’ word. The result is an overwhelming catch of fish. This is more than a display of power. It reveals who Jesus is and brings Simon to see himself rightly. He moves from calling Jesus “Master” to calling him “Lord,” and in the presence of Jesus’ greatness he confesses his own sinfulness. Jesus does not drive him away. He removes Simon’s fear and gives him a new calling: from now on he will be catching people. The miracle becomes a call to discipleship. Simon, James, and John leave everything and follow him. The point is not material success, but costly obedience.

Next, Jesus cleanses a man covered with leprosy. The man does not question Jesus’ power; he asks about his willingness: “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” That matters. The issue is not only physical disease but uncleanness, which under the Mosaic law cut a person off from normal social and worshiping life. Jesus answers both by word and touch: “I am willing. Be clean.” Instead of becoming unclean himself, Jesus’ holiness overcomes the man’s impurity. Yet Jesus does not treat the law lightly. He tells the man to go to the priest and offer what Moses commanded. This follows the Mosaic regulations for cleansing and shows that Jesus is not casually setting aside the law, even as he acts with an authority greater than ordinary purity boundaries. The priestly inspection would also serve as a public testimony. As Jesus’ fame spreads, Luke also notes that he repeatedly withdraws to pray. His authority is exercised in communion with the Father, not independently of him.

The healing of the paralytic brings Jesus’ authority into even sharper focus. Pharisees and teachers of the law are present from many places, and the power of the Lord is with Jesus to heal. Some men bring a paralyzed friend, and when the crowd blocks their way, they lower him through the roof. Jesus sees “their faith”—the shared faith shown in this determined act—and says to the man, “Your sins are forgiven.” That becomes the center of the conflict. The scribes and Pharisees are right that only God can forgive sins. Their error is not that they value forgiveness too highly, but that they refuse to recognize Jesus’ authority. Jesus knows their thoughts and asks which is easier to say: “Your sins are forgiven,” or “Get up and walk”? Since forgiveness cannot be seen directly, he heals the man publicly so that they may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. The healing is therefore not just an isolated act of compassion. It is visible proof of his invisible claim. The crowd responds with awe and glorifies God because something extraordinary has taken place among them.

Jesus then calls Levi, a tax collector. Like the fishermen before him, Levi responds decisively: he leaves everything and follows Jesus. Levi then hosts a great banquet for Jesus, and many tax collectors and others are there. The Pharisees complain that Jesus eats and drinks with such people. Jesus answers with the picture of a physician: the healthy do not need a doctor, but the sick do. Then he states his mission plainly: he has not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. In context, “the righteous” is best understood ironically—those who think they are righteous. Jesus is not approving self-righteousness, nor is he suggesting that any group has no need of repentance. His fellowship with sinners is not moral indifference. He draws near to them in order to call them to turn from sin.

That leads naturally to the question about fasting. John’s disciples and the Pharisees fast, but Jesus’ disciples do not. Jesus answers with wedding imagery: guests do not fast while the bridegroom is with them. His point is that his presence creates a new situation. Fasting will have its place when the bridegroom is taken away, but it is not fitting during this time of joyful presence. So this is not merely a difference in religious style. It is tied to who Jesus is and what his coming means.

Jesus then gives the parables of the new patch and the new wine in old wineskins. Both pictures stress mismatch and incompatibility. His present ministry cannot simply be inserted into established religious forms without causing rupture. He is not merely adjusting the old system. Something new has arrived in him, and old structures cannot contain it unchanged. The saying about old wine at the end should not be taken as if Jesus were endorsing the old order over the new. In context, it explains why people resist him: those accustomed to the old often prefer what is familiar.

The Sabbath controversies continue this same pattern. As Jesus and his disciples pass through grain fields on the Sabbath, the disciples pick grain, rub it in their hands, and eat it. The Pharisees accuse them of doing what is unlawful. Jesus answers by pointing to David, who ate the consecrated bread when he and his men were hungry. The appeal shows that human need, in the context of God’s purposes, can outweigh ceremonial restriction. Jesus is not opposing Scripture, but showing its true meaning. Then he makes the stronger claim: “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” He is not merely offering a wiser interpretation. He is claiming extraordinary authority bound up with his identity.

On another Sabbath, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand in the synagogue. His opponents are watching closely, hoping to accuse him. Jesus exposes the moral emptiness of their approach by asking whether it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it. The question shows that refusing obvious restorative good is not moral neutrality. It is blameworthy. Jesus heals the man, and the leaders respond not with worship or gratitude, but with rage. Their resistance is hardening.

At that point, Luke again shows Jesus in prayer. He spends the night praying to God before making a crucial decision. Then he chooses twelve from among his disciples and names them apostles. This is not mere organization. In the flow of the passage, and in light of Israel’s story, it marks the public formation of a renewed people gathered around Jesus and represented by these twelve men. As conflict with the existing religious leadership increases, Jesus establishes the nucleus of the community centered on himself.

Taken together, these episodes present Jesus as acting in areas bound up with God’s own prerogatives. He commands nature, overcomes uncleanness, forgives sins, defines the meaning of fellowship, sets the terms for fasting in relation to his own presence, and claims lordship over the Sabbath. The right response is not mere admiration, but repentance, trust, confession, obedience, and a willingness to leave everything to follow him. At the same time, Luke shows that religious expertise can exist alongside spiritual blindness. Jesus does not oppose Moses, Scripture, or true mercy. Rather, he fulfills God’s purpose and exposes readings of the law that cannot recognize the One standing before them.