Called Before You Were Impressive: Luke 5 for Young Men

What the Text Says

Jesus is teaching by the lake when he gets into Simon’s boat and asks him to push out from shore. After teaching, he tells Simon to go out into deep water and let down the nets. Simon protests that they had fished all night and caught nothing, but obeys anyway. The catch is so large the nets begin to break and both boats start to sink (Lk 5:1-7). Simon falls at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Jesus tells him not to be afraid: “henceforth you will be catching men.” Simon, James, and John leave everything, including a boat full of fish, and follow him (Lk 5:8-11).

A man covered in leprosy begs Jesus to heal him. Jesus touches him, an act no one else would risk, and says, “I will; be clean.” The leprosy leaves him immediately (Lk 5:12-14). Later, a paralyzed man is brought to a house so packed that his friends climb onto the roof, remove the tiles, and lower him down on his mat right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus says, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and Pharisees present are outraged, thinking only God can forgive sins. Jesus asks which is easier to say, “your sins are forgiven” or “rise and walk,” then heals the man’s body to prove he has authority to heal his soul (Lk 5:17-26).

Jesus then calls Levi, a tax collector, straight from his tax booth. Levi leaves everything and throws a great feast for Jesus, filled with tax collectors and other people the religious establishment considered unfit company. When the Pharisees complain, 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” (Lk 5:27-32). Finally, when asked why his disciples do not fast the way John’s disciples do, Jesus says the wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, and that new wine needs new wineskins to hold it (Lk 5:33-39).

What the Church Teaches

Jesus healing the paralytic’s body is not separate from forgiving his soul. It is proof of it. CCC 1421 calls Jesus “the physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health,” and explains that Christ willed his Church to continue this same healing work through the sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick. The healing you can see is meant to convince you of the healing you cannot.

Calling Levi, and eating with him and his friends, is not a lapse in judgment. It is exactly what Jesus came to do. CCC 545 states plainly: “Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: ‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’” It adds that he “shows them in word and deed his Father’s boundless mercy for them.” The dinner at Levi’s house is not Jesus tolerating sinners despite himself. It is Jesus doing precisely what he was sent to do.

Personal Reflection: For Young Men

(This section is pastoral application and personal takeaway, not a restatement of defined Church teaching. If you are wrestling with a real question about your own spiritual life, bring it to confession or a conversation with a priest or spiritual director rather than treating this reflection as a ruling.)

Simon is called while he is exhausted, empty handed, and about to fall at Jesus’ feet insisting he is “a sinful man.” That is worth remembering if you think you need to get your life fully in order before God could possibly want you for something real. Christ does not wait for Simon to become impressive first. He calls him mid-failure, then tells him what he is actually for: not just to fish, but “henceforth you will be catching men.”

Look closely at Levi. He is called straight out of a job most people around him despised him for, with zero notice and zero cleanup beforehand. He leaves everything immediately. Discipline and purity matter, and this Movement will never tell you otherwise, but the order matters too: Christ calls first, and the leaving everything and changing your life follows the call. You do not have to win the discipline battle alone before you are qualified to be called. The call is what gives you the reason to fight it.

Now look at the paralytic’s friends tearing open a roof because the door was blocked. That is what courage for another person looks like: not politely waiting for a socially convenient moment, but doing something bold and a little disruptive to get someone you care about in front of Christ. And notice the wineskins at the end of the chapter. New wine needs a new container, or it ruins both. Following Christ seriously is not a patch stitched onto your old life. It reshapes the whole container.

Call to Action

This week, stop waiting to feel qualified before taking your faith seriously; Simon and Levi were both called mid-mess, not after cleaning up first. Identify one habit or attachment in your life that functions like an old wineskin, something the new wine of a serious faith keeps straining against, and take one concrete step to replace it rather than patch it. And think of one person you could show the same bold, roof-tearing effort for this week, getting them in front of something good even if it costs you convenience.

Doctrinal note: Claims above are tied to CCC 1421 and 545. Translation used: RSV-CE. Please confirm any point you plan to teach publicly with a priest, deacon, or trusted catechist before publishing.

Read Next

If you are leading in the home, this companion lesson speaks directly to fathers: Put Out Into the Deep: Luke 5 for Fathers.