NOTES for Luk 5:17-39
What distinguishes Jesus' disciples from His opponents? With Jesus there are sinful, sick, weakened people, in every sense of the word. By contrast, the scribes and Pharisees "fast often and say prayers," and in general turn out to be the most respectable people of their time. Jesus, moreover, never condemns their path of piety: "Whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do..." But the disciples have only one hope: that their Teacher will not fail them and will not leave them.
And we, here in front of a monitor or over the pages of the Gospel, are constantly faced with a choice: how to position ourselves in relation to Christ. In the end, there are only two options: with Him or without Him.