Reflections on Luke 5:8
“Lord, when You were baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the voice of the Father gave witness to You, calling You Beloved; and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the certainty of His words. Glory to You, Christ our God, who appeared and enlightened the world.”[1]
The Trinity is revealed in Jesus Christ, bringing the fullness of healing to the world through the Incarnate Word, the true Healers and Lover of mankind. The Baptism of Christ points to the reality of His mission: to make all things new and restores man, reconciling him back to God through the work of Jesus Christ: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27).
The Apostle’s words echo throughout the Gospels: God has come to raise us up to Him, through Him. He comes not to abolish the Law of Moses, but to fulfill it, because the Law’s message was to restore man to God. However, in practice, the Law could not fully restore man or absolve his of his sins. Waling in accordance with the law, man remained in his sins and under condemnation. The Law is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Who sanctifies man by His Incarnation and sanctified the very waters of regeneration by His Baptism.
In Luke 5:8, we encounter a profound moment of self-awareness and humility brought on by this deep realization. St. Peter, overwhelmed by the presence of our Lord, falls to his knees and confesses, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
This response encapsulates the heart of repentance: an acknowledgement of sinfulness in the presence of God, coupled with the recognition of His holiness. This moment is a sharp contrast to the reaction of the scribes, Pharisees, and religious leaders of the Second Temple Period, who, when confronted with the Incarnate Word, reject Him, ultimately crucifying the very One who came to heal them.
The contrast reveals a critical truth about the human heart: those who are unwilling to confront their sinfulness, to see themselves as they truly are, will also reject the healing and transformation that Christ offers. Sin is not merely a transgression of the law; it is an illness, a spiritual malady that blinds the soul and hardens the hearts. Yet, paradoxically, it is often the most steeped in this illness who cling most desperately to their condition, refusing the very medicine that could make them whole.
The Law is anticipatory, awaiting God to restore man in “the acceptable year of the Lord” (Lk. 4:19). The scribes and Pharisees exemplify the shortcomings of the Law and their clinging to it, for the Law merely reveals one’s sinfulness while offering no cure. The Law, under the stewardship of the scribes and Pharisees, was misdirected from its essentials—a means to humble themselves and prepare for the coming Messiah—to tools of self-righteousness and power.
Their rejection of Christ is not merely a misunderstanding; it was a willful clinging to the old wineskin (cf. Lk 5:37-39). To accept Christ’s message of repentance and healing would have required them to confront their sin, relinquish their worldly power, and embrace humility of the tax collectors and sinners they so despised. But they could not—or would not—see themselves as sick, and so they rejected the great Physician.
St. Ambrose writes: “The new institution of Christ cannot be received by those who live according to the law, nor admitted into the hearts of such as those who have not yet received the renewing of the Holy Spirit… For the first covenant had grown old, nor was it free from fault. Those, therefore, who adhere to it and keep at heart the antiquated commandment, have no share in the new order of things in Christ. Thou, then, who have not yet as received the renewing of the Spirit, are also unable to prove the good and acceptable and perfect will of God [cf. Rom. 12:2], The heart of the Jews, then, is an old skin, and therefore cannot hold the new wine.”[2]
Christ makes all things new therefore it is not only the Jews who rejected Him and His new covenant, but it is also all of us who would remain in the old ways of doing things, even if adopting a Christian edifice only to pass along in worldly thinking, “foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another (Titus 3:3). We are not Christians lest we endeavor to lay down our lives for He Who heals all; the point of this chapter and the subsequent chapters following, demonstrates the price of answering God’s call.
Healing requires an answer, an act of will. It demands that we confront our brokenness and consent to the transformative work of God.
The Pharisees and others who rejected Christ revealed their answer through their actions: they refused to be healed. To accept healing would have meant surrendering their pride, their power, and their comfortable illusions of righteousness. Instead, they chose to remain in their sickness, clinging to the very things that kept them from God.
The rejection of healing is not confined to the past. In our own time, we see the same dynamic at work. Many prefer to remain in their sins, even if unconsciously, because healing requires humility and change. Modernity mirrors the Pharisaic mindset in its tendency toward moral relativism and self-justification. We often find ourselves clinging to victimhood, weaponizing despair, and rejecting the transformative power of repentance. We, falling into the wisdom of this world which is foolishness to God (cf. 1 Cor. 3:19) seek sympathy rather than salvation, comfort rather than the cross.
Christ Jesus, the Lover of man and good Physician, comes to us all—asking us, just like He asked the inform man at the pool of Bethesda (cf. Jn. 5), “Do you want to be made well?”
It is a question we all must answer, not only once, but daily. To say ‘yes’ to our Lord is to embrace humility like St. Peter, to acknowledge our sinfulness and throw ourselves upon the mercy of God. To say ‘no’ is to follow the path of the Pharisees, clinging to the old wineskins of pride and self-reliance.
It is a refusal of the fullness of healing that comes to us by the grace of God and His Incarnate Word. Christ not only reveals the Trinity but likewise reveals the very heart of God: a desire to heal, to restore, and to make us whole. His presence reveals the heart of man. How we respond to His presence is a choice we all have to make, for He comes to restore us not to compel. Will we, like St. Peter, see our sinfulness and repent, or will we, like the Pharisees, reject the Physician and cling to our sickness?
The answer to this question determines not only our relationship with God but our eternal destiny.
Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ
[1] Apolytikion of Theophany
[2] St. Ambrose. Homilies 21 and 22, Commentary, Ch. 5, 116, 117.
Witness, NM 