Luke 5:27-30
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Reflection:
This passage has huge implications for what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ and a follower of Him. Jesus has been silently blowing up paradigms about who the Son of God is, and often it is demonstrated by what he does and who he does it with. As Jesus is walking down the road he sees a tax collector. Remember tax collectors were not the most admired people because of at least two good reasons. One, they represented the Roman government, or at the very least their trade was supported and enforced by it. Secondly, although tax collectors paid the taxes up front, they extorted as much money as they could out of people to pad their own pockets.
With all of this background the text says Jesus "saw him, and said follow me!" And then it says Levi left everything and followed him. This included his lucrative business. Levi, later named Matthew, then held a banquet for all of his friends. It is said that a new convert is the best evangelist because they are so excited about the change that has happened in their hearts and lives. And the large banquet, probably paid with his profits, included his friends and also Jesus' disciples. No doubt Jesus was teaching them a valuable lesson about who is worthy to be a disciple.
And then we see the Pharisees' response. "Why do you eat with the tax collectors and sinners?" By sinners it likely meant other Gentiles, who were regarded as unclean by Jewish standards. Then comes the punchline of the whole story as Jesus states, "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick". "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." He is not being literal here, but referring to a disease we all have, which is sin. But for those who are willing to admit they are sinners and turn to Jesus the Great Physician, there is hope and salvation. He is not literally referring to those who are righteous, but those who are self righteous. And those who are willing to realize they need a righteousness that is outside of themselves in Jesus.
It is easy to look down are noses at the Pharisees, but is there not a little Pharisee in all of us? We start making the religious things we do a badge of spiritual superiority, and look down others who not as spiritual. I am not saying that having spiritual disciplines like tithing, praying, reading the bible, being in a small group or evangelizing our friends is a bad thing. But the moment pride sets in we need to be careful, because pride comes before the fall. Jesus tells us to serve in humility and not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. He tells us not to parade our righteousness in front of others to get their approval. He says when you pray go in your room and pray in secret. Jesus models this kind of "secret service" with his disciples us and encourages us to do likewise.
Where is Jesus calling you to serve Him, where you will not receive any worldly credit? Where is Jesus calling you to hang out with sinners to remind you of the fact that, "if not for the grace of God there go I!"? Thank God that while were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Reflection:
This passage has huge implications for what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ and a follower of Him. Jesus has been silently blowing up paradigms about who the Son of God is, and often it is demonstrated by what he does and who he does it with. As Jesus is walking down the road he sees a tax collector. Remember tax collectors were not the most admired people because of at least two good reasons. One, they represented the Roman government, or at the very least their trade was supported and enforced by it. Secondly, although tax collectors paid the taxes up front, they extorted as much money as they could out of people to pad their own pockets.
With all of this background the text says Jesus "saw him, and said follow me!" And then it says Levi left everything and followed him. This included his lucrative business. Levi, later named Matthew, then held a banquet for all of his friends. It is said that a new convert is the best evangelist because they are so excited about the change that has happened in their hearts and lives. And the large banquet, probably paid with his profits, included his friends and also Jesus' disciples. No doubt Jesus was teaching them a valuable lesson about who is worthy to be a disciple.
And then we see the Pharisees' response. "Why do you eat with the tax collectors and sinners?" By sinners it likely meant other Gentiles, who were regarded as unclean by Jewish standards. Then comes the punchline of the whole story as Jesus states, "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick". "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." He is not being literal here, but referring to a disease we all have, which is sin. But for those who are willing to admit they are sinners and turn to Jesus the Great Physician, there is hope and salvation. He is not literally referring to those who are righteous, but those who are self righteous. And those who are willing to realize they need a righteousness that is outside of themselves in Jesus.
It is easy to look down are noses at the Pharisees, but is there not a little Pharisee in all of us? We start making the religious things we do a badge of spiritual superiority, and look down others who not as spiritual. I am not saying that having spiritual disciplines like tithing, praying, reading the bible, being in a small group or evangelizing our friends is a bad thing. But the moment pride sets in we need to be careful, because pride comes before the fall. Jesus tells us to serve in humility and not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. He tells us not to parade our righteousness in front of others to get their approval. He says when you pray go in your room and pray in secret. Jesus models this kind of "secret service" with his disciples us and encourages us to do likewise.
Where is Jesus calling you to serve Him, where you will not receive any worldly credit? Where is Jesus calling you to hang out with sinners to remind you of the fact that, "if not for the grace of God there go I!"? Thank God that while were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
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