Who Does Jesus Want to Call? (Luke 5:32)

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32 NASB)

Sometimes I feel sorry for the scribes and Pharisees. They were busy obeying laws, but, for a large number of them, the spirit of the law had long been left behind. Their interpretations of the law, once probably meant to explain and clarify, had taken on the status of law as well. It had resulted in greatly expanding the number of rules to follow, as well as the complexity of those rules and regulations. 

The sad thing about living by a mountain of rules is that, when your focus is on a list of do's and don't's it's easy to equate obedience to the rules with righteousness. It's clear that Jesus saw things a little differently. Completing a good deed checklist was not enough. He wanted heart change as well. 

Imagine the relief of the Pharisees with their completed checklists when Jesus said He had not come to call the righteous! They might have looked at the rough crowd that had attended Matthew's party and thought, "Good! He's not trying to get me to eat with them, too!"  

When you THINK you are righteous, you don't realize you need a Savior. Jesus came to call those who are sinners and know that they are sinners. Why? Because people who recognize their sinfulness often recognize that there is eventually a payday for sin. They are much more likely to recognize their need for a Savior. 

Scripture is clear on this fact. We are all sinners. It is equally clear that some of us (corporate human race) recognize that we are sinners and some of us do not. Which are we?  

Pray today that we and our loved ones would stop long enough to recognize that WE (as well as they) are sinful to our core and desperately need the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ, by whose sacrificial shedding of His own blood at Calvary we are cleansed. Pray, too, for more than recognition of sin. Pray for an embracing of our Savior and the life He came to give. 

Grumbling from the Outside

The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?" (Luke 5:30 NASB)

The scribes and Pharisees were unhappy about being excluded, but the second part of the sticking point for them was the people who were included. They couldn't believe the sorry lot of sinners who were welcomed to the table! That party was full of the biggest sinners in town! Even worse, they were having fun, and Jesus was right in the middle of the fun!

Scripture gave specific instructions about certain nations with whom they should not associate. About other Israelites, this is what it says:

"'You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 'You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord." (Leviticus 19:15, 17, 18 NASB)

Oops! The scribes and Pharisees hated their fellow countrymen and they did not love the "sinners" at Matthew's party, even though those sinners were there specifically to meet Jesus. It turns out that the scribes and Pharisees were just another bunch of sinners. Pride. What a problem pride makes when we indulge in it. Because they thought they were better than Matthew's guests, they had sinned in their pride and their judgmental spirit, but they had also missed the party with Jesus. 

That's an awful consequence of a bad attitude, isn't it? It's easy, in our concern for friends and loved ones, to think their particular brand of sin is much worse than ours, but is it? It's one thing to reprove the sin, but it's another thing entirely to disdain the sinner, especially one who has "come to the party to meet Jesus". The Law says, "Love your neighbor as yourself" and that's where we should start. 

Pray that we will love our neighbors as ourselves and that our love for Christ and others will be obvious, attractive, and welcoming to our loved ones. 

The Laughing Jesus

And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. (Luke 5:29 NASB)

Levi had been sitting in his tax collecting office, unhappy, longing for a change. Jesus came in, saw his need, and invited Levi to follow Him. Levi jumped at the chance. He looked around his office, said to himself, "I'm done here," and walked out the door. He spent the rest of his life following Jesus. 

Levi walked away from the lifestyle he was accustomed to enjoying, and his livelihood, with joy. We know that because his first action as a believer and disciple was to throw a huge party. This was not just a little punch and a few cookies. The Greek here indicates that he had a lavish feast in honor of Jesus. Only the best would do to introduce the King of Kings, and Levi instinctually knew that. 

Because tax collectors were considered traitors, they were shunned by the religious leaders.  Not surprisingly, they were not invited. Instead, Levi invited all his tax collector friends and "other people", common people. Well, these were not the "common" people of faith. They were likely what many considered "lowlife bad boys".  

Now here's where this party was different from their usual. Levi invited them in order to introduce them to Jesus. When he left his old life, rose, and followed Jesus, he was done with the old life, but he wanted to offer that same chance at a fresh start to all his friends. He didn't give them a tract or a book to read (although those certainly have their place), nor did he give them an argument or a sermon. What Matthew gave them was Jesus, and those men who had been so shunned by the scribes and Pharisees found that Levi's Jesus sat around the table with them, laughed with them, and accepted them.  He was an entirely different kind of rabbi. 

Sometimes I forget about this Jesus. I have an image of the suffering Man of Sorrows and the Risen Lord, but I don't always keep the image of the laughing, friendly, warm and welcoming-to-sinners Jesus at the forefront of my mind. I should though. It was that very kind, friendly, forgiving Jesus who saw this sinner woman and offered me a new life. It was that same wonderful Jesus who gave you a new life, too. 

I wonder how great an impact we could have on the world if we saw people stuck in a lifestyle of sin, the outcasts of society, the way Jesus did. What if we treated them the way Jesus did?  Perhaps our Jesus and the new life He offers would be as attractive to them as it was to Levi. 

Today, pray that we would have eyes to see those around us the way Jesus did and a heart to treat them with the acceptance He offered. Pray that the believers our loved ones encounter will offer that same grace to them.