HE CAME TO CALL SINNERS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 22, 2020 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: January 22, 2020 from Luke 5:27-32

Theme: The story of Jesus’ call of Levi the tax-collector shows us that Jesus loves and calls all who are sinners to follow Him in repentance.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

In the estimation of the typical Jewish person in the times of our Lord, few people were as low on the moral scale as a tax collector. They were among the worst sinners anyone could imagine. In fact, tax collectors were considered such notorious sinners that they were placed in their own category. People would refer to ‘tax collectors and sinners’.

A tax collector (or “publican”, as some have translated it) was a Jewish man who collected taxes from his own people on behalf of a foreign government. In Jesus’ time, the foreign government was the occupying Roman empire. The Roman governor would hire-out the collection of taxes to certain citizens of the land being occupied. For the Jewish people, it was an unspeakably dreadful sin for a man to collect taxes from the people of God on behalf of a pagan oppressor. It amounted to being a traitor to one’s own people who collaborated with an oppressor, and to defy the covenant promises of God to Israel. It was thought an extraordinarily blasphemous and unforgivable thing to be.

Usually, a tax collector would be given a required amount to collect for the Roman government. But he was allowed to collect more than that required amount as profit. Sometimes, they engaged in unscrupulous acts to increase their share. A famous tax-collector in the Bible named Zacchaeus once confessed that he had taken money from people by “false accusation” (Luke 19:8). Jesus Himself once used the notorious nature of a tax-collector to illustrate a point. He taught that we are to love our enemies; saying,

“For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?” (Matthew 5:46-47).

And so; it’s a remarkable story that we find in Luke 5:27-32. It would have taken the Jewish person by surprise. Jesus walked up and called—of all people—a tax collector to become one of His followers! It says;

After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered and said to them, “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” (Luke 5:27-32).

Jesus’ manifest love for a tax collector made the religious people of the day feel uncomfortable. And ask yourself: Is there anyone that would make you uncomfortable if you saw them following Jesus? Is there anyone that you consider ‘too far gone’ in sin for Jesus to ever call to Himself? Do you believe that there are some sinners for whom repentance is impossible? Jesus’ love for this man Levi shakes us out of our expectations of the extent of God’s grace. It teaches us that Jesus loves and calls all sinners to Himself—inviting them to be His followers and walk with Him in repentance.

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There are several great lessons for us to learn from this story. First note that …

1. JESUS CALLS SINNERS TO BE HIS FOLLOWERS.

It’s not that they must first cease to be sinners before they can be invited to be His followers. He calls them while they are still sinners.

Luke started this story by telling us, “After these things” (v. 27); and we should probably take ‘these things’ to be a reference to the way He had just demonstrated that He had the authority to forgive sins. He had just told the paralyzed man, who had been lowered down through the roof of the house, that He forgave the man’s sins; and then proved that He had the authority to forgive sins committed against God by commanding the man to rise up and walk. But it’s possible that ‘these things’ has reference to the many miracles Jesus had performed in Capernaum. We’re told that, after such great demonstrations of power and divine authority, “He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.”

In Luke, the man’s name is said to be ‘Levi’—which was an honored Jewish name. It was the name of the priestly tribe of Israel. But this man was far from ‘priestly’. He is also known to us as Matthew—the human author of the first Gospel. Luke calls him ‘Levi’—perhaps as a way to soften the blow that this man was the apostle who wrote the Gospel to the Jewish people. But in his own Gospel account (in Matthew 9:9-13), he doesn’t hesitate at all to call himself ‘Matthew’. He was sitting in his ‘tax office’; which was a table that was probably set up along some busy public concourse—in a place where people would normally pass by and pay their required taxes. His and Jesus’ encounter would have been a somewhat ‘public’ event.

People would have resented seeing Levi sitting at his table. And they might even have muttered some words against him as they looked upon him or walked by him. It might be that he didn’t feel very good about himself either. Sure; he was making a profit. He was also conscious of what a traitor to his people he was being. He would have been conscious that he was a collaborator with those who were oppressing his fellow Jewish people, and who were bringing a paganistic influence upon them. He himself might have thought that he was unredeemable—having sinned so greatly against the covenant of God. It may have been that he thought there was nothing better for him to do than to make his money while he could, enjoy it, and then go to hell. In the original language, Luke tells us that Jesus looked upon him in a particular way—as if to gaze upon him in a significant manner—as if to convey a relationship. And what a surprise it might have been to him—as much as to anyone else who saw it—that Jesus, the miracle-working Prophet of God, would walk up to him and say to him, “Follow Me.”

Jesus didn’t walk up to him and say, “Repent, you sinner!” Instead, He invited Levi—the sinner—to become one of His followers. This is the way our Lord works. As Romans 5:8-10 says;

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:8-10).

Another lesson we learn from this passage is that …

2. FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS LEAVING SIN BEHIND.

Jesus’ invitation placed Levi at the crossroads. It was a remarkable act of grace that Jesus would call him. But what should Levi do with the tax office? What should he do with the money? This is only speculation; but Levi would probably have felt free to leave the table because he had already fulfilled his tax obligations to the Roman government. All that was left on the table would have been his own to keep. But in verse 28, we’re told, “So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.”

To have left all, though, would have meant more than just that he left his own profits behind. It would have meant that he left his vocation entirely. He would not be a tax collector any longer. The order of events in this is important to notice. He did not leave his tax office first, and then receive the invitation and follow. He received the invitation, and then rose up and followed—and in following, he left his old life behind. That’s the proper order of things in our Lord’s call.

When Jesus calls us, praise Him that it doesn’t mean that we first must work hard to become worthy of that call. None of us could ever be worthy of it. Our Lord’s call is given freely and mercifully. But once it comes, the grace of God shows itself in us through acts of repentance. In rising up to follow, we don’t take our sins with us. We leave them behind. As it tells us in Titus 2:11-14;

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14).

So; Levi the sinner left his old life behind to become Levi the follower! Next notice that …

3 THOSE WHO FOLLOW JESUS LOVE TO SHARE HIM WITH OTHERS.

The first thing Levi appears to have done—in gratitude—was to throw a big party in honor of Jesus. We’re told, “Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house” (v. 29). Would you suppose that Jesus might have been hesitant to go to the house of a tax collector—probably a very nice house, by the way—to participate in a feast put on by a notorious sinner? As it turns out, Jesus is not afraid to be a friend of sinners. He even once came up to another tax collector that He saved, and said to him that “today I must stay at your house” (Luke 19:5). Jesus is glad to be welcomed and honored by people who love Him—even by notorious sinners who repent.

And it wasn’t just Jesus and His growing number of followers who were welcomed. Levi invited other sinners! Luke tells us, “And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.” From the standpoint of the pious Jewish world, the place would have been a scandalous one to be in. It was filled with those that the religious people would have considered riff-raff. But not only did Jesus show love to them by being with them, but Levi showed love to them by introducing them to Jesus.

When someone like Levi has been transformed by the love of Jesus, it’s natural that they would want to share Him with others. He would have been doing what Peter talked about in 1 Peter 3:15;

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15).

It’s then that a sad lesson comes. We find that, when Jesus calls sinners to Himself …

4. SELF-RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE ARE OFFENDED BY SINNERS WHO FOLLOW.

The religious leaders—who had been watching Jesus carefully, and had been observing His miracles and His teaching—would have noticed whose house He had been invited to. Verse 30 tells us, “And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, ‘Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’” They themselves—these religious leaders—would never have done such a thing; and the implication is that if Jesus were truly a prophet of God, neither would He or His followers.

This makes us think of that time when a very sinful woman came to Jesus while He was dining at the home of a Pharisee. She must have been grateful for His forgiveness; and she came and washed His feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair, and poured fragrant oil upon them. The Pharisee said, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him; for she is a sinner” (Luke 7:39). We might be tempted to be accusing toward the man who said this regarding the sinful woman; or we might be condemning toward the religious leaders who were scandalized that Jesus was in the home of Levi. But if truth be told, we’re often guilty of doing the same thing they did. There have been many times when we have said—even if just in our silent thoughts—“How dare such a person as that think that they could be a follower of Jesus! With their past—? With the kind of language they have used—? With the perversions they have engaged in—? They need to clean up their act before they start following Jesus!” We all too easily forget our own past, and our own words, and our own shameful acts.

No less than the apostle Paul could write;

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:12-14).

When it comes to sinners, Jesus’ grace truly is ‘exceedingly abundant’. And this leads us to one more point; that …

5. WHAT WE DO WITH JESUS SHOWS OUR AWARENESS OF OUR NEED.

The self-righteous Pharisees and scribes did not consider themselves to be needy sinners. And so, they sat in judgment of Jesus and of those who gathered around Him. But Jesus “answered” them (even though they asked someone else the question). Luke tells us, “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘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’” (vv. 31-32).

A doctor doesn’t administer merciful care to healthy people. They don’t need his help. But sick people do. And so, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see Jesus—the Savior of sinners—spending His time with those who need salvation, and who seem too far gone in this world’s eyes to ever be shown grace. It’s just such people that Jesus calls to become His followers and to walk with Him unto repentance.

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It’s very important that, after we look at this story, we then look carefully at ourselves. Are we willing to be counted a ‘Levi’ in the sight of this world?—someone who is a completely unworthy sinner, but who rises up and follows Jesus at His loving and gracious call? Jesus once told the Pharisees;

“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him” (Matthew 21:31-32).

It’s far better to be counted among the tax collectors and harlots who are saved than to be counted among the self-righteous who lose-out on salvation. May God give us the grace to be numbered with sinners—like Levi—who love Jesus!

EA