28  Calling a Wretched  Sinner; Confronting  Self-righteous  Hypocrites  (Luke 5:27–32)

After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him. 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. The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (5:27–32)

Human beings are inherently religious. The image of God in man, though corrupted by the fall, still compels people to worship. As a result, there are thousands of religions, philosophies, and worldviews, ranging from primitive animistic religions all the way to sophisticated religious systems. But those religions, though differing widely from one in another in the details, nevertheless fall into two categories. On the one hand, there is the religion of human achievement; on the other hand the religion of divine accomplishment. In every religion other than biblical Christianity, man achieves salvation by his own efforts. Buddhists seek nirvana by following the Eightfold Path; Muslims hope to enter Paradise by following the Five Pillars of Islam; Mormons seek godhood through baptism, membership in the Mormon church, accepting Joseph Smith and his successors as prophets of God, and going through the temple ceremonies; Jehovah’s Witnesses seek to earn everlasting life on earth by their morality and door-to-door proselytizing; Roman Catholics seek salvation by means of the Mass, sacraments, prayers, and good works that cooperate with grace to enable them to earn heaven (even if they have to be aided by the works of others to escape purgatory).

But all such self-righteous efforts to achieve salvation are utterly futile and serve only to damn the eternal souls of those who vainly trust in them. There is only one way to receive right standing before God, the religion of divine accomplishment—belief in the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That gospel, the “glorious gospel of the blessed God” (1 Tim. 1:11), the “gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). The heart of the gospel is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3; cf. Matt. 26:28; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 1:7; 5:2; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; Rev. 1:5), “so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (John 3:15; cf. vv. 16, 18, 36; 1:12; 6:40, 47; 11:25–26; 20:31; Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:9). Salvation is entirely “by grace … through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). Grace completely excludes works as a means of salvation (Rom. 11:6). God justifies the “ungodly,” not the godly (Rom. 4:5). The redeemed are those “to whom God credits righteousness apart from works” (v. 6) and “has saved … and called … with a holy calling, not according to [their] works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted [them] in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (2 Tim. 1:9).

By the time of Christ, the religion of Israel had degenerated into a system of works-righteousness, of external ritual instead of internal reality. As the apostle Paul lamented concerning his fellow Jews, “Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works” (Rom. 9:31–32). Secure in their self-righteousness many, like those in the synagogue at Nazareth (4:14–30), refused to acknowledge that they were spiritually impoverished, imprisoned, blind, and oppressed (4:18).

It was against that backdrop of self-righteousness based on outward conformity to the law of God (cf. Mark 10:20) that Jesus made one of His most clarifying and definitive statements. In verse 32, He declared, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” That statement expressed the essential uniqueness of Christianity and concisely summarizes His mission. It sums up the whole glorious scheme of salvation: the Lord Jesus Christ came to save repentant sinners (19:10). Christ’s statement also defines the church’s mission. The heart of all gospel ministry is calling sinners to repentance. Salvation is not for those who think they are righteous, like those in the synagogue at Nazareth and the scribes and Pharisees, but for those who know they are not, like the tax collector in Luke 18:13–14. Thus Jesus centered His ministry on people who understood their lost condition. Often, these were the outcasts of society, which earned Him a reputation as “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). Because such people were willing to come to grips with their true condition as hopeless sinners, the Lord was able to minister to them (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26–31).

This dramatic incident answers the question of whose sins Jesus would forgive. It reveals how deep into the dregs of society He would delve to rescue lost sinners. In this account Jesus saved someone at the very bottom—a hated, despised tax collector. The story of His call of Levi (Matthew) and its aftermath falls into two contrasting parts: His call of a wretched sinner, and His confrontation of self-righteous hypocrites.

CALLING A WRETCHED SINNER

After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him. 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. (5:27–29)

After healing the paralytic (5:17–26), Jesus went out of the house where He had been teaching. The Lord was followed by a huge crowd that dogged His steps in fascination and wonder, and He continued to teach them as He walked along a road near the shore of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 2:13). But Jesus had a divine appointment to keep, and He noticed (lit., “gazed intently at”) a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth. Levi is better known as Matthew, the author of the Gospel that bears his name. Since Capernaum was the largest city on the lake and a crossroads for east-west and north-south trade, he likely had a flourishing enterprise.

His occupation as a tax collector made Matthew one of the most hated and despised men in Israel. Tax collectors were the dregs of Jewish society; they were the lowest of the low on the social scale, and symbolized the worst sinners (cf. v. 30; 7:34; 18:11; Matt. 18:17; 21:31). That Jesus would save a tax collector, and then make him an apostle, was utterly inconceivable to the scribes and Pharisees.

The Roman occupation of Israel involved more than just a military presence; the nation was also subject to Roman taxation. The taxes in Galilee, for example, were forwarded by tax collectors to Herod Antipas, and by him to Rome. Antipas sold tax franchises to the highest bidder, and such franchises were a lucrative business. Tax collectors had a certain amount that they were required to collect, and whatever they collected beyond that they were permitted to keep (cf. Luke 3:12–13). In addition to the poll tax (on everyone, including slaves), income tax (about 1 percent), and land tax (one tenth of all grain, and one fifth of all wine and fruit), there were taxes on the transport of goods, letters, produce, using roads, crossing bridges, and almost anything else the rapacious, greedy minds of the tax collectors could think of. All of that left plenty of room for larceny, extortion, exploitation, and even loan sharking, as tax collectors loaned money at exorbitant interest to those who were unable to pay their taxes. Tax collectors also employed thugs to physically intimidate people into paying, and to beat up those who refused.

All of that was anathema to the Jewish people, who believed God was the only one to whom they should pay taxes. Tax collectors were viewed as traitors to their people, were classified as unclean, and were barred from the synagogues. They were also forbidden to give testimony in a Jewish court, because they were considered to be liars. Repentance was deemed especially difficult for tax collectors.

The Talmud listed two types of tax collectors, the gabbai, who collected the more general taxes such as the land, poll, and income taxes, and the mokhes, who collected the more specific taxes mentioned above (Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974], 1:515–18). There were two kinds of mokhes, the great mokhes, and the little mokhes. The great mokhes did not himself collect taxes but employed others as substitutes. The little mokhes would be employed by a great mokhes to actually sit in a tax booth and collect taxes. Because they were the ones in contact with the people, they were the most despised of all tax collectors. Since Jesus found him sitting in the tax booth, Matthew would have been a little mokhes—one of the most hated men in Capernaum. That his booth was located near the shore (Mark 2:13–14) suggests that he collected taxes from the fishermen, which would have made him even more despised by them than the average little mokhes.

Undeterred by Matthew’s status as a social outcast, Jesus stopped at his tax booth and said to him, “Follow Me.” The Lord knew his heart. He saw that Matthew was wretched and miserable; that he was distressed and burdened by his sin and hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Matthew undoubtedly knew of Jesus, since the Lord had made Capernaum His home base (Matt. 4:13) and the word of His powerful preaching and the miracles He performed had spread far and wide (Luke 4:37). Although he may not have understood at this point that Jesus was God, Matthew certainly recognized Him as a great prophet and preacher of God’s Word. Like the Old Testament saints, Matthew knew that he was a sinner, and that his only hope for forgiveness lay in God’s mercy (see the discussion of 5:20 in chapter 27 of this volume). In time Matthew, like the rest of the Twelve, would come to understand and fully believe the truth that Jesus is God. Jesus forgave him based on his repentant heart and called him to be a disciple, and later to be an apostle (6:15).

Matthew’s immediate response revealed the genuineness of his desire for righteousness and salvation: he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Jesus. The change in his life was miraculous. The tough, hard-nosed little mokhes became a humble man; in fact, there is no record in the Gospels of him speaking. In his gospel, Matthew refers to himself only in his account of his calling (Matt. 9:9) and in the list of the twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3). That Matthew’s own account of this incident (Matt. 9:9) omits any reference to leaving everything behind further indicates his humility. His willingness to forsake everything and follow Jesus is in stark contrast to the rich young ruler. When the Lord said to him, “Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Mark 10:21), he “was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property” (v. 22).

Matthew’s decision was final; he was abandoning his career. The great mokhes for whom he worked would have someone else manning his tax booth almost at once. He, therefore, made a far more drastic break with his past than his fellow apostles who were fishermen. They could always have returned to fishing as a living (and tried to, at least temporarily [John 21:1–3]).

The aorist tense of the verb anistēmi (got up) coupled with the imperfect tense of the verb akoloutheō (began to follow) illustrates Matthew’s response. There was a decisive decision to break with his past, then a continual pattern of following Christ. He began to experience new longings, new aspirations, new affections, a new mind, and a new will; in short, he became a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). The traitor, extortioner, robber, and outcast sinner became the apostle and evangelist of Jesus Christ. Matthew lost a temporal career, but gained an eternal destiny; he forfeited material possessions, but gained “an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4); he lost sinful companions, but gained the fellowship of the Son of God.

A significant indication of the reality of Matthew’s transformed life is that he gave a big reception for Jesus in his house. That it was able to accommodate a great crowd suggests that Matthew’s house was a large one, and is a further indication of the lucrative position he was walking away from. Having experienced the joyous, liberating experience of having his sins forgiven and his heart transformed, he wanted to expose everyone he knew to the Savior. Matthew did not invite the proud, elite, religious leaders (who would never have accepted an invitation from a tax collector), but his companions—the outcasts of society with whom he worked and lived daily. There were, of course, many of Matthew’s fellow tax collectors, along with some whom Luke tactfully referred to as other people (Matthew called them “sinners” [Matt. 9:10]). This group undoubtedly included thieves, thugs, enforcers, drunks, prostitutes—the very people whom the Son of Man came to seek and save (Luke 19:10). They had probably all heard of Jesus, and perhaps some had receptive hearts like Matthew’s.

Luke’s note that they were reclining at the table indicates that this was a lengthy meal, with lots of time for extended conversation among friends. No self-respecting Jew would eat a meal with the likes of this crowd. Meals were important social statements of acceptance in Israel, and Luke describes several in his inspired record of Jesus’ ministry (cf. 7:36; 10:38–40; 11:37; 14:1; 22:14; 24:30). This one not only celebrated the end of Matthew’s old life and the beginning of his new one, but was also an evangelistic outreach, with the Savior as guest of honor. It is an amazing picture of Jesus receiving lost sinners.

REJECTING THE RIGHTEOUS

The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (5:30–32)

Their haughty disdain for the riffraff inside prevented them from attending Matthew’s banquet, but that did not mean that the Pharisees and their scribes (see the exposition of 5:17 in chapter 27 of this volume for background information on the scribes and Pharisees) weren’t aware of what was going on inside. They expressed their disapproval by grumbling (gogguzō; an onomatopoetic word) at Jesus’ disciples. They would not deign to speak to any of the tax collectors and sinners attending the banquet. But they evidently expected the Lord and His disciples to follow the prescriptions of the rabbinic law, hence their anger and resentment toward them.

Their question, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” reflects the scribes’ and Pharisees’ outrage that Jesus and His disciples would associate with those unclean outcasts. Their question was a rhetorical one, intended as a stinging rebuke for what they viewed as outrageous behavior on the part of the Lord and His disciples. The question exposes the scribes and Pharisees as proud, focused on externals, and hypocritical. Imagining themselves to be the religious elite, they were in reality void of grace and strangers to salvation. Jesus turned His back on the outwardly moral, and focused on transforming repentant sinners into a holy people.

Overhearing the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus answered their challenge. His reply consisted of three parts. The Lord first gave an analogy, pointing out the self-evident fact that it is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. The scribes and Pharisees could not dispute that the tax collectors and sinners were spiritually sick; they were the sickest of the sick. How could they argue that the Great Physician should not minister to them? The Lord’s reply was a powerful indictment of their cold hearts, wickedness, and hatred of the very downtrodden sinners they should have sought to help. They saw no sin in themselves and no good or value in others.

Second, Jesus answered them from Scripture. Matthew 9:13 records that He also told the scribes and Pharisees to “go and learn [an expression used by the rabbis to rebuke unwarranted ignorance] what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice.’” The quote is from Hosea 6:6, and declares that God does not want external sacrifices but a heart that shows mercy (cf. Prov. 21:3; Isa. 1:11–17; Amos 5:21–24; Mic. 6:8). Those who show mercy to others as the Lord commanded (Luke 6:36) will themselves receive mercy from God (Matt. 5:7), but “judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13). The scribes and Pharisees, who prided themselves on their rigid adherence to the law, had no excuse for failing to show mercy to those who so desperately needed it.

Finally, Jesus answered them from His own personal authority as God incarnate, declaring, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” It is a statement full of irony, even sarcasm (cf. Paul’s sarcastic deflation of the conceited Corinthians in 1 Cor. 4:8). Accepting on the surface the scribes’ and Pharisees’ evaluation of themselves as righteous and hence not in need of a Savior, Jesus judicially left them to their self-righteous folly (cf. Matt. 15:14). Later He would again make this point when He told His hearers that “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). God seeks the truly repentant heart, not the hardened, self-righteous one. It was the humble, repentant tax collector, not the self-exalting, self-righteous Pharisee who Jesus said was justified (18:14). It was His classifying of them as sinners in need of repentance that inflamed the Pharisees’ hatred of Jesus.

The truth is that God cannot save those who refuse to see themselves as sinners, who ignore, gloss over, or trivialize their sin. Only those who understand by the grace of God and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit that they are the poor, prisoners, blind, and oppressed, headed for a Christless, Godless eternity in hell, and trust in Christ’s work on the cross as payment in full for their sins (Col. 2:13–14) can be saved. As James wrote, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

The scribes and Pharisees had badly misunderstood God’s purpose in giving the law. He did not give the law as a means of achieving self-righteousness, but to provoke self-condemnation, awareness of sin, conviction, repentance, and pleading to God for mercy. The law is “our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). As Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:9–10,

Only those who recognize themselves to be in the latter group can embrace the glorious gospel of forgiveness. Such a one was Paul, the self-proclaimed foremost of all sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), who nevertheless found that “the grace of our Lord was more than abundant” to save even him (v. 14).