Luke 5:27-32
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, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 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?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Comments
Jesus wasn’t the only one to see the tax collector, but he was the only one to see him as a potential disciple.
When Jesus said, “Follow me,” he gave no indication who he was or where he was going, and yet Levi “got up, left everything and followed him.”
The Pharisees and religious experts were not upset that Jesus ate with sinners, but that he ate with unrepentant sinners. Jesus extended grace and expected repentance to follow; the Pharisees demanded proof of repentance before grace could even be considered.
Reflection
Levi’s response to Jesus’ invitation was immediate and total. Are there ways in which your own response to Jesus has been more hesitant and partial?
To what extent do you require people to act properly before you extend grace to them?
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for loving me beyond all reason and for challenging me to love others in the same, extravagant way.
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