Today we’re moving through more of the early days of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus just finished demonstrating to the Pharisees and “doctors of the law” that He has the power to forgive sins. Jesus did this by drawing a comparison between simply saying, “your sins are forgiven,” and healing someone everyone knew to be lame. Of course, the harder thing is not saying words but doing deeds, which Jesus promptly does simply by saying the words that the man is healed.
Everyone saw what Jesus did. Everyone was talking about Him. I suspect Levi knew exactly who Jesus was based on rumor alone.
27After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”
28And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.
Luke 5:27–28 (NASB95)
What amazes me in these calls Jesus makes on people’s lives is how casually we are told they drop everything and follow this man. Yesterday we noted how the leper knew who Jesus was simply by laying eyes on Him. I suspect there is some of that in these calls. Jesus just walks up and says, “Follow me.” And Levi does. Not only does he follow Him, but “…he left everything behind.”
Think about not just the people you know personally but everyone you’ve ever heard of. Is there anyone you can think of who, if they walked up to you right now and said, “Follow me,” you would just get up and go with them? Yes, I know that means Jesus is someone you’ve heard of. I don’t mean Him. The point is to put it into the context of the lives these men led when Jesus found them. I can think of only one person I’ve ever heard of that might command that kind of respect for me. As a Marine, that would be Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis. Perhaps Chesty Puller if he were alive too. I can think of no other off the top of my head.
29And 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 (NASB95)
This has been a long day for Jesus and the three men who follow him, now four. Levi brings them to his home for a feast and calls all his current friends to attend. Those being other publicans, tax collectors, and “others that sat down with them.” Note there Luke tells us they were just people in verse twenty-nine. However, the following verse is a little more descriptive, but note who it is that makes that descriptive declaration.
30The 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 (NASB95)
“With tax collectors and sinners.” Why do you associate with bad people? That’s the real question from the Pharisees. This question puts the focus squarely on the people surrounding Jesus He has chosen to eat with, but it misses a bigger question: if these types of people are so bad, why did Jesus call one of them to be His disciple?
The fishermen were just hard-working poor people, but Levi, he’s a tax collector. Nobody likes tax collectors, not then and not now. Nobody likes them, and Jesus makes a public showing of not just eating with them but calling one of them as His close follower. Why? With everyone looking at Him, Jesus explains why.
31And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
32“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:31–32 (NASB95)
Jesus came to call the sinner to repentance. Those are red-letter words in verse thirty-two. Jesus came to call people to recognize they missed the mark of God’s target for what humanity should strive for and to change how we do things. Let’s look at the Greek word behind repentance here because it is important.
Greek Strong’s Number: 3341
Greek Word: μετάνοια
Transliteration: metanoia
Phonetic Pronunciation: met-an’-oy-ah
Root: from <G3340>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 4:975,636
Part of Speech: n f
Vine’s Words: Repent, Repentance
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
repentance 24
[Total Count: 24]
from <G3340> (metanoeo); (subject) compunction (for guilt, including reformation); by implication reversal (of [another’s] decision):- repentance.
James Strong, “Μετάνοια,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
And so we can move forward without any questions of the meaning, here is a definition of “compunction.”
compunction
kuhm-puhngk-shuhn
noun
a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse.
any uneasiness or hesitation about the rightness of an action.
Based on this Greek word, scripture’s use of “repentance” should indicate to us any uneasiness or hesitation about the rightness of an action is coupled with a reversal of our behavior concerning that action. We should turn from it and not do it anymore. That is repentance. I’m sorry I did it. I won’t do it anymore.
Note, Jesus didn’t answer, “Love the sinner but hate the sin.” Jesus didn’t hate these people. He said He wanted them to do better, a better defined by God in the Old Testament. How do I know it was the Old Testament Law Jesus wanted them to move away from? Because that’s what defined sin.
7What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
Romans 7:7 (NASB95)
Paul quotes Exodus 20:17, which is also repeated in Deuteronomy 5:21 from the Old Testament. There is no other definition in use in Jesus’ time. The Pharisees know this. The publicans know this. All the other people know this, and we know it too.
Whether we like it or not, Jesus came to call us to change our ways. If we look at ourselves and say correctly that we have sinned and offended God, then we are the reason Jesus came to earth. We are also simply instructed by Christ in Luke 5:32 to repent of our sins. Whatever they may be, we are called by Jesus to turn from our sinful ways.
Some people don’t like that idea. I can’t help that. Jesus didn’t come to make everybody happy. He said it Himself; He came to call sinners to repentance. The words repent, and repentance are in disfavor in the church today. People don’t like the idea that they are sinful or need to change. Many people in Jesus’ day didn’t like it either. Jesus had a name for the people who wouldn’t change in his day, too; Pharisees (in some cases.) We do not call ourselves Pharisees. We call ourselves Christians. That means we follow what Christ said to do. If we don’t do what He said, perhaps some of us should change our name.
Thanks for another good lesson, Mark. I appreciate your willingness to remind us that we are called to repent. It's often not easy and not convenient to repent and turn from our sinful ways, but it's clearly what we are called to do. Your title about who we eat with and what they see in us got me to thinking. We used to have this discussion in Rev. Jim Perry's Bible study. There was one lady who was adamant about not eating with non-Christians. She would not do it. I don't think the class ever came to a consensus. After finding Christ, I've struggled with whether or not to join old friends, in group gatherings for a meal, where many of them are vocal atheists and in other settings as well. I've finally concluded that it matters what my intentions are. If I'm inclined to go and blend in, like my old self, before accepting Christ, then I probably should not go. If I'm willing to go, as a Christian, and defend my faith and to let them see the new self, then I think Christ would want me to go. The costly grace in that is that I'm likely to be ridiculed and might lose some old friends or at best be distanced from them. Jesus never said it would be easy. I may have it wrong and always welcome another point of view. Hope you're feeling better!