Luke 5:30-32 30And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31And answering Jesus said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Luke and the gospel tradition follow Levi’s response to Jesus with that of the Pharisees and scribes. Whereas Levi accepted Jesus with joy, the pious Jews grumbled about the same thing. The Jews did not go directly to Jesus but to the disciples. Were they afraid to confront Jesus again, possibly knowing that their complaints would accomplish nothing or worse, Jesus would shut them up again? Their question shows their bias and prejudice. They perceived Jesus to be a holy person, possibly some form of prophet, but they could not reconcile his association with people they considered sinners. Eating and drinking were a close form of fellowship in that culture. Tax collectors were notorious for cheating, and those who hung around them were considered sinners. The holy should not be around the profane; otherwise, the holy will be contaminated.
The scribes had their identity connected to the Pharisees in this passage since Luke uses the form the Pharisees and their scribes. Jesus showed his identity by handing around those who needed forgiveness, just like the paralytic. Luke records two more times of complaining by these Jews in 15:1-2 and 19:7. Verse 30 is also the first time the word disciples is used in Luke. People who were interested in Jesus and what he was doing and saw hope and promise in him started to gather around him. A disciple is a follower and learner.
Jesus was teaching his new followers an important lesson at Levi’s house, summarized in verses 31-32. Luke uses a medical term for healthy (hygiainontes, as compared to Mark and Matthew) since he was a physician himself. Jesus’ analogy is simple and gets the point across in answer to the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes and at the same time, states his mission. He came to help those who really needed it. People who are well do not seek out a doctor. Jesus came specifically to solve the problem of sin and to make people righteous. The Pharisees and scribes thought they were righteous, and they make have looked righteous outwardly, but they were just like tax collectors and their friends. Although these people were critical of Jesus and eventually wanted to get rid of him, his invitation was extended to them as well. Many did become believers, but others closed their hearts.
Jesus’ invitation is to repent. Repentance () is the proper response to the grace of God in Jesus Christ. It involves turning away from the old life bound by sin, ignorance, and selfish, and following after Jesus. Peter, James, John, and Levi are all good examples of repentance lived out in real circumstances. They left their old life of fishing and tax collecting, and all these represented, and followed the new way of Jesus. Levi and his friends had come in contact with the One who could provide them with true life, not the chasing after dreams and materialism that had consumed them. Repentance would become one of the key components of the message of the early church (Acts 2:38, 40). Faith is an essential aspect of repentance. The disciples responded to Jesus by replacing sin with faith.
For older posts, click here.