Luke 5:27-32

Luke 5:27-32

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.

He said to him, “Follow me.”

And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.

Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house,

and a large crowd of tax collectors

and others were at table with them.

The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,

“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus said to them in reply,

“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.

I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, on this fourth day of Lent, I bow before you in reverence and humility. I do not deserve to be called your child, and yet you have welcomed me into your holy family. I count your Son as my brother, and your Spirit as the bond of our love.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Calling Sinners to Follow: In the Gospel, Jesus’ first words to Levi are not “repent,” but “follow me.” This is an important detail. The attraction and draw of the good is prior to and more fundamental than the decision to change one’s life. God is the first mover. When Jesus sees Levi at the customs post, he knew the depths of his soul. He knew his strengths and weaknesses, his successes and failures, and his temptations and deepest desires. Jesus knew the heights of holiness and perfection he could achieve. What was important was that Levi abandon the pursuit of earthly wealth and begin to accumulate heavenly treasure. We can only store up treasure in heaven with Jesus. Without Jesus, we cannot. Let us abandon our sinful ways and embrace the way of Jesus this Lenten season.

2. Calling Sinners to Repentance: At the same time, the call to follow Jesus cannot be separated from the call to repentance (metanoia). Repentance means a radical change in mindset. It means not only turning from a life of sin to a life in God but also having the same sentiments and strategic mindset of Jesus. By walking with Jesus, entering into communion with him, and living with him, we learn what it is that we need to repent from. Living in communion with the Divine Physician, we are healed from the sickness caused by sin. The initial trust we place in Jesus, who invites us to follow him, can flourish as we adopt the mindset of Christ in all that we think, say, and do.

3. Calling Sinners to be Healed: The Pharisees refused to share in Levi’s banquet. They thought that they were remaining separated from sin and sinners. They didn’t want to become contaminated by sinners like Levi. Jesus, by contrast, had no hesitations about attending a banquet with tax collectors and sinners. “While Pharisees sought salvation through separation, Jesus brings salvation through association” (Martin, Bringing the Gospel of Luke to Life, 151). In the Gospel, Jesus compares himself to a physician. This means that Jesus sees sin, “not so much a crime to be punished as a disease to be cured. Jesus brings healing of body and spirit, cleansing a man of leprosy (5:12-13) and forgiving the sins of a paralytic (5:17-20). Jesus must associate with those who are in need of spiritual healing, just as he attends to those who need physical healing” (Martin, Bringing the Gospel of Luke to Life, 151).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have called me to follow you. Your way, the way of every Christian, leads to the Golgotha. I naturally tend to resist shouldering the burden of the cross. And yet, in the depths of my heart, I want to be another Simon of Cyrene and walk with you under your yoke.

Living the Word of God: Is there a vice I have been struggling to overcome? Can I identify the value or person that will help me overcome it? What do I want more than the pleasure that comes from the vice?