† 10. The Call of Levi (Matthew)

This episode continues the theme of the healing of the paralytic from the previous episode. The religious leaders of Israel are growing ever more critical of Jesus while the crowds receive Him gladly.

The religion of these leaders has indeed moved far away from the principles of mercy originally intended in the Law of Moses. Their objections to Jesus do not center on heinous crimes—He has committed none—but rather on acts of mercy. Their condemning Jesus for miracles of healing only serves to illustrate the absurdity of their belief system. This episode shows they were critical of Jesus for even less—merely deigning to sit down at the same dinner table with sinners.

Special Note

The rest of this reading duplicates the reading from † 5. Jesus' Ministry in Galilee; † 15. The Call of Levi (Matthew). It is included here for review.

Matthew 9

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

a man called Matthew

This is likely the Matthew who wrote this gospel in his role as an apostle of Jesus.

sitting at the tax booth

Sitting at the tax booth means he works for Rome as a tax collector. Many first-century Judeans considered working for Rome to be sin. God did not consider working as a tax collector to be sin, but it was sin to use one's authority to take more money than was owed. Secular history tells us Rome typically looked the other way if tax collectors in occupied territories collected some money for themselves while collecting official Roman taxes, which resulted in extortion being common. The tax collector's government salary would have been meager; a wealthy tax collector raised suspicion.

Luke 3:12–13

Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than you are authorized to do."

sinners came and were reclining with Jesus

A reminder is in order: Jesus ate with sinners; He did not sin with sinners. Food does not equal fellowship.

See also the Appendix, "Reclining At Table."

they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat…?"

The Pharisees are showing cowardice by not asking Jesus directly.

The original language for "Why?" (διὰ τί) conveys a strong sense of purpose. "To what end…?", or "For what reason…?", would be good translations. More colloquially we might say, "What's he eating with tax collectors for?"

a physician

Jesus comes not as a conqueror or even judge, but as a doctor—to heal.

His disciples are in no hospital or convalescent home; in these days physicians made house calls.

I desire mercy

This rendering is a direct quotation of the Septuagint translation of Hosea 6:6. Our Hebrew text says "steadfast love" instead of "mercy," but the sense is the same.

Hosea 5:13–6:6

When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to the great king.
But he is not able to cure you
or heal your wound.
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and in their distress earnestly seek me.
"Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth."
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes early away.
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

By citing this verse, Jesus teaches that though God may be angry, He still seeks our return. He has hewn, but by His prophets, not a sword. He has slain, but with His words, not an army.

There is a perfect balance in Hosea. The Lord does not overlook transgression or remain silent, rebuking sharply. But He does so by means of teaching, not by destroying.

The mistake the Pharisees are making is to think the people are a lost cause.

Mark 2

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.
14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.
16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

the crowd

Mark alone tells us this event took place in the public square. Everyone can hear the Lord's teaching and see the actions of the Pharisees and scribes.

John 18:19–21

The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, "I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said."

there were many who followed him

Mark mentions that many tax collectors and sinners followed Jesus. Early on there is a distinction between the lowly who follow Him and the ruling elites who oppose Him.

he said to them

Matthew also records the Pharisees spoke to the disciples. Here we learn Jesus addressed the Pharisees in direct response.

Luke 5

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”
28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.
30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

leaving everything

Everyone Jesus called to be an apostle is said to have left all to follow Him.

Matthew 4:20, 22

Immediately they left their nets and followed him….
Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

made him a great feast in his house

Luke reveals this occasion was actually a celebration. Levi is happy to have been called to follow Jesus.

The company being mostly tax collectors confirms they were ostracized in Judean society and must have stuck together.

grumbled

Luke alone uses the term "grumbling" (γογγύζω), which can also be rendered "muttering" or "murmuring." It's a low rumbling, a registering of our displeasure. But God hears it loud and clear.

The Septuagint uses this same term especially regarding the people's complaints leading to wandering in the wilderness 40 years:

Numbers 14:26–30

And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, "How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell….'"

Psalm 106:24–26

Then they despised the pleasant land,
having no faith in his promise.
They murmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the LORD.
Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness….

Why do you eat and drink…?

Matthew and Mark showed the Pharisees asking "Why does your teacher eat…?", but Luke shows us it started with direct questions to the disciples, "Why do you eat…?"

Addressing another teacher's students directly shows a lack of decorum and disrespects the authority of that teacher.

It's also a divisive tactic. Even those who know better can be pulled off into doing wrong:

Galatians 2:11–14

When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"

to repentance

Luke alone provides the explicit goal of repentance. Sinners are not called to come sin with Jesus, but rather we are called to repent and join Him in living right.

Romans 2:4

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

1 John 3:5–6

You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

§ 8. Jesus' Ministry in Galilee Continued