“I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.” (Luke 5:32) – Daily Meditations – Christian Journal

January 4, 2023Aloys Evina

Jesus came to call sinners, especially prostitutes and the like, criminals and good-for-nothings, all those who are outcasts from society in the eyes of men.

Levi’s conversion shows the kind of people Jesus was calling. He enjoyed taking the gospel to Levi and his former companions, and the justification he gave for his act was unassailable. Could we expect a doctor to have only contact with the sick? Likewise, Jesus’ ministry bound him to the needy whom he called to repentance; those who considered themselves beyond reproach were not his primary concern.
When Jesus calls him, Levi is busy with a pleasant job: that of receiving money. Immediately his mind and heart turn away from this money and he begins to follow the Lord, so that we then see him doing the opposite: he distributes his money, giving to the needy according to Psalm 112.9 (“He pours out, he gives to the poor”).
Levi invites a large crowd of publicans and others to his feast, showing that his thoughts have immediately attuned to those of his new Master, and that he has grasped the spirit of grace.
Jesus, however, is the true Object of the feast, for it is said: “Levi made him a great feast in his house” (v. 29). The Pharisees were totally insensitive to this spirit of grace, but their objections only serve to cause the Lord to proclaim this wonderful message: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (v. 32). .
Everything we have said could be summed up as follows: grace produces the conviction of sin and then works the cleansing from sin. Then it confers power and moreover makes him who receives it conformable to Him who is its expression. Christ becoming the Object of Levi’s heart, we see how he begins to be imbued with the spirit of his Master.

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