Bible Study series: Luke 5:27-32. Levi said yes. Let’s celebrate!
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I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 5:27-32
27 And after this he went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth and said to him, “Follow me!” 28 And leaving everything, he got up and began to follow him. 29 Then he threw a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were dining with them. 30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of the law grumbled to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And in reply, Jesus said to them, “The healthy do not have need of a doctor, but the sick do. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:27-32)
Comments:
To find out who Matthew / Levi was, please see the post:
The Meaning of the Names of the Twelve Apostles
27:
“tax collectors”: You can learn more about them at this link:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
Levi was a poll tax collector, but maybe he also expanded his business to include purchase and lease taxes.
“follow …!” The verb is in the command form, so I translated it with an exclamation point; Jesus had a commanding (but not bossy) presence, and his words were authoritative. That may explain why Levi responded instantly—or in a process, as we shall see. People live in a sheltered world if they have not met a natural leader like that (in a weaker person than the Messiah). But you can omit the exclamation point in your own reading, if you wish.
Now let’s discuss why Levi responded seemingly so instantly. He lived in the area. He had heard of Jesus’s miracles and teaching. He may have even seen Peter’s miraculous catch of fish—or certainly heard about it. It is probable that he was tired of his job. Was he a tax collecting fraud, like Zacchaeus was (Luke 19:1-9)? Maybe, maybe not. The verses are silent.
Let’s say that he was not a fraud, for this line of argument. Why follow Jesus on one invitation? Living in the area, he heard of Jesus. He may have even stood on the periphery of the crowd, observing his miracles and hearing his teachings. He felt convicted. In contrast to his own life, Levi may have also felt bored with it all. He may have reached the conclusion that he really was compromising too much with the Romans. He felt empty inside. He possibly believed that Jesus was the revolutionary man he was secretly looking for. He would overturn the whole system. That’s what motivated him to leave behind his lucrative business—a completely new and different course of life.
Now let’s say he was a tax collecting fraud like Zacchaeus, which is probable. As noted, he heard about Jesus’s ministry and felt convicted. He saw the emptiness of his life. He needed a change, and his knowledge of Jesus’s ministering in the area deepened his commitment to follow him, the possible Messiah—the miracle-worker. He must have been thrilled to prepare a feast for him and when Jesus came to it. “Wow! A man who accepts me as I am, but loves me too much to leave me as I am!” He needed refreshing. He needed something different to get out of his old life and the clinking coins and his pocketing some of them. Listening to him talk at his feast must have strengthened his resolve to go all the way to the very end of the journey with Jesus. Did he realize it would end in Jesus’ death? Probably not, but he was up for the adventure.
28:
Some interpreters say that this great feast was a sign of his willingness to follow Jesus. Fair enough. However, it can be assumed that he eventually asked permission from the Roman authorities to sell off or give away his lucrative tax business. That was quite a sacrifice. He was rich enough to throw a banquet—a great banquet attended by many people (v. 29). On the other hand, maybe he hired out his business to subcontractors and kept some of the proceeds for the kingdom, but let’s not go there, because the text says he left everything behind.
“The same call that lifted the paralytic from his cot or bedding lifted Levi from his tax booth” (Garland, comment on 5:28, citing R. Alan Culpepper in New Interpreter’s Bible).
“No longer could Levi be centered around his own needs and securities, particularly when they were secured at the expense of others” (Garland, comment on 5:28).
29:
The scene is one of wealth, indicating Levi had a rich business. It took a lot of money to throw a “great” feast or banquet for a “large crowd.”
30:
“Pharisees”: see v. 17 for more comments.
“teachers of the law”: many translations have “scribes.” See v. 17 for more comments. Apparently these teachers of the law assisted the Pharisees.
“grumbling”: The verb is used eight times, and the noun grumbling is used four times, and “grumbler” once (Jude 16).
“disciples”: the noun is used 261 times in the NT, though many of them are duplicates in the three synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. BDAG says of the noun (1) “one who engages in learning through instruction from another, pupil, apprentice”; (2) “one who is rather constantly associated with someone who has a pedagogical reputation or a particular set of views, disciple, adherent.”
The main point of this verse, and perhaps the entire section, is this question right here. Note that tax collectors and sinners are equated (see. v. 27 for more comments on tax collectors). The people knew how the tax collectors were compromisers with the Romans. These money grubbers had profaned themselves by mixing in with the enemy and against the Chosen People, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. 19:6).
“sinners”: it is the adjective hamartōlos (pronounced hah-mahr-toh-loss), and see v. 8 for more comments. This is the generic term for people who do not measure up to the standards of the Pharisees and their scribes, the Watchdogs of Theology and Behavior.
Bible Basics about Sin: Word Studies
Human Sin: Original and Our Committed Sin
“eat and drink”: Jesus became known as a “wine-drinker” (Luke 7:34). Jesus liked to celebrate with “sinners.” Eating with the right or wrong person was very important in the society that emphasized ceremonial cleanness. Eating with them signaled observers that he was welcoming with them and was making himself unacceptable to the super-pure. He did not care what they thought of him.
31:
“healthy”: It speaks of soundness in body and mind (Luke 5:32; 7:10; 15:27), but also sound doctrine (1 Tim. 1:10, 6:3; 2 Tim. 1:13; 4:3; Tit. 1:9, 13; 2:1, 2). It is interesting that Dr. Luke sees it exclusively as healthy in body and mind, while Paul transforms the verb into sound doctrine (though the adjective is translated as “healthy” in body throughout the NT).
“sick”: the adverb is the standard word in its various forms for “bad” or even “evil.” It is easy to imagine that in his earlier life Dr. Luke heard this from many of his patients, “I feel bad!” “Those who are well do not need a physician because they believe that they are well. The sick will usually call a physician to attend to them. In this case, however, Jesus as they physician does not wait for the sick to come to him to be restored to health; he goes hunting for them” (Garland, comment on 5:31).
“I have … come”: This clause reveals his mission. Some skeptics say that John is clear about God sending Jesus, while Luke (and Matthew and Mark) merely hints at it in such clauses as “I have been sent” or “I have come.” Therefore, the four Gospels are irreparably inconsistent and contradictory (they claim). The critics overemphasize the nuances, of course. John tells and shows loudly, and the Synoptic Gospel writers show and tell more subtly, for those who can see. John drops all subtleties, probably since his Gospel is the last one, so he does not need to be secretive to his readers.
5. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Came Down from Heaven
32:
Now for the main point. There are two main ways to interpret this verse.
First, some interpreters say that certain people are righteous in their behavior. After all, Luke says Simeon was righteous and devout (Luke 2:25). Paul testified that before he came to Christ he kept the law blamelessly and was faultlessly righteous in the law’s terms (Phil. 3:4-6). The law, particularly the Ten Commandments, are not that difficult, particularly for the extra-scrupulous. He was an ex-Pharisee, much like the ones at this feast. I have no doubt that he kept the law, outwardly. Even “Average Joes and Janes” don’t steal or commit perjury or commit adultery, nor do they make images of gods. They can live free from coveting their neighbors’ possessions, in outward appearance. This interpretation says Jesus was not calling the Pharisees to repentance, because they were indeed righteous on a social level and by outward appearance, but he was calling the sinners and tax collectors to repent. Note that Jesus did in fact call Levi, and not the Pharisees.
Second, some interpreters say he is using irony. The issue is of the heart. Jesus deepens the requirements and turns them into love for God first. If we love God, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) and on the Plain (Luke 6:17-49), Jesus deepens the requirements of the law to the heart, and everyone fails in some way. Therefore, they are unhealthy in some way before God and need him through Christ. No one can be righteous enough for God, and if the Pharisees saw their own need, they would realize this. It is they who need the doctor—the healer of their souls. Jesus is calling them to repentance, if they could only but see it.
My preference: the second interpretation, with some truths in the first one. All Jews, even the extra-devout, need Jesus their Messiah. Peter is the example of the man who sees his need for repentance. The Pharisees do not see their need. Just the opposite. They saw themselves as so righteous that they were able to lead the people towards legal righteousness.
8 Righteousness of the Kingdom
“repentance”: it is the noun metanoia (pronounced meh-tah-noi-ah), and it literally means “change of mind.” But it goes deeper than mental assent or agreement. Another word for repent is the Greek stem streph-, which means physically “to turn” (see Luke 2:20, 43, 45). That reality-concept is all about new life. One turns around 180 degrees, going from the direction of death to the new direction of life.
Jesus’s call goes out to anyone who sees his need for the kingdom and the King. Anyone can respond. But if anyone thinks he is self-sufficiently healthy, then he probably won’t respond to the call.
As noted, the statement about the sick and the healthy reflects Peter’s story (vv. 1-11). He was sinful, needed repentance, and the call and uplift of Jesus (Garland, p. 235).
When Jesus goes after the sinner, he calls them to repentance. He does not go to Levi’s dinner party just for fun. He is looking for a chance to call people to repentance. This is the acceptable, welcoming and favorable year of the Lord (4:19).
Liefeld and Pao: “While the gospel of grace and forgiveness is for everyone (2:10), repentance is a prerequisite to its reception. The tax collector in 18:13-14 met this prerequisite, but not the Pharisee (18:11-12). The Lukan theme of joy is linked with that of repentance in 15:7, 10, 22-27, 32. Repentance was previously mentioned in Luke 3:3, 8, but only in the context of John the Baptist’s ministry” (comments on vv. 31-32).
Morris quotes another scholar (Munger): “The church is the only fellowship in the world where the one requirement for membership is the unworthiness of the candidate” (comments on vv. 31-32). Then Morris continues: “He did not, however, come to leave them in their sin. He called them to repentance” (ibid.).
GrowApp for Luke 5:27-32
1. Levi (Matthew) the rich tax collector gave up everything. What did you give up to follow Jesus?
2. Jesus ate and drank with sinners and tax collectors. How have you associated with the outcasts and undesirables? If so, what blessing did they bring to your spiritual growth?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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