This story is also recorded in Matthew 9:9-13 and Mark 2:14-22. When you read one of the first four books of the New Testament (known as The Gospels because all four tell the gospel story of Jesus’ birth, life on earth, death, and resurrection), you will end up reading many stories that are in the other books. So at the close of Luke, though you completed reading one book in the Bible, you’ve actually covered much of all four of these books. I like to look at the footnotes in my Bible and find where these stories are recorded in the other books. I flip the pages to those stories and read them for any extra things that might have been recorded in another witness’s account of the same story. I highlight and take notes in those segments of scripture and then flip the pages back to the book I was reading initially and make note of the additional information.

Verse 27 Levi’s name is actually Matthew. When people follow the Lord, they are often given a new name to signify their new identity as a follower. Levi was a tax collector but when he became a follower, he is known as Matthew. Simon Peter is referred to as Peter after Jesus’ impact on his life.

Tax collectors have the worst reputation with the people. Tax collectors are considered traitors to the people because they work on behalf of the Roman government and collect taxes – no one likes money going to taxes. But worse, tax collectors were known to collect a little extra on taxes to pad their own pockets.

Verse 29 After deciding to follow Jesus, Levi/Matthew holds a big banquet at his house and invites his tax collector buddies and a few others to come to meet Jesus. This is what coming to Jesus looks like for all of us. If we are truly sold out for Jesus, we want to share Him with all of our friends from that old life we lived. We want to introduce Him to all of them because life with Jesus changes everything!

Verse 30 The Pharisees are supposed to be servants of God but clearly, they don’t understand what that looks like.

Verse 31 This statement is the whole premise of a church. The Church exists not for the healthy but for the spiritually sick. The Church body that is healthy welcomes those in need of Jesus, the Great Physician, and the Church serves them. If someone thinks they are righteous (morally right, very good), then why do they need Jesus? Jesus came to set sinners free from the bondage of sin. He came to encourage repentance and a new way of life, a freeing way of life, and restore their relationship with God. Jesus didn’t come to seclude Himself in a sea of religious people. What need is there in that kind of crowd? Righteous people think they are right with God, have no sin, and are already free. And sadly, the Pharisees and other religious leaders didn’t have the concern for sinners to show them compassion and point them to God.

The truth is, none of us is fully righteous. We are part of this world that has allowed sin in. It corrupts us all in small ways. Our entire life is filled with trying to weed out the darkness, the fear, the evil, and the pain that sneaks in through the back doors of our lives that go unwatched because we thought we were safe.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for showing compassion on me that while I was buried in my sin, You came to me with open arms. You welcomed me into Your kingdom and gave me a seat at the table. Thank you for your mercy, Jesus. Thank you for rescuing me from my old life of sin. Thank you for continuing to draw near to me even when I still mess up. Thank you for showering me in love, and encouragement to keep going. Continue to work in my heart and reveal hidden sins. Give me the strength to walk away from the grip that sin has on me. Help me to choose you, Jesus, over anything holding me back from freedom in You. Help me, Holy Spirit, to share Your Word with those around me who need You. There are people I love trapped in sin, stuck in their pain, burdened with their problems, following their own twisted thinking. Help me, Jesus, to share You with them. Help me show them that this life with You is far better than they can imagine. Jesus, go before me and make a change in their heart and prepare them for the words You put in my mouth. Open doors of opportunity with those who are spiritually sick and give me favor with Your Word. Jesus, You are the only life worth living for. Right now, I am advocating and praying for the hearts of those I love, (say them by name or write their names down in your prayer). Holy Spirit, reveal Yourself to them. Shine Your light in their life and open their eyes to see the darkness they’ve been living in. Break their hearts and give them an understanding that there is a better way to do life and it is with you, Jesus. I pray for Your love to surround them, Your compassion to cover them, Your peace to fill them, Jesus. Restore what has been taken in their lives. Mend what has been broken, Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.