Seeking Sinners

What sort of Hebrew aligns himself with their occupier, Rome, and then takes money from his community to fatten his own pockets and serve the enemy? Levi, also known as Matthew, would have likely been seen as a traitor to his people for this exact reason. And what sort of Rabbi (teacher) would ever ask a traitor to follow and be associated with Him? This invitation makes no sense; Rabbis want the best and brightest students devoted to the law and the nation to follow them. And here we again see that Jesus doesn’t see what others see; His ways are high and far beyond our understanding.

Jesus didn’t say, “follow me eventually” or “follow me when it’s convenient.” He said, “follow me.” Levi did this. He left everything in an instant. What drew Levi to drop everything and follow Jesus? Was it a supernatural pull? Or was He so honored to be called to follow a Rabbi (a teacher) that He took this as an opportunity to redeem his lost honor with his people? No matter the case, we see that Jesus is worthy of leaving everything for. Whether it’s leaving a family business, like Peter and James did, or a government job like Levi. Christ offers something that the greatest and best careers can’t even come close to. They may offer an illusion of security, temporary comfort, and a sense of purpose. However, Christ offers eternal security, everlasting comfort, and the true purpose for which He made us—to know and be known by Him.

The passage doesn’t say He sat with tax collectors and the sick, but that he sat with sinners. There is a sickness that runs deeper than our immune system and yields a greater threat than cancer—the sickness of sin. And because of sin, all humanity is terminally sick (Romans 3:23). This is why Jesus explained that he has come as a doctor for the sinner (v17). He has come for us.

Jesus doesn’t push them away, but He shares a meal with them. There is a closeness of friendship that can occur when sharing a meal with someone. Jesus sits among the outcasts, the rejects, and the sinners. He does this because He knows that the medicine they need is ultimately His own life being laid down on their account.

Jesus desires the outcasts and the rejects. We see this in how He called Levi and He sat with the tax collectors and sinners. He desires those who are often neglected and looked down upon by most of society. And He does not seek to make them popular or upstanding citizens, but to make them whole.

He seeks to be a doctor to the sinner. Like a surgeon removing a tumor, He will remove the greatest enemy from us—our sin, which plagues us in this life and damns us for eternity. Jesus wants to sit with and heal the broken.