Luke 5:27-32 - Unlikely Unity
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
It has been said in the past that the church is the only fellowship in the world where the one requirement for membership is the unworthiness of the candidate (repeat).
What a statement, Church. Wouldn’t churches across the world look a little differently if this was how we truly viewed the church. I pray that at CrossPointe, we are quick to admit that we are not a perfect group of people. In fact, we are an unlikely unity here as well. We have people from all walks of life. People from different career paths. People from different upbringings. We have people of different generations. Yet we are all unlikely unified by the Gospel. Why can this be? Because the Gospel is the great equalizer. No matter what social status, economic status or vocation one may have, the Gospel reveals that we are all in the same boat! We are all in desperate need of a Savior.
Join me today as we see one of the most unlikely people to be united with Christ and His followers.
Read Full Scripture:
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”
And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
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.
And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Prayer
Today we will see how Christ does not choose and call according to worldly wisdom and religiosity. Instead, He chooses based on His own sovereign ways. And in His calling of sinful people to repentance, we learn that…
I. Christ Calls the Unlikely (27-28)
I. Christ Calls the Unlikely (27-28)
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”
We are introduced to a tax collector named Levi in this first verse of our Scripture today. Matthew lets us know in his Gospel that this is actually him. Levi is just another name for Matthew with Levi being his Aramaic name and Matthew being his Hebrew name. And we are told that this man is a tax collector.
Today, tax collectors such as those working for the IRS don’t have the greatest of reputations in our country. No one really enjoys paying taxes. And no one certainly enjoys being audited. But tax collectors in America have a much better reputation than those of Jesus’ time period!
Jewish tax collectors in Jesus’ time were the lowest of the low in Jewish culture. They were known as sell-outs to Rome. There were two levels of tax collectors. The higher level were overseers of those who actually collected the taxes. The lower group of tax collectors were of the most hated because they were the faces of tax collection. Many of these men on the forefront of tax collection even took advantage of their own people by pocketing extra money for themselves.
And to add insult to injury for Matthew’s case of being called by Christ, we see in Mark 2:13, that Matthew has his tax booth situated by the shore - most likely in the area of Capernaum! He was likely to have even collected taxes from the fishermen of the area - some of whom had become followers of Jesus already!
So coming to a man like this, most would think a stand-up guy like Jesus would let him know what was up, right? This would be the point where Jesus would demean Matthew for all of the bad things he has done. He would condemn him to eternal destruction and then keep walking. At least, that is what would have been expected from any religious elite during this time in Jewish history.
But Jesus does something that blows the mind of the religious leaders as we will see soon.
He says to Matthew - ‘Follow me.’
Two short words. No conversation about Matthew’s past. No condemnation for Matthew selling out his own people. Just a call to follow.
Wow, my friends. Can you imagine the scene at this time? What are Peter, Andrew, James, and John thinking at this point? What are other followers of Jesus thinking? Has Jesus just lost His mind? It’s one thing to call some uneducated fishermen, but a tax collector? We can imagine that even some of Jesus followers are wanting to draw the line here. It is very likely that some of them - including some of His closest disciples - Peter, James, John, and Andrew - had been wronged by Matthew.
What will be Matthew’s response to such grace and kindness?
And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
Matthew, seeing the weight of this call, leaves everything and rises and follows Christ. He leaves behind his entire livelihood. Tax collectors were well-to-do during this time period. Most of them dressed well and lived even better. And now he was leaving all of that to follow a poor carpenter from Nazareth.
It was really a huge step for the fishermen to leave their work and follow Christ as we saw at the beginning of chapter 5. But as we see after Christ is crucified, they were able to pick back up where they left off for a while before Christ appeared to them (John 21:2-3). Yet for Matthew, leaving his post was likely a point of no return.
How amazing is this transformation.
This is a sign of true repentance my friends.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
We have mentioned this verse many times in the past. But we must understand that true salvation requires true repentance. And Matthew demonstrates true repentance.
My friends, when we are saved, there should be an obvious change in our lives. We are born again. The old has gone and the new has come. This change should be somewhat radical in nature.
Don’t misunderstand salvation for us today. It is God who calls and God who draws. He is the one saves us. But we must be humble and be willing to repent and turn away from our old life and follow Christ. Matthew was willing to leave everything. Are you?
My friends, if you have not made the decision to follow Christ - know that He calls the unlikely. You are never too far gone for Him to save you.
Next we see that…
Scripture References: Mark 2:13, John 21:2-3, 2 Corinthians 5:17
II. Christ Calls the Undeserved (29-30)
II. Christ Calls the Undeserved (29-30)
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. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
But Matthew did not stop there. He didn’t just follow by himself and quietly leave his post as a tax collector to follow Jesus. He does what all of us should do when we get saved - frankly what we should be continuing to do until we die! He tells all of his friends and invites them to meet Jesus as well!
We are told that a large company of tax collectors and others are reclining at the table with Jesus and His disciples and followers. The idea of reclining at the table, shows that this meal is probably lasting a while. There is likely much conversation going on.
As we imagine this scene, we cannot help but know that this is certainly quite a motley grew. This is a rough group of people. The Pharisees hit hard on the assumed inadequacy of Christ’s company as we will see in the next verse. But before getting to that we have to acknowledge what Matthew has just done here.
Matthew has thrown a great feast - or a banquet. Feasts and banquets were, and even today are, thrown as expressions of joy. Consider the parable of the prodigal son. When the son finally came home, what did the father do? He threw a great feast and killed the fattened calf (Luke 15:23)!
Matthew is responding with great joy at his newfound call from Christ. And his response is joy and his response is to tell everyone he knows!
And the people he knows are not your average Sunday school group!
We mentioned already that this gathering was a rough group of people. This wasn’t the same crowd that we saw in the healing of the paralytic last week. That crowd was full of religious leaders. That crowd was full of piety and legalistic fervor. Now we have a group that the Pharisees and scribes describe with the blanket word, ‘sinners.’
We mentioned last week that the religious leaders, for the most part, left unrepentant and unsaved. And we see this pride and lack of humility yet again here. They refuse to learn and be taught by Jesus. Instead, they jump to their own conclusions and continue to assert their own authority and self-righteous legalism.
In their minds, religious leaders needed to be religious. They needed to separate themselves from others in order to be clean. They couldn’t get their hands dirty getting to know sinners.
Yet, as theologian Robert Stein asserts while referring to Luke 13:29,
True Christianity has always broken down economic, social, ethnic, and racial barriers; for where Christ is truly present, “people will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” - Robert Stein
Let’s go ahead and read the full Scripture that Stein is referencing here:
And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.
Think about that idea for a moment. Heaven will be filled with undeserved people from all walks of life.
Listen to John write in Revelation about this same idea:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
Every nation, all tribes and peoples and languages - all praising God in heaven. How beautiful is this picture?
Sadly, the Pharisees refused to believe that God could save the undeserved.
They thought that God would only save those who were truly deserving - namely themselves.
How ironic is it that the Pharisees, appearing that they were righteous, were further from salvation than any of the aptly named sinners at Matthew’s banquet?
My friends, unless we realize that we are all undeserved, we can never be saved.
We have seen already seen Christ call the undeserved and the unlikely. And finally we see that…
Scripture References: Luke 15:23, Luke 13:29, Revelation 7:9
III. Christ Calls the Unwell (31-32)
III. Christ Calls the Unwell (31-32)
And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus answers them with a unique answer. It is not the well who need a physician but those who are sick. He comes to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance. The interesting thing about this statement is that the religious leaders falsely assume that His illustration means that they are okay. They refuse to see any sickness in themselves. They believe they are clean and healthy by their own estimation.
How frightening is this interchange? Self-righteousness is so blinding my friends.
Christ obviously knows that the Pharisees and scribes are sinners as well. He knows that they are frankly more lost than the motley crew He was eating with.
But sadly, knowing their refusal to submit to Him, Jesus allows them to choose to take His statement as a positive for themselves. They basked in their self-righteousness instead of humbling themselves and realizing their need for a Savior.
We see that at times, God hand’s people over to their debased and sinful mind in Romans 1:28 as well.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
In this section we see that God hands over unrepentant sinners at times who refuse to acknowledge Him and who continue to seek the lusts of the flesh, idolatry, and other sinful acts. This is a terrifying place to be.
And this is where the Pharisees and scribes are now. They have hardened their hearts and God has given them over to their own self-righteousness and sin.
Jesus will go on and call the Pharisees and other religious leaders out many times in the future. But this account ends with the religious leaders seemingly standing firm in their own self-righteousness which persists throughout the Gospel of Luke.
Ultimately, the Scribes and the Pharisees missed the purpose of the law. The law was given, not to prove man’s righteousness, but instead to make man aware of his sinfulness. See Paul’s words in Galatians 3:19:
Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
The Law was given to show us our transgressions until Christ came to forgive us. It was not given in order to save us. Let’s move forward and read verses 21 and 22…
Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
The Law was not given for freedom and forgiveness of sin. It was given as a schoolmaster or tutor. It was given to show man the darkness of sin. It was given to reveal the wickedness that is within the heart of man.
Yet, many today are like the Pharisees and Scribes. They refuse to submit to their schoolmaster - namely the Law. They refuse to admit that they are sinners. They refuse to admit that they are unwell and wrought with the destroying disease of sin that encircles their soul in order to strangle it into eternal death.
Many are like a cancer patient who refuses a cure that is offered. They deny the presence of their dreadful condition and live life like it isn’t there. All the while the cancer eats away at their body and takes them inch by inch to the grave.
Friends, don’t be like the Pharisees or Scribes. Understand the terrible state of man’s heart by nature. We are fallen and sinful. We are dreadfully sick and need a physician. Not just any physician - we need the Great Physician.
Brothers and sisters, not only do we need to personally come to the Great Physician - but we need to introduce others to the Great Physician as well.
Jesus Christ came to save the sick. He came to save the unwell.
As a practicing ER physician, the COVID pandemic was an interesting time for me. While a large group of Americans and much of the world was shut up in their homes and scared to go out, I was in the line of fire. I put tubes the down the throats of some COVID patients and put them on a ventilator. I treated many who came in with even minor symptoms but were terrified just because of the unknown at the time. Patient after patient, I walked into the room and cared for them.
I’m not asking for any glory or recognition for this. I was just doing my job.
How good of a doctor would I have been if I would have just said - sorry, you are unclean? I don’t want to catch what you have so you will have to find somewhere else to go.
Aren’t we glad that our medical professionals, for the most part, did not do that?
But in an even greater way, aren’t we glad that our Savior didn’t do that! He chose to live His earthly life and minister to the unwell - namely the sinners. He associated Himself with people like Matthew who were known as the lowest of the low in Jewish culture. How incredible is that? The completely sinless surrounded Himself by the overwhelmingly sinful!
In the same way, we need to be willing to associate with people that religious people would refer to as sinners. The person with a foul mouth at your workplace isn’t someone you should completely avoid. Ask them out to lunch or start a conversation in the break room at work and have a Gospel conversation with them! The atheist or agnostic who uses God’s name in vain all of the time - ask them about what they believe about the afterlife, and see if God opens up an opportunity to share the good news of the Gospel with them.
We should certainly exercise wisdom in where we go. Jesus, obviously, never sinned and was God-made-flesh. He could handle any and every temptation. But some of us need to avoid certain places that might cause us to stumble. We should exercise wisdom. But we are not to avoid sinners altogether! We need to engage with our lost world in order to share the Gospel with it.
When Jesus refers to the unrighteous as sick, He refers to the condition that we ended our last sermon with. He refers to the sickness of sin. There is no greater problem in our world that than the dreadful condition of sin.
Scripture References: Romans 1:28, Galatians 3:19, Galatians 3:21-22, 1 Timothy 1:15, Romans 3:9-12
Conclusion:
As we come to a close we have seen that…
Christ Calls...
The Unlikely
The Undeserved
The Unwell
Which of these are you? If you don’t see that you were all three of these when you were called to Christ - might I be so bold to say - you may not, in fact be saved! We all were unlikely. We were bent on rebellion. We were doomed for destruction. Yet He saved us. We all were undeserved. We were unholy and unrighteous. And we all were unwell. We were sick and in great need of the Great Physician.
If you can’t identify with what we have went through today and identify with the great need of Matthew, I am concerned that you don’t have a sober-minded view of yourself. I’m concerned that you don’t see yourself as really needing a Savior. Jesus Christ requires complete humility and submission. I pray that you speak as Paul does when he references his undeservedness:
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
Do you believe that of yourself? Or do you think that there are many others who are worse sinners than yourself?
I’m not talking about false humility here or an overwhelming self-deprecation. I’m talking about seeing our depravity as what it is. We know more of our own sins than the sins of anyone else in the history of the world. So our view of ourselves should be that we were unwell and in desperate need of saving.
And this knowledge should drive us to repentance. And this knowledge should drive us to evangelism - knowing there are others out there like us who need to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ - the one who took our sin and shame on the cross and died for us - and rose from the dead three days later and is now at the right hand of the Father.
I pray that you know Him personally as your Lord and Savior. If not, I’d love to talk more with you about what it means to be a true follower of Christ.
And I pray for those who are saved - that you realize the tremendous grace of God to save your wretched soul.
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
In response of Christ’s great mercy upon you - go and proclaim freedom to those who are captives to sin.
There is freedom in His name - the name of Jesus.
And see the unlikely unity of the church grow day by day.
Prayer