Anchor My Faith

Dinner with Levi and Sinners

Scripture: Mt 9:12-13; Mk 2:16; Lk 5:29

In our previous lesson Jesus requested Levi to follow him, which was to make a total commitment to him. Levi responds in obedience and leaves everything behind and goes with Jesus. Did Levi have a change of heart and if so what was the evidence?

^{“Lk 5:29} 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 Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.” Levi’s intent for this great feast is not clear, but it is not improbable that Levi got them together to bring them into contact with Jesus. The large company was probably large enough to fill the room in his house and was made up of tax collectors and probably others of wicked character as later the scribes of the Pharisees refer to them as sinners.

In a formal dining room, the guests reclined on a couch that stretched around three sides of the room. Levi would have taken the center seat at a U-shaped series of low tables. The heads of the guests would recline toward the tables with their feet toward the wall. The disciples of Jesus were also at the table, but how many were there with him. It is natural when you read “disciples of Jesus” that you think of 12 disciples, but if you think back we have not yet met 12. So far, in our walk along the gospel path, we have encountered Andrew, John, Peter, Philip, Nathanael, and John, but from recent lessons, it is questionable if Philip and Nathanael are with Jesus at this time as only Andrew, John, Peter, and James were at the Sea of Galilee when Jesus asked them to follow him. Except for James, the six were together following the lessons on John the Baptist. The remaining five we have not encountered yet. The twelfth is Levi, who we will later call Matthew.

^{“Mk 2:16} And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”’ Where ever Jesus is, he is sure to attract the Jewish authorities. Jesus probably sat with Levi at the head of the table and the disciples at the end, maybe near the door where at least one of the scribes of the Pharisees was able to ask them why Jesus was eating with such a group of sinners.

Jesus knew what was being said and responded: ^{“Mt 9:12} But when [Jesus] heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Jesus acknowledges that there are sinners present. They are the ones that are sick and who need a physician. In a previous lesson, Jesus claimed he could forgive sin and he is here among sinners as one who can help them. Jesus was sent by the Father to overcome our sin problem. We as ambassadors of Jesus Christ must be found among sinners, to share with them the gospel of salvation.

“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” comes from Hosea 6:6. Sacrifice relates to the law and the observance of religious rituals, but to God mercy was more important as there we find steadfast love, which would have led the Pharisees to reach out and care for these sinners as Jesus does.

Prayer

Father, how I long each day to spend time with Jesus as we travel along the gospel path. I listen to him teach and demonstrate his authority in various ways. I watch him do life and I learn from him how I can do life better. I look forward to the years ahead, as we do these lessons together, and pray that I will have enough strength left to finish the course with him as I should be close to 87 when we finish. Pray with me that we can finish and for those around the world that are reading these lessons. I am amazed at the countries these readers are found in.