“I Have Not Come to Call the Righteous, but Sinners” | Luke 5:27–32

Show Notes

Episode 710:
In this episode, we delve into Luke 5:27-32, where Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, to follow Him. We explore the significance of this moment, emphasizing that Levi, also known as Matthew, was viewed as a traitor by his fellow Jews for collaborating with the Roman oppressors. Despite this, Jesus sees potential in Levi and invites him to leave his lucrative but morally questionable life behind.

What is The Bible Guys?

Whether you’ve been following Jesus for years or you’re just starting to ask questions, there’s a seat for you here.

Join Jeff and Chris for honest conversations about Scripture, faith, and the everyday stuff we all navigate. With humor, personal stories, and plenty of back-and-forth, The Bible Guys explore what the Bible says and how it connects to your life.

Subscribe, bring your questions, and get to know the Bible one conversation at a time. Head over to TheBibleGuys.com for more information!

You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible Guys. We're back again. We're back again. Even though we're back again. So we film all five episodes from Monday through Friday at one time, and so we've been in the studio which is now the stage. Oh, I just thought you hadn't changed your shirt all week. Yeah, that's right. That's the same thing on the voice, right, so you see like different nights of different auditions, and that we're in the same outfit, right, what happens at one time anyway, that's us. We are just like the voice, just like the voice. Wow, that's what That's what I just heard myself say. We are in the middle of a series. Well, actually we just started a series with famous sayings of Jesus, as if Jesus himself were doing a podcast. On his famous quotes. A lot to say he did, so he did a lot of things. Yep, also said a lot of things he did. And so we're going to take like the next ten twelve weeks. I think there's like sixty sayings. We're going to use. So it's great. I think it's really fun. It's I know, it's a great idea. So Jesus is talking to you today through Chris and Jeff, but first his word, through his words. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess it could be through Christ and Jeff, could be through your friend, your your mother. Hey, your song lyric. God talk through a donkey, he can talk through us. That's true, right, that is true. That's true. Okay, So but we have first we have a speaking of talking through donkeys. We have a dad joke competition. Wow, there it is. I don't know what that means, but that's hilarious. So I just glance at these and I got to tell you there's some you. Have some good ones I have this time. All right. Well, last time that you and I did a dad joke competition, I think you were disillusioned a little bit with the quality of your jokes. Oh these are good. So desiree up the game today, the upter game. Okay, you want to start first? Thank you? Okay, yeah, okay, go go go all right, Uh my. Text are coming in, hang on, okay, here we go. Did you turn it back on? Yeah? I did? Okay, here we go. This guy's addicted to his phone. Go ahead. No, I actually turned it on because I want to call Tory with. One of these jokes. That's why I turned in. Okay, okay, here here's the first one. I love the phrase bear with me because it either means be patient or the zoo heist was a success. It's ridiculous, ridiculous. Okay, it's a zoo heist was a success. It just it just is like total left turn like in the world. Yeah, okay, here's one. Why haven't aliens visited our solar system yet? Why because when they looked at the reviews, we only had one star. Oh wow, star it was a. Little bit of a want w it's a one star review on that joke. And clever, clever, clever, it's clever. All right. Uh now I told you that my my my daughter, Tori, her fiance is a he's actually a rocket scientist. He wants to be an astronaut. Ok so she'll like this joke. Ready, How do you deal with a sad astronaut? I don't know, Just give them some space. Oh no, hey, so we both had I had a solar system joke and you yeah, yeah, yeah, you had a space joke. Okay, okay, I have a disease where I can't stop telling airport jokes. My doctor says it's terminal. I like it. I like it. It's good. Okay, Now this one here I love. Okay, here we go. Ready, this is good. My boss has threatened to fire the employee with the worst posture. I have a hunch it might be me. That's it's so good. I never thought orthopedic shoes really would work for me, but I stand corrected. Oh that is really good. That is really good. I'm gonna read that one archie. Okay, okay, here you go ready. People said I'd never get over my obsession with Phil Collins, but take a look at me now. Amal and One are identical twins. Their mom only carries one baby picture in her wallet, because if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Oh wow, that's pretty funny. That's pretty good. That's really good. Love that one. It's good. Yep, I like it all right, that's a good one. How about this one? This is my last one. My son Luke loves that. We named our children after Star Wars characters. My daughter Chibaka Nuts not so much superable Hey, John, Hey Julie, my daughter, my. Daughter Chewbacca, not so much. Oh that's great. That is so funny. That's a good one. It's so funny. I surprise, I didn't read. I didn't read ahead. That was me. You couldn't even get it out. It's so funny. My daughter Chewbacca not so much. So good? Oh okay, okay, Well, I taught my pet wolf how to meditate. Now he's aware wolf. Oh it's clever. Aware. I like it. Aware. When I wanted to read to my daughter the orthopedic shoes, okay, correct. Point out to me when I call. I'm gonna call her right now. Okay, I liked one in them all better. All Toris. Calling TORISBA team right now. No, no, no, she's off. School's out. Oh yeah, that's right. And she went to uh speak, Yeah, here we go. She went to Florida. Hey, baby, how are you? I am doing great? How are you good? Hey? Listen, you're on the Bible guys, and I want to read for you a couple of dead jokes. Are you ready? My favorite segment, I'm ready. Okay, here we go. Ready. My son Luke, my son Luke loves that we named our children after Star Wars characters. My daughter Chewbacca not so much. Oh my gosh, that's awesome. Okay, it's just like me, you know, that's. How much just sad. I just feel bad for her. Okay, I have three. I have three more for you. You ready? Okay? Okay? How do you deal with a sad astronaut? Sad astronaut? I don't know. Just give them some space, which you will love because you can tell christ in. A rocket scientists. Okay, okay, two more. I gotta go here, we got ready. Okay, my boss has threatened to fire the employee with the worst posture. I have a hunch it might be me. And then the last one is this. I never thought orthopedic shoes would really work for me, but I stand corrected. Okay, okay, we're at our They were right, Okay, okay, I gotta go, love you bye, all right. I shouldn't have read her for I should have picked one. It's so funny. It's so funny when she laughs. Yeah it is. It is. Well, she loves them so much, so, which is great. So okay, this is she your favorite kid? Wow? Wow? Because she laughs at your jokes. Yeah, she does the other two kind of rolled her eyes at you, you know a little bit. Speaking of favorite kids, favorite kids, My favorite Bible character, oh is Jesus. Jesus. There's no horrible trends. I told you I would do one trends. You got one. You got one? I did there you go so so uh. And speaking of Jesus, he had a lot to say in Luke chapter five. But we're only going to read five verses. I know, twenty seven through thirty two. Yes, here's what he says. And this one is all about I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. That's the title of his podcast. Okay, right, so he's not looking for all you good people, He's only looking for you sinners. Well yeah, yeah, well the calling at. Least the calling yep. So well what is he calling? Hello? Hello? Where are you ring? Ring? Okay, you go. Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a text collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector's booth. Follow me and be my disciple, Jesus said to him. So Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi's fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them, But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus disciples, why do you eat and drink with such scum? Jesus answered them, The healthy people don't need a doctor. Sick people do. I've come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent. Yeah. Wow, Jesus came to call not the righteous but sinners. Yeah, And uh, I love this story. Is this is a great one. You know. Uh, I've actually wrestled with this one a lot, because sometimes you know, you know, Jesus, Jesus often hung out with people who don't have great reputations. But he didn't he didn't necessarily participate in the things that they were doing right right in the ways that they were doing them. They didn't affect him. He affected them, correct, they didn't impact him. He impacted them right. So he so he's on mission right and so like like, for instance, I grew up in Uh I always say I grew up in a bar. That's really not true, but I but but when I was very young. I should not have been in my grandpa's bar, right, but but I was there often in a lot. And I remember being, you know, eight years old, and my mom saying, Okay, you're doing the you're washing the dishes and doing the you know, all these kinds of things, right, and she would bring me there and everything else and and and oftentimes you know, here are these people they are Now. I was never on mission because I wasn't a Christian, right right, right, back then, right, But if I can go back in time, I would. I would hang out there just to affect them and have them not affect me. I would. I would be on mission with them, because I look back at some of the really sad cases. I look back now and I'm like, oh my goodness, I can name you twenty people that were regulars that I played pool with back then. I played pool with them, I shot darts with them, right, but I was never on mission with them. And and I'm telling you it does challenge me. One time, I joined a softball league for the sole purpose because I didn't have enough non Christians in my life. Yeah, I've done that too, have you? I joined the band same reason, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where it's just like I have to put myself around people who, quite honestly, some people are just radically offensive, right, I mean there are people, there's environments that I've subjected myself to where it's just it's it's it almost makes you feel icky, but you're there because it's like, hey, man, it's what Jesus did, as long as you remain on mission with integrity, non compromising and in like in this whole softball league. Man, it was I could barely take it. I gotta be honest, I could barely take it. But but it was like I just wanted to be a light. Well. One of the things I love here is so Jesus goes to Levi Levi. You know, Capernaum is kind of the center of jesus ministry. This was a pretty prosperous city. It's very significant. Were you in Capernaum? Did you ever go to Campea? Yeah? Uh, it's one of It's my favorite place in Galilee. I loved Capernaum and Peter's home was there. There was a synagogue there, there was a military outpost there. This is where Jesus healed the man who was dropped down through the roof, He healed blind people, he raised the little girl from the dead. So many amazing things happen in Capernaum. It becomes becomes kind of his his headquarters for quite a while, and he's leaving town and sitting there. Capernaum was significant because it sits right on the Sea of Galilee. The shore of the Sea Galilee just a beautiful setting. But it also is the crossroads of two major roads, and so off times the tax collectors would sit at those almost like a toll road. You're leaving this region, you're coming to this region. Before you come in, you need to settle up with the government. That that's that's kind of how it worked. And so, Matthew, the tax collectors were always in the Roman Empire, were always of the people that they were collecting taxes from, so they could bid. And so here's a young businessman who somehow bid enough to be able to buy his position. And what he what he would say is I think I can raise X number of dollars a year for the for the empire. And they'll be like, great, if you can do that, then all the rest is profit. And so they would overcharge. They do all kinds of people hated the tax collectors, So Jesus goes to this guy everybody else hates. Yeah, well, I mean, and that's not for crooks. And let's not forget as well, Levi. In this case, Matthew was a Jew and they were being occupied militarily by the Romans, so they already felt like they're existence, the Romans existence was unjust. They wanted liberated. And here's a Jewish person who teams up with the enemy. So that's another thing. Right, So he's a trader, yes, and then he's most of the time. The reason why they would do that is because they could squeeze out so much more profit out of the people than even what the government wanted. That's how they were skimming the edges. They were taking way more and they had almost complete immunity as long as they gave the amount that they were supposed to give to the to the Roman Empire, they could take whatever they wanted and there weren't hardly any consequences. So these guys became filthy rich on the backs of their friends. There are compatriots in this case, Matthew's friends. Yeah, so Matthew, So Jesus goes to this guy that everybody else would have hated. And he says, hey, why don't you follow me? And Matthew, you know, has lived around Capernaum. Do you remember there was another tax collector who was really intrigued by Jesus at Kis. He climbs up in a tree, Jesus doing miracles. He's going around teaching, and Ezechias wants to see what's going on. There's a lot of interest in this guy, Jesus and the town. While it's while it was a city that was substantial in that day, it's not super huge. You can walk through it pretty easily, right, So Matthew would have known who Jesus was. And Jesus comes to Matthew and gives Matthew this very specific attention. Even though Matthew was willing to be ostracized in order to get rich, it's still hard not to have friends. It's still hard to be, you know, on the outside looking in. And so to have this famous rabbi come to him and say, hey, Matthew, want you to leave your prosperous business and once you come with me, leave your connections, leave all the sacrifice you made to get here, and come and follow me. And he does. And then he does have some friends, a bunch of other tax collector friends. That's all he's got, you know. These the others come. And well, acquaintances probably. And he throws a party. And he wanted his friends to meet Jesus, and so he threw a party to have them be able to have a chance to meet Jesus. And what's interesting is is that you know, some people might on the surface question because it doesn't say so, it doesn't give any insight, like why would Matthew do that? Like what you know, you know, Levi was his name, also called Matthew, So why would Levi do that? Why would he leave, you know, something that he sacrificed so much for? And and so you could suppose those answers. So and by the way, the reason why, even though we don't know it's not written, here's what we do know. We know our human spirit, we know our human tendency. We know that even though you know, heck, even from the Old Testament, even you know, thousands and thousands and thousands of years have passed between Old Testament stories and us today. And yet what we realize is the one thing that doesn't change is the human condition. So our same tendencies back then are the same tendencies. Now, how do we know this? Because God knows our hearts. You know, we look at reactions, we look at everything about human nature. It's the same thing. So so what what what would we do if we decided to betray all of our friends and our people to pair up the enemies just for wealth. What we would probably discover is wealth isn't the answer. Because that's what people discover today, right, And once they get it, they say, it's not all cracked. It's not what it's cracked up to be. Right. Wealth doesn't fulfill it's not going to be the thing that satisfies you. Wealth wasn't worth the sacrifice. Uh. You know, when we all get to the end of our lives and we all you know, are on on our on that have that deathbed moment. Uh, you know what, what are people concerned about? They're not concerned about wealth necessarily the most most of the time, they're concerned about family and friends. Right. They want to be they want to be around people who love them. They want to be surrounded by that. They want to take care of they want to make amend. They care. In the end it's not about wealth in the end, It's about people. And so then he may have had a conscience too, right, just knowing that this is a crooked job. He might have had regret, tremendous regret. And by the way, here's another thing. When you spend your existence being hated every single day, what you have, what you have no choice to do, but is to realize, I've made my bed. I have to lie in it like I've made this choice. I am now the hated person, and I guess this is the lot in life that I have chosen. And so I have no choice but to be hated for the rest of my life. At least I'm rich. But but but I'm going to be hated by the jew by all the Jewish community, and not necessarily be loved by the Roman community. Just have acquaintances. Uh. And then Jesus comes along and says, come follow me. I'm choosing you, And all of a sudden, there's this glimmer of hope that maybe you're worth something, that maybe it's not too late for you, Maybe you have a chance to change your destiny. Maybe maybe you know there's something that you can do with your life that's worthwhile. And by the way, that's the same invitation for all of us, right does no matter who you are, no matter what you've done, doesn't matter where you feel worthy or not, doesn't matter how much damage you've caused in your life, Jesus still chooses you in the salvations for everyone. Right, and so come follow me and so yeah. And then the quote that Jesus gives that we're kind of building this off of is when Jesus said, I didn't come for the healthy, I came for the sick. I didn't come for the righteous, but for sinners. And there's a fabulous note in the Life Application Study Bible, and it says, the Pharisees wrapped their sin in respectability. Isn't that great? They made themselves appear good by publicly doing good deeds and pointing out the sins of others. But Jesus chose to spend time not with these proud says, righteous leaders, but with people who sensed their own sin and knew that they were not good enough for God. If you desire to be in close fellowship with Jesus, recognize it, admit your need for him, turn away from anything that would separate you from him. In order to renounce our sin, we must first acknowledge it. Right. So Matthew was pretty pretty open about his sin, and he wanted all of his friends to come and say, dude, this guy saved me. You should meet him. And he was Jesus changed everything in Matthew's life. The Pharisees weren't changed at all because they didn't even acknowledge their own sin, right. They they kind of covered. They cloaked their their sin and their their you know, the need for a savior. They cloaked it in respectability. Were very respectable people. And then I love the strategy of Matthew. Matthew's friends would have never the synagogue is almost in the center of town. It's not real hard to get there. It's a pretty prominent space in Capernaum. And he doesn't say, hey, guys, I want you to go to this synagogue with me on Saturday. Right. Instead, he says, hey, come over, I'm gonna have a back a barbecue in the backyard. You guys want come over. So he's so strategic. He's getting his friends to meet He's meeting his friends where they are not expecting him to come to where he is right. And then alls he wanted to do was get them to Jesus. And so he throws a party knowing that they would go there. And this is one of the reasons, you know, we're getting ready to do. By the time most of our listeners listen to this, we will be coming up pretty quickly on our big baptism of Ben at Freedom Mount. Yeah, that's right. A lot of the people that are going to be getting baptized, they're going to be bringing their friends and family who would never come through the doors of a church building, right, but they'll go to a big arena, right. And and so thinking through those strategic opportunities to reach your friends and family who would never walk through the doors of a church but would come to a party whatever. And so now he didn't just throw a party for the party's sake, and he didn't just throw a party hoping that they would hear good news. Threw party and strategically invited Jesus, and Jesus came in and strategically shared the good news. Right. That's what happened there. And so there is something really powerful in strategically thinking about your friends and family and figuring out what is the best way to get them to be able to hear the gospel. Yeah. You know what's so interesting is that you mentioned Freedom Hill. I'm actually finishing up that message. I'm writing it and finishing up tonight, and I'm about three quarters of the way through it. And it's on the Prodigal Son, Yeah, which which literally is exactly this right here, And we can't teach on it because we can only teach a certain aspect of it. But this will be a fresh take for those who listen to this and then also attend Freedom Hill, because there's so much to learn from the Prodigal Son. But it's so interesting how the last son, the one that Jesus loved, showed the heart of the father, right, and the last son was the object of the story, but actually the older son was the point of the story, right, because it started with them saying, why do you eat with such scum? Why do you eat with prostitutes and sinners? That's where it started. And then Jesus said, Okay, do you want to know the reason why. Let me tell you a story about the lost sheep. Let me tell you a story about the lost coin, let me tell you a story about the lost son, And then he actually brings the older son into the picture, who got angry because of the Father's compassion, and he was comparing it to the righteousness, the self righteousness of the Pharisees. So the. Whole point of the story was the older son scoffing at the father's love, even though the older son was faithful, even though the older son was you know, you know who loved the father. But his reaction was what Jesus was pointing out. And it's the same thing. So it's like, here we have religious leaders who say, why do you eat with such scum? And Jesus is like, do you know the heart of the Father? Right, Jesus, I've come, or that for the unhealthy, not for the healthy. Right, That's why I've come. That's the point. Until you realize that you are spiritually dead and unhealthy, you will never know Jesus. You'll know about him, but you won't know him. That's right, right, Because the Pharisees were pretty clean people. They lived good lives, right, they were just dead inside right, right, and judgmental towards others. And then Matthew was not a good guy, but Jesus changed him on the inside. And then everything else changed. Eventually, Levi, this Levi becomes the author of the Gospel of Matthew. That's right, right, and matter of fact, he went further than just about anybody else. Only Thomas went further as a missionary. He died in Ethiopia, in Africa. He was one of the first missionaries in Africa. Wow, Matthew did. That's really cool? Well, Hey, that was a great h that was a great conversation from five verses. Huh, yeah, it's great. Yeah, So it turns out Jesus had a lot of good things to say. That's right. And if you feel like you're not worthy of Jesus, you're exactly the kind of person he's looking for. Oh, that's a good one. That's a famous quote. What if Jeff had a podcast? What if Jeff had a podcast? All right, hey, we we'll see you hopefully Monday. As we continue this series on the Baba guys,