Jesus at Levi’s Great Banquet
On 7th February 2025, I led our Cell Group in a discussion of Luke chapter 5. In this chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 27 to 32 recount Jesus attending a great banquet hosted by a tax collector named Levi. Obviously, Levi had invited his friends to the banquet to listen to Jesus. And who would Levi’s friends be? Mostly tax collectors. To the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law, these people were referred to as tax collectors and sinners.
Many Christians would never consider attending a banquet with the type of people Jesus shared a meal with that night. How then are we to share the Gospel? Fellowshipping exclusively with those who are just like us? Or meeting the lost and the broken where they live, sharing the hope of the Gospel and the forgiveness of sins for all who believe? Jesus showed us how we are to live that night at Levi’s banquet. We are to share the Good News with those who need it most.
Luke 5:31-32 records Jesus’ response to their criticism: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Lest I give the wrong impression that there are actually righteous people around, let me refer you to Romans 3:10-12: “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’”
I hope I won’t be taken to task for calling everyone a sinner, but that is what the Holy Bible states. Jesus said in John 8:7, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
At the time of the Cell Group meeting, this story felt like a distant Bible narrative. But today, it is staring us in the face through the news and social media. Are the “righteous” people now casting stones? While we may perceive ourselves as better than others, we are still far from the perfection of God.
We can try to be like Robin Hood and rob from the rich to give to the poor. The poor who benefitted were very happy with Robin Hood but wasn’t he pursued relentlessly by the Sheriff of Nottingham? So, there is no perfect man. In this life, we have to live with the imperfect.
Is the church made up of righteous people or self-righteous people? The reality is that we are all sinners who place our trust in Jesus as our Savior, Redeemer and God.
Ephesians 2:8-9 beautifully states: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
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