Luke 05.27-39 Most
religious systems throughout time stand in strake contrast to true, Orthodox
Christianity. Most religious systems state that in order to achieve godhood or
some higher plane, you need to rid yourself of sin and other hindrances that
keep you from advancing in that religious system. They require that an
individual works and earns his way to the top. They first make him sorry for
what he has done, and then the god of that religious system welcomes him, which
is a works-based faith. The Mormons seek godhood of their own planet by going
through temple ceremonies (marriage, baptism, etc.). The Jehovah’s Witness seek
to earn eternal life here on earth by going door-to-door trying to convert
unbelievers. The Roman Catholics seek salvation through the Mass, prayers to
the saints, keeping the sacraments and doing indulgences. Muslims hope to enter
paradise by following the Five Pillars of Islam, and will gain immediate access
if they die fighting (Jihad) for Allah. Hindu’s seek godhood by doing yoga
postures that are designed to form your body into the image of animals, and
each of the poses are gods in Hinduism. So by doing yoga (which means to yoke,
to become one with) it is the Hindu’s best attempt to not have to go through
what’s called the “wheel of samsara” (wheel of sorrows) this constant
reincarnation where you try to reach perfection. Yoga is comparable to these
previous religions as a way to get to paradise.
Because of influences like these
false religions, many people have a hard time with Jesus because they
think that they should do something to deserve the grace, forgiveness and love
from God (Ephesians
02.01-22). Many will often say that when they get their life in
order is when they will get serious for God! Salvation is completely all about
the grace of God through faith. It is through God’s grace that “justifies the
ungodly”, not the godly (Romans 04.05).
As we continue in our study of
the life of the Son of Man who is Jesus, we see that He welcomes sinners and
calls them to follow Him. After they follow Him is when they repent of their
sins, for meeting Jesus reveals the utter depravity of man. What we will study
today in The Saviour of Sinners is 01. The Sinner Called (Luke 05.27-28);
02. Calling Sinners to Repentance (Luke 05.29-32);
03. The Saviour Responds (Luke 05.33-39).
01. The Sinner Called (Luke 05.27-28)
After healing of the paralytic (Luke 05.17-26), Mark tells us in
his Gospel account that Jesus went to the shore of the Sea of Galilee and that “all the people
were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.” (Mark 02.13) Mark also tells us
that Levi was “the
son of Alphaeus” (Mark 02.14).
Matthew though in his Gospel account tells us that his name is Matthew (Matthew 09.09).
Many think that Matthew was his surname.
While Jesus is walking by the
Sea of Galilee, He “and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax
booth” (Luke 05.27). Capernaum was a customs post on the
caravan route from Damascus to the Mediterranean Sea. Being located on the
shores of the Sea of Galilee, the tax collectors were also in position to
collect taxes on boats. Levi Matthew was a tax-official in the service of Herod
Antipas who ruled over the Galilee. The way that the tax system was set up here
at this time was that the Romans would hire Jews to collect taxes throughout
the land. These Jewish tax collectors directly reported to Gentiles; they
collected taxes so that their superiors wouldn’t have to work. The main
requirement that the tax collectors had to fulfill was to collect the taxes
from the people. The tax collector was allowed to collect more than what was
required and keep the extra.
There were two classes of tax
collectors: The Gabbai, who collected
general taxes such as ground tax, income tax and poll tax. The ground tax was
one-tenth of all grain and one-fifth of the fruit and wine grown. The income
tax was one percent, and the poll tax was collected from everyone, the slave
and the free, starting on men who were the age of fourteen and women starting
at the age of twelve until the age of sixty-five. The other class of tax
collectors was the Mokhes. The Mokhes were further divided into the Great Mokhes and the Little Mokhes. The Great Mokhes stayed behind the scenes and hired others, the Little Mokhes to collect taxes for them.
The Mokhes were usually the ones who
would collect more than what was required by Rome, and they would make life
extremely difficult especially for the poor. They would place a tax on all
exports and imports and all that was bought and sold. They would charge a tax
to cross a bridge, to go on a road, to go into the harbor, entering and leaving
town, the number of axels on a cart, how many animals you were using etc. To
make matters worse, they could stop the traveler, make them unpack all of their
goods, impose a tax on them for all that they had, and of course charge them
more than what was required by Rome. It’s not hard to see why the Jews despised
the tax collectors for all the physical and financial hardships that they
placed on people, and that they were Jews working for Gentiles. The Rabbis
taught that repentance was nearly impossible for a tax collector. Tax collectors
were also banned from being judges, witnesses and from worshipping in the
synagogue. (cf. Alfred Edersheim, The
Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Peabody; Hendrickson, 1993], Bk 03, Ch
17, p351-58, 1.507-19) Many believe that Levi Matthew was one of
these Little Mokhes tax
collectors because he manned a tax booth, which means he was the one who dealt
with people, thus making him the most hated of all tax collectors.
So far in the Gospel of Luke, Dr. Luke records for us that Jesus
has interacted a demoniac (Luke 04.31-37), the sick (Luke 04.38-41), a man with
leprosy (Luke
05.12-16), and a man who was paralyzed (Luke 05.17-26). Now He deals
with one of the dregs of society, the tax collector.
Luke 05.27 “and
He said to him, “Follow Me.”” It was to this despised tax collector named
Levi Matthew, who the Rabbis taught that repentance was nearly impossible; this
very man is who Jesus graciously called him to follow Him. The Greek word that is used for “Follow”
(G190) is akolouyew and it means to join one as a disciple and it is
written in the Present Active Imperative, meaning that it is a
command that involves continuous or repeated action. It was the common practice at this
time for a Rabbi to gather for himself his disciples. A Rabbi would walk up and
choose men by basically saying, “Follow me”, and that man would immediately
understand what that meant, and would drop all things to be a disciple of the
Rabbi.
Luke 05.28 Levi Matthew’s response to this gracious call of
our Saviour was to immediately get up, leave his tax job and follow Jesus. Jesus
gave Him the command (Luke 05.27), and he obeyed. He
began at once to follow Him and he didn’t stop. Levi Matthew forsook all, leaving
behind his very profitable job as a tax collector and now he is following the
Son of Man who (Matthew 08.20; Luke 09.58) “has nowhere to lay His head.” Levi
Matthew immediately got up and left his tax job and started to follow Jesus.
Jesus gave Him the command (Luke 05.27), and he obeyed. He
began at once to follow Him and he didn’t stop. To follow Jesus means to
be willing to leave it all behind. Levi Matthew wasn’t just physically
following Jesus, but also spiritually and became one of the twelve disciples (Luke 06.15)
We saw this same leaving it all behind at the beginning of this chapter when
Jesus was By The Lake (Luke
05.01-11), when He called the fishermen to follow Him and when they “brought their
boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.” (Luke 05.11)
This same leaving it all behind action was displayed by Elisha who has plowing
oxen when Elijah came by “and threw his mantle on him” (1Kings 19.19),
which was symbolic of passing the authority from one to another. Immediately
Elisha confirmed his decision by killing his oxen and burned the plow and
followed Elijah (1Kings 19.20-21).
02. Calling Sinners to Repentance (Luke 05.29-32)
More than likely there was some
amount of time that passes between Luke 05.28 and Luke 05.29, as it would take some
time to organize a massive feast.
Luke 05.29 “And Levi gave a big reception for
Him in his house;” Levi Matthew has this great feast to honor Jesus.
Luke 05.29 “and there was a great crowd of tax
collectors and other people who were
reclining at the table with them.”
Levi Matthew invited many of the tax collectors that he knew through the years,
all of who needed Jesus. A man whose sins have been forgiven wants the same for
those who he loves. Levi Matthew obviously wants his friends to follow Jesus as
well. Remember, the Rabbis taught that repentance was nearly impossible for the
tax collectors. So because of this, no one but the social outcasts would
interact with the tax collectors.
Luke 05.30 The word for “grumbling” in the original Greek
(G1111) gogguzw is used of the cooing of doves and is
written in the Imperfect Active Indicative, meaning that they were continuously
murmuring.
According to the custom of the
day, people would gather at the homes of the rich when they were having feasts
with the hopes that they would be invited in. These Pharisees and their scribes
were not invited to the feast, and they wouldn’t have showed up if they were!
But because they weren’t invited, they would hang out on the outside and
condemn Jesus and the disciples for being in the presence of the wicked, vile
tax collectors. The Pharisees launched an indirect attack on Jesus through His
disciples, hoping to discourage them and cause them to stop following Jesus. It
is interesting to point out that people today indirectly attack Jesus through
His disciples today.
Luke 05.31 “And Jesus answered and said to
them,” Jesus knew that their questioning of the disciples was about
Him and trying to undermine His authority, so Jesus answered them.
Luke 05.31 “It is not those
who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.”
The answer of Jesus to the
questioned asked by the Pharisees reveals to us that only people who recognize
their need for salvation are the only kind of people who are willing to come to
Him. In their own opinion, the Pharisees thought themselves to be spiritually
well and in no need for the Saviour of Sinners. Jesus is the Great Physician,
for only He knows all of our sins, and He is our Saviour, for He is the remedy
of mankind’s sin, redeeming us by His blood on the cross (Titus 02.11-14; 1Peter 01.18-19).
Luke 05.32 The Greek word for “repentance” is (G3341) metanoia and it literally means a change of mind. Only those who are sinners are those who are in
need of repentance. Remember, the Rabbis taught that repentance was nearly
impossible for the tax collectors. In Luke 04.18-21, when Jesus was teaching in the
Nazareth synagogue, He read from Isaiah 61.01-02 saying that He came to “TO PROCLAIM THE
FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” (Luke 04.19), preaching the Gospel to the poor,
release to the captives, sight for the blind and to set free those who are
oppressed (Luke
04.18) and that “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
(Luke 04.21).
Jesus speaking directly at the Pharisees is essentially saying that those who
are only righteous on the outside are not whom He came for, but to the sinners,
those who recognize that they are sinners in need of a Saviour. Paul writes
that Jesus died to reconcile the ungodly, the sinners to God (Romans 05.06-10).
03. The Saviour Responds (Luke 05.33-39)
Matthew and Mark tell us in
their Gospel accounts that the disciples of John were there with the Pharisees
asking this question (Matthew 09.14-17; Mark 02.18-22). So undoubtedly the
Pharisees and John’s disciples were together asking this question of Jesus. So
the question is really a veiled attempt to rebuke Jesus for not having His
disciples fast like the Pharisees and John’s disciples did. The Pharisees had a
tradition of fasting twice a week, on Monday and Thursday, for it was taught by
them that Moses ascended Mt. Sinai the second time to get the Law (Exodus 34.01-35;
Deuteronomy
10.01-05) on a Thursday and came down on a Monday. (cf.
Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of
Jesus the Messiah [Peabody; Hendrickson, 1993], Bk 03, Ch 28, p445, 1.663)
Mark tells us that “John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting”
(Mark 02.18)
when they came to Jesus here. So this feast that Levi Matthew threw for Jesus
was probably on a Monday or Thursday. Jesus essentially answers them saying
that the old way of Judaism does not mix with His way.
Luke 05.34 Most English versions miss what is being said in the original
Greek, though the NASB95 seems to do a fair job but still doesn’t completely
capture what is being said here.
The phrase found in the NKJV is
“Can you make” and in the Greek it is “mὴ
δύνασθε”. In Greek, when “mὴ” is before a verb (G1410 dunamai which means “can
or able”) it implies a negative answer. in this case the Greek verb. Luke 05.34
“ὁ δὲ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς mὴ δύνασθε τοὺς υἱοὺς
τοῦ νυμφῶνος ἐν ᾧ ὁ νυμφίος μετ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐστιν ποιῆσαι νηστεύειν” (Textus Recpetus) So
when Jesus says “You cannot make the
attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?” (Luke 05.34) He is saying it with the understanding
by all who are there that the answer to His question is no.
In the Jewish culture, a wedding
feast was a weeklong festival. During that time it was understood that joy of
all there was more important than keeping any of the religious festivals,
including fasting on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Jesus of course is the
bridegroom, and His disciples are the attendants, and He is saying that during
His short time here on Earth his followers were to be happy and joyful, and not
burdened with fasting.
Luke 05.35 Here Jesus is referencing His coming death on the cross,
prophesied by Daniel (Daniel 09.26) and Zechariah (Zechariah 13.07).
Luke 05.36 A new piece of
cloth that has not been shrunk is not put on an old garment because the patch
will shrink and make the tear worse. The old garment is a picture of
righteousness by works, which is what the Pharisees taught and believed. The
new patch is a picture of the grace given to us freely by Jesus. If anyone
trusts in works righteousness and then attempts to cover his sins by the grace
of God will soon find out that the two don’t fit together. For a person who
trusts in his own good works will be condemned for we are “saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not
as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that
we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 02.08-10)
Luke 05.37 New wine is never put in old wineskins for the wine will ferment
and break the old skins because the old wineskins have lost their flexibility,
and both the wine and wineskins will be ruined.
Luke 05.38 The new wine is the good news of the forgiveness of sins and
God’s grace, and this cannot be found in the carnal man. If we accept the
Gospel message of God’s grace and forgiveness, we must also accept the fact
that in our old way of works righteousness is not good enough, for it is based
solely on that which Jesus our Saviour did for us on the cross (1Corinthians
15.01-04).
You can’t fit the new life that
is found in Jesus into your old life. Too many people try to shove Jesus into
their lives instead of letting Him change their life (Ezekiel 36.26; 2Corinthians
05.17; Galatians 04.09-11; Galatians 05.01-06).
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