February, 2001

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:31-32

Early in Jesus’ ministry, He began to call a group of followers. They had the opportunity to watch Jesus up close and personal. They had many occasions to listen to Jesus’ explanation of the things He did and the parables He taught. Jesus chose twelve men to follow Him and to learn the rope, so to speak, about the ministries in the Kingdom of God (their names were listed in Luke 6). During this selection process, you could see that Jesus’ approach was revolutionary. If it were you or I, we would probably choose someone who was well behaved, which would make our life easier. But instead, Jesus saw selected people, like Levi (better known as Matthew), an outcast of his own people.

This has been a trademark of Jesus. He always exercised His grace towards those who were underprivileged—demoniac, leper, paralytic, sick, and, of course, sinners. When the Pharisees, who thought of themselves as better than others, confronted him, Jesus responded with a profound statement of truth (scripture of this Month). You may say that this is a proverbial statement: if anyone who claimed to be healthy would have no need for a doctor. With this statement, Jesus described His mission as someone who came to look for the "lost," which He amplified later in His parables in chapter 15 (the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Sons).

Since no one is truly "righteous", Jesus used this statement with a touch of sarcasm towards the "righteous" Pharisees. He implied that they too, were in the same boat as those whom they looked down upon. To Luke, the point of importance is that one must first acknowledge himself a sinner before he can truly respond to the call of repentance. Both Matthew and Mark recorded this statement, but neither used the word "repentance." The reason isn’t that there is a discrepancy in the Bible, but rather, Luke’s theme throughout this gospel is to bring out the joy that came from true repentance. The gospel of grace and forgiveness is for everyone who believes, and repentance is the prerequisite of its reception. Levi fulfilled his prerequisite, but not the Pharisees. The application of this verse, then, is to consider ourselves as sinner in need of grace. If we do that, we would not act like contemporary Pharisees.