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 them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
The religious leaders of the nation of Israel during Roman occupation were the Pharisees and Sadducees. Rome tolerated these groups as a means of keeping the Jews within Roman expectations. These two sects formed the Sanhedrin council which strove to maintain the status quo and their favor with Rome; they were always finding fault with Jesus in His teachings about God’s values, His breaking of the traditions they felt were mandatory for God’s acceptance and especially His views on the forgiveness of sin and who was worthy of God’s favor. They were strict separatists when it came to matters of piety and appearances so when Jesus called tax collector Matthew who served the Roman government to be one of His inner group of followers, the Pharisees were indignant. Even more, Jesus dined in Matthew’s home with other tax collectors and spoke openly with them of repentance and forgiveness of sin!
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 them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” 1
The Pharisees had strict laws prohibiting any kind of activity which could have the appearance of making them unclean. They took offense at any who would break their traditions and Jesus was certainly non-traditional in both teaching and practice. This was not rebellion against authority on His part but conformity to the character of the LORD He represented.
To the challenge “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” His response for that deliberate “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Then He throws down the demarcation: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Those who are actually righteous, fully in agreement with God, have no further need to repent. As in last week blog ‘Repent & Be Baptized’, repentance is the committed changing of beliefs to agree with God’s priorities and live out those God beliefs to be right before God and in God. The self-righteous Pharisees saw no need, were content with the sense of righteousness they had created for themselves in their traditions ‘…but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by John’ 2 which was the baptism of repentance acknowledging the need to change. The religious elite saw no need to change and Jesus did not waste His time and teachings trying to convince them otherwise—His ministry was ‘to seek and to save that which was lost’ 3 who were willing to consider their need to repent according to the LORD.
Jesus was open with His teaching to all who were honestly open to the gospel, willing to consider their need for repentance. While the Pharisees as an organization were not, Nicodemus4 who came inquiring by night was a Pharisee and later Joseph of Arimathea5 who provided for the burial tomb was a member of the Sanhedrin and yet a disciple of Jesus. After all, they were lost seekers who were willing to repent and live changed in Jesus. And that same possibility is still available to all of us willing to admit our lost-ness and repent in Jesus.