Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬-‭20‬
What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.
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.”
“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

Sometimes people say things or do things to which you can only say, “Wow! Really?” I remember back in Junior High that I had knock-off white Fila shoes, because my parents were missionaries and they could not afford real ones. Filas were the brand that was cool at my school. So when I went to school, of course the “cool police” came around and deemed them unworthy of the latest fashion trend.

In a schoolyard-type, gossipy way, the teachers of the law and Pharisees deemed the tax collectors and sinners Jesus was hanging out with as “not worthy” or “not cool enough” to warrant his attention or friendship. In reality, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were jealous and insecure. They were jealous of Jesus’ popularity. They were insecure about their own level of importance and position if the Jewish “social ranking system” was not kept up. Jesus was a threat to them on many levels, including their pride and man-made systems of righteousness.

Jesus rebuked them sharply, and I can imagine some sarcasm, mixed with sadness, in this exchange. A healer does not come to help the healthy, but the sick. This everyone knew and it was clear that he did heal physically. But he also healed the hearts and souls of those who followed him. The Pharisees thought they were “healthy” spiritually, but they were rotten to the core with sin.

Jesus also says that he did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. What he meant here by “the righteous”, was those who thought of themselves as righteous, but were really the self-righteous. The Pharisees judged themselves righteous by comparison to others.

Our cross-reference today points out the fact that we are all sinners. Jesus was calling out the Pharisees here regarding their legalistic righteousness. And he still calls us out today. We must stop comparing and start surrendering our hearts more to the transformative work of Jesus Christ!

What, in my heart, do I need to humbly take before the healing hands of my Savior?

Lord, thank you that you came for sinners, of whom I am one. Take my meager offerings of work and service to you and bless them and use them. I open up my heart to your touch. Heal me more fully and work through me.