Who Would Jesus Pick?
April 6, 2025
Luke 5:27-32
Jesus replied, “I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
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Jesus repeatedly reaches out to the overlooked—the Gentile leper, the foreign widow, the unsuccessful fishermen—and in today’s passage, a tax collector named Levi. When Jesus calls Levi, he simply says, “Follow me,” and Levi leaves everything behind to do just that. This decision is more than a minor lifestyle change; it’s a total shift in direction, leaving behind old ways in pursuit of something far better.
Levi is so changed by his encounter with Jesus that he throws a dinner party and invites other outcasts—people just like himself. Naturally, this draws criticism from the religious elite, who can’t understand why someone claiming to be from God would associate with such people. But Jesus reveals something powerful: he came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. This turns religious expectations upside down. Sadly, churches often repeat the Pharisees’ mistake—gravitating toward people like themselves, hiding their messiness, and fearing a bad reputation. But Jesus reminds us that God rejoices more over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who don’t see their need. This message challenges those of us in the “Me and Jesus” fan club, but it’s incredibly good news for the broken and cast aside. Just as it is good news for the broken and sinners, it also is for us religious people – not in our getting our way, but in God getting his. We can either stand outside and complain about the type of people Jesus hangs out with or go in and join the party with him.
