Click here to download the student handout for this lesson.

Click here to download the manuscript for this lesson.

Click here to download the PowerPoint for this lesson.

A Word from Kay Daigle on how to use the resources for this study…I want to encourage you to complete the personal lesson below before you click on any of the accompanying elements that may be found with this lesson (audio lecture, manuscript, PowerPoint, or handout). This study was written to help you maximize your personal spiritual growth. That means that you first spend time with God through His word, and then hopefully, discuss what you learned with a small group of women. After that, if you want to hear the audio (or read the manuscript) and follow the PowerPoint, filling in the handout, then that is a great time to do it! I cannot cover all the verses in depth, but you can read and study them for yourself. It is best for you to think through the passages before hearing what anyone else thinks, even me! You will find some lessons without lectures. At our church we use some of those weeks to spend extra time in our small groups sharing life stories, having a longer prayer time, or expressing how God is working in our lives.

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A Precious Word from God

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Spoken about Jesus in Luke 19:38 (NET)

Introduction

We have followed Jesus through His Galilean ministry and on the journey to Jerusalem. Finally, He reached the end of the journey where He spent the final days before His death teaching the people who gathered for the Passover Feast. Hear Him as He reached out, seeking them. Watch as many of His own people rejected Him as their King.

Day One Study

Read Luke 19:28-40.

This event must be understood in the light of Jesus’ heritage. Remember that He was the descendant of David, in the line of the Jewish kings. He was the rightful King of the Jews, promised throughout the Old Testament and anticipated as the one to bring them freedom from foreign oppression.

1. In the light of this background, why was it significant that the crowds called him their king? Memorize the Precious Word from God.

2. Contrast the response of the disciples in the crowd to that of the Pharisees.

The NET Bible comments on Jesus’ words in Luke 19:40: “I tell you, if they keep silent, the very stones will cry out!”¹

This statement amounts to a rebuke. The idiom of creation speaking means that even creation knows what is taking place, yet the Pharisees miss it.

NET Bible

3.Sharing question: Have you come home to Jesus as your king? Do you bow the knee and accept His will in your life? Do you see Him as your ruler? How can you measure your allegiance to Him as your King and to His kingdom?

• Diamonds in the Word: Read in your commentaries concerning this triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Write down your insights about the significance of this event.

Read Luke 19:41-44.

4. Why did Jesus weep over Jerusalem?

Have you recognized that God visited you in Jesus? Have you seen His work in your life? Have you responded to the fact that He came seeking you? If not, Jesus weeps over you, just as He did over this city. He calls out and asks you to believe in Him by trusting Him to forgive you of all your sins and bring you home to God.

5.Sharing question: Consider how you may miss God at work right in front of you, just as these Jewish leaders did. Perhaps you believe that He is at work, but you get so busy and involved in your own life that you fail to notice what He is doing around you. Or perhaps you have your own agenda for His work and do not accept anything else as being from Him. Are you really aware of God’s presence and His speaking to you daily? What can you do to become more in tune with the work and the voice of God?

6.Responding to God: Spend the rest of your time simply listening to what God wants to say to you about your sensitivity to His presence, His voice, and His work in the world.

Day Two Study

Read Luke 19:45-48.

7. Why did Jesus drive out those selling in the temple?

• Diamonds in the Word: Do some research into the buying and selling going on in the temple. Use commentaries, study Bibles, Bible encyclopedias, etc.

8. In light of Jesus’ comments, what problems do you see with making it convenient to buy the animals and other items needed for sacrifices?

9. Can you think of any way that we may detract from worship in our churches today, as those buying and selling in the temple did then?

 

10. Luke 19:47-48 describes this final week in Jesus’ life in a general way. Contrast what was going on with the people with what the leaders were doing.

Dr. Bock helps us understand the significance of the cleansing of the temple at this point in the story:²

The connection between Jesus ‘entry and his first public act in the temple should not be ignored. The linkage makes Jesus’ act one of messianic and prophetic authority. . . A prophet who also saw himself as a king had to be stopped, especially if he was going to impose himself on the nation’s worship.

Darrell Bock in Luke

11.Sharing question: As believers, our bodies are God’s temple today, under His authority rather than our own (1 Cor. 6:19-20). In what ways do you fail to use your body for God’s glory—failure to eat properly, failure to exercise, sex outside of marriage, looking at things you should not see, etc.? Commit to one change that you will make today to drive this out of your life.

12.Responding to God: Write a prayer committing this to God.

Day Three Study

Read Luke 20:1-8.

13. How did the Jewish leaders confront Jesus?

14. What did their answer and their reasoning reveal about them?

Read Luke 20:9-19.

This story is likely an allegory rather than a parable because of the great number of points that correspond with reality.³

• Diamonds in the Word: Go through the allegory writing down each point in the story and then relating them to reality. Explain why this is an allegory rather than a parable.

15. Explain Jesus’ allegory. How was it directed against the leaders?

Read Luke 20:20-26.

16. How did Jesus avoid the trickery of the leaders?

17.Sharing question: Jesus outsmarted the smartest of the nation’s leaders over and over. His words reveal His great wisdom. In what area do you need Him to give you wisdom today? Why?

18.Responding to God: Write a prayer expressing your desire to avoid the kind of unbelief that these leaders showed throughout Jesus’ ministry.

Day Four Study

Read Luke 20:27-40.

The Sadducees did not believe in either the resurrection or in angels.⁴

• Diamonds in the Word: Use your resource materials to learn more about the Sadducees and their beliefs.

19. How did Jesus’ reply suggest that they were wrong in all these beliefs?

Read Luke 20:41-44.

Jesus turned the tables on the leaders who kept trying to trick Him with their questions by asking them a question. David’s descendants were in the line of the kings and the expected Messiah; even these leaders believed that Messiah would come from the Davidic line.

20. Read Psalm 110 from which this quote comes. What did David tell us about the Messiah?

21. Read Acts 2:22-39 and Luke 22:69. How would you answer Jesus’ question to the Sadducees?

Read Luke 20:45-21:4.

22. Contrast the attitudes that Jesus condemned in the leaders and the attitude He commended in the widow.

23.Sharing question: Something in us loves attention, popularity, and success; thus, these desires motivate our actions. Think of one action you have taken in order to achieve personal honor and share it with your group. If you are unsure, think of a time when no one noticed something you did and you were upset at being overlooked.

24.Responding to God: Confess the sin of seeking personal honor to God. Ask Him for the grace to recognize this in yourself when it surfaces.

Day Five Study

Today’s lesson is full of Jesus’ teaching about the future. Someday we may cover Jesus’ prophecies in detail; however, today all we can do is look at some of His main points. In order to better understand them, you may find Dr. Bock’s comments helpful:⁵

Jesus’ eschatological discourse links together two such events, the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the events of the end signaling his return to earth. Because the events are patterned after one another and mirror one another, some of Jesus’ language applies to both. . . Luke clearly shows how the destruction of A.D. 70 is distinct from but related to the end. The two events should not be confused, but Jerusalem’s destruction, when it comes, will guarantee as well as picture the end, since an event mirrors the other. Both are a part of God’s plan as events move toward the end.

Darrell Bock in Luke

Read Luke 21:5-28.

25. List some of the main events predicted in the discourse. Consider each one and whether it seems to relate to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 or the time of Jesus’ return. Write down your understanding of each.

26. What questions do you have about these events? Sometimes I find it helpful to write down my confusion so that I can think about it later. There won’t be time in your small group to answer these, but at least you will clearly know what you don’t know.

• Diamonds in the Word: Compare this discourse with the ones in Matthew 24:1-35 and Mark 13:1-37.

.

Read Luke 21:29-38.

27. What attitudes are Christ-followers to have while waiting for the events that have not yet occurred?

28.Sharing question: What we truly believe affects how we live. How do your actions show that you believe a day of judgment is coming or that you do not really believe it?

29.Responding to God: Over and over in this lesson we have seen the authority of Jesus, the Messiah and King, revealed. Bow the knee before Him and give Him your allegiance, just as you have seen a knight do before a king. He deserves all of your loyalty. Write down your prayer.

As Jesus cleaned out the temple to restore true worship, there may be areas in our lives that need cleaning out so that God may rule there and we are truly home.

Carri’s Story

A while back, I asked the Lord to show me sin in my life that needed to be “cleaned out,” so that I could grow closer to Him in my walk. He began to convict me of being judgmental and critical of a few people in my life. These people were ones that I had a very hard time dealing with and relating to. We were different in our beliefs and ways of living. I knew that they were in my life for a reason and some would be in my life forever. I really needed to get my heart right about them and I was becoming bitter toward them. It was painful and tiring to hold bitterness toward them and I knew I needed to let it go and give it to the Lord.

I grew up in a Christian home and had very strong “black and white” convictions about things. I felt like everyone should believe the way I did and should stay away from things that I considered sin for my life. I became critical of Christians who did things that I felt were wrong and began to judge them in their faith.

The Lord began to show me that I needed to give these people the kind of grace (undeserved favor) that He has given me through His son, Jesus. I knew I could not do it on my own, because I had tried and I always ended up frustrated with these people and I would fail at showing them grace. So I prayed that the Lord would work through me to clean out this sin in me.

I also turned to His Word for guidance and began to see how merciful and compassionate the Lord is to us even thought we are sinners and don’t deserve it. The scriptures that He gave me that really helped me to see his grace and convict me of my judging others were: Exodus 34:6 “The Lord, The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Also Matthew 7:1-5 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you speak of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay not attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out to your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” These verses really convicted my heart and revealed my sin to me even more.

He also showed me through an evangelism training class that we are called as believers to reach out to the lost and not judge them for the sin in their life. How could I ever bring someone to Christ if I could not get past their sin to show them the love of Jesus? Being critical of them would not be a good witness to them of what a Christian is like. They might say, “If that is what a Christian is like, than forget it!” In Matthew 9:12 Jesus says “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

I have been justified by His grace and I wanted to give that grace to those people in my life! Over the past few weeks I have learned so much about God’s grace for me and through prayer and reading His word, He is strengthening me to show that grace to these people in my life. I have had such a peace around them and desire to just love them. My feelings and attitude have really changed toward them. I don’t have the bitterness toward them that I use to have. I know that the Lord wanted this sin out of my life and by my obedience to Him he has “cleaned me out “and filled me up with more of Him. I know that there will be challenging times again with these people, but I will lean on the Lord to give me His grace, so that I can pass that grace on to them.

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¹ NET Bible Note 8, p. 1867.

² Bock, 317.

³ Bock, 321.

⁴ Bock, 325.

⁵ Bock, 333.

Click here to download the student handout for this lesson.

Click here to download the manuscript for this lesson.

Click here to download the PowerPoint for this lesson.

A Word from Kay Daigle on how to use the resources for this study…I want to encourage you to complete the personal lesson below before you click on any of the accompanying elements that may be found with this lesson (audio lecture, manuscript, PowerPoint, or handout). This study was written to help you maximize your personal spiritual growth. That means that you first spend time with God through His word, and then hopefully, discuss what you learned with a small group of women. After that, if you want to hear the audio (or read the manuscript) and follow the PowerPoint, filling in the handout, then that is a great time to do it! I cannot cover all the verses in depth, but you can read and study them for yourself. It is best for you to think through the passages before hearing what anyone else thinks, even me! You will find some lessons without lectures. At our church we use some of those weeks to spend extra time in our small groups sharing life stories, having a longer prayer time, or expressing how God is working in our lives.

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A Precious Word from God

“And he got up and followed Him, leaving everything behind.”

Description of Matthew in Luke 5:28 (NET)

Introduction

When I go home, I have to leave behind the place where I am. Such is God’s call for our lives—come home and leave everything else behind!

As we pick up Jesus’ story we realize that His ministry had begun. His headquarters became the city of Capernaum in the area of Galilee, near His hometown of Nazareth is located. Luke divides his gospel geographically, and this Galilean ministry is covered in Luke 4:14-9:50.

Right from the start, people had differing responses to Jesus’ ministry. Some things never change!

Day One Study

Read Luke 4:14-30.

1. What was the primary message in Jesus’ sermon in the synagogue in Nazareth?

2. What was Jesus’ point to these people in using the examples of Elijah and Elisha?

3. How did the people respond and why? How might you have felt in their place?

• Diamonds in the Word: Look up the passage in Isaiah from which Jesus read. Explain how Jesus’ ministry fulfilled the various aspects of this prophecy. Jesus did not quote the entire prophecy concerning the Messiah. What did He omit and why might He have chosen to do so?

4. Review the entire passage, and describe Jesus’ early ministry in Galilee. Contrast the reception He received in His hometown of Nazareth with that elsewhere in the area.

5.Sharing Question: Describe a time in your life when you responded in anger to God’s message to you. Why did you respond this way?

6.Responding to God:Are you struggling with God’s message to you in any particular area of life right now? If so, share it with your group and make it your written prayer request this week.

Day Two Study

Read Luke 4:31-41.

7. What miracles did Jesus perform? What do you learn about Jesus’ power and authority from them?

8. Compare Jesus’ reception from the people in the synagogue in Capernaum with the response of those in Nazareth (yesterday’s lesson).

9. What do you learn from these miracles that can help you when you are tempted to fear the power of evil?

• Diamonds in the Word: Jesus rebuked the demons to silence about His identity. Consider why He may have done this. Read at least two commentaries or notes in study Bibles. Then, write down your thoughts.

Read Luke 4:42-44.

10. What do you learn about Jesus’ priorities from His response to the crowds?

11. How does Paul’s statement in Gal. 1:10 compare with Jesus’ response here?

12.Sharing Question: In what situations do you tend to please people rather than God? How do you discern what God wants you to do when there are other good, positive works that need to be done?

 

13.Responding to God: Write a prayer asking God for the wisdom and discernment to help you know the difference in good works and the best work—that which He has planned for you to do.

Day Three Study

Read Luke 5:1-11.

14. The disciples went out in the water twice to fish. Contrast the two situations, etc. What did the second trip out reveal about Jesus?

15. What do you learn from Simon Peter here that you can apply to your own relationship with Jesus?

• Diamonds in the Word: This was not Jesus’ first encounter with Simon Peter. Look in an exhaustive concordance and find accounts of their previous interactions. Write down what you learn.

16. Compare the interaction between Jesus and Simon with these other situations of encounter with God. Write down the similarities you observe in the responses of these other men to Simon’s:

a. Isaiah 6:1-8

b. Eze. 1:22-2:8

c. Acts 22:1-21.

In all of these situations the encounter with God involved a call to God’s work.

17. Read these verses and write down some of what God calls us to do in our work for Him:

a. 1 Peter 1:14-17

b. 1 Peter 2:4, 5

c. 1 Peter 2:9-12

18.Sharing Question: How are you doing at this point in your life with each of these areas of God’s call? Be honest and specific.

19.Responding to God: Write a prayer or poem of confession and commitment based upon the verses you read in #17. If you prefer, draw a picture representing your response to God’s call.

Day Four Study

Read Luke 5:12-26.

20. Contrast the situations of the two sick men, including how they got to Jesus.

21. Why was it significant that Jesus forgave before He healed the second man? What was he claiming for Himself? What did the healing prove?

22. Compare the role of faith in these two healing situations.

• Diamonds in the Word: Begin to track various kinds of miracles throughout Jesus’ ministry in Luke beginning in Luke 4:14, the commencement of His ministry. You might list them by type of miracle, i.e., healing, casting out demons, or authority over nature. Note when Jesus healed and what part faith played.

23. Review Luke 4:42-44; 5:5-16. What do you learn from Jesus’ example concerning busyness?

24.Sharing Question: In what ways are you, as a friend, similar to the men who carried their friends’ stretcher? What is one specific way that you can be more like them?

25.Responding to God:Ask God for the grace to become the kind of friend these men were. Write down one specific way you will reach out to a friend in need this week, and share what happens with your group.

Day Five Study

Read Luke 5:27, 28.

This new disciple is called Matthew in Matthew 9:9, 10. The NET Bible gives us insight into his two names.³

Levi is likely a second name for Matthew because people often used alternative names in 1^st century Jewish culture.

NET Bible

We saw Simon Peter, James, and John leave everything and follow Jesus (Luke 5:9-11). Levi, or Matthew, is described as doing the same thing here. (In fact this is your Precious Word from God to memorize this week.)

26.Sharing Question: If you left everything behind to follow Jesus, what would that look like in your life today? What would have to change—your priorities, relationships, focus, job, etc.?

Read Luke 5:29-39.

The NET Bible gives us greater understanding of what it meant to be a tax collector in that day.⁴

The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked.

NET Bible

27. What criticisms did the Pharisees voice about Jesus?

• Diamonds in the Word: “The marital imagery pictures God’s relationship to His people in the Old Testament and in later Judaism (Is 54:5-6; 62:4-5; Jer 2:2; Ezek 16; Hos 2:14-23.” ⁵ The New Testament pictures the Messiah as the bridegroom. Read Mt. 22:2; 25:1; Lk. 12:35-36; Eph. 5:22-33. How is the Messiah like a bridegroom?

Read Luke 6:1-11.

28. How did Jesus anger the Pharisees through both His healings and His defense of His actions?

Throughout this week’s lesson we have seen people respond to Jesus’ message. Some were attracted to him while others grew angry at His actions and His words.

29. Compare the responses of those you have studied today. What would you say is the fundamental difference?

30.Sharing question: Have you responded to Jesus as Levi and Peter did? What have you failed to leave behind, that you are holding on to rather than release to Him? Why? How does that keep you from really coming home to Him?

31.Responding to God: Write a prayer or poem of confession and commitment to God. Ask for the grace to leave everything so that He can use you mightily for His kingdom.

When I read Becky’s story, I really could not believe how well it illustrated this lesson. Until she changed her attitude about leaving, she could not be at home.

Becky’s Story

After over 28 years of living in Austin, we were moving to Dallas. Glenn had been unemployed for six months, and had been offered a good job in Dallas. The timing seemed perfect. All our children were grown, the youngest having just graduated from high school and been accepted at the University of Texas. Our house in Austin was paid for, so we could afford to keep it for Ethan to live in while he was at UT. We joked that he was going to be at home, and his parents were going to come visit on weekends. Maybe we’d bring our laundry.

Dallas beckoned. It was an adventure. Glenn was from Mesquite, and his mother and sister still lived there. There was a great opportunity to get closer to them, especially since Glenn’s sister was suffering from cancer. It seemed clear that Dallas was where God wanted us to be. We moved.

We found a great church right away. We got involved. I joined the women’s Bible study, and both of us joined a Community group. I started going to treatments with Glenn’s sister and mom. Glenn settled in to his job, enjoying the challenge, and the stimulation of a talented group of colleagues.

We went to Austin frequently on weekends. Maybe too frequently. It was good to see family and friends, but we hadn’t been in Dallas long enough for it to feel like home, and Austin was becoming just a place to visit. I felt like I belonged nowhere. I was still sure that God wanted us in Dallas, but my head and my heart were not in the same place. I confessed my feeling to the community group, and they lifted me up in prayer.

As the year wore on, there were more trips to Austin. Our children were having problems. Ethan was struggling with school. Lynn’s marriage was falling apart. She and her husband separated. My older daughter, Lorna, moved back into our house to save money. Her dog died. She had stress at work. It was hard to connect with James because his life was so busy. One weekend as we were returning to Dallas, I saw the city skyline in the distance, and I started crying. Glenn asked me what was wrong. I told him, “I don’t want to be there. I just don’t want to be in Dallas.” But I knew that Dallas was where God wanted me to be. Where He wants me to be. I realized that I was resisting God’s will. I was in Dallas, but I wasn’t here with God. I confessed to Him my feelings and asked for strength to believe that He would take care of my family. I acknowledged that they belong to Him, and He loves them more than I do. Of course, I always knew those things are true, but the head and the heart had to come together.

Last time as we were returning from Austin, I again looked up at the skyline in the distance. But this time, my heart leapt. I was coming home; home to the place God wants me to be.

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³ NET Bible Note 3, p. 1811

⁴ NET Bible Note 9, p. 1802

⁵ Darrell L. Bock, Luke, ed. Grand R. Osborne, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, vol. 3 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 110.

Introduction

This week, I came across a book entitled The Seven Deadly Virtues.¹⁰⁵ The author of the book, Gerald Mann, is a Baptist preacher. Early in his book Mann tells of an experience in a small country Baptist church which kept him from church for a number of years. Mann writes:

The first time I met a Baptist preacher, he asked me about three questions, placed his hand on my shoulder, and said, “Jerry, you’re lost, and that’s all they are to that!”

I started attending church regularly. I didn’t know what “lost” meant, but he said it with such gravity that I was certain I was whatever he said I was.

By the spring of my thirteenth year, the Baptists were “hard in prayer for my soul,” as they frequently informed me. An evangelist was coming to town to lead revival services, and according to them, it could well be my last chance to be saved. Such ominous warnings didn’t frighten me. What little I had had to do with God told me that he was not that kind at all.

However, I attended the revival anyway, because the evangelist was a former teen-age gang-leader who had once tried to stab my older brother. I was curious to hear and see a person who claimed to have been converted from the seamy side of life.

The ex-hoodlum-turned-Bible-thumper was something to behold! He was dressed in white and red—white suit with red cuffs and lapels, red and white shoes. Even his Bible was red and white!

His sermon was a blow-by-blow account of his former life on the “wild side.” Graphically, he portrayed scenes of gang fights, heroin sales, and sexual liaisons with wanton sirens. Considering that the wildest thing in our town was playing dominoes at the pool parlor, one can imagine how captivated we teenagers were. This was genuine Mickey Spillane stuff! And in the flesh! We didn’t miss a word.

Then he told us of how Jesus had reached into the midst of all that muck and plucked him out of it. I am certain he didn’t intend to, but he made it sound as if Jesus had spoiled a rather exciting life! His message had the import of one of those True Confession magazine stories: “I immersed myself in a world of booze and dope and sex. And boy, was it fun! But I tell you my story only to keep you from making the same fun-filled mistakes!”

The story was so gripping that I was sorry he had been converted so soon. I wanted to hear a little more!

Then the evangelist took the microphone and started down the aisle, while the song leader fed out the cord. In a flash, I realized he was heading straight for me. (Later, I learned that someone had “fingered” me as a potential convert.)

He stopped in front of me and said in a booming voice, “Do you want to go to Hell!” The audience was silent. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared and angry and confused. I bolted from the pew, dashed outside, and ran two blocks before I looked back.¹⁰⁶

Gerald Mann describes and attitude toward sin and sinners which is very frequently found among Christians, and which is often the pretext for the rejection of the gospel by unbelievers. There is a very common perception that while unbelievers are having their fun now, their time of suffering—and our time of blessing, of course—will come. We therefore find ourselves frequently citing the beer commercial in a critical way. Since you only go around once, you’d better grab all the gusto you can get. The “King James” version of this is: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

When it comes to the matter of eating, drinking, and being merry, it is generally held that the Bible in general, and Jesus, in particular, condemned the thought. If this is your opinion, you are in for a rather distressing study, for the issue of eating, drinking, and being merry is precisely that which the Pharisees raise with Jesus and His disciples. The disturbing fact is that Jesus is the one who is eating, drinking, and being merry, and the Pharisees are miffed because of it. How is it that Jesus can be for eating, drinking, and being merry, when many Christians are against it? Hopefully this “tension in the text” will hold your interest long enough for you to learn some vital lessons from our text.

The Structure of the Text

Our text in Luke has two parallels, one in Matthew 9:9-17 and the other in Mark 2:13-22.¹⁰⁷ Luke’s text breaks into these divisions:

(1) Verses 27-28 — Levi’s resignation

(2) Verses 29-32 — Levi’s reception: Look who’s coming to dinner!

(3) Verses 33-39 — Feasting or fasting: Why don’t Jesus’ disciples fast?

The Context of the Text

The public ministry of our Lord has commenced in chapter 4. That ministry “started out with a bang,” with Jesus’ message and miraculous power welcomed, but that did not last long. The first instance of Jesus’ public teaching recorded by Luke (albeit a year into His public ministry) is at the Synagogue in Nazareth, where Jesus had grown up. Reading from Isaiah chapter 61, Jesus indicated that His coming was a fulfillment of this prophecy. People were delighted to hear this, until Jesus pointed out that His coming meant blessing for the Gentiles, too, something which brought about a murderous response from the people. Elsewhere, however, Jesus was welcomed and sought after by the multitudes.

Luke is already preparing his readers for the rejection of Jesus by the leadership of the nation. If the multitudes welcome Jesus, the Pharisees and teachers of the law quickly begin to be suspicious, and then critical, and then become outright opponents, who seek occasion to accuse Him and also a means of destroying Him.

The Pharisees were first introduced in chapter 5, at the healing of the paralytic, who was lowered through the roof of the house, in which Jesus was teaching (vv. 16-26). When Jesus informed the paralytic that his sins were forgiven, the Pharisees reacted, reasoning (rightly) that only God can forgive sins. They cannot deny the healing of the paralytic, but they are unwilling to receive Jesus as God. The calling of Matthew and the banquet at which Jesus and “sinners” intermingled was another incident in which the gap between Jesus and the Pharisees widens significantly. This section of Luke’s gospel, which reports the reaction of the Pharisees to the “eating and drinking” of Jesus and His disciples, informs us of one of the fundamental issues which put Him and the religious leaders of Israel at odds.

Our Approach

Our approach in this lesson will be to carefully consider the actions and associations of our Lord. We will also attempt to understand the questions raised by the Pharisees, in response to our Lord’s actions and associations. Then we will carefully consider our Lord’s response to these questions. Finally, we shall seek to learn if there are any 20th century parallels to the thinking of the Pharisees, as well as to identify any principles which should guide and govern us in our spiritual lives.

Levi’s Resignation
(5:27-28)

Levi, known here and in Mark (2:14) by this name, but elsewhere referred to as Matthew (cf. Matt. 9:9; 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15), was a tax-collector. We know from the New Testament¹⁰⁸ that anyone who was a tax-collector was a very unpopular person, synonymous with “sinner” and on a social par with gluttons, drunkards, and harlots. This was the bottom rung of the Jewish social ladder. One could sink no lower.

There was more than one type of tax-collector in those days, as Shepherd informs us:

Levi was a custom-house official. The Talmud distinguishes between the tax collector and the custom house official. The Gabbai collected the regular real estate and income taxes on the poll tax; the Mockhes, the duty on imports, exports, toll on roads, bridges, the harbour, the town tax, and a great multiplicity of other variable taxes on an unlimited variety of things, admitting of much abuse and graft. The very word Mockhes was associated with the idea of oppression and injustice. The taxes in Judea were levied by publicans, who were Jews, and therefore hated the more as direct officials of the heathen Roman power. Levi occupied the detestable position of a publican of the worst type—a little Mockhes, who himself stood in the Roman custom-house on the highway connecting Damascus and Ptolemais, and by the sea where all boats plied between the domains of Antipas and Philip. The name “publican,” which applied to these officials, is derived from the Latin word publicanus—a man who did public duty. The Jews detested these publicans not only on account of their frequent abuses and tyrannical spirit, but because the very taxes they were forced to collect by the Roman government were a badge of servitude and a constant reminder that God had forsaken His people and land in spite of the Messianic hope, founded on many promises of the ancient prophets. The publicans were classed by the people with harlots, usurers, gamblers, thieves, and dishonest herdsmen, who lived hard, lawless lives. They were just “licensed robbers” and “beasts in human shape.”

According to Rabbinism there was no hope for a man like Levi. He was excluded from all religious fellowship. His money was considered tainted and defiled anyone who accepted it. He could not serve as a witness. The Rabbis had no word of help for the publican, because they expected him by external conformity to the law to be justified before God.¹⁰⁹

Levi was the more hated kind of tax-collector, who assessed taxes for commerce. One can see how his tax office could be stationed on the shores of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum.¹¹⁰ One can also imagine that Levi may have frequently heard Jesus teach, and was likely well known to our Lord, just as the disciples Peter, James, and John were known to Him.

We know that the position of tax-collector, like most jobs, affords certain kinds of evil. Luke has already informed his reader of one of the evils of which many tax-collectors were guilty when he wrote of John the Baptist’s words to the tax-collectors who came to him for baptism:

And some tax-gatherers also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to” (Luke 3:12-13).

Thus, we know that many tax-collectors were guilty of abusing their position by using the power of the state to charge excessive taxes and keep the profits of their evil deeds. Luke himself will later inform us of one instance in which a sinful tax-collector repents and makes restitution for his misconduct (Zaccheus, cf. Luke 19:1-10). The question is, “Was Matthew one such crooked tax-collector?” I see absolutely no evidence which suggests that he was. Matthew, on following Jesus, makes no gestures of restitution, as does Zaccheus. I believe the reason is that Matthew was an honest tax-collector. Jesus did not call a crook to follow Him, hoping that discipleship would mend his ways. Jesus’ look at Matthew is a discerning one, suggesting an appraisal and approval of his character.¹¹¹ The assumption of the Pharisees, that all tax-collectors were crooked, “sinners,” was wrong, and I believe Matthew to be one example of their error.

It is my opinion that tax-collectors were hated, not just because they misused their authority, but because of what they represented. Tax-collectors were a painful reminder of the fact that Israel was not a free nation, but was subject to Roman rule and authority. If the Pharisees had thought this matter through, they would have realized that the very presence of tax-collectors was a reminder of Israel’s sin, for foreign domination was, under the Mosaic Covenant, one of the consequences for disobeying the Law of Moses. This would surely be an indictment against the “teachers of the law,” who were so opposed to tax-collectors. The Old Testament prophets frequently identified the leadership of Israel for making a significant contribution to the sin of the nation.

And so it was that Jesus passed by the tax office of Levi and invited him to follow as a disciple. Luke alone tells us that Levi, much like the fishermen (Peter and Andrew, James and John) at the beginning of the chapter, left everything and followed the Master. The brevity of the account serves to underscore the dramatic change which seems to happen so quickly and yet so decisively.

Levi’s Reception:
Look Who’s Coming to Dinner!
(5:29-32)

Luke alone informs us that the dinner which Jesus attended was a celebration banquet put on by Levi. Having left all, one would think that Levi would have held a wake, rather than a reception. From all appearances, it was a lavish affair, held in what would probably have been a very large and lovely home. No doubt Levi was a well-to-do man, even without practicing the evils of some of his colleagues.

I can imagine one of Levi’s colleagues arriving home after a hard day at work, asking his wife if there was anything interesting in the day’s mail. As a matter of fact, there was, his wife informs him. She shows him an invitation to a banquet at the house of Levi. The invitation explains that the reception is in celebration of his leaving his work in order to follow Jesus of Nazareth. The invitation also indicates that Jesus will be at the banquet as well.

Our Lord is not only present at the celebration, He was the central personality, the major attraction and focus of attention. Every indication is that Jesus was very much a part of the celebration. It is my personal opinion that this celebration included wine, like the wedding at Cana. It is also my viewpoint that Jesus was holding a cup of wine and was drinking from it just like the others.

“Eating and drinking” is in our text, the central issue. “Drinking,” here, as elsewhere, has the connotation of drinking wine, not just drinking water or grape juice. Jesus said,

“For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gathers and sinners!’” (Luke 7:33-34).

John obviously ate, but a rather unusual diet of desert foods (locusts and wild honey (Matt. 3:4). John drank as well, but not wine (cf. Luke 1:15). It is quite plain, then, that what John did not drink, namely wine, Jesus did, and thus He was accused of being a “drunkard.” Jesus and the “sinners” were there, mingling happily, joyfully, at Levi’s celebration.

No so with the Pharisees! In contrast to the rejoicing of the rest, the Pharisees, Luke alone tells us they were grumbling (v. 30). Some think that the Pharisees crashed this dinner party. I do not. Jesus was not one to exclude anyone, and I doubt that Levi was either. Several times in Luke’s gospel Jesus is described as eating in the home of a Pharisee (7:36; 11:37; 14:1). The Pharisees were there by invitation, I believe, but they never entered into the festivities. As I read the gospel accounts of this reception I envision them standing off to one side, with sour looks on their faces, turning down all food and drink, watching critically, waiting for the chance to find fault.

The guests at this banquet are the source of great consternation for the Pharisees. Luke tells us that the guests were “tax-gatherers and other people” (v. 29). This is different from Matthew and Mark, who identify the guests as “tax-collectors and sinners” (Matt. 9:10; Mark 2:15). The fact that tax-collectors would be invited by Levi, a tax-collector, seems self-explanatory. After all, who would Levi invite but his peers, his social equals, and his colleagues in the work world? Undoubtedly this explains much, but Mark includes the very significant comment that many of the tax-collectors and sinners at this celebration were followers of Jesus (Mark 2:15). This would mean that while Levi may have invited some who had not yet met Jesus (a somewhat evangelistic dinner), many whom he invited were very familiar with him, and thus could easily enter into Levi’s joy at following the Master.

The scribes of the Pharisee party (not all scribes were Pharisees) were greatly distressed by the fact that Jesus was associating with undesirables. Eating and drinking was something a “proper Jew” did with “proper people” and never with “sinners.”¹¹²

The Talmudical tractate Berakoth (43) expressly states that the disciples of the scribes may have no table communion (W. Manson, in loc.) with the ‘Am-ha-’arets (“the people of the land,” those who do not know or observe the Law).¹¹³

Thus, the Pharisees converged upon Jesus’ disciples¹¹⁴ with this question: “Why do you eat and drink with the tax-gatherers and sinners?” (Luke 5:30).

Luke has carefully avoided calling the guests at this reception “sinners,” but the Pharisees do not hesitate to use this label. There is a curling of the lips as the word “sinners” is spoken by the Pharisees.

Why? The issue hinges on the definition of the terms “sinner” and “righteous.” These terms have very different definitions in our text, the first the definition of the Pharisees, the second, the definition of Jesus.

The distinction between the pharisaic definition of these terms and that of our Lord can best be seen from the story which our Lord told later on in Luke’s gospel:¹¹⁵

And He also told this parable to certain one trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I think Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

To the Pharisee the “righteous” were to be distinguished from “sinners” by human assessment. The “righteous” held the right social and racial positions, sinners did not. The “righteous” were better than “sinners,” according to the Pharisaic view. The “righteous” were holy because they followed the rules, they did the right things, they kept the Law of Moses, as they interpreted it. The “righteous” were also justified in disdaining the “sinner” and in keeping separate from him.

The one “claim to fame” of the Pharisees was their “separation” from sin and “sinners.” They saw themselves as holy because of what they would not do, where they would not go, and with whom they did not associate. What a blow to their system it must have been to have Jesus come onto the scene, doing virtually the opposite of all they did, and claiming to be God at the same time. What a humbling thing it must have been for the Pharisees to be present at the reception which Levi put on. They were undoubtedly present only because they were afraid to let Jesus go unsupervised, unchallenged, unchecked.

Jesus’ answer reflects the difference between the heart of God and the heart of Pharisaism: “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call righteous men but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31b-32).

Jesus had made it clear from the beginning that He had come to help those in need. His message of repentance, like that of John, was aimed at sinners. After all, do the “righteous” need to repent?

There are two very important principles underlying our Lord’s words, principles which we very much need to grasp and to apply.

PRINCIPLE ONE: TO BE LIKE GOD, MEN MUST BE MERCIFUL, AND TO BE MERCIFUL MEN MUST HAVE COMPASSION ON SINNERS, RATHER THAN SIMPLY TO CONDEMN THEM.

It is Matthew who includes these words to the self-righteous Pharisees, who are condemning the guests at Matthew’s house as “sinners”:

“But go and learn what this means, ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mtt. 9:13).

The Pharisees thought of righteousness only in terms of rituals, of ceremonies, of self-righteous “sacrifices” (such as fasting). Jesus, citing Hosea 6:6, reminds these “righteous” Pharisees that the essence of true religion is not ceremony, but compassion. The compassion which God calls for is that which has concern for the well-being of one’s neighbor, including “sinners” and Gentiles. This was something which Pharisees would not do, and in the name of holiness. Jesus came to call sinners because He was compassionate rather than condemning.

PRINCIPLE TWO: IN ORDER TO CALL SINNERS, ONE MUST HAVE CONTACT WITH THEM.

The Pharisees thought that holiness required them to remain separate from sinners, to refuse to have contact with them. Jesus was holiness incarnate, and yet His holiness was not diminished by His contact with sinners. In order for God to call sinners to repentance, God found it necessary to have contact with them, which is the reason for our Lord’s incarnation—of His taking on human flesh, living among men, touching and being touched by them. Jesus was not only comfortable among sinners, they were comfortable with Him.

The lesson which Jesus was trying to communicate to the Pharisees is vitally important to Christians today. These two fundamental principles are the key to evangelism, to penetration into our society with the saving grace of God. If we have compassion, we will not spend all of our time and energy condemning sinners, but will rather call them to repentance. If we would obey our Lord by calling them to repentance (the essence of the great commission), then we must learn to have contact with sinners in such a way as to be comfortable with them and they with us, without conforming to their ungodly ways. This is what our Lord did, and this is what our Lord calls us to do. We, in the name of separation from sin, are often sinning by not showing compassion to sinners and by not having contact with them so as to be able to share the gospel. This is no new error. The apostle Paul had to correct similar misconceptions in the church at Corinth:

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one” (1 Cor. 5:9-11).

How well Paul’s words apply to the Pharisees, especially the self-righteous Pharisee of Luke 18. How well they also apply to many Christians today, who think that holiness requires them to avoid associating with sinners. Let us listen to and learn from the Savior, who came to seek and to save sinners, like us.

Why Don’t Jesus’ Disciples Fast?
(5:33-39)

Both of the questions of the Pharisees involved eating and drinking. The first question, asked and answered above, concerned those with whom Jesus ate and drank. The second question presses even further, as to why Jesus’ disciples are eating and drinking at all, since both the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees were practicing fasting. Why were Jesus’ disciples feasting when the rest were fasting?

And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers; the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same; but Yours eat and drink” (Luke 5:33).

The question is evident, Jesus’ disciples, unlike the disciples of the Pharisees and even of John, feast, while the others fast.¹¹⁶ The real issue is not stated, but it is there: “Why are your disciples able the enjoy life, while we merely endure it?” Note the contrast in the attitude of the Pharisees with that of the “sinners.” The sinners are celebrating; the Pharisees are grumbling. The sinners are happy; the Pharisees are sad. The sinners are enjoying life; the Pharisees only endure it. The sinners are “grabbing for gusto,” the Pharisees are griping to Jesus.

Jesus gives a very extensive answer to this question, because a number of factors are involved. His first answer deals with the immediate question, the obvious issue, the fasting question. Fasting was a sign of repentance, a strangely inappropriate action for the Pharisees, who thought themselves righteous, and thus did not feel obligated to repent:

And when all the people and the tax-gatherers heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism [of repentance] of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John (Luke 7:29-30, comment mine).

John the Baptist had referred to himself as the friend of the bridegroom, and the Messiah as the bridegroom (John 3:29). Jesus picked up this imagery and pointed out the fact that the friends of the bridegroom do not fast while he is present with them, but only fast in his absence. Jesus, the bridegroom, is present with His friends and followers, and thus it is only appropriate for them to rejoice. John was in prison. His disciples were right to fast. For Jesus’ disciples to fast while He was present would have been for them to act inappropriately. There would be a time, Jesus indicated, when He would not be present, a time when fasting would be proper for His disciples. This time, as I understand it, would be the time from His arrest and death, to the time of His resurrection, or perhaps the descent of the Holy Spirit.

There is a very simple, but crucial principle underlying our Lord’s explanation:

REJOICING IS APPROPRIATE FOR ALL THOSE WHO DELIGHT IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THEIR MIDST, AND IN THE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM THAT THIS AFFORDS

Centuries before, David had written, “In Thy presence is fulness of joy; In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever (Psalm 16:11).

Of course those who were followers of Jesus found pleasure in the reception which Levi put on, because they were with Jesus. They were sinners, but they were forgiven. There was no greater joy than that of fellowship with God. For the Pharisees, who knew not God, being in His presence was agony, not ecstasy. Those who do not know God find His presence “hellish” agony.

Here is the key to understanding the parable of the prodigal son. The great tragedy of the prodigal was not being poor, or even being poorly fed, it was being separated from his father. Thus, the great rejoicing at his return. But for the old brother, being at home with the father was no reward in itself. The older brother was angry because of the “joy” of this feast his father had ordered at the return of this sinner. The older brother was angry because he had suffered at home, with the father, and not experienced all the pleasure of the other. How much a Pharisee the older brother is.

There is a principle which is vitally important to Christians which underlies the explanation of our Lord. It is this,

THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN FORGIVEN, WHO IS IN GOD’S PRESENCE, SHOULD BE CHARACTERIZED BY JOY.

Joy, not sorrow, not sadness, should be the dominant characteristic of the Christian. The Christian life includes sorrow and suffering and sacrifice, but these are not the melody line of our life, or they should not be. These are the harmony line. Suffering and sacrifice are means, but they should not be the end. Joy is the goal, it is the climax, it is the reward of forgiveness and fellowship with God.

Why is it that there are so many “dill pickle” Christians around, who are more like the Pharisees than those who attended Levi’s reception? It is because Satan has warped our conception of the Christian life. I have recently read an excellent book which is devoted to the subject of the pleasure, the joy of knowing and serving God. It is by John Piper, entitled, “Desiring God: The Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.”¹¹⁷ I cannot recommend it too highly. It is the joy of knowing and serving God which should be our strength and our goal. It is also the joy of the saint which should draw others to Christ as well.

Jesus went on to deal with a deeper issue, that being the contrast and contest between “old” and “new.” The Pharisees represented and defended the “old order” or so they thought. They were the promoters and preservers of the law. Jesus came to fulfill the law and to institute a new covenant. Thus, underlying the struggle between Jesus and the Pharisees was a contest between old and new. The Pharisees wanted Jesus to adopt the old, or at least to adapt the old. Jesus could not do this. He came to fulfill the law by living in perfect obedience to it, and by dying to its demands. But He also came to institute the new covenant (celebrated, incidentally by eating and drinking).

Thus, by means of a parable, Jesus explained why the new could not adopt or adapt to the old. To put a new patch on an old garment would be foolish. You would have to cut it out of the new garment, destroying it, and then it would not match the old garment on which it was patched anyway (Luke 5:36). In a similar way, you cannot put new wine into old wineskins, for the old skins would burst (be ruined) and the wine would be lost (ruined). There was no way to use the new to salvage the old.

The “new wine” must be put into new wineskins (Luke 5:38). The new covenant which Jesus was instituting must bring with it new structures, new forms, new practices. Pharisaism, which was committed to preserving the old way, could not accept this. The reason for this Jesus explained in last verse of chapter 5:

“And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough’” (Luke 5:39).

Jesus is explaining, in this statement, the mindset of the conservative, for Pharisees were conservatism incarnate. Having tasted the old and finding it good, the conservative does not wish to try the new, even though it might be better. And the reason is simply this:

CONSERVATISM TENDS TO VIEW THE OLD AS BETTER BECAUSE IT IS OLD, AND THE NEW SUSPECT BECAUSE IT IS NEW.

I had better say it now. I am generally quite conservative. But conservatism is not automatically right; neither is liberalism automatically wrong. Contemporary Christianity has over-simplistically been linked with conservative economics and politics. Right wing politicians have become “bed-fellows” with fundamental, evangelical Christians. This could be a very unhealthy relationship, even though close ties can be found.

There are various types of conservatism. There is economic and social conservatism, where the “have’s” attempt to keep what they have (money, standing, power), which leaves the “have-not’s” without. This kind of conservatism is not Christian, for the “have’s” are to give of their wealth to the “have-not’s” (cf. 1 Timothy 6). There is also social conservatism, which is simply stubborn resistance to change, any change. This helps to explain why old people tend to be more conservative, as a group. Let’s face it, the older I get, the less energy (foolishness) I have to try something new, especially if the old and proven works. Biblical conservatism seeks to defend the faith, to hold fast to the fundamental doctrines of the Bible, and this is good, but all too often much more than the fundamental truths gets thrown into the “save” basket.

The conservatism of the Pharisees had “gone to seed.” It had become a kind of “preservatism” which attempted to save their way of life, but which was found to have rejected the God they claimed to serve. Let us beware of letting our conservatism get out of hand. Nothing is to be viewed as better only because it is old. Likewise, nothing should be automatically viewed as better simply because it is new.

Conclusion

I have sought to make application to the principles of this passage as we have gone through the text itself. But let me not conclude without saying something very pointed to any who may not yet have come to faith in Jesus Christ, who have not found His presence a comfort and a joy. First, do not allow “dill-pickle” Christians to convince you that you must sacrifice all pleasure and joy to serve and follow Christ. The opposite is true. The only lasting and ultimate joy is found in being forgiven by Him, and being in fellowship with Him. Second, do not think of God as distant, uncaring, and unpleasant. Our Lord Jesus demonstrated that God cares, that God has come, and that God finds pleasure in the fellowship of forgiven men and women. Third, do not suppose that being a sinner must keep you from God. Recognizing that you are a sinner is the first step toward God. Jesus came to call sinners. It is only the self-righteous who shunned Jesus, for Jesus came to forgive sinners and to have fellowship with them. You cannot be too sinful for God to save, only to holy to need His salvation. Finally, recognize that proof that you are forgiven, a child of God, is by the comfortableness and joy you find in being in the presence of God and His people. If you have never trusted in Him, do it now. No joy will ever match that which you find in Him.

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105 Gerald Mann, The Seven Deadly Virtues (Waco: Word Books, 1979).

106 Ibid, pp. 12-13.

107 Each of these passages has its own unique contribution. The unique contribution of each text is summarized briefly below, for your consideration and future study.

Matthew: This is of his own calling. Uses the name Matthew (9:9), rather than Levi (Mark & Luke).
Alone quotes Jesus as saying, “Learn what this means: “Desire mercy and not sacrifice’” (Hos. 6:6). John’s disciples ask about fasting.

Mark: There were many tax-gatherers and sinners who followed Jesus (2:15). Both John’s disciples and Pharisees ask about fasting.

Luke: Levi forsook all and followed. Levi put on the feast (Matt. & Luke simply have Jesus eating a meal in a house).

Matthew & Mark say “tax collectors and sinners”—Luke says, “tax collectors and others.” Pharisees grumbled about Jesus & sinners (they were offended, not just inquisitive).

Matthew and Mark ask disciples why Jesus ate with sinners, Luke has them asking “you” (the disciples) why they ate with sinners.

Luke emphasizes damage to new garment, which is ruined to repair the old. Luke only speaks of men who have tasted old finding it better than the new (like “old time religion”).

108 Matt. 5:46; 9:10-11; 11:19; 18:17; 21:31-32; Mark 2:15-16; Luke 3:12-13; 5:29-30; 7:34; 15:1; 18:10-11; 19:1-10.

109 J. W. Shepard, The Christ of the Gospels (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1939), pp. 142-143. Edersheim also writes, “It is of importance to notice, that the Talmud distinguishes two classes of ‘publicans’: the tax-gatherer in general (Gabbai), and the Mokhes, or Mokhsa, who was specially the douanier or custom-house official. Although both classes fall under the Rabbinic ban, the douanier—such as Matthew was—is the object of chief execration. And this, because his exactions were more vexatious, and gave more scope to rapacity. The Gabbai, or tax-gatherer, collected the regular dues, which consisted of ground-, income-, and poll-tax. The ground-tax amounted to one-tenth of all grain and one-fifth of the wine and fruit grown; partly paid in kind, and partly commuted into money. The income-tax amounted to 1 per cent.; while the head-money, or poll-tax, was levied on all persons, bond and free, in the case of men from the age of fourteen, in that of women from the age of twelve, up to that of sixty-five.

If this offered many opportunities for vexatious exactions and capacious injustice, the Mokhes might inflict much greater hardship upon the poor people. There was tax and duty upon all imports and exports; on all that was bought and sold; bridge-money, road-money, harbour-dues, town-dues, &c. The classical reader knows the ingenuity which could invent a tax, and find a name for every kind of exaction, such as on axles, wheels, pack-animals, pedestrians, roads, highways; on admission to markets; on carriers, bridges, ships, and quays; on crossing rivers, on dams, on licenses, in short, on such a variety of objects, that even the research of modern scholars has not been able to identify all the names. On goods the ad valorem duty amounted to from 2 1/2 to 5, and on articles of luxury to even 12 1/2 per cent. But even this was as nothing, compared to the vexation of being constantly stopped on the journey, having to unload all one’s pack-animals, when every bale and package was opened, and the contents tumbled about, private letters opened, and the Mokhes ruled supreme in his insolence and rapacity.” Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., [reprint], 1965), I, pp. 515-516.

110 “Capernaum, being located on the Via Maris and being a busy populous center, had a large custom-house with a correspondingly large number of tax-gatherers. It was located at the landing-place for the ships which traversed the lake to various towns on the other shore. The flow of commerce along the highway was also great. From the midst of this group of men engaged in a lawful occupation but likely unlawful abuse, Jesus would win some to eternal life. He was accustomed to pass by that way and doubtless made use of His opportunities to evangelize them. Levi, may have heard Jesus preach by the seaside. He would not feel free to enter the synagogue. The great Teacher frequently taught the humble fisher-folk and others in the open air by the sea and so reached many in this way with His message who would be inaccessible in the synagogues. The sudden response to the call of Jesus that Levi had heard Him preach. Perhaps he had pondered long, as he sat at the receipt of custom recording the import and export duties, the words of some message on the Kingdom, and had secretly decided in his heart that he would be some day a disciple of the new prophet. He was strangely drawn to Jesus, recognizing in Him the helper of all men, even sinners.” Shepard, pp. 145-146.

111 Plummer suggests that a particular word is used of Jesus looking on Levi, which indicates pleasure:

“‘Looked attentively at, contemplated, a tax-collector,’ as if reading his character. The verb often implies enjoyment in beholding (vii. 24;Jn. i. 14, 32, 38; I Jn. i.1).” Alfred Plummer, The Gospel According to St. Luke, The International Critical Commentary Series, (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1969), pp. 158-159.

112 “Thus, in one and another respect, Rabbinic teaching about the need of repentance runs close to that of the Bible. But the vital difference between Rabbinism and the Gospel lies in this: that whereas Jesus Christ freely invited all sinners, whatever their past, assuring them of welcome and grace, the last word of Rabbinism is only despair, and a kind of Pessimism. For, it is expressly and repeatedly declared in the case of certain sins, and, characteristically, of heresy, that, even if a man genuinely and truly repented, he must expect immediately to die—indeed, his death would be the evidence that his repentance was genuine, since, though such a sinner might turn from his evil, it would be impossible for him, if he lived, to lay hold on the good, and to do it.” Edersheim, I, p. 513.

113 Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament Series (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1975 [reprint]), p. 193, footnote, 3.

114 Shephard remarks,

“They directed their expressions of criticism to the disciples of Jesus, perhaps because they were afraid to risk themselves in debate with the Teacher who had bested them in that recent encounter. Perhaps they thought, as Chrysostom suggests, that they might instill disloyalty in the disciples, and discredit Jesus before them.” Shepard, pp. 145-146.

115 The Gospel of Luke reveals a very interesting development of the definition of a sinner:
The Pharisaic View of a Sinner: (1) Jesus associates with sinners Luke 5:31-32. (2) Jesus is a “friend” of sinners Luke 7:34. (3) Jesus “welcomes” sinners Luke 15:2. (4) Jesus is a “sinner,” worthy of death Luke 22:70-71 (cf. John 9:16, 24). Jesus’ Definition of a Sinner: (1) Sinners not defined Luke 5:32; 6:32-34. (2) Sinners not restricted to sufferers Luke 13:15. (3) Sinners include the self-righteous Luke 18:10-14. (4) Sinners are those who condemn Christ(cf. Matt. 26:45; Mark 14:41).

116 “In the Old Testament fasting is ordered only on the Great Day of Atonement as a definite institution (Lev. xvi. 29, where “afflict your souls” also includes “fasting”). But fasting was also practised voluntarily as a sign of mourning (2 Sam. i. 12), at times of disaster and national calamities (Neh. i.4), as a sign of repentance for sin (I Kings xxi. 27), and the like. Thus originally it bore a rich religious significance. During the Babylonian exile, as a result of the lack of the sacrificial services, the opinion arose more and more that fasting was a meritorious work that would be rewarded by God. Thus the practice of fasting assumed an increasingly outward and formal character and lost much of its religious value. For this reason the prophets during and after the exile took such drastic action against it. True fasting, they proclaimed, consisted not in abstaining from food and drink but in renouncing sin (Zech. vii. 5 ff.). Still the degeneration grew apace, so that in the time of Jesus it had become a fixed practice with the Pharisees and many other Jews to fast regularly twice a week (Luke xviii. 12) with much outward display and hypocrisy (Matt. vi. 16, ix. 14).

Jesus’ attitude towards fasting briefly amounts to this, that He rejects it as a religiously meritorious ceremony bearing a compulsory, ceremonial character; but He practised it Himself at times and permits it as a voluntary form of spiritual discipline (Matt. iv. 2, vi. 16-18).

It was such a voluntary religious practice that the first Christians observed fasting (Acts ix. 9, xiii. 2, 3, xiv. 23). But after the third century it degenerated in many cases to an obligatory and supposedly meritorious formality as it is still to be met with today among Roman Catholics, Jews and Mohammedans. Geldenhuys, p. 198.

117 Tim Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1986).

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