Absolutely Backwards

Luke 5:31-32

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Over the course of my life, I’ve been blessed with very good health, with the exception of the occasional cold or seasonal allergies, I really don’t have all that much to complain about. And so it’s really unusual, a few weeks ago when I was playing pickleball with some friends in Florida and played 2 or 3 games and was just huffing and puffing, felt extremely fatigued. So I went home, grabbed a thermometer and took my temperature and it read about 102. Kind of shocked me a little bit. So started to get my fever suppressant and get a big bottle of water and rest on the couch for a little while.

That was Monday. Tuesday did the exact same thing. Wednesday came along and it was rinse and repeat. It was still about 103. And so it’s kind of like this is a little interesting. I got an appointment over to Urgent Care and went to see a doctor. And as I was sitting in that doctor’s waiting room, it kind of struck me that it had been about 12 or 15 years since I’ve been in a waiting room because, well, I don’t go to the doctor unless I’m sick.

That reminds me of something that Jesus said in Luke chapter five, verses 31-32.

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. (Luke 5:31-32)

Now the context here is that Jesus just met a tax collector named Levi. Later on, we will know him as Matthew. And Levi was at his tax collecting table. And then Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” And then Levi leaves everything to go follow Jesus. And then later on, Levi invites Jesus over to his home for a dinner. And it wasn’t just Levi and Jesus, but it was Levi, Jesus and a bunch of other tax collectors.

Now, there are some Pharisees who noticed this, and they were kind of looking a little weird because tax collectors were not like modern day IRS agents. They were kind of thieves, grifters and traders all rolled into one. They were supporting the oppressive Roman Empire, and they’re also allowed to up people’s taxes so that they could have a larger cut of the money. And so when the Pharisees noticed Jesus hanging out with all of these tax collectors, they started to grumble to the disciples asking, why is Jesus, who if nothing else is, you know, holy man, a rabbi, a righteous man, why would he be hanging out with sinners and with tax collectors?

And that’s a really good question because we wouldn’t expect the Holy Son of God incarnate, the Holy Son of God in flesh to be sitting with tax collectors or prostitutes or sinners or people like that. But of course, the answer is really simple. Jesus was dining with tax collectors because they are sinners, they are unholy, they are unrighteous, the same way that Levi was a sinner. Those tax collectors were sinners. And you and me are sinners. If Levi was perfect, if he was holy, if he was righteous, if you and I were holy and righteous ourselves, we would have no need for Jesus. We’d have no need for a Savior.

And so here, when we see Jesus dining with Levi, what we’re seeing here is actually kind of the gospel in a nutshell. It’s the same reason why ultimately Jesus went to the cross. Jesus is associating with tax collectors and other sinners because he came here to Earth. He took on flesh, became a man just like you and me, in order to redeem all of us from our sins. And so Jesus knew their unholiness. They knew their unrighteousness, and he knew their sinfulness. And so therefore, he took all those things with them when he went to the cross to pay the eternal penalty for our sins, for unholiness. When he died for Levi, for those tax collectors and you and me as well.

So Jesus came to heal all of us of the terminal illness of sin. And he approaches us in so many different ways, the same way that he came to approach those tax collectors and Levi. He approached us through his word, where he lets us know, Here is what I’ve done for you. I have taken that illness of sin upon myself and paid the price in order to remove it from you. He comes to us through water and word and holy baptism, where he cleanses us from all of our sin. He takes away that illness and makes us clean, makes us healthy. And Jesus comes again through his body and blood. In his bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper as he gives to us what one ancient pastor called the medicine of immortality. Where he gives us the blessings of heaven and everything he has for us in this wonderful meal, this wonderful sacrament, this meal that more or less he shared with Levi and those tax collectors.

So sometimes tempting for us to think that, well, I need to get my act together before I can dine with Jesus. I need to get holy before I can even talk or dine or fellowship with Jesus or something like that. But the really neat thing about the gospel is that that’s absolutely backwards. Jesus comes to us because our lives are a mess. Jesus comes to us because we are unholy. Jesus comes to us because we are spiritually sick sinners in need of healing. And He alone is a great physician who can heal us from the sickness of sin. Today lets thank him for the healing that he gives us in Christ’s most holy name. Amen.