Outcasts Invited

February 19

(Luke 5:27-29,31-32 NIV) “After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me", Jesus said to him, {28} and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. {29} Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them… {31} Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. {32} I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.””

(1 Timothy 1:15 NIV) “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.”

Jesus likely shocked His disciples when He invited Levi (Matthew) the tax collector, to follow Him. Tax collectors were despised. They worked for the occupying Romans. They made their living by charging more than required and keeping the extra for themselves. This made them both “traitors” and “gangsters”, extorting money from fellow Jews and sharing it with an enemy. They were outcasts, and considered “the scum of the earth” in Israel. But Jesus calls this outcast (who would later write the first gospel in the New Testament) and Matthew gets up, leaves everything behind, and follows Jesus. Levi then did something else. He invited all his outcast friends to his home for a “Meet Jesus” party. Jesus came for the outcasts of this world: tax collectors, thieves, harlots, liars, drunks, and addicts. He came for the worst of sinners. That means He came for you and me. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day