Lesson 15: Luke 5:27-39 Fellowship in Jesus Presence

Feasting at Levi’s House 5:27- 32

English Standard Version (Chapter 5)

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Four Bible characters go by the name of Levi. This Levi was a tax collector who was called of God while sitting at his taxation booth in the public realm. The request/ or command by Jesus was simple, “Follow me!” It is formed as a question and is a verb of action: Would you accompany me as a follower or disciple? Even as the call to follow went out to an unlikely disciple, it was met with no question or resistance. This led to a discipleship coming out feast or party in his home to introduce Jesus and to let people know what he had just done. Today, we know this as more than just following or being a disciple, this was the beginning of apostleship. Verse 28 is the real kicker phrase, “leaving everything (behind), he (Levi) rose and followed him.” After understanding his position as a less than honorable rich man, we realize what his walking away from this position actually meant.

We are not told how large this dinner party of verse 29 was, but in addition to the Scribes and Pharisees, there was a large collection of tax collectors and sinners. This would be probably the only friends Levi enjoyed. No doubt, people were there(the sinners) who were on nobody’s party list. This could have been a revolting crowd. Who would have thought that Jesus and Levi were fishing for men? It is possible that the Scribes and Pharisees were not there personally. They could have been giving their religious assessment of the dinner party that Levi had thrown that they did not attend because of the presence of people they refused to fellowship with or they had not been invited.

“After the fact”, the S & P, or “scribes and Pharisees” index of complaint was about who actually had eaten with Jesus. Holy people just would not do this! Tax collectors were hated in society because they usually collected more than prescribed by law and pocketed the skim off the top. People knew they did this and so were thought of as the tax collectors or “scum”/“scumbags” of the day. Rome farmed out tax collecting to sub contractors and such was Levi. That description is what some commentaries or Bible versions suggest “scum” as an appropriate translation. It was nothing more or less than legal extortion.

Jesus is saying that the focus of the S & P group is off center. The people who ate with Jesus at Levi’s house had been called to come for repentance, not for healing. Though Jesus had focused much of His ministry towards healing, it was probably because of demand of the crowds who came to see Him. Now this closed group is facing that “focused” message of sinners needing repentance. Perhaps as Jesus is confronting the Scribes and Pharisees on this message, He was implicating them as needing the message the most. If a rich man like Levi needed Jesus, then what about everyone else? I like what Bishop Ryle says about Levi and forsaking all:

‘A converted man will not wish to go to heaven alone’ (Ryle).

Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 140.

If the name Levi is not immediately understood as an apostle, then perhaps we should remind each other that this is none other than Matthew( aka Levi). Many individuals had two names like this” Simon/Peter, Saul/ Paul, etc. When Jesus comes into our lives, there accompanies a new identity and many times that begs a new name also. Can we not also realize how humbling it must have been for Jesus to have associated himself with such a hated man. That is the wonder of our Savior. “whosoever may come!”

Fasting and Associate Parables 5:33- 39

33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?

35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’ ”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 5:33–39.

The question is, “Jesus, why does your disciples eat and drink( and the implication is, they enjoy themselves.) If John’s disciples fast and pray and the the Pharisees disciples fast and pray, then what is the difference? Why the enjoyment in your guys and all of the sad faces in the other court? Good question! After all, Matthew and Mark both say that this question was asked by both groups, John’s disciples and the Pharisee’s disciples, not just the Pharisees

Jesus Explains 5:34-39

The explanation of “why?” involves the joy of a bridegroom party, the tattered clothes/new clothes parable and the parable of the wineskins. The guests will party while the bridegroom is still there. If he leaves the party,it is over. Then it will be time to pray and fast. Today, if someone takes a piece from an old garment and puts it on new garments that is called crafty or mending. The idea is the new garment will never be the same after it is patched, style-wise and structurally. When Jesus says “no one” refers to the fact that not much patching was going on. At His crucifixion people cast lots for His seamless robe. You might say He is referring to the fact that He doesn’t just patch things up, He makes things new.

Much of the same can be said about the wineskin parable:

If you put new wine into old brittle wineskins, the fermenting liquid will produce gas, and the skins will burst. Jesus did not come to “patch” people’s lives but to make them whole. He did not come to mix the old and the new but to bring new life to all who trust Him (2 Cor. 5:17). The tragedy is, people say “the old is better!” and do not want the new. The Book of Hebrews was written to explain how much better the new covenant faith is.

Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992), 159–160.

It is a very simple concept, but the implications are deep for the individual. Here’s II Corinthians 5:17-20.

English Standard Version (Chapter 5)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

The verbal appeal of Jesus to sinners is the same today. Today is the day to come. This is the day to come and dine at His table. This is the day to be made new. On behalf of the Lord jesus Christ, be reconciled to God and be one of His ambassadors.