Luke 5:27-39
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.”
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.’”
Reflection
The reason Jesus has not come to call the righteous (Luke 5:32) is that “none is righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). The Pharisees mistakenly hope in their own righteousness and therefore proudly despise the “tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 5:30). They fail to see that they are just as spiritually sick as the rough crowd of people they refuse to eat with.
We must all beware of spiritual pride, thinking that our record of moral and ethical attitudes and deeds have somehow earned us God’s good favor. As Paul clearly says in Romans 3:23, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Those who recognize the deep sin-sickness in their own hearts can rejoice that God has sent the Great Physician to bring eternal healing to all who put their hope in him alone!
Ephesians 4:1-6
4: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Reflection
The first three chapters mostly explained God’s achievement: “God has done this for you. You were like this and have now become that.” The last three chapters largely provide instructions for us: “Live this way. Do this; don’t do that.” God has called us by his grace and blessed us in Christ (Ephesians 1–3); therefore we must live out our calling in Christ as his holy and beloved people (chs. 4–6). God’s achievement fuels our obedience.
Paul’s instructions begin with a call for unity in the church. He urges the Ephesians to maintain peace by doing three things (4:2–3): be humble, gentle, and lovingly patient. These acts of peace are only fitting in light of the unity that the church already shares: (1) we are one body; (2) we have one Spirit; (3) we have one hope; (4) we have one Lord; (5) we have one faith; (6) we have one baptism; (7) we have one God and Father of all (vv. 4–6). The unity of the church is precious to Christ and should be precious to us as well (cf. John 17:20–23).
Psalm 34:14
14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
Christian unity does not require us to all have the same opinion. It requires us to be willing to sacrifice our preferences for the sake of loving and serving others. Pray for unity in your Christian community, and pursue it by looking out for the interests of others above your own (cf. Phil. 2:1–4).