Saturday 17 February 2018 Saturday, After Ash Wednesday 1st Reading: Is 58:9b–14 Gospel: Lk 5:27–32
Jesus noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax-office, he said to him, “Follow me.” So Levi, leaving everything, got up and followed Jesus.Levi gave a great feast for Jesus, and many tax collectors came to his house and took their place at table with the other people. Then the Pharisees and their fellow teachers complained to Jesus’ disciples, “How is it that you eat and drink with tax collectors and other sinners?” But Jesus spoke up, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I have come to call to repentance; I call sinners, not the righteous.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Sinfulness does not eject one from Jesus’ priority list. Levi’s story proves this point. He was precisely seated at his tax collector’s office reputed to be breeding ground of corruption when Jesus called him to be his follower. Jesus didn’t mind if people misunderstood him as condoning the kind of public sins that Levi was doing. More precious to him than public opinion was the welfare of sinners. The greater the notoriety of the sinner, the greater was Jesus’ concern for his salvation.
Levi responded with gratitude by throwing a party for Jesus. This response was striking to the Jews in light of the special meaning they attached to a meal. Frequent readers of the Gospel of Luke will notice how a meal is used to portray God’s desire to be intimately united with his people. The same is also used as backdrop of most conversion stories of Jesus. In the case of Levi, the meal he prepared for Jesus measured his desire to be intimately united to his Master. Jesus’ unconditional acceptance of him despite his status as public sinner moved him to total self-surrender.
The Pharisees frowned at Jesus for “cuddling” public sinners. But Jesus stood his ground in defense of sinners like Levi. He declared: “I call sinners, not the righteous.” In the Lucan context, “righteous” has a negative connotation. Applied to the Pharisees it means the arrogant usurpation of the function of God to judge others. By condemning public sinners, the Pharisees arrogated unto themselves the exclusive and original jurisdiction of God to judge humanity. In so doing they committed the greater sin – greater than what Levi and the other tax collectors committed.
Today’s Gospel brings us the encouraging message that our frequent falling into temptation cannot eject us from God’s priority list. And when we respond positively not even the strongest opposition can boot us out from that list. –(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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