Church Fathers Commentary Luke 5:27-32

"And after these things he went forth, and beheld a publican, named Levi, sitting at the place of toll, and said unto him, Follow me. And he forsook all, and rose up and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house: and there was a great multitude of publicans and of others that were sitting at meat with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with the publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are in health have no need of a physician; but they that are sick. I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." — Luke 5:27-32 (ASV)

St. Augustine of Hippo: After healing the man with paralysis, St. Luke goes on to mention the conversion of a tax collector, saying, "And after these things, he went forth, and saw a publican of the name of Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom." This is Matthew, who was also called Levi.

The Venerable Bede: Luke and Mark, to honor the Evangelist, do not use his common name. But Matthew is the first to identify himself, giving his name as Matthew and his profession as tax collector, so that no one might despair of salvation because of the greatness of their sins, seeing that he himself was changed from a tax collector into an Apostle.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: For Levi had been a tax collector—a greedy man with unrestrained desires for worthless things, a lover of other people's property, for this is the character of a tax collector. But he was snatched from the very practice of malice by Christ’s call. Hence it follows, "And he said to him, Follow me." He commands him to follow, not with physical steps, but with the affections of the soul. Matthew, therefore, being called by the Word, left his own possessions—he who was accustomed to seizing the property of others. As it follows, "And having left all, he rose, and followed him."

St. John Chrysostom: Here, observe both the power of the one who called and the obedience of the one who was called. For he did not resist or waver, but immediately obeyed; and, like the fishermen, he did not even want to go to his own house to tell his family.

St. Basil the Great: He not only gave up the profits from tax collecting, but he also disregarded the dangers that could come to him and his family from leaving the tax accounts unfinished.

Theophylact of Ohrid: And so from the one who collected tolls from passersby, Christ received a toll—not of money, but of complete devotion to His fellowship.

St. John Chrysostom: The Lord honored Levi, whom He had called, by immediately going to his feast, for this demonstrated great confidence in him. Thus, the text says, "And Levi made him a great feast in his own house." Nor did He sit down to eat with him alone, but with many, as it continues, "And there was a great company of tax collectors and others that sat down with them."

The tax collectors came to Levi as their colleague, a man in the same profession, and Levi, glorying in Christ's presence, called them all together. Christ demonstrated every kind of remedy. Not only by teaching, performing healings, or rebuking the envious, but also by eating with them, He corrected the faults of some. This gives us a lesson that every moment and occasion brings its own benefit. He did not shun the company of tax collectors for the sake of the good that could result, just as a physician cannot cure the disease unless he touches the afflicted part.

St. Ambrose of Milan: For by eating with sinners, He does not prevent us from also attending a banquet with Gentiles.

St. John Chrysostom: Nevertheless, the Lord was blamed by the Pharisees, who were envious and wished to separate Christ from His disciples. As the text says, the Pharisees murmured, asking, Why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?

St. Ambrose of Milan: This was the voice of the devil. This was the first word the Serpent uttered to Eve: Yea, has God said, You shall not eat? So they spread the poison of their father.

St. Augustine of Hippo: St. Luke seems to have related this account somewhat differently from the other Evangelists. He does not say the objection—that He ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners—was made against our Lord alone, but against the disciples as well, so that the charge would be understood to apply to both Him and them.

The reason Matthew and Mark related the objection as being made about Christ to His disciples is this: since the disciples ate with tax collectors and sinners, the objection was more pointedly directed at their Master, whom they followed and imitated. The meaning, therefore, is the same, yet it is conveyed even better because, while keeping to the truth, it differs in certain words.

St. John Chrysostom: But our Lord refutes all their charges, showing that far from being a fault, mixing with sinners is a part of His merciful design. As it follows, And Jesus answering said to them, They that are whole need not a physician. In this, He reminds them of their own weaknesses and shows them that they are among the sick, while adding that He is the Physician.

He continues, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. It is as if He were saying, "So far am I from hating sinners that I came for their sake alone—not so they would remain sinners, but so they would be converted and become righteous."

St. Augustine of Hippo: Therefore, He adds the words "to repentance," which serves to explain the passage well. No one should suppose that sinners are loved by Christ because they are sinners. The analogy of the sick plainly shows what our Lord meant by calling sinners: just as a physician calls the sick, He calls sinners so that they might be saved from iniquity as from a sickness.

St. Ambrose of Milan: But how can it be that God loves righteousness and David has never seen the righteous forsaken, if the righteous are excluded and the sinner is called? It is, unless you understand that by "the righteous" He meant those who boast in the law and do not seek the grace of the Gospel. No one is justified by the law but is redeemed by grace. Therefore, He does not call those who call themselves righteous, for those who claim righteousness are not called to grace. If grace comes from repentance, then surely the one who despises repentance also renounces grace.

But He calls those people sinners who, considering their guilt and feeling that they cannot be justified by the law, submit themselves through repentance to the grace of Christ.

St. John Chrysostom: He speaks of "the righteous" ironically, as when God says, Behold, Adam is become as one of us. But that there was no one righteous on the earth, St. Paul shows, saying, All have sinned, and need the grace of God.

Gregory of Nyssa: Alternatively, He means that the healthy and righteous—that is, the angels—do not need a physician, but the corrupt and sinful—that is, we ourselves—do, since we contract the disease of sin, which does not exist in heaven.

The Venerable Bede: The election of Matthew signifies the faith of the Gentiles, who formerly pursued worldly pleasures but now refresh the body of Christ with zealous devotion.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Alternatively, the tax collector represents one who serves the prince of this world and is a debtor to the flesh—to which the glutton gives his food, the adulterer his pleasure, and others give other things. But when the Lord saw him sitting at the tax booth, not engaging in greater wickedness, He called him so that he might be snatched from evil to follow Jesus and receive the Lord into the house of his soul.

St. Ambrose of Milan: But the one who receives Christ into his inner chamber is fed with the greatest delights of overflowing pleasures. The Lord, therefore, willingly enters and rests in that person's affection. Yet again, the envy of the treacherous is kindled, and the nature of their future punishment is foreshadowed, for while all the faithful are feasting in the kingdom of heaven, the faithless will be cast out, hungry. Or, by this is denoted the envy of the Jews, who are afflicted at the salvation of the Gentiles.

At the same time, the difference is shown between those who are zealous for the law and those who are for grace. Those who follow the law will suffer eternal hunger of the soul, while those who have received the Word into their inmost soul, refreshed with an abundance of heavenly food and drink, can neither hunger nor thirst. And so, those who were fasting in their souls were the ones who murmured.