Saturday 8 March 2025 after Ash Wednesday
Isaiah 58:9-14
The Lord says this:
If you do away with the yoke,
the clenched fist, the wicked word,
if you give your bread to the hungry,
and relief to the oppressed,
your light will rise in the darkness,
and your shadows become like noon.
The Lord will always guide you,
giving you relief in desert places.
He will give strength to your bones
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never run dry.
You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
build up on the old foundations.
You will be called ‘Breach-mender’,
‘Restorer of ruined houses.’
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
and doing business on the holy day,
if you call the Sabbath ‘Delightful’,
and the day sacred to the Lord ‘Honourable’,
if you honour it by abstaining from travel,
from doing business and from gossip,
then shall you find your happiness in the Lord
and I will lead you triumphant over the heights of the land.
I will feed you on the heritage of Jacob your father.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Psalm 85(86):1-6 Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Luke 5:27-32
Jesus noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything he got up and followed him.
In his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples and said, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.’
Reflection:
To truly grasp Jesus’ words, “I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32), we must undergo a radical shift in perspective. The human tendency is to categorize people into “good” and “bad,” assuming that virtue earns divine favor while sin leads to rejection. However, Jesus challenges this mindset by revealing that God’s mercy is not transactional but transformational.
Instead of viewing sin as a barrier to God, Jesus shows that it is precisely in our brokenness that He calls us. His mission is not about rewarding the already righteous but about healing those who recognize their need for Him. This requires humility—the willingness to acknowledge our own sinfulness rather than measuring ourselves against others.
Furthermore, Jesus redefines righteousness. The so-called “virtuous” of His time—the Pharisees—prided themselves on external adherence to the law but failed to embrace the love, mercy, and humility that true holiness demands. The sinners, in contrast, were those open to conversion, ready to receive God’s invitation to transformation.
Understanding Jesus’ words requires letting go of self-righteousness and embracing the reality that we are all sinners in need of grace. Only then can we truly respond to His call.