The picture described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 was what happened in the call of Levi the tax collector (Luke 5:27-32; Matthew 9:9-17). Please read the following scriptures to get the full context of the recorded event.
The power of His teachings (word), the testimony of the miracles that accompanied and the wave of power attesting to the person of who Jesus is. no doubt had circulated to where Levi and his friends were, was sufficient compelling attraction for a lonely bunch of societal outcasts like Levi and his friends. They were the undesirables as they were dubbed the religious leaders.
The Lord Himself was dubbed an outcast by the same system that had condemned the tax collectors; thus, they had an affinity, a nexus, a deep calling unto deep that drew them to Christ. Where they had no voice to take on their haters who were quick to condemn the budding association, the Lord became their voice to speak against the Pharisees and Scribes, but more Jesus affirmed them as needing help. Something the religious system had been blinded to by their prejudice and hatred.
Jesus did not distance Himself from them, neither did He play down their character but pointed out that only the sick needed a doctor. He was there to offer what the Pharisees and scribes could not offer, REPENTANCE, FORGIVENESS AND A NEW HEART.
Let’s think back on who we have pointed condemning fingers at without recognizing their real need! Christ had and was the irresistible offer that Levi responded to. Levi opened his heart and his home, bringing professional colleagues and other tax collectors so that they should also find in Christ the Saviour what he had experienced. The call to us: go do likewise. Shalom.
Pastor Afolabi Oladele
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