^5:27After¹⁰⁵ this, Jesus¹⁰⁶ went out and saw a tax collector¹⁰⁷ named Levi¹⁰⁸ sitting at the tax booth.¹⁰⁹ “Follow me,”¹¹⁰ he said to him. ^5:28And he got up and followed him, leaving everything¹¹¹ behind.¹¹²

^5:29Then¹¹³ Levi gave a great banquet¹¹⁴ in his house for Jesus,¹¹⁵ and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting¹¹⁶ at the table with them. ^5:30But¹¹⁷ the Pharisees¹¹⁸ and their experts in the law¹¹⁹ complained¹²⁰ to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”¹²¹^5:31Jesus¹²² answered them, “Those who are well don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do.¹²³^5:32I have not come¹²⁴ to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”¹²⁵

The Superiority of the New

^5:33Then¹²⁶ they said to him, “John’s¹²⁷ disciples frequently fast¹²⁸ and pray,¹²⁹ and so do the disciples of the Pharisees,¹³⁰ but yours continue to eat and drink.”¹³¹^5:34So¹³² Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the wedding guests¹³³ fast while the bridegroom¹³⁴ is with them, can you?¹³⁵^5:35But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them,¹³⁶ at that time¹³⁷ they will fast.” ^5:36He also told them a parable:¹³⁸ “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews¹³⁹ it on an old garment. If he does, he will have torn¹⁴⁰ the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.¹⁴¹^5:37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.¹⁴² If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ^5:38Instead new wine must be poured into new wineskins.¹⁴³

Read in Logos

Luke 5:32: I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance…

Footnotes

105 Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
106 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
107 See the note on tax collectors in .
108 It is possible that Levi is a second name for Matthew, because people often used alternative names in 1st century Jewish culture.
109 While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telōnion; so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings. The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Levi (also named Matthew [see Matt 9:9]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.
110 Follow me. For similar calls on the part of Jesus see Luke 5:10–11; 9:23, 59; 18:22.
111 On the phrase leaving everything see Luke 5:10–11; 14:33.
112 The participial phrase “leaving everything behind” occurs at the beginning of the sentence, but has been transposed to the end in the translation for logical reasons, since it serves to summarize Levi’s actions.
113 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
114 A great banquet refers to an elaborate meal. Many of the events in Luke take place in the context of meal fellowship: 7:36–50; 9:12–17; 10:38–42; 11:37–54; 14:1–24; 22:7–38; 24:29–32, 41–43.
115 Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
116 Grk “reclining.” This term reflects the normal practice in 1st century Jewish culture of eating a meal in a semi-reclining position. Since it is foreign to most modern readers, the translation “sitting” has been substituted.
117 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the implied contrast present in this context.
118 See the note on Pharisees in .
119 Or “and their scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in .
120 Or “grumbled”; a term often used in the OT for inappropriate grumbling: Exod 15:24; 16:7–8; Num 14:2, 26–35; 16:11.
121 The issue here is inappropriate associations (eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners) and the accusation comes not against Jesus, but his disciples.
122 Grk “And Jesus.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
123 Jesus’ point is that he associates with those who are sick because they have the need and will respond to the offer of help. A person who is well (or who thinks mistakenly that he is) will not seek treatment.
124 I have not come is another commission statement by Jesus; see 4:43–44.
125 Though parallels exist to this saying (Matt 9:13; Mark 2:17), only Luke has this last phrase but sinners to repentance. Repentance is a frequent topic in Luke’s Gospel: 3:3, 8; 13:1–5; 15:7, 10; 16:30; 17:3–4; 24:47.
126 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
127 Most (א*,2 A C D Θ Ψ f1, 13 𝔐 latt sy) read διὰ τί (dia ti, “Why do John’s …?”) here, turning the statement into a question. But such seems to be a motivated reading, assimilating the text to Mark 2:18 and Matt 9:14. The reading represented in the translation is supported by 𝔓4 א1 B L W Ξ 33 892* 1241 sa. John refers to John the Baptist.
128 John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees followed typical practices with regard to fasting and prayer. Many Jews fasted regularly (Lev 16:29–34; 23:26–32; Num 29:7–11). The zealous fasted twice a week on Monday and Thursday.
129 Grk “and offer prayers,” but this idiom (δέησις + ποιέω) is often simply a circumlocution for praying.
130 See the note on Pharisees in .
131 Grk “but yours are eating and drinking.” The translation “continue to eat and drink” attempts to reflect the progressive or durative nature of the action described, which in context is a practice not limited to the specific occasion at hand (the banquet).
132 Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ pronouncement is a result of their statements about his disciples.
133 Grk “the sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to guests at the wedding, or more specifically, friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).
134 The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5–6; 62:4–5; 4 Ezra 2:15, 38).
135 Questions prefaced with μή (mē) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “can you?”).
136 The statement when the bridegroom is taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 9:18ff.
137 Grk “then in those days.”
138 The term parable in a Semitic context can cover anything from a long story to a brief wisdom saying. Here it is the latter.
139 Grk “puts”; but since the means of attachment would normally be sewing, the translation “sews” has been used.
140 Grk “he tears.” The point is that the new garment will be ruined to repair an older, less valuable one.
141 The piece from the new will not match the old. The imagery in this saying looks at the fact that what Jesus brings is so new that it cannot simply be combined with the old. To do so would be to destroy what is new and to put together something that does not fit.
142 Wineskins were bags made of skin or leather, used for storing wine in NT times. As the new wine fermented and expanded, it would stretch the new wineskins. Putting new (unfermented) wine in old wineskins, which had already been stretched, would result in the bursting of the wineskins.
143 Most (A C [D] Θ Ψ f13 𝔐 latt sy) have καὶ ἀμφότεροι συντηροῦνται (kai amphoteroi suntērountai, “and both will be preserved”), assimilating the text to Matt 9:17. The earliest and best witnesses, as well as many others (𝔓4, 75vid א B L W f1 33 579 700 1241 2542 co), however, lack the words. The meaning of the saying new wine … into new skins is that the presence and teaching of Jesus was something new and signaled the passing of the old. It could not be confined within the old religion of Judaism, but involved the inauguration and consummation of the kingdom of God.