The Call of Matthew; Eating with Sinners

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. So he got up and followed him.

As Jesus was having a meal in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Jesus and his disciples.

When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners

Jesus went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them.

As Jesus was having a meal in Levi’s home, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

When the experts in the law and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough of that! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him.

But the Pharisees and their experts in the law complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

And if you lend to those from whom you hope to be repaid, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may be repaid in full.

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

Then when a woman of that town, who was a sinner, learned that Jesus was dining at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

He answered them, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things?

The Parable of the Lost Sheep and Coin

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to hear him.

But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.

In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’

And when the people saw it, they all complained, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

Then some of the Pharisees began to say, “This man is not from God, because he does not observe the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division among them.

Then they summoned the man who used to be blind a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. We know that this man is a sinner.”

He replied, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. I do know one thing—that although I was blind, now I can see.”

We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, God listens to him.

For if by my lie the truth of God enhances his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner?

But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be constituted righteous.

The Justification of Jews and Gentiles

We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners,

But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages sin? Absolutely not!

realizing that law is not intended for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them!

For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded.

he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from his wandering path will save that person’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners?

to execute judgment on all, and to convict every person of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds that they have committed, and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”