The Ones Who Need Jesus

Published: Aug. 8, 2022, midnight

b'Levi was not a popular guy; in fact, most people didn\\u2019t like Levi at all. In Jewish society during Jesus\\u2019s time, tax collectors were despised as the lowest of the low. They worked for the enemy\\u2014Rome. They cheated their own people, and they got rich doing it. That was the kind of man Levi was\\u2014but he wasn\\u2019t that different from us. Like us, he was a sinner who needed Jesus.But God was working in his heart. When Jesus extended a simple invitation to Levi, \\u201cFollow me,\\u201d Levi did just that, leaving his tax collecting booth, his job, and his sinful past behind him. This complete obedience was evidence of his faith in Jesus. Levi became a follower of Jesus and, eventually, one of the twelve disciples. We know him as Matthew (Matthew 9:9)!Levi knew others who needed Jesus, and he invited them to his house to have dinner with the Savior. These people were just like Levi\\u2014tax collectors and sinners. Levi wanted them to meet Jesus; maybe they would be saved from their sins too. But the Pharisees (Jewish religious teachers) who witnessed Jesus eating with this crowd were shocked. \\u201cWhy would Jesus hang out with such sinners?\\u201d Jesus answered them by saying, \\u201cHealthy people don\\u2019t need a doctor\\u2014sick people do. I havecome to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners\\u201d (verse 17).Of course Jesus wanted to be with people like Levi and his friends. He loved them, even though their lives were empty and wasted because they followed sin, and not God. They needed their hearts healed from sin\\u2014they needed \\u201cDr. Jesus\\u201d to save them and make them right in God\\u2019s eyes. These were the ones who needed Jesus.And so do sinners like you and me. \\u2022 Laura N. Sweet\\u2022 Levi\\u2019s abandonment of his job and his past showed his complete change of heart and his faith in Jesus. How did inviting his friends to meet Jesus also show that change?\\u2022 Did the Pharisees see themselves as \\u201chealthy\\u201d or \\u201csick\\u201d? What didn\\u2019t they understand about their own sin? \\u2022 According to Romans 3:22-28, why do we all need Jesus? Jesus\\u2026told them, \\u201cHealthy people don\\u2019t need a doctor\\u2014sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.\\u201d Mark 2:17 (NLT)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nLuke.5.27-Luke.5.32|Mark.2.13-Mark.2.17'