Luke 5:31–32

Luke 5:29–32

Levi made a great feast for him in his house. There was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining with them. Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Context note · editorial

When criticized for eating with tax collectors, Jesus uses the image of a physician to explain his welcome and call to repentance. Need is a reason to approach, rather than a reason to be excluded.