Calling Matthew (Levi)

Once again, Jesus went out beside the Sea of Galilee. All the people came to Jesus, and He taught them there. 

As He was walking along, Jesus saw a man named Matthew, also called Levi son of Alphaeus. The man was sitting at the tax booth. "Follow Me,” Jesus told him, and Matthew got up, left everything, and followed Him. 

Then Matthew hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house. And many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and His disciples—for there were many who followed Him. When the Pharisees and scribes saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 

On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” 

(See Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:9‭-‬13; Mark 2:13‭-‬17; Luke 5:27‭-‬32)

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