I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
All Commentaries on Luke 5:32 Go To Luke 5
Bede
AD 735
“I have not come to call the just but sinners” can also be properly understood in this way. He has not called those who, wishing to establish their own justice, have not been made subject to the justice of God. He calls those who, being conscious of their weakness, are not ashamed to confess that we have all offended in many things. In them too is fulfilled his saying that he had not come to call the just but sinners. That is, he does not call the exalted but the humble. He does not call those puffed up about their own justice but those showing themselves devotedly subject to the one who justifies the wicked. Such people, when they are converted, bear witness with a sincere heart that they must not be regarded as just, but sinners. It is a pleasure to remember, beloved, … to what a height of justice the Lord fetched Matthew, whom he chose out of his tax collecting activities in order to increase for sinners their hope of forgiveness. The apostolic band into which he was incorporated teaches what kind of person he became.
