I did not come to call the righteous but sinners. The Gospel reading for today recounts the calling of Levi, a tax collector who became a follower of Jesus. It is a calling that took place as Jesus was gaining some momentum in his ministry of preaching the good news of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. Jesus’ fame was spreading far and wide and it appears his ministry was slowly turning into a movement (people were coming to him wherever he was in order to listen to him). Not only was he attracting larger and full crowds, but he was also consolidating his inner circle. In the episode recounted in today’s passage, Jesus happened to pass by where Levi was manning his tax-collector’s post. We are not told whether Levi had shown some interest in what Jesus was doing or whether this was the first time the two were meeting. We are only told that at Jesus’ beckoning, Levi left his post and proceeded to host a banquet for Jesus and his friends. And in total dismay of the self-proclaimed “righteous” who happened to have been present at the banquet, Jesus allowed some of Levi’s friends including some publicly known “sinners” to join him at table. As expected, the self-proclaimed righteous made known their disapproval of what Jesus was doing. Their complaint elicited from Jesus the proverbial I did not come to call the righteous response. It was a remark that at first sight might appear divisive and biased. Does Jesus segregate? Does he have his favorites?  
Jesus' mission is universal, and every man and woman, and as a matter of fact, every created being, is Jesus' favorite. Jesus comes to us as one of us, flesh and bones. He has come to his own (cf. John 1:11a) in order to raise them up and lead them to the light (cf. John 1:9b). But for that to happen, we have to accept him, not only as our own, but as our sole means to salvation. Only the one who accepts his/her situation as desperate and in need of intervention can reach out for help. Jesus comes calling, but we can only hear his voice if we know him and if what he is saying strikes a chord inside of us. A self-declared righteous person is 'sinless,' and as such has no need for the saving intervention of Jesus. But as John reminds us, the one who says that he/she is without sin is a liar (cf. I John 1:8), for all have sinned (cf. Romans 3:23). Jesus’ remark that he has come to call sinners was directed at the self-declared righteous as a means of calling them to introspection. If they indeed were without sin, as they claimed to be, then there was no need for them to hang with Jesus. But if they too were sinners, then they had no right to judge others.