Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
In my journal, I comment how I am continually struck by the simplicity of Mark’s writing, but also the depth to which we learn about Jesus at the same time. I am reading with an open intentionality that seems to make each word and phrase jump off the page. I do believe that the Lord led me to this Book of Scripture.
While reading, I was brought back to the calling of Levi, the tax collector. As I seek to love the least of these and be Christ to the lost, the forgotten and those on the fringes, I am drawn to Levi. There was no one more isolated or despised in the Jewish world than the tax collector, except for possibly the Romans themselves. And rightly so—at least to everyone except Jesus!
To understand how radical the call of Levi was by Jesus to join his inner circle, it helps to understand the position of the tax collector in Jewish society in Jesus’ day. Under Roman rule the Jews paid a religious tax to the Jewish authorities for maintenance of the Temple. They also paid tax to the Roman government which included an income tax, a poll tax and customs levies. On top of that, they paid a toll for using roads and bridges. Some historians estimate that 30-40% of the citizen’s income was paid in these various taxes.
The Romans hired independent contractors to collect these tolls and taxes. The method by which these were collected was harsh and often demeaning. They examined goods carried by travelers and charged arbitrary and exorbitant amounts, keeping the excess for themselves. They made money by threatening false charges of smuggling, then demanded hush money. High interest was charged to people who could not pay. The tax collector was despised!
Enter Jesus on the road to Capernaum, seeing Levi in the tax collector’s booth calling, “Levi, follow me.” Come sit at my feet and learn from me. Come leave your riches and your comfort and follow the Rabbi who has no home to call his own. Step out of the shadows of your booth and dark trade and enter life with the “Light of World.”
By this time, Jesus had an active ministry in the area. Crowds followed. In fact, so many that he was driven from that area for a period. Perhaps Levi had seen Jesus as he traveled the road with his disciples. Perhaps he had heard the stories of miracles and healings. Perhaps he had watched with quiet envy the camaraderie with His friends and followers. Perhaps he saw the look of compassion in his eyes when he passed a beggar on the side of the road. It is easy to imagine how Levi would have been willing to follow Jesus.
But what did Jesus see in Levi? What made Him stop and call to this despised man and invite him into the inner circle. He was unclean due to his dealings with Gentiles. Politically, he was a traitor, as he aligned himself with the Romans. Socially, he was an outcast. Yet, none of that mattered to Jesus.
Jesus saw through all that to the heart and soul and pain and emptiness of a man who needed a Savior, a place at the table, redemption, and a loving relationship with the Father. Levi was exactly who Jesus came to serve and love and invite and redeem. A man on the fringes and a man without hope.
Jesus saw and loved and called. Then He gave him a new name, Matthew—gift of God. This very act brings tears to my eyes! From despised to “Gift”. The Giver of life gave an empty man in a roadside booth the greatest gift of all—newness and life in Him.
Isn’t that what we all desire?
And when once we receive from Christ, aren’t we all called to bring more ‘Levi’s’ to the light and love of a Savior who came to earth just for them!