Most of us have received a phone call in life bearing good or bad news which caused us to drop everything we were doing and attend to whatever was going on. Yet, whatever we dropped was still there when we returned.
Jesus invited Levi, a tax collector, to come and follow him. Levi left everything and followed. There was no going back to pick it up. Being a tax collector was not a glorious job. How many people do you run into that say they work for the IRS and say it proudly? We don’t like paying our taxes and back then they really didn’t like it. The tax collectors received a percentage of the tax paid. This left some wiggle room for how much money they collected for themselves as well as the Roman government. So, as you can imagine, Levi or Matthew as we also know him, was not a well-liked guy by most Jews. I can imagine what a surprise it was for him to be singled out and called by Jesus. Levi, in his excitement, hosts a big party, inviting Jesus and the disciples as well as several of his coworkers and friends. They have to eat, right? So why not have a banquet? Everyone was having a great time eating and socializing, except those not invited, the Pharisees. I sense a hint of jealousy here. Why does he eat with ‘tax collectors and sinners’? He doesn’t eat with us. He’s a teacher, we’re teachers, shouldn’t he eat with us and not them? What was Jesus’ response? He has come to call not those who think they have it all together but those who know they don’t. It’s hard to teach someone if they think they know it all. Levi wasn’t ashamed to introduce Jesus, (a righteous man) to his non-religious friends. And Jesus was where he needed to be. Are we willing to cast aside our prejudices and spend time with others that aren’t like us? Are we willing to introduce Jesus to those who need him? Who do you know that needs Jesus’ healing touch? How will you answer God’s call in your life? Will you be like Levi and drop everything to follow him, to in turn, invite him into your life? NIV 27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
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AuthorThe Pastors of Cornerstone Wesleyan Church Archives
July 2017
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