Gospel of Luke 5:27-32 - From Crook to World Changer
We are in a message series on the Gospel of Luke
The word “gospel” literally means “good news”
So, you could say that this series is about “The good news of Luke”
What exactly is this good news?
Simply put, it’s the life story of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most influential person who has ever existed
Even if you’re not a Christian, or even a particularly religious person, you cannot deny this fact
No one life has affected the whole of humanity more than Jesus Christ
Since He has affected the world so deeply you would think that all of us would know a lot about Him, but unfortunately that is not true
Many claim to know about Jesus, but in reality few people really do
The Gospel of Luke details the events of Jesus’ life from His birth to His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection
Luke is written by a Gentile to a Gentile audience
Since the vast majority of us listening to this message are Gentiles I think it’s very appropriate that we study this Gospel
Let’s jump right into our passage for today in Luke chapter 5
Luke 5:27-32 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."
This is a really cool story and gives us a fantastic lesson!
However, like many Bible stories, you really need to understand the historical context to get the full meaning
The big thing that we need to understand is the rolls of tax collectors in society during this time
The job title “tax collector” doesn’t hold the same emotions today as it did back then
Even though none of us like paying taxes, we usually don’t freak out over someone being a tax collector
In our society today that job is no different than any other
However it was quite different in Jesus’ day
The first thing we need to understand is the political climate
Israel was under Roman occupation
The Roman empire had conquered Israel and was ruling them
This, as you can imagine, didn’t sit too well with the Israelis
I can’t say as I blame them – if the United States was invaded and we were under the rule of another country I don’t think there would be too many people that would like that
To put it mildly – the Israelis HATED the Romans with a passion!
As I mentioned a few moments ago nobody likes paying taxes, but could you imagine how much worse it would be if you had to pay taxes to an occupying government that you hated?
Every time you had to pay your taxes it would be a reminder – a slap in the face if you will – that you and your country were not free
Whenever possible the Romans liked to use locals to collect their taxes
This meant that tax collectors were looked upon by the average person as traitors
In addition to being looked upon as traitors they were also considered criminals
The reason why is that Rome didn’t care if the tax collectors overcharged the people – as long as Rome got it’s share it was perfectly fine for the tax collectors to pocket any extra they collected
So tax collectors were considered traitorous criminals and were by and large hated by the general population
So with this in mind let’s go back to our story
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.
These two verses are, in my opinion, two of the greatest verses in this entire Gospel account
Why do I say that?
Let’s look at what’s happening here
Jesus just left the house where the paralytic was lowered through the roof (see last weeks message)
He’s walking along and comes across a tax collector named Levi
I am certain that there were people following Jesus – it was hard for Him to go anywhere without drawing a huge crowd
As Jesus paused in front of Levi’s tax collecting booth I can just imagine some of the people getting excited because they were expecting Jesus to really lay into Levi
After all, Levi was a traitor to his nation and a crook to boot
Jesus was an up and coming Rabbi of immense popularity who preached about holiness and repentance
Who wouldn’t think that Jesus would lay into Levi?
But that’s not what Jesus did
Jesus uttered two words that I am sure brought a collective gasp from the crowd and an unbelieving look from Levi
Jesus looked at Levi and said “Follow Me”
These two words have tremendous significance
{Explain “Follow Me” as per Rob Bell “Dust” video - available on youtube}
{note - I am fully aware of the controversy surrounding Rob Bell, however Rob does an excellent job explaining what "Follow Me" means. Give it a listen and see what I mean}
So with that understanding picture this – Jesus approaches a tax collector, one of the most hated people in that society, someone who regularly cheated people and was quite likely to be involved in many other less than holy behaviors, and says to him “Follow Me”
Scripture tells us Levi’s response - Levi got up, left everything and followed him
Can you imagine being Levi?
Levi knew who he was – how could he not?
I’m sure people told him every day what kind of scum bag he was
I can picture Levi working away at his booth when he sees a crowd coming
He looks up and leading the crowd is Jesus, the new Rabbi everyone has been talking about
Of course Levi has heard of Jesus – everyone had heard about the Rabbi with the radical new teachings that healed the sick
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the paralytic that Jesus just healed hadn’t gone past Levi
It’s quite possible the Levi saw the paralytics friends carrying him towards where Jesus was on the mat, and later saw the same man walking (running, jumping, dancing) back.
Levi knew the kind of man Jesus was
When Jesus stopped in front of Levi I can imagine one of two reactions
Either Levi hanging his head in shame because of who he was or defiantly looking Jesus in the eye as if to say “go ahead, tell me how big of a traitor and crook that I am”
Then Jesus said those two words – “Follow Me”
Levi couldn’t believe his ears – the Rabbi said “Follow Me!”
All the guilt and shame that had accumulated over the years was suddenly gone
Levi left everything and followed Jesus!
What could have evoked such a response?
Again, Scripture doesn’t say so I can only speculate
But let’s think about it for a moment
Levi chose to be a tax collector – why would he do that?
Certainly he knew about their reputation and how they were treated by everyone
Why in the world would he choose a career that would leave him ostracized among his people?
The only think I can think of is money
Tax collectors were very wealthy, and even though they were hated among society the attraction of wealth is powerful
I can imagine that in the beginning Levi felt he could handle the rejection – that all the money would make up for it
But as anyone with wealth will tell you – money is an empty promise
It cannot buy you happiness, peace, or satisfaction
I can imagine that Levi was sick of it all, but also felt trapped – that there was no going back
Then along comes Jesus and says “Follow Me”
Levi realized the hope that there was in following Jesus
The chance to leave his past behind and start something new
No wonder he left it all to follow Jesus!
Levi’s reaction was one of amazement and astonishment
Not unlike the crowd that was following Jesus!
They also knew who Levi was – can you see their faces when Jesus told Levi to follow Him?
“Uh, Jesus, don’t you know who that is?” “But he’s a sinner Jesus!”
“He’s a traitor and a crook!”
I can just picture Jesus’ look of love towards Levi
Because Jesus wasn’t so concerned about what Levi was, Jesus was more interested in what Levi could become
Jesus was not concerned so much about the sin, Jesus saw the potential within Levi and asked Levi to follow Him
I know that there are some of you listening that can relate to Levi
You may feel that it’s too late for you to change, that there’s no way you could follow Jesus
But just like with Levi, Jesus wants to let you know that it’s never too late – that you too can follow Him
Just like with Levi Jesus is not so much concerned about where you’ve been, but where you’re going
When Jesus looks at you He’s not so much concerned about the sin in your life – He’s looking at the potential you have
The natural, innate gifts that you were given and how they can be used to further the Kingdom of God
Levi’s story is an amazing story of grace and redemption, but I haven’t told you all of the story
This story about a redeemed tax collector is proof of God’s love towards anyone – no matter who they are or what they’ve done
We know the tax collectors name was Levi – which was his Hebrew name
You wouldn’t really recognize him by this name at all, however he also had a Greek name – Matthew
Sound familiar? It should – he wrote the Gospel of Matthew!
The first book in our New Testament was written by a former traitor and criminal
How amazing is the grace of God!
God took Levi – Matthew – from where he was and made him into one of the biggest spiritual influences of all time
God can do the same with you
There’s a little more to this story
You would think that the religious leaders of the day would have been happy with this example of grace and redemption – far from it
Let’s look at what happens next
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'?"
Levi wanted to do something for Jesus so he called all his friends and threw a huge party with Jesus as the guest of honor
Levi was a wealthy man so this was not some minor weekend BBQ
It was a “great banquet” – no hamburgers and potato salad, this was a prime rib event!
The thing was though that Levi’s friends were not the typical upstanding citizens
Levi was, after all, a tax collector and anyone willing to be friends with a tax collector was of questionable character themselves
Scripture states that there was a large crowd of “tax collectors and others” – the outcasts of society
Think of what society would consider the worst of people
Tax collectors, crime bosses, prostitutes, crooked politicians, etc.
And there was Jesus, partying with them
Verse 30 shows us the character of the religious leaders
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'?"
In other words, “why is Jesus hanging out with those sinners instead of us holy people?”
I love Jesus’ response
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."
What a lesson here!
If we are going to reach the lost we must go to where the lost are
And quite frankly most of the time I would rather hang out with “sinners” than “holy people”
Another thing to think about – if you are doing effective work for the Kingdom of God you are going to get negative feedback from religious people
Jesus didn’t ask Levi to change before He said “Follow Me”
[insert closing of your choice here]
