Last week we talked about the man who came through the roof with the help of his friends. Remember Jesus was more concerned about his spiritual healing than a physical healing. While his friends expected a physical, healing Jesus instead forgave his sins. It was after the religious people got upset that Jesus healed him physically to prove that He and God were one.
All of this had to be a lot for his disciples to take in. They have witnessed water being turned into wine, and Jesus clearing the temple. They have witnessed a late night meeting with Jesus and a Pharisee, followed by his encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well. They have witnessed evil spirits being cast out and many healings taking place including Peter’s mother-in-law and the paralyzed man on the mat.
When Jesus left the house with a hole in its roof He went out to seashore again and taught the crowds that was coming to him. As He was walking along He and his disciples meet the next character we will discuss.
Often when we hear the word “disciple”, we think of the twelve. However, Jesus actually had a lot more disciples than that. In Luke 10:1, we read, “The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.” The fact that He chose seventy-two others would indicate that there were many more than that.
John 6:66 also exemplifies that fact. “At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.” As you can see, the picture of just twelve men following in behind Jesus was not correct. The very word “disciple” means a student and follower. He had many students and followers.
However, within this huge group were some rather special people. These included Andrew, Simon Peter, James, John, Phillip, and Nathanael. Possibly included in that list by now were Thomas, James (the son of Alphaeus), Simon (the zealot), Judas (son of James) aka Thaddeus, and Judas Iscariot. We know that in this group were three sets of brothers and two of those sets were fishermen.
As they are walking along the shore, they get to the place where the tax collectors are sitting. These guys would be positioned to levee a tax on the fishermen for their catch. The taxes were being collected for the Roman government. These tax collectors were hated and despised because they were usually fellow Jews who worked for Rome. Since Israel was part of a province of the Roman Empire, they were to carry the heavy weight of administering the Empire.
Each province would have a Roman official, known as a censor, who was ultimately responsible for collecting the revenue of the province. The censor would sell the rights to extort tax to the highest bidder. These guys were known as the chief tax collectors. They were usually Roman businessmen who saw this as an opportunity to make a profit by collecting more taxes than required and keeping the difference. These chief tax collectors would hire men, usually Jews, to be tax collectors. They would have a quota to fill to insure the chief tax collector made a profit. In addition, of course some of the tax collectors would collect more than their quota to insure a profit for themselves.
Judea was in the province of Syria and every man was to pay 1% of his annual income for income tax. That is good compared to what we pay. But that was not all, there were also import and export taxes, crop taxes (one tenth of grain crop and one fifth of wine, fruit, and olive oil), sales tax, property tax, emergency tax, and on and on. You could even be taxed for what you were carrying.
What did they get in return for their tax dollars? A good system of roads, law and order, security, religious freedom, a small amount of self-government and other benefits. It sounds like our tax system is based on the Roman method, doesn’t it.
While it was true that all censors and chief tax collectors were dishonest, that was not true of all tax collectors. Most would have been well educated and certainly mathematically inclined. For these Jews this was a job, a way to provide for their family using their skills. They would have calculated a fair tax to meet their quota and received nothing more than their salary. Even John the Baptist recognized the fact that the job, in itself, was not wicked but rather the actions of those involved in the job.
Luke 3:12-13 “Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”
He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.’” He did not command they quit their job but rather they be honest in their work.
However, due to the relationship their jobs had with Rome and the fact that it was a dishonest trade among the majority; tax collectors were treated similar to the worse kinds of sinners and prostitutes.
As I said, Jesus was teaching at the seashore and is now going back to town. The fishermen are settling their taxes with the tax collectors. It is possible that Peter, Andrew, James, and John had dealt with these guys before. Moreover, if Simon the Zealot, who had once belonged to the very patriotic band of Jews, was with them I can imagine the daggers coming from his eyes aimed at this group.
One of the tax collectors sees the group coming toward him. He knows he is hated and despised by them. He also knows that they are followers of the Rabbi Jesus. I wonder if his heart skipped a beat at seeing Jesus. Perhaps John the Baptist had even baptized this tax collector. However, as Jesus approaches He suddenly stops.
Luke 5:27 “Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him.”
Take in the moment. Here sits a man condemned by society, hated by the group before him, and longing to belong. He has lived his entire life with the name “Levi” which meant, “joined in harmony.” Can you see how he has failed to live up to his name? He is not accepted among his people and cannot trust his co-workers. There is no harmony in his life. Now this offer comes along. I imagine Levi looked at the faces of the others. He looked at the faces of the four fisherman who did not trust him. He looked at the face of the Zealot who would rather see him dead than join him. Nevertheless, a pivotal point had come into his life. Stay at his booth or follow Jesus. It was time for a choice.
Luke 5:28 “So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.”
Do you see the three actions of Levi? First, he got up. Levi had been beaten down for a long time. His days were filled with hatred. His nights were filled were loneliness. Now he felt love and acceptance in the eyes of Jesus. Here was a man that knew who he was, what he was, and yet accepted him. It was time to get up and be down trodden no more.
Secondly, he left everything. He left his booth, his money, and his job. He left his feeling of worthlessness. He left his fear of what others thought. He left his sense of failure. He left everything.
Thirdly, he followed Jesus. He totally surrendered himself to the one who loved him with no conditions. He became a student desiring to learn the way to God through his master’s teaching. How do you honor someone who is willing to rescue you and love you unconditionally? You throw a party.
Luke 5:29 “Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them.”
Levi had a party. He invited Jesus to be the guest of honor and all of his old friends to come meet him. They probably wondered who and what had influenced Levi so much that his life had completely changed. Levi wanted them to know. Can you imagine being that excited over your conversion? Can you imagine being so excited that you would throw a conversion party so that you could share the gospel with all your lost friends? And of course, those that were not invited to Levi’s shin-dig complained.
Luke 5:30 “But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?”
How can you allow those people in your church? Do you know they are gay? How do you allow that couple to come through your front doors? Do you know that they are not married? What is he doing here? He is not one of us. How can you play that worldly sounding music and think God is honored? How can you allow people to attend and not be properly dressed? Why do you fellowship with such scum? Sadly, a great number of “religious” people ask the post-modern church these questions. I think I know what Jesus would say.
Luke 5:31-32 “Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
I hate going for my annual physical. I can feel fine but each time I go they find something wrong. One year they told me that I had thirty percent blockage in my artery going to my brain. But I would be fine as long as a portion of plaque did not break loose and travel to my brain, which would cause me to have a stroke. In addition, a lower portion of my heart had begun to harden and that could increase my chances of a heart attack. Therefore, they would need to check it again in five years. FIVE YEARS! I want it checked next week.
We think we are healthy until the physician uncovers otherwise. The Great Physician says, “If you think you are righteous and healthy and don’t need me, then I can’t help you. But if you know you are a sinner in need of repentance, if you know that you are spiritually not well, then come to me.” We need a spiritual check-up. We need sin exposed in our life just as we need a physical condition exposed so it can be treated.
The Gospel of John does not tell of Levi’s conversion. The Gospels of Mark and Luke do. The Gospel of Matthew tells of the conversion, only Levi in this Gospel is referred to as Matthew. He is the same Matthew that penned the Gospel bearing his name. Levi and Matthew are one in the same. So why did Jesus change his name? He did not. Levi changed his own name. Levi changed it to Matthew. Let us look at one possible reason.
Remember Levi meant, “joined in harmony”? Perhaps even with this group harmony was difficult. We read in the Bible of times of strife among the Apostles. They argued about such things as who would be first in the Kingdom. Perhaps at times Levi’s past would come forth in a conversation. Maybe the fishermen were still bitter or the Zealot still suspicious. But Levi had discovered something about himself. He had discovered that he was a gift of God.
The name Matthew means “the gift of God.” I do not think he was speaking of his salvation for that would have been a gift from God. I believe Levi saw himself in a new light. He became the gift of God to reach others. He realized through his conversion that he could now be a gift to others, such as tax collectors, to bring them to Jesus. Our salvation is a gift from God but we are a gift of God given to the world.
If a gift stays under the tree at Christmas time, it benefits no one. If a birthday gift stays hidden in the attic it brings no one joy.
We are a gift. We were given to the world. We need to allow ourselves to be unwrapped and offered as a living sacrifice on behalf of our Lord Jesus. We need to be a spiritual doctor to the spiritually sick.
Matthew would become one of the twelve apostles. An apostle differed from a disciple. The word apostle meant “one who is sent away, a messenger, an ambassador” Thus an apostle was one who was sent away to deliver a message and represent someone.
When Mark and Luke lists the twelve they include Matthew and Judas Iscariot with a side note, “who later betrayed him”. Matthew also says the same about Judas. But in Matthews account, he adds something the others did not.
Matthew 10:3
“Philip,
Bartholomew,
Thomas,
Matthew (the tax collector),
James (son of Alphaeus),
Thaddaeus,”
Matthew declares his past. He was a tax collector. He was considered a traitor to his people. In this one simple declaration, he is saying to the world, “I have not always been a gift to you from God. Once I was like you, a sinner.” That is the message of Matthew the apostle. It should be our message also. I once was lost in sin. But one day Jesus looked at me and said, “Get up from the mire and filth of your sin. Cast it off and leave it behind. Follow me.” That offer is still being made today.
