We are continuing in our chronological study of Jesus through the gospels. You may be surprised to learn this (like I was) but at the time Jesus had only 4 disciples following Him: Peter and Andrew, the fishermen, and James and John, the sons of Zebedee. We’ll pick up Jesus’ story here, with Levi, who is later called Matthew.

Luke 5:27-29

27 After that (after He healed the paralytic let down through the roof) He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me."

The Greek word translated noticed is THEAOMAI. It means to see, to view attentively, to contemplate, or to perceive completely. The fact is that Jesus saw Levi for who he really was. Most people would have perceived something different when they looked at this tax collector. The word TELONES literally means a tax farmer.

The tax collectors (your Bible may say publican) were official representatives of Rome. They would purchase the right to collect taxes in 5-year periods, like a lease. The tax collectors would sit outside of a town on a road, and collect taxes on every item brought in to the city – wine, produce, etc. Rome required a certain minimum amount of taxes, and whatever extra they could collect they got to keep. Therefore, the tax-collectors were extremely wealthy, and extremely despised! Yet Jesus Christ saw in Levi something that nobody else could see. He does the same with you!

The tax collectors were also excluded from any Jewish religious fellowship. Both they and their money were considered unclean.

Put yourself in Levi’s shoes for a moment. You are considered unclean by your fellow countrymen. You are considered a traitor because you work for Rome. Your only friends are fellow tax collectors. You are considered a sinner, since you cannot attend the synagogue. But what other people think of you is never an issue. It only matters what God thinks of you! There is no hope for you, apart from the One who sees you as you really are. The Lord obviously knows that Levi is a believer; He knows his thoughts, and the number of hairs on his head. The Lord had great plans for Levi, JUST AS HE DOES FOR YOU.

Jeremiah 29:11

11 "For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

What do you do when the Lord says to you, “Follow Me?” What are your spiritual priorities? Look what Paul has to say about this:

Philippians 3:8

8 More than that, I count all things (and yes, all things means all things – money, family, your job, reputation) to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish (Greek word is SKUBALA, and it means human “waste”, if you get my drift!) so that I may gain Christ,

Paul recognized the authority of Jesus Christ over his life – do you? Paul (and Levi) was willing to do whatever it was that the Lord wanted him to do – are you? So what did Levi do when Jesus called him?

28 And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.

Levi had a lot of wealth to leave behind! Picture this scene: Levi is sitting in his tax booth, and the Lord walks up, says “follow Me,” and then turns around. Levi has one chance to grab this opportunity to follow the Lord. Remember, he was under the authority of Rome, and had invested considerable money in his right to collect taxes. But he counted everything else “rubbish”, and seized the opportunity to follow the Lord.

The Lord will never coerce or force you to follow Him, but He always meets us where we are with an opportunity. It’s your choice – what will you do when the Lord calls you? The Lord will present you with opportunities every day – to apply His Word you have learned, to pray, to trust in His promises, or even to represent Him to your friends as an ambassador.

You should be willing to drop whatever you are doing, and grab the opportunity to follow the Lord.

Next time we’ll see how Levi (Matthew) throws a big party for Jesus.