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.
Our text this morning occurs after Jesus had healed the paralytic and the ensuing awe of everyone present. Blown away by what they had just witnessed, the crowds were at a fevered pitch. Jesus, on the other hand, sets His sights on His next miracle. This miracle will culminate in the confirmation of His authority to cleanse and forgive sins as He selects an unlikely candidate to be His disciple. Jesus was always about His Father’s business – never leaning on His laurels. He tells us in Scripture:4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." John 9:4-5 (NIV) 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." John 5:17 (NIV)
Scripture states that “Jesus saw a tax collector”. The word rendered “saw” is an interesting word in the Greek – “Theaomai” – meaning to wonder; to behold, view attentively; to contemplate. It is regard for something marked by a sense of wonderment; a contemplative and ponderous gaze which carefully and deliberately observes an object in order to perceive it correctly and in detail. It involves more than merely seeing, it is noticing, recognizing, and taking note of something with reflection and acute interest. Jesus had His sights set on Matthew (Levi), the tax collector. Tax collectors were not held in very high regard, to say the least. They were alienated from the religious community – the Pharisees - of their day. They gathered money from their brothers, the Jews, to give to the Romans who were, of course, the Gentiles. They were seen as one who betrayed their nation for material gain often collecting more than necessary to go into their own pockets. We are told in Luke 3: 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" 13 "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. Luke 3:12-13 (NIV)
Beholding Matthew (Levi), Jesus beckons him to come. “Follow me” – a call given to all – says Jesus. Be together with me on this road called life. This call was distinguished from the occasional and temporary following of Jesus by the crowds. The individual calling to follow Jesus involved abiding fellowship with Him, not only for the sake of learning as a student from his teacher, but also for the sake of the salvation known or looked for, which presented itself in this fellowship. The first thing involved in following Jesus is a cleaving to Him in believing trust and obedience, those cleaving to Him also following His leading and acting according to His example. Hence the constant stress laid by the Lord Jesus upon the need of self-denial and fellowship with Himself in the cross. Thus following Jesus denotes a fellowship of faith as well as a fellowship of life, sharing in His sufferings not only inwardly, but outwardly if necessary (The Hebrew Greek Key Word Study Bible – Lexical Aids) Responding to the call, Levi gets up, leaves everything, and follows Christ. This sounds so short and sweet, but it was no small matter. This was repentance fleshed out. Levi does a 180, leaving behind his old ways and cleaving to the One who would make all things new. As Paul puts it in II Corinthians:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor 5:17 (NIV) “He is made supreme when we are so satisfied in Him that we can ‘let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also’ and suffer for the sake of love. His beauty shines most brightly when treasured above health and wealth and life itself.” John Piper