Levi Recovered
Preached by Jason Abbott
January 15, 2017
In concentration camps during World War II, certain prisoners were given privileges in return for managing labor and keeping the sadistic order of the camps. These prisoners were called kapos and were often terribly brutal to other prisoners in order to maintain their status. They were Jews serving the Nazis against Jews and Gypsies serving them against Gypsies. They were traitors to their own people and, consequently, were greatly hated by their own people.It’s easy for us to understand why. It’s somewhat less apparent to us that something similar to this was happening with tax collectors in 1st century Israel. These tax collectors were simply common Israelites given authority to take money from their countrymen. As long as the Romans got their required taxes, these men could take as much money as they could get for themselves. Thus, many of them became rich by tax-gouging their own people. And so, they were greatly hated—their very profession became a synonym for sinner.But while most Israelites despised and shunned these traitors, Jesus did not. He hobnobbed with them. He ate in their homes. He showed them great respect. Jesus even summoned them to be his disciples. And this is what we’re going to see in today’s passage. And Luke wants it to unsettle us.You can find our text on page 978 of the brown Bibles.
Luke 5:27-32
27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
In this text, our outline is simple: (1st) we see a call, and (2nd) we see a fall. We see the call of Levi leading to the fall of the Pharisees. Let’s look at each.
1. A call (vv. 27-28)
Suppose you’re standing outside your place of work just taking a break getting some fresh air, when suddenly a crowd bustles by you following a fairly average looking man. As they do, the man stops and looks directly at you and says, “Come on. Follow me.” What do you do? Do you go? What does it mean to go? What might it cost you? What will your boss say? What about your reputation? What about your family and friends? Moreover, why should you follow this guy? Who is he? What’s he doing anyway?For most of us, the safe and the prudent thing to do is to not go with him. After all, 99.9% of the time we should not simply go around following strangers whenever they tell us to follow them. Of course, 99.9% of the time we don’t have strangers calling us to follow them, do we.Yet, there are times we’d likely not think twice about following a stranger. Suppose that in the above scenario, instead of being average looking, that the man who beckons you is wearing a police uniform—that everyone bustling past you is following a police officer. In this case, I’ll bet you’d more readily follow the man when he says, “Come on. Follow me.” But why?! Why would you follow now? The short answer is because his position as a police officer gives his call authority over you.Jesus isn’t a police officer though, is he. In fact, there’s nothing that he’s wearing which indicates he’s in a position of authority. So why does Levi follow? Why does Levi leave everything when Jesus calls him?Well, Levi follows not because he sees that Jesus is in a position of authority but because Jesus is in possession of authority. Or to put it another way altogether, Jesus doesn’t represent authority—Jesus is authority. Unlike any man who’s lived on this planet before or since, Jesus has power in and of himself.We can see this by simply glancing back at the events of Luke chapter 5:
We see that Jesus possesses authority over the fish of the sea.
And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. . . But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man . . .” (vv. 4-6, 8).
We see that Jesus possesses authority over the diseases of the earth.
While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him (vv. 12-13).
We see that Jesus possesses authority over the physical and the spiritual, over the paralysis of men and the sins of men.
When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God (vv. 22-25).
If the fish of the sea obey him, if the diseases of the earth flee at his rebuke, if the lame walk and sins perish at his word, then what could Levi do but follow when Jesus called him? Jesus is authority. So Levi goes.But this scene should unsettle us. Levi leaving the tax-booth to follow Jesus should make us a bit uncomfortable because he leaves “everything” when he goes. And what does that tell us about the call of Jesus? It tells us that Christ’s authority knows no boundaries. It extends into and reigns over every area of our existence. Thus, Levi would’ve understood well what Abraham Kuyper meant when he said: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”1If you are following Jesus what are you clinging to—crying, “Mine!” about? What square inch of your life are you still trying to maintain authority over?
Are you clinging to the dream of personal safety? Do you say certainly God wouldn’t call me into danger? But is that biblical? Please point me to one person who’s called to pursue God by clinging to their own safety in the Bible. And, isn’t the safest place in the world found in the pursuit of God’s will for you?
Are you clinging to unforgiveness? Has somebody wronged you so badly that you cannot imagine that God would call you to forgive them for it? What does that say about your view of your own sins against others? Were they not that bad? What if God had looked at the sins of the world in the way you look at the sins against you?
Levi (or Matthew as he’s more commonly called) was probably the richest of the 12 disciples. Yet, he gave it up in an instant in order to follow the Authority, in order to follow Jesus the Christ. There is no bargaining with Jesus when he calls. Thus, Dietrich Bonheoffer, who was hung for standing against the Nazi regime, could write this of the costs of following Jesus:
The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time—death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call.2
How is the old man or old woman in you—the old sinful and selfish person in you—being put to death because of Christ’s call?Well that’s all I’ll say about the call here. What about our second point?
2. A fall (vv. 29-31)
There have always been those who scoff at the authority of Jesus. This is nothing new. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were often tremendously offended by the authority claims of Jesus. They liked having those positions of authority all to themselves. They, consequently, regularly looked for ways to discredit Jesus. And this feast, at Levi’s house, was a prime chance. Look at what Luke records:
And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (vv. 29-31).
We regularly misunderstand the accusations the religious leaders levy here against Jesus and his followers. We think they’re merely complaining about Jesus keeping bad company. And they are, but it goes way deeper than that.Israelite worship was centered on purity. You could not participate in feasts or ceremonies if you were unclean—or had been contaminated by sin or sinners. So they’re pointing out that Jesus, through his fellowship with sinners like Levi, had made himself impure before God. He’d disqualified himself from participating in the regular worship practices of Israel, which only an unfit rabbi would ever do. So, in effect, they’re accusing Jesus of religious malpractice.Moreover, to sit around a table with tax collectors and sinners was a no-no. It meant friendship and full acceptance of those at the table.3 So the Pharisees are also pointing out that Jesus is condoning sin here—that Jesus must not understand the holy requirements of God.And they would be right except that Jesus isn’t an ordinary rabbi. He’s God. You see, they cannot accept his authority, his identity—as the Messiah of Israel. Thus, they stumble or fall when they stand against Jesus and the call to follow him. His claims to authority are their undoing.I wonder if there are some here today who feel the call of Jesus upon them. Perhaps, you’ve come here and listened to the Scriptures being read and preached, and right now feel something like Levi—like Jesus is looking at you and saying: “Come and follow me.”If that’s you, I encourage you to trust Jesus and to follow him. Don’t wait. Our church family would simply love to help you in that pursuit. We’d love to help and be helped by you in that beautiful pursuit. The first step in leaving everything to follow him will simply be to leave your comfort zone and to talk with someone around you about getting involved here. Don’t wait.But maybe you’ve come and listened and find yourself offended by Jesus and his claims over you. If that’s you, then you’re a lot like I was 20 plus year ago. I believed in myself. That I could do it on my own. That I could find satisfaction on my own—in success and relationships and vacations. But I eventually reached the end of these things. They all rang hallow. Friends, it was at that point that Jesus looked at me and said:
Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (vv. 31-32).
Why did Levi follow so quickly? Because he knew he was spiritually sick. Why did the Pharisees scoff? Because they thought they were spiritually well. Friends, until we recognize our need for a savior, we will never turn to the Savior. As long as we think we can heal ourselves, we won’t turn to Jesus for healing.So if you’re offended by Jesus, please consider his words to the Pharisees. Are you really well? Are you really satisfied with your life? Is all as it should be? Or do you need a better Savior than the things of this life offer? If the answer is yes then know there is room at Jesus’ table for you.Well as we close, I just want to point out what it meant for Levi to lose it all when he left his tax-booth and followed Jesus. Was it ultimately slavery for him? Was he dragging his feet as he left? Was it a drab, depressing life for this disciple? The answer is, No! The answer is that meeting this Jesus was so valuable to Levi that he immediately threw a party for all his friends so they could meet Jesus too. For Levi, the costs of discipleship meant nothing compared to the joy and pleasure and purpose he received in following Jesus. Might we see it the same way!
1 Abraham Kuyper, Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader, 488.
2 Dietrich Bonheoffer, The Costs of Discipleship, 99.
3 Leon Morris, Luke, 120.
