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.
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.”
Luke 5:27-32
I have identified with many of the disciples throughout my walk with Christ. There are seasons when I have felt like Judas, betraying Jesus for a hold on the world. There are seasons when I have felt like Peter, bold and brash and ready to take on everything without much follow through. But there is one guy I keep coming back to time and again… Levi.
I have been trying to outrun the idea of Levi for most of my life. I grew up in the church, I knew right from wrong, and I still chose the wrong path. It’s interesting how Jesus walks right up to Levi and says simply, “Follow me.” Maybe Levi was just looking for an invitation. Maybe he saw something different in the man that stood before him. Whatever the reason, he left everything. I wonder if he locked the tax booth on his way out the door.
Levi wanted Jesus to meet his friends. I mean, it’s Jesus – who wouldn’t want Him to meet your friends? And as the party started, Jesus was working the room and meeting Levi’s friends when everything changed.
The Pharisees walked in. Insert myself in the story. Pharisees remind me of my past. They remind me of my lack of consistency. In short, they remind me of my brokenness.
There are some who would assume that Jesus may say to the Pharisees, “You know, you’re exactly right. I’m in the wrong place. Nothing good can come from these people.” He doesn’t say that at all.
“It’s not the healthy that need a doctor.” In truth, we are all sick and broken without Jesus. Spending our entire lives locked in a tax booth trying to make another dollar. And we spend our days looking at people who are doing the same thing. There must be more to this life.
I’ve been trying to outrun the idea of Levi my entire life. Sometimes it’s hard to be reminded of your failings, but that is not the end of the story. Jesus goes to his house. Jesus meets his friends. Jesus entrusts him with the message of the gospel. It’s time I stopped running.
How do you see yourself? Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus would choose you? Too far gone, washed up, broken, sick, hurting… nothing is impossible with Christ. And there is more, much more to this life in Jesus.
Expect the unexpected and stay rooted in Christ.
SOLI DEO GLORIA
-Franklin
