Thoughts for the Day

Jesus Calls Levi

Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

We are only in Chapter 2 of Mark's Gospel and Jesus has already appointed four disciples - Simon and Andrew, and James and John - all of them fishermen. Now he calls a fifth disciples, Levi, although we know him as Matthew which was his Greek name. He was contracted to collect taxes from the people for the Roman Empire which was a big problem since the Jews believed the only tax that should be paid was Temple tax for God's work, and certainly not to the hated Romans. In Galilee the old system of auctioning off these posts had now come to an end, but the ability to syphon off money for oneself was still there.

It's worth reminding ourselves that taxes were paid for different reasons. There was the ground tax which ordered all men to pay one tenth of their grain and one fifth of the produce of their fruit and vines. Then there was the poll tax which was paid by every man and woman. There were also import and export duties to be paid, from two and a half to twelve and a half per cent on all goods, as well as taxes to cross bridges, enter harbours or towns, and then there was purchase tax on goods bought or sold. The possibilities for abuse were immense, since ordinary people would be unlikely to know exactly what they they should pay.

If Jesus has wanted to upset everyone he has managed to do it exceedingly well - he has upset the purists by healing a leper; upset the scribes by calling himself the "Son of Man", and now upset many ordinary people by calling a tax-collector to be his disciple. Tax-collectors could become very wealthy very quickly, and while we have no reason to think Matthew copied others, he would have been tarred with the same brush and heartily disliked by most people.

This is the man whom Jesus calls to be his disciple! He is calling sinners to repent, and be a part of his Kingdom! What might this say to us as hopeful members of God's Kingdom, both for ourselves and for those we meet?

Lord Jesus Christ
help us to remember that You called
sinners into Your Kingdom.
Today we therefore admit our sins,
especially those we prefer to forget,
and ask Your forgiveness.
Then with Your grace may we continue
to spread the good news of Your Kingdom
helping to make a difference in our community.
Amen.