Jesus Calls Levi (Mark 4:13-17)

Was the calling of Levi (or Matthew) a significant moment? It was obviously significant because Levi was called by Jesus to be an apostle. He was also going to write a Gospel. Yet we are told about his experience and not about the call of some of the other apostles. I would suggest that we are told about his conversion because he was from a different background from most of the apostles. Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, and Nathaniel (Bartholemew) were devout Israelites, individuals who would have been respected in their local communities for their dedication to the Jewish faith. With Levi, we move to a different kind of person.

It is possible to speculate about why he had the name Levi. Parents usually chose names for reasons. Perhaps, in this case, they wanted their son to serve God in a special way. After all, in Jewish history, Levi was the tribe chosen to serve God as priests and Levites. If that was the parents’ wish, then eventually their prayers were answered far above what they would have asked or imagined.

The one thing that is clear is that Levi was not living up to his name. Instead of serving God he was serving the Roman Empire as a tax official. We don’t regard the office of a taxman as sinful, but in those days the tax officials were notorious for their corruption. Levi would have to raise enough to satisfy the demands of his superiors, and on top of that amount he would have to raise enough to satisfy himself. Those demands would have made Levi very unpopular in the community.

So we can see that Jesus chose as one of his apostles a man who was a disappointment to his family, a collaborator with the foreign powers who ruled the country, an individual who lined his pockets at the expense of others, and a person who was deeply unpopular. In fact, we could say that he was everything a presbytery committee would not want! Yet Jesus wanted him, and called him to this role.

Moreover, Jesus called him in public, when he was sitting at his desk, probably with a line of people waiting to pay tax. There is no hint that Jesus had a private meeting with him beforehand in order to discuss things. Of course, Jesus did not have a need for such a meeting, but we could imagine Levi needing one. After all, Jesus did give a private meeting to Andrew before he became a public disciple. The obvious lesson is that we should not be surprised at those Jesus calls into his service.

Prerequisites for discipleship

There are two prerequisites for anyone who becomes a disciple of Jesus. They receive a call from Jesus and respond to the call from Jesus. We cannot do the second without the first, although many may hear the first without doing the second.

We have already observed how the call of Levi was surprising, given his background. No doubt it was very surprising also for Levi himself. Such a possibility would not have entered his mind as he had his breakfast that morning. No doubt, when he commenced work for the day, he assumed it would be a usual day. So the call of Jesus to him would have been very surprising.

A second detail is that the invitation he received from Jesus was very short. All Levi heard was a very brief statement, ‘Follow me!’ There is no indication that Levi had ever heard Jesus before, although he would have heard about Jesus because of his popularity. Levi’s experience is a reminder that a person does not have to hear a great amount before commencing life as a disciple.

A third aspect of the call is that it was very specific. Although it was only two words, they were very demanding. Levi recognised that they were the words of a sovereign, and much more authoritative than the demands he would have received from his political masters. He recognised that he had reached a moment of decision in his life, where his response to the call would decide his entire future. Would he be Levi the tax collector working for the Romans or would he be Levi the apostle working for Jesus?

We can see in the words of Jesus a sense of sureness as well. Where was Levi going in life? What did his chosen path have to offer him? Where did his daily actions take him on his journey of life? Did he have a sure destination? As he looked at Jesus, it seems that Levi realised that the path to fulfilment lay in following Jesus.

The response of Levi was immediate. He did not wait long before taking Jesus at his word. His response was also indicative, because it was as public as the invitation he had received. He made it very clear that he wanted to follow Jesus. And his response was also inclusive, because he omitted nothing when he decided to leave all and follow Jesus.

Practice of discipleship  

Mark then describes what Levi did as a disciple. He opened his home for Jesus to use and he invited his colleagues and others to meet with Jesus. What can we say about his home? First, it was a home in Capernaum, the town to which Jesus had moved to after leaving Nazareth. Jesus already had a home there, and he also had access to other homes such as the home of Simon Peter. But it looks as if part of the strategy of Jesus was to use homes of willing people.

Second, it was a suitable home in Capernaum because it was capable of hosting large numbers of people. Perhaps Levi lived in an upmarket part of town in contrast with where Peter and even Jesus lived. What is clear is that the house was capable of hosting a lot of people – many of Levi’s friends were there and many of Jesus’ disciples were there.

Third, it was now a sanctified home because he made it available for Jesus to use in furthering his influence. The obvious aspect of the gathering was that Jesus was not ashamed to go there. It is evident from the response of the scribes and Pharisees that they regarded with disapproval his willingness to be there. Of course, they had never given anything to Jesus for him to use.

Fourth, his home now reflected the simplicity of discipleship, which was to have fellowship with Jesus and to introduce others to him. We talk a lot about how to win people to Jesus. This passage gives a straightforward strategy, which is use your home and invite people you know to discover something about Jesus.  

Physician available

Whenever someone does something for Jesus, that person will not have too long to wait before the critics will come along. It is interesting that the critics did not focus on Levi, but on Jesus. Perhaps they were not too sure about how long Levi would be a disciple, and maybe they did not want to criticise someone who worked for the government. But they were prepared to have a go at the existing disciples about what their Master was doing.

The disciples must have told Jesus what the critics were saying. In their example, we have the best response to criticism. Maybe they could not give a coherent answer to what the Pharisees were questioning them about. Yet they had learned to bring issues to Jesus. Of course, they could do so physically and watch what he did in response. We have to do so in prayer and then wait for him to work.

The critics did not understand Jesus at all. If they really wanted an answer to their question, then they should have asked Jesus personally. Nevertheless, he gave them the answer, and we should be very thankful that he did because his words reveal to us who we are, who he is, and what he was doing.

Jesus uses an obvious daily experience to illustrate spiritual realities. We can easily see the connections: those who are well are the righteous, those who are sick are sinners, and the physician is Jesus. In this sense, there is no one who is righteous among sinners.

But we have to ask what kind of illness do sinners have in a spiritual sense? The answer is that they have a widespread illness, a spreading illness and a lethal illness. It is widespread in that it affects every part of them, it is spreading in that it increases in its influence, and it is lethal in that it will lead to what the Bible describes as eternal death.

 What kind of doctor is Jesus? How easy is it to have a meeting with Jesus? One of the obvious details with a doctor is that usually he can only deal with one person at a time. In contrast, Jesus can deal with all of his patients at any time. Moreover, he comes on repeated visits and does not wait until we make an appointment. Levi had not asked Jesus to come to his desk that morning, and his friends had not asked Jesus to come to Levi’s house to see them. The fact is that Jesus delights to bring his ability to heal right to those who are ill.

Where did Jesus find his cure? We are aware that some doctors and others have spent many years trying to find a cure for certain health problems. He provided it himself when he died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. The provision of this cure required that he spend his lifetime obeying God and then offering himself as a perfect sacrifice instead of those who were ill.

How does Jesus implement his cure? Sometimes when we go to a doctor he has to send us to a specialist because the problem requires that process and the patient needs the best treatment available. Jesus is the Specialist when it comes to dealing with the problem of sin and its consequences, so he does not send us to anyone else. He is the Specialist because he is both God and man.

What kind of cure does Jesus provide? Often, the cures that we receive come in stages and may take a while to appear. The cure that Jesus provides also comes in stages and here are four of them. First, when we repent of our sins we are forgiven and receive his righteousness as ours because we have responded in faith. Second, we are given the Holy Spirit to indwell us and he begins to change us and make us holy, and he will do this throughout the rest of our lives. Third, when our life comes to an end, our souls will go to heaven to be with Jesus, and we at the moment of death will become perfect in holiness. Fourth, our bodies will be resurrected and we will be glorified when Jesus returns.

How much does Jesus charge for his services? The answer to this question is that every stage in the healing process is provided free. The biblical term for this is grace, and Jesus is full of grace. In any case, none of us could purchase the remedy because all our assets are worthless. What is required of us is that we respond to the invitation of the gospel and commit ourselves into the care of Jesus. When we do that, we will discover that he is the good Physician for everyone, which was the message that he gave when he called Levi to be an apostle.

Preached on 14/7/2016