In our passage today we study the calling of Levi who will later be known as Matthew, the author of one of the four gospels. If anyone thought Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John were odd choices for Jesus' disciples, we can be certain no rabbi in Israel would have chosen Levi the tax collector as a disciple. Tax collectors were Jewish men who worked for the Roman government and they were considered traitors to their own nation. Rome demanded taxes to be paid on sales, income, imports and exports, crops, and property. In addition, arbitrary and miscellaneous taxes could be assessed on just about anything, including toll booth fees on any road built or maintained by Rome. This is where we find Levi today. The NIV translates Levi's job as "sitting at the tax collector's booth", but the original language indicates that this particular tax collector's booth is a toll booth. This may seem like a minor point, but its importance will become clear to us later on.
Rome allowed the tax collectors to set up a booth at any time, so a person might travel to town in the morning toll-free only to find the roadway blocked by a toll booth on the way back. Imagine how irritating this must have been, never knowing when or where extra taxes might be extorted. It was doubly irritating for the Jews to have these taxes extorted by their own countrymen. I can't help wondering if the Jews felt like spitting on these men who were considered traitors to their own nation. It would have been galling enough to pay taxes to Rome, but at least it was understandable to have to pay tribute to the government in power over them. But to have to pay it to their own citizens, who often collected more than was due, must have been nearly unbearable. As a result of having gone over to Rome, the tax collectors were not allowed in the synagogue and were treated as outcasts by their fellow citizens. The Jews looked on the tax collectors in the same way they looked on Gentile heathens: they would have nothing to do with them. We can safely assume that Levi was a very hated man in the community. With his name being Levi, he was almost certainly of the priestly tribe and should have been serving his nation as a priest, but instead he went over to the enemy. Despite all this, he is a man Jesus chose to be a disciple and to write one of the books of the New Testament. Aren't we thankful that Jesus is more concerned about where we're going than with where we've been? He knows everything Levi has ever done wrong, but He also knows everything Levi will ever do right.
"Once again Jesus went out beside a lake. A large crowd came to Him, and He began to teach them." (Mark 2:13) Again we find Jesus performing the main duty of His ministry: teaching. As we discussed earlier in the week, the miracles take place to prove His power and authority. The miracles are the credentials Jesus presents to back up His claims to be the Messiah. After all, Jesus is not the only person in history to have ever claimed to be the Messiah or some manifestation of the gods. But the difference between Jesus and these posers is that He could back up His claims with visible and astonishing displays of power.
"As He walked along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow Me,' Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him." (Mark 2:14) It might appear strange to us that Levi is willing to instantly leave his very profitable job to follow this new Teacher who hails from a little hick town called Nazareth, but here is where Levi's occupation as a toll booth operator really enters the story. The late Dr. J. Vernon McGee, who taught the Thru The Bible Radio series, points out in his book on the gospel according to Luke that Levi has likely been "following" Jesus for some time. But he was doing so in order to set up toll booths. Where better to set up toll booths than where Jesus is about to preach? People gathered by the thousands to hear Him. A toll booth operator could collect an impressive sum by charging fees to the crowds traveling on the roads to see Jesus.
If Levi has been following Jesus around the countryside in order to set up toll booths, then Levi has heard Jesus preach and has seen Jesus perform miracles. This explains why he is ready to go with Jesus when He calls him. While Levi sat behind his little portable table, he couldn't help hearing the word of God coming from Jesus' mouth and being taught as no one had ever taught it before. His eyes couldn't miss seeing the crippled made to walk and the mute made to talk. I think that with every godly principle Levi heard Jesus teach, every toll booth coin dropped into his palm felt dirtier than the previous one. I think that every healing and exorcism Levi witnessed caused him to take less pleasure in counting the money piling up in front of him. Levi has been living contrary to the word of God in a number of ways. While hearing Jesus teach, his conscience began to bother him. His heart started to burn within him....and Jesus knows it. I can't say whether Jesus and Levi ever locked eyes before the day Jesus called Levi to be a disciple, but I believe Jesus was aware of what was taking place in Levi's heart. He knew the Holy Spirit was doing His work of convicting Levi of the sin in his life and of leading him to the only One who could make him clean of his sin. On the day Jesus calls Levi to be a disciple, He knows Levi is ready to go. This tax collector is just waiting for someone to offer him a new and better life. When Jesus stops by his booth and says, "Follow Me", Levi doesn't even think twice.
Jesus sees something in Levi that no one else sees. I'm so glad the Lord looks on our hearts! I'm so glad He sees our potential instead of just viewing us as we are today and concluding we will never be any use to Him. He sees what we can become! Levi wasn't happy with who he was, but he didn't know how to become anything else. He was rejected by his own countrymen who wouldn't even speak to him unless they had to and who would have loved to spit in his face. He was stuck in a life of rebellion toward God's word and, like all of us who once lived lives of sin, he was unable to get himself out. But Jesus knew He could make a mighty warrior of the gospel out of Levi. Jesus looked on the tax collector named Levi and knew he could become the New Testament author named Matthew. Matthew himself tells of the story of his calling by Jesus, and when he does he uses his new name, not his old name of Levi. "Matthew" is a name that was sometimes given to newborn babies and it means "gift of the Lord". In using this new name, Matthew celebrates his new birth in Christ and he rejoices in his newfound salvation....the gift of the Lord.
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