And after these things he went forth and saw a tax-gatherer, Levi by name, sitting at the receipt of taxes, and said to him, Follow me.
The verse opens by pointing backwards. One writer makes that opening phrase — "after these things" in older translations — the key to the call.
We have described three things: (1) self discovered, (2) the need met, and (3) power given. If we know them, we are in a position, "after these things," to hear the Lord saying to us with commanding power, "Follow Me." We then have ears to hear. We are freed from self-occupation, and have a power enabling us to respond to the Lord's call.
Levi's job explains why this call was startling.
Such men were Jews with a licence to collect taxes for the Roman government. This was offensive to the strict, orthodox Jew, especially since many of them would demand more than was due and keep the extra. From the very place where he was taking in the money, Levi is called by the Lord, "Follow Me." Grace produces a mighty change in the selfishness of the flesh: the power of the word of the Lord had immediate effect.
Luke records no build-up and no reform first.
When grace acts, it calls the evil as well as those whom men would count good. The Lord calls the tax collector, Levi (who calls himself Matthew, the inspired writer of the first Gospel). He was called, as it were, in the very act, "sitting at the receipt of taxes." We hear nothing of any earlier process… Grace means the divine favour, absolutely without motive except in God Himself, shown to a good-for-nothing creature, miserable and lost. And the moment you come down to that which is utterly ruined, what difference does it make what the nature of the ruin is, or what caused it? If people are needy and ruined, this is enough for the grace of God in Christ, who calls such that they may be saved and follow Him.
(The quote uses an older wording, "sitting at the receipt of taxes"; the ESV reads "sitting at the tax booth".)
The Lord "saw" him on the way. Was that a coincidence?
Jesus passed by. Nothing in the pathway of the Lord Jesus — the heavenly stranger — was a matter of chance. Every aspect of His commission here had a clear aim, down to what He did, when He did it, why He did it and how He did it. So it was part of the divine plan to meet Levi that very day at the tax office. He wanted to call him so that he might follow Him from that very moment onwards.
The Lord had already called fishermen. A man of means at a profitable desk was another matter.
The call of this man to follow the Master shows the mighty attraction of His word. It was one thing to call lowly fishermen from their nets and their work. It was another to call a man of means from the pleasant task of scooping in the cash. But He did it with two words. "Follow Me" fell on Levi's ears with such power that he "arose and followed Him." God grant that we may feel the power of those two words in our hearts!
Levi left everything, yet the next scene has him hosting a large dinner in his own home. One writer sees no contradiction here, but a change of ownership.
We "forsake" — that is, the affections are severed from our possessions; they are no longer ours, but our Master's, to be held for Him. It may mean parting with everything, as with the early Christians, or, like Levi, we may leave all and yet still have. Levi's house was still "his own," and his money was used to make a great feast for Christ and to draw sinners to Him. A very good example for some of us!
Luke calls him Levi here. The first Gospel calls the same man Matthew.
Who do we hear announcing Matthew's shame but his own mouth? Matthew the Evangelist tells us of Matthew the tax collector. His fellows call him Levi, unwilling to lay a finger on the blot of his unpleasant profession. He himself will not smother it or whiten it at all. He publishes it to all the world in thankful recognition of the mercy that called him — glad that his baseness should serve as a fitting background to set off the glorious brightness of the grace of the One who chose him.
- Seen — the Lord's route past the tax booth was not chance; He came to that desk for that man on that day.
- Called — two words did what no argument could: they reached a man of means at his most profitable moment.
- Grace — the Lord called Levi mid-transaction, with no reform first. Ruin of any kind is enough for grace.
- Rose — the call carries its own power; we hear it once we have discovered self, met our need, and received strength.
- Feast — leaving all did not empty his house; it re-aimed it, so his money now gathered sinners around Christ.
And having left all, rising up, he followed him.
Jesus calls a tax collector at his booth, and the man walks away from the money table. Luke records no argument, no delay and no explanation, which leaves two questions: what call can do that to a man, and what did it cost Levi?
Levi collected taxes, a job his own people despised. Commentators note that Luke records no preparation on Levi's side at all.
But when grace acts, it calls the evil as well as those whom men would count good. The Lord calls the tax-gatherer, Levi, who calls himself Matthew, the inspired writer of the first Gospel. He was called, as it were, in the very act, "sitting at the tax booth." We hear nothing of any process beforehand. There may have been one, but nothing is revealed. All we know is this: Levi was called out of a job that Israelites naturally hated, and called to follow Jesus. Grace means the Divine favour. It has no motive at all except in God Himself. God shows it to a good-for-nothing creature, miserable and lost.
Luke puts the leaving before the rising. One writer treats that order as deliberate: the heart let go before the body moved.
When Levi was called, he left everything, rose up, and followed Jesus. The attraction of Christ's Person and the power of His word made him leave everything before he rose up. What had held his heart until then had lost its grip on him, and his life from then on was to be following his Master, his Lord who had called him by His grace.
One writer draws attention to the hour of the call.
A miracle happened at that roadside booth. This call did not come at an evening service, when all the gold had been gathered in and locked away. It came during business hours, as he collected and counted the coins he loved. Then the voice of the Lord reached him, the chains that had held him fell away, and a new life woke his dead soul. He forsook the old life once and for all, leaving the tax-gatherer's revenue to whoever cared to claim it. Jesus was better than gold.
Levi obeys at once. But commentators find more than a command behind his obedience.
The One who spoke had the right to command. But this proves it was not so much a show of authority as the expression of the claims of His heart. It was more than that. He presented Himself to the heart of Levi. By the attractive power of His person He drew Levi away from everything around him, and after Himself in the path of discipleship. This is how disciples are always made. Try as we will, we cannot follow Christ until He has disclosed Himself to us and won our hearts.
The crowd had already seen a paralysed man walk home. One writer sets Levi's change beside that miracle.
The people had said, "We have seen strange things today," when they saw the paralysed man take up his bed and walk home on his own legs, glorifying God. But they saw a stranger thing when greedy Levi, now free from the passion that had mastered him, followed Jesus. With a heart overflowing with new and generous feelings, he gathered into his house a great company of tax collectors and others, to hear the voice that had set him free. He had stopped collecting coins and had begun to gather souls. A greater miracle was done on Levi than on his paralysed neighbour, for it was a moral and spiritual miracle, changing his very nature.
Levi still owned the house where he held that feast. That detail shapes what "leaving all" means for us.
We "forsake" — that is, we cut our affections off from our possessions. They are no longer ours, but our Master's, to be held for Him. It may mean parting with everything, as with the early Christians, or, like Levi, we may leave all and yet still have. Levi's house was still "his own," and he used his money to make a great feast for Christ and to draw sinners to Him. A very good example for some of us!
Another writer presses what rising up costs:
If we want to follow the Lord Jesus then we also have to rise up. We have to give up things that until now have been very important to us. Rising up always takes spiritual energy; only those who overcome can do it.
- Seen — the call found Levi in the very act of collecting taxes, with no preparation on his side that Luke records.
- Called — grace moved toward the despised man with no reason in him, only in God Himself.
- Left — his grip on money loosened before his body moved; leaving all is first a matter of the affections.
- Rose — the call came mid-business, with the coins still in his hands, and the chains fell off.
- Followed — Christ showed Himself to Levi and won his heart, and the man who collected coins began gathering souls.