Lessons from Levi

Matthew -- also called Levi, and that's what I'll use here today -- was a disciple of Jesus, and wrote the gospel account that comes first in the New Testament.  Many people don't know the details of who he was and how hard it might have been for him to follow Jesus.  Here are a few background details that help bring the picture into better perspective.  Much of this is found in Luke's gospel, chapter 5.

1.  Levi was from Capernaum, a town of a few hundred inhabitants on a narrow plain off the beach on the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee.  He became a tax collector for the Roman occupiers, maybe because it offered a good income, but certainly at the expense of relations with his own people.  (This would be like becoming a narc or a snitch, in a small town known for not liking the sheriff.)  Some of his own people said it was impossible for a tax collector to repent -- so Levi may have been told he was doomed to whatever sorry fate God gave him after his death.  Regardless, Jesus didn't call him because he was righteous.

2.  Peter and Andrew, James and John (two sets of brothers who were called by Jesus) also lived in Capernaum and were fishermen.  How long had they known Levi?  Had they paid taxes onto his table?  Had they resented paying those taxes, and more so, paying them to one of their own people now turned traitor?  When Jesus called Levi into his inner circle of twelve, we don't know if there was friction between Levi and the others, but it must have felt awkward.  Levi could have had many excuses not to follow Jesus, but to his credit, he kept going.  Others Jesus called weren't nearly as dedicated (see Luke 9:57-62 for some examples).

3.  Levi "left everything" to follow Jesus.  Many people with big incomes and lots of personal possessions are focused on keeping what they have, and acquiring more.  But when Jesus called, Levi answered.  He must have been focused on something besides shekels.

I'm sure there are more details from Levi's life that would give us good lessons to consider.  But to summarize these, let's say Jesus doesn't save us because we're already righteous, but because we need saving.  Like Levi, we may not fit the "righteous" profile, and others who come to follow Jesus may not either -- maybe they could use some encouragement from us.  And whatever else you believe, following Jesus will, sooner or later, mean leaving everything else behind.  Are you up for that? 

I will get to meet this disciple of Jesus one day, and I plan to thank him for giving me some valuable lessons in following Jesus.  Will you?