Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. (Mark 2:13,14, NKJV).
Dear God, Here we are again, needing to hear a word from You. Please receive us as friends. Thank You for being a friend that sticks closer than a brother. In the precious name of Jesus Christ we pray and give you thanks Amen.
Yesterday we spent some time looking at the concept of friendship. How oneness plays an important part and how Jesus’ love for us, as His friends is unconditional. Today we will look at His friendship with Levi Matthew, the publican.
Being a tax collector was bad enough. They were known for their dishonesty. But being a Jew and being a tax collector for the Romans, that was too much! The licensed collectors were hired by Rome to collect tolls from people transporting goods by land or sea. These in turn hired others who were known as publicans to collect the tolls. The licensed collectors added a little more than they were supposed to. On the other hand the publicans also added a little more to their tolls as well. This was the kind of person Levi Matthew was. Matthew was at his booth outside the city of Capernaum when Jesus called him.
That Jesus should make His call to Levi public, for all to see, was quite an unspoken statement; “My call to discipleship is open for all. I will call and whoever hears my voice and answers my call I will make my disciple and will use him or her for my glory.”
Levi Matthew was among those whom Jesus called “friend” (John 15:15). He was separated as an apostle with the same rights and privileges as the others (Mark 3: 13-19); and received the same instructions as the others (Matthew 10). One of the Gospels in the Bible carries his name: The Gospel according to Matthew. This is the same Levi Matthew, the tax collector (Matthew (9:9, 10:3).
You see, in God’s sight, we are loved and accepted as friends for who we are; not for what we do!
We will continue this conversation.