In the Life of Christ
“And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.” — Mark 2:14
When I read the calling of Levi, I am struck by the way Jesus saw people. The crowd saw a tax collector sitting at his booth, but Jesus saw a future disciple. The religious establishment saw a compromised man whose occupation placed him beyond respectable company, but Jesus saw someone grace could redeem and reshape. The Gospel accounts strongly associate Levi with Matthew, the man who would eventually be numbered among the apostles and give his name to the first Gospel in our New Testament.
Jesus had been teaching beside the Sea of Galilee when He passed the tax booth. This was not a private or inconspicuous calling. As the Theology of Work commentary observes, “The passage stresses the public nature of this summons.” Levi’s employment made him “a figure of contempt” to many Galileans because tax collectors were associated with an unpopular ruling system and suspected of enriching themselves through excessive collections. Jesus knew Levi’s history and reputation, yet He called him where everyone could see it. Theology of Work
The command was wonderfully direct: “Follow me.” The Greek expression akolouthei moi is more than an invitation to walk down the road with Jesus. It is a summons to become His disciple—to place one’s life, loyalties, and future under His authority. Jesus did not ask Levi to repair his reputation before following. He called Levi to follow, knowing that discipleship would transform the man.
Mark says simply, “He arose and followed him.” Luke adds that Levi “left all” before following Jesus (Luke 5:28). Peter, Andrew, James, and John could conceivably return to their fishing boats, but Levi could not easily reclaim his tax franchise once he abandoned it. The decision involved genuine cost. The Gospel Coalition’s commentary describes the scandal clearly: “Common fishermen were bad enough, but a tax collector was unthinkable!” Nevertheless, Levi immediately left his lucrative occupation and stepped into an unknown future with Christ. The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary
This reminds me that following Jesus is not merely adding religious activity to an otherwise unchanged life. Christ’s call creates a new center of gravity. Levi’s money, position, and security had once organized his life; now Jesus would. Grace welcomed him exactly where he was, but grace did not leave him seated at the same booth.
Levi’s calling also challenges the way I view other people. It is easy to reduce someone to the worst thing we know about them: the addiction, betrayal, failure, reputation, or occupation. Jesus never treated sin lightly, but neither did He treat sinners as permanently defined by their sin. He saw not only what Levi had been but what Levi could become through redeeming grace. Jesus looked at an outcast and saw a disciple, evangelist, apostle, and witness.
The story continues with Levi opening his home and holding a feast for Jesus. His first instinct as a disciple was to bring the people he knew into the presence of Christ. The tax booth had connected him to a disreputable circle; grace transformed those connections into a mission field. What had once been part of his old life became an avenue through which others could meet the Savior.
That pattern still speaks to us. We do not have to wait until we possess extensive theological training before introducing someone to Jesus. We can begin with our table, our testimony, and the people already within our reach. The person newly touched by grace may sometimes reach people that established believers seldom encounter.
I must therefore ask myself whether I am willing to go where spiritually needy people are found. Jesus taught the crowd, walked among ordinary people, called an outcast, and then ate with sinners. His holiness did not isolate Him from broken people; it moved Him toward them with saving mercy. He later explained, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17).
Perhaps you feel like an unlikely candidate for Christ’s service. Levi’s story assures you that Jesus does not call people because they have flawless histories. He calls sinners who will rise, leave their old mastery behind, and follow Him. The question is not whether others believe you can change. The question is whether you will trust what Jesus sees and answer when He says, “Follow me.”
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