Jesus is Essential
Luke 5:27–32: After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Levi was the most publicly unacceptable candidate for discipleship. Jesus sought out the man no one else wanted, the one who some wished would come under God’s most severe judgment. This is one of the glories of Jesus’ ministry. We also learn from this that Jesus sees what we can become even while we are lost in our sins.
Christ saw in the disfigured life of Levi (tax collector) a Matthew (writer, evangelist, collector of souls). He sees sinners, with all their moral deformity, through his ultimate artist’s eye. Christ can make your life into something beautiful for God. He has devoted his life to it! 1
Walking with Jesus
Despised Levi became Matthew, meaning a “gift of God.” How has Jesus changed your life? What new name would He give you today that identifies your usefulness for Him?
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
Jesus adopts us, fills us, and directs us towards eternity. – TWEET IT
Praying
Lord, thank You for changing me into Your image, day by day.
1. Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
