The Most Unloved Man in Capernaum-Luke 5:27-32

At this point in Luke’s story…we have met a fisherman, a leper, a paralyzed man…and now a TAX COLLECTOR.

Have you ever felt like everyone hated you…despised you…made fun of you. Have you ever felt that way to the point you would do ANYTHING to change…

The tax collector's name is given in Mark and Luke as Levi, making it likely that he is a descendent of the tribe of Levi, from whom the priests and Levites descended. Look in the New York City telephone book today, and you'll find thousands of families by this name. Instead of a holy ministry of serving in the temple, this Levi is instead engaged in a most unholy trade -- at least as it was practiced in Palestine.

Jesus looks at him, and says simply: "Follow me." The word in Greek is, akoloutheo, which means, literally, "come after" from a, copulative, and keleuthos, "road," properly, "walking the same road.". Then it means "accompany, go along with." But it also has a specific meaning, "to follow someone as a disciple."

Think what Levi feels like when he hears those two words tap-tapping like a door-knocker on his soul. He is being called to leave his lucrative trade as a tax collector to become almost a beggar, sustaining himself on the sometimes meager contributions made to his Rabbi or Master. In an instant he is being called from wealth to poverty. But I don't think the issue of poverty really enters into his decision. Only one thing matters, and it matters very deeply -- oh, so deeply -- to Levi.

Jesus has sought him out for a purpose...

He seeks US out for a purpose today.

So what does Jesus DO that makes a DIFFERENCE?
· Jesus ACCEPTS him.
· Jesus LOVES him -- the most unloved man in Capernaum.
· And Jesus CALLS him personally: "Follow me." Since he was a boy he hadn't imagined himself a righteous man. Now he is being called to accompany a holy man on his itinerant travels. How bizarre! How wonderful!

Matthew replies to Jesus invitation by issuing an invitation to his new Master. "Jesus, I would be very honored if you would be a guest in my home this very night." Jesus accepts.
This is no intimate dinner party for a few guests. Luke describes it with the word megas, meaing "great." To his large house suited to a wealthy man, Levi invites "a large crowd of tax collectors and others."

Levi has introduced his closest friends to his newest Friend, and is now ready to follow. The growing band of disciples -- Peter and Andrew, James and John -- who have despised him for collecting a toll on their fish exports may have been stand-offish at first. But when they see Jesus warmly accept him, they accept him, too, into this strange new fellowship of disciples called from all walks of life to walk with Jesus and learn his ways. It is giddy and glorious, and deeply moving to Levi, as he cleans up after the party.

He is no longer Levi the tax collector.

He is Matthew the Disciple.

Two clear lessons for disciples in this passage:
1. Jesus doesn't really care what others think about a person, or how others value a person. He loves the outcasts and the unloved.
2. Jesus didn't concentrate on polishing the already righteous, but on rescuing the perishing. His mission is to the poor, the sick, the oppressed, and the brokenhearted.

The scribes and Pharisees saw Matthew and his friends as condemned sinners, but Jesus saw them as spiritually sick “patients” who needed the help of a physician. The first step toward healing sin sickness is admitting that we have a need and that we must do something about it.

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (5:31-32).

If all were righteous, spiritually healthy, Jesus would have no necessity to pay a house call. But because we are not so righteous after all, because our souls are troubled and besmirched by compromise -- because of all this we desperately need Jesus to come and call us to something better than the filth we may be living in. We need him to call us to our best.

Have YOU made an appointment to see Jesus?

Have YOU seen Great Physician about YOUR sickness or problem?

Jesus LOVES you…Jesus will ACCEPT you..and Jesus is PERSONALLY CALLING you to come and FOLLOW him down the road He is walking.

Questions for Discussion:
1. Who in our society would correspond to the rich outcasts like tax collectors were in Jesus'day?

2. Why do we Christians feel so uncomfortable around blatant sinners? Why did Jesus succeed in making himself so at home in their presence?

3. Have you ever had a time when you felt like an outcast? What did it feel like to you, when Jesus' voice broke through all the static and let you know that he had chosen you and really wanted you?

4. What was Levi’s first action as a new follower of Jesus? (Vs 29) Who did he invite to his “new career” party?

5. To follow Jesus or to walk more closely with Him, what are (or were) the most difficult things (or ways of life) for you to leave behind?