Mark 2:13-14 (NIV): Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
There aren’t too many details about the calling of Levi/Matthew in any of the gospels, because it was a very simple affair. Jesus was teaching a group of people near the Sea of Galilee outside of Capernaum when He passed the tax collector’s booth where Levi was working. Jesus’ words were simple: “Follow me.” And Levi’s response was just as simple: he got up and followed Him. Just like Peter, Andrew, James, and John before him, Levi simply walked away from his old life (and his old livelihood!) and became a disciple of Jesus.
Levi had heard about Jesus, about the wonders and miracles He had been doing, but he had no real aspirations to be one of His disciples. After all, Jesus was this holy man, and he was despised by all of his fellow Jews, held to be a sinner, and virtually an outcast. The money was good, but the alienation from those around him, the sneering that went on whenever he showed up, was terrible.
But here came Jesus, walking along at the center of a large crowd, every one of them hanging on His every word. As they got near enough so that he could begin to hear Jesus clearly, Levi found himself caught up in Jesus’ words as well. He actually forgot what he was doing and just locked his whole attention on this man who spoke so passionately about God and His kingdom that one could imagine being in it right now.
When Jesus drew near the booth, his eyes caught those of Levi. Levi felt a sudden burst of shame, like that of a child discovered where he shouldn’t be, listening in on a conversation he had no right to listen to. But though he could feel the sudden rising of blood into his cheeks, Levi found that he simply could not tear his eyes away from this man. Then he saw Jesus smile slightly. He stopped talking in mid-sentence, and held out His hand to Levi, palm up, as if He wanted Levi to give Him something. And then a fraction of a second later He swept that hand forward in a beckoning gesture and clearly spoke those two words: “Follow Me.” It had only been a momentary gesture, scarcely noticed by the others crowding around Jesus. But in that brief flash of time, a spark of understanding had flashed between the eyes of the two men. And in that moment Levi had placed his whole life, his hope, his entire future into that open hand of Jesus. And he followed.
Father, the call Levi received is the same as Jesus’ call to me: the call to lay down everything, my entire old life, and to follow Him into a whole new life, a whole new way of living. I know that Levi never regretted his decision to follow, and neither have I. Thank You for opening a door into Your kingdom through Jesus to all of us poor sinners, and for giving us a whole new future in You. Amen.