Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world

Christian Meditations – A Chris Hansen Column

January 31, 2008

You met Chris, now you can read more of his work:

From the Sunday School Series

Chris Hansen

chrishansen54@sbcglobal.net

Who is Levi? 

We know from Matthew 9:9 that Matthew is a tax collector. When compared with Luke 5:27 we find out that he is also called Levi. The two stories in Matthew and Luke are identical except for the name.  In both stories, the tax collector is willing to follow, leave his tax business, hold a grand banquet for Jesus and Jesus explains that he has come to call sinners to repentance. In today’s society, you take a civil service exam, become a tax agent, and you have very strict legal limits on how much you can take. Not so in the Roman world! Rome needed a way to collect taxes and to find willing accomplices. So, what did Rome do? They opened the process for bids. Typically, the highest bidder in a district got the job.

How did the tax collector get paid?

Rome told the tax collector how much Rome expected to collect. Here’s the sweet deal. The tax collector was allowed to collect as much as he pleased so long as Rome got their cut! And, if a citizen didn’t pay, they could be jailed or their property could simply be confiscated with no legal recourse. Naturally, the tax collectors got very wealthy and were hated by the citizens. A tax collector held his post for life. So, here is Matthew, or Levi, making a fabulous salary. Matthew gets paid whatever he wants to get paid with the legal force of Rome behind him. What a sweet financial deal!

Now, here comes Jesus and says, “Follow me!”

Why did Levi drop everything?

Wouldn’t we love to know! Was he tired of being hated? Was he feeling guilty? Was he empty in spite of his wealth? Did he hear about the fabulous things Jesus was doing? We simply don’t know. I tend to think it was a combination of all of these factors. In his “That the World Might Know” series from Focus On The Family, Ray Vanderlaan points out that following a Rabbi in Jesus’ day was no small thing! It meant, “Follow the Rabbi so closely that when he walks, you get the dust of the rabbi on your clothes!” That is how the Talmud, a collection of rabbinic teachings explains it. Apparently, Levi knew this. He knew it meant going wherever Jesus went and doing whatever Jesus said and obeying his slightest whim.

Levi also knew that if things didn’t work out, he could never go back to his lucrative tax business. That’s because Rome had a rule about such things. A tax collector was penalized for leaving the business. He was thereafter prohibited from ever being a tax collector for life! This strongly encouraged tax collectors not to change their minds should something better come along. Levi knew that following Jesus the Rabbi meant associating with him so closely that after a time (typically 3 years or so) the student would become exactly like his Rabbi. If it meant hardship, or even death, so be it!

Luke 6:40 tells us exactly what the rabbinic student was expected to do. “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Luke chapter 6 is a summary of the attitudes that Jesus expects his rabbinical students to have.

Pay particular attention to verses 20 through 49. Following Jesus meant having an attitude of endurance. Be willing to put up with hunger, Luke 6:21, hatred from others, Luke 6:22, physical abuse, Luke 6:29 extreme generosity toward others, Luke 6:30, and giving others the benefit of the doubt, Luke 6:37.  Finally, Jesus sums up what he means to follow him as a rabbinic student.

“Why do you call me, Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46.

Later in Luke we will see clearly that Jesus actually discouraged some from following because Jesus knew full well that they were not prepared to go anywhere or do anything or endure any hardship, thus they were not fit for Jesus’ rabbinic training. It didn’t take long for the new student, Levi to face his first test as a rabbinic student. Levi wanted to show his gratitude to Jesus for inviting him to be a rabbinic student.

So, what does Levi do?

He spends a large sum of money and throws Jesus a fabulous banquet. This was truly a nice gesture.

Who does Levi invite?

He invites people he knows so they can hear about Jesus too.

Who does Levi know?

A bunch of sinners just like himself!

Is Levi’s enthusiasm met with joy?

Not at all! “The Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and “sinners”?”  Luke 5:29. Levi does something nice for Jesus and immediately endures criticism.

How does Jesus the master teacher handle this?

Because his students are still untrained, Jesus does not expect them to know what to say. So, to his credit, Jesus leaps to the defense of his young students and says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31.

Jesus made his critics look foolish by stating the obvious. Obviously, you don’t send a physician to heal healthy people! Jesus defended himself all throughout his ministry to show his young students how to think on their feet when critics came at them. Every parable Jesus told was meant to state the obvious with a picturesque story so his students could learn why Jesus thought the way he did and just how to explain their rabbi’s thinking.

The gospels are rich repositories of the things Jesus said, did, felt, and thought, so we as his students can become more and more like our master. Then, when we are fully trained, we can influence our world to think Jesus’ thoughts after him. We too will learn how to use the obvious to deflect our critics, influence our friends and families, and shine the light of Jesus in our communities. The only way for us to become “fully trained” is to immerse ourselves in the gospels and find out what Jesus thought about things and why, so we can be so close to Jesus that we “get the dust of the rabbi on our clothes.”