To Know and Be Known
It’s been said that we’re born into the world looking for those looking for us. Another way to say that is that God created us for connection. He hardwired our brains and bodies and souls to be seen and heard and delighted in. To be alive is to long for greater intimacy with the God who made us and with others around us.
God created us to know and to be known, to know others and to be known by others. “It is not good for man to be alone” isn’t only about singleness and marriage. It’s about how God has structured the lives of his image bearers. God created man and woman, you and me, to be connected to him and to each other.
Shame and Hiding in the Garden
Perfect connection and relationship existed in the Garden of Eden until Adam and Eve listened to the serpent’s voice and disobeyed God. Sin shattered the connection between God and man, and between man and woman, driving them into hiding. In shame, they tried to cover their nakedness and hide from the gaze of God.
Shame will always lead us into isolation, and in isolation shame grows and festers. Why? Because we weren’t made to live in isolation but in relationships.
What does God do after Adam and Eve sin against him and run away from him to hide in shame? He goes looking for them! “But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Gen. 3:9) God comes to sinful man with a question, not with threats. He wants to draw him out of hiding by grace, not drive him out by fear. God comes into his Garden, not like an angry father yelling but like a gentle father seeking his children. He approaches Adam and Eve with tenderness, not toughness.
To Seek and to Save the Lost
The God of the Garden hasn’t changed. He’s always been the Good Shepherd who goes out into the night to find his lost sheep and bring them home. In the garden, we see the first glimpse of the Redeemer who’d come “to seek and to save the lost” (Lk. 19:10). In Jesus, the God of the Garden puts on human flesh so that he can walk into our lives and pull us out of shame and sin and hiding.
There’s no better example of this in the Gospels than when Jesus calls Levi to follow him in Luke 5:27-32. This short encounter is a picture of how any of us are saved by Jesus. We’re born hiding in our tax booths, full of sin and regret, when all of sudden Jesus sees us and speaks to us and calls us into a new life that we gladly accept because his grace has changed us.
The main point of this encounter in Luke 5 is that Jesus came to call sinners out of sin, shame, and hiding. Jesus calls a sinner in verses 27-28 and celebrates with a sinner in verses 29-32. As we look at these verses, consider whether Jesus has called you or whether you’re still hiding.
Jesus Calls a Sinner
First, in verses 27-28, Jesus calls a sinner. “Levi” is named “Matthew” in Matthew’s account of this episode (9:9). It’s likely that he was known by two names, like Simon Peter.
Including Levi among his followers is Jesus signaling that his mission on earth is to sinners. Just what kind of sinner was Levi? One of the worst kinds: he was a tax collector (v. 27).
We have to understand what a tax booth and a tax collector were to understand the significance of what happens here. The tax booth where Levi was sitting was a small booth beside one of the busy roadways in the commercial district of Capernaum.
Levi was likely what we’d call a customs officer, responsible for taxing the goods that came in and out of the city. To become a tax officer, you had to place a bid with an estimate of how much tax revenue you could collect. If the government liked your bid, they’d hire you as a tax collector and give you a quota. Once you met your quota, everything else you collected you got to keep. Competition was fierce for these jobs because the pay was very lucrative.
The job paid well but it also came with a social cost. Tax collectors were hated because they were seen as traitors to their own people. They gave up their ethnic and social identity in order to turn a profit at the expense of their own people. Tax collectors were expelled from the synagogue and a disgrace to their families. Jews were forbidden to receive money from tax collectors since their income was viewed as robbery. If a tax collector touched your house, it was declared unclean. Anyone who had a tax collector as a friend was deemed unclean. Tax collectors were hated because they were tangible reminders of Roman domination. Tax collectors were detested because they represented an unjust and unclean Gentile government.
The tax collectors like Levi would rip off fishermen in Capernaum like Peter, James, and John, profiting from their hard work. Jesus chooses to enlist a follower from a group of people that his society, and his other disciples, would’ve despised.
Saw and Said
Notice two key phrases in verse 27, Jesus “saw” Levi and “he said to him…” The word for “saw” means “observing,” which implies that Jesus did more than just spot him on the busy street. Rather, he was paying careful and thoughtful and specific attention to him. Apparently he saw something in Levi that no one else saw.
Little did Levi know that he’d attracted his Maker’s gaze. While shuffling around at his desk and anxious about his future, filled with shame and regret, Levi caught Jesus’ attention. Finally, someone really saw him, not just his despicable deeds. Finally, someone cared for him rather than cursed him. Jesus saw him instead of seeing through him. This was the beginning of what Levi was made for. His Creator and Redeemer was about to turn his world upside down with life-changing connection and grace. Jesus saw a man who everyone looked past, ignored, and despised. Jesus turned his eyes toward a man hiding in plain sight.
Then Jesus walks over to Levi’s cubicle and speaks to him. He opens his mouth to a man no one wanted to speak to. And his words were words of life, not words of condemnation. He wasn’t angry about Levi’s profession, he was after his heart.
Perhaps for the first time, Levi met someone who wanted to be with him, someone who wanted him to be with them. Levi’s heart came alive as Jesus came calling him out of hiding and shame and into a new life. This might be why he responded so dramatically when Jesus called him. He’d never had anyone actually want to be with him.
When Jesus walked by Levi’s booth that day, he didn’t just see a treasonous man full of greed. He saw a broken man full of guilt. He saw something in Levi that no one else saw. And he gave him what no one else wanted to give him. He gave him grace.
“Follow Me”
Verse 28 tells us how Levi responds to the grace of Jesus. When Jesus said, “Follow me,” Levi “left everything, rose and followed him.” Grace from Jesus produced faith in Levi. “Following” is a term that describes a response of faith. “Following” someone involves risk and cost. “Following” someone means getting out of your comfort zone and trusting someone else. “Following” is something we do, not something we think or believe. In response to Jesus’ grace, Levi gets up from his tax booth and follows Jesus into a new and unknown future. The same power and grace that lifted the paralytic from his mat lifts Levi from his tax booth.
Levi doesn’t know where the path ends when he says yes to Jesus, but he signs up anyways.
He understood that his life couldn’t be centered around himself any more. He knew that Jesus’ call meant that he needed to abandon his former ways of thinking and living.
Levi’s obedience to Jesus’ command is a picture of what happens when any of us becomes a Christian. When Jesus comes to our “tax booth,” it’s not to make us into more honest tax collectors but to make us something else entirely. When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die, Bonhoeffer said. Jesus’ grace is so good that it compels those who’ve tasted it to put everything in their life on the table, asking the Lord, “What do you want me to do with this? What do you want to do with my job, marriage, singleness, kids, church membership, money, sexual orientation, hidden sin, wounds from the past?”
Followers are Disciples
“Following Jesus” isn’t just an intellectual exercise. Following Jesus means becoming a disciple of Jesus. Being a disciple of Jesus isn’t an occasional thing we do. To be a Christian is to be a disciple of Christ, all day, every day, everywhere.
A disciple follows and learns from Jesus and helps others follow and learn from Jesus. Before Jesus was taken back to heaven, he commanded his disciples to “make disciples” (Matt. 28:19).
This happens when a younger Christian discusses their faith over a meal with an older Christian, or when younger Christians spend time in an older Christian’s home learning how they apply their faith to every area of life. Think right now of someone you can start meeting with regularly to help follow Jesus. Discipleship is not a program. It’s a way of life for everyone who’s heard and obeyed Jesus’ gracious call, “Follow me.”
“A Quiet Faith”
This kind of Christianity is in stark contrast to much of what passes as “Christianity” in American culture. I once read an obituary of a man born in my hometown who died at age 90. It said that the “love of his life” was his wife and that he “cherished” time with family on vacation at the beach. It said that he “was a firm believer in education and hard work, instilling those values in his children and grandchildren.” It said that his “second love in life was flying,” having successfully completed his last solo flight on his 90th birthday.
All of these things are good. I want many of them to be said of me one day. But there was another line in the obituary that stood out to me. It simply said that he was “a man of quiet faith and a longtime member at a church in Dallas.” In the six paragraphs that described his life, barely one sentence was given to his faith. Only God knows this man’s heart, but I wonder if Levi’s obituary would’ve read like this? I wonder if our obituaries will read like this? Will our faith, our following Jesus, leave little discernible evidence that we were transformed by the grace of Christ? What will our obituaries say about us as disciples of Jesus?
When Jesus sees us and speaks to us and comes by the booth of our lives and calls us to join him, there’s a noticeable, discernable, and unmistakable shift in our lives. We “leave everything” and join Jesus’ motley crew of followers pursuing his mission on the earth. Is that you?
Jesus Celebrates with a Sinner
In verses 29-32, we see the next step of Levi’s response to Jesus, how he throws a party for Jesus. Jesus’ grace toward Levi leads to repentance that results in celebration. Levi celebrates Jesus’ grace by extending grace to people who need it. As one commentator says, “(Levi) leaves the camp of sinners but does not ignore the sinners. His first act of following Jesus is to throw a banquet with Jesus as the honored guest in the midst of reprobates.”[1]
The banquet tells us that “leaving everything” to follow Jesus doesn’t mean selling everything but rather means repurposing everything for Jesus’ sake and for the good of those who need Jesus. Levi’s home and food and resources and connections were now leveraged for Jesus’ sake.
Other Followers of Jesus
Other people seem to be following Jesus as well, though more as stalkers and spies than disciples (v. 30). At that time, dinners were more public events, which is why the Pharisees and scribes were able to be there. Let’s consider who these guys are again so that we can better understand what’s happening here.
The Pharisees are the preservers of the faith of Israel. Their name literally means “separated ones.” They’re the separatists who want to protect themselves and the nation from the contagion of sinners and their sin. They’re trying to save Israel from the ravages of paganism. Their motive isn’t to be snobbish and unsocial people, but rather racial and spiritual self-preservation. They’re fighting for ethical purity and religious truth. In a world of ungodliness, they sought to preserve the standards of the God of Israel. They were fending off heathens at the gate!
They believed that the sinners in Israel had brought catastrophe to the nation and therefore the sinners needed to repent or be purged. They saw the tax collectors as beyond repentance because of their constant contact with Gentiles and collaboration with those extorting Israel. They believed that God should condemn the guilty and vindicate the righteous (themselves) and reward them according to their righteousness. Of course, they misjudged their ability to actually be righteous in God’s sight.
They didn’t have hereditary ties to their positions like the priests did, so their social status was unstable. Their standing in society derived from their knowledge of law and traditions. They struggled to recruit new members because their rules were like walls that created social boundaries, keeping them close to each other but away from everyone else. This is why they were so concerned with the huge crowds drawn to Jesus. The crowds threatened their own ability and power to influence people and gain followers.
This is why they’re “grumbling” at Jesus’ disciples in verse 30. Their grumbling is a result of their fear that they were losing influence. Their question looks like they care about the law, but they’re really just envious of Jesus and ready to find fault. Their question seems innocent, but it’s accusatory and meant to scrutinize Jesus for his supposed violations. Their question is about condemnation, not information. They’re also cowards because they go to the disciples with their question instead of going to Jesus himself. They’re intimidated by Jesus so they stand on the sidelines and throw grenades over their walls of separation hoping to take Jesus down from a distance.
The Doctor
How does Jesus respond to their shenanigans? With a pronouncement in verse 31. He says that the sick, not the well, calls for a doctor. Those who’re well don’t have a need for help and healing. But the sick feels their need deeply. Interestingly, here Jesus goes to the sick (Levi) before he calls for help. This is pursuing grace.
Then in verse 32, Jesus says that he’s come to call sinners, not the righteous. Unlike the other Gospel writers, Luke adds, “to repentance.” Jesus isn’t just hanging out with the tax collectors because he likes having a good time. He’s hanging out with sinners so he can call them to repentance.
John the Baptist called down fire on sinners; Jesus communed with them. Each approach is warranted at different times. Here Jesus openly associates with sinners. He’s gone from forgiving sinners (5:20) to eating with them. He doesn’t just preach at them. He shows them that he cares for them.
This teaches us that mission requires more than preaching at or casual contact with those far from God. Jesus shows us that it’s entirely appropriate to engage in outreach to the outcasts.
Just as sick people need a doctor, sinners need a Savior. This is why Jesus came – to meet sinners where they are, call them out of their sin, change their hearts, and set them on a new journey of following him. This is what I pray and hope for our church. May we be a church who comes alongside sinners, prostitutes and homosexuals and drug addicts and porn addicts and money addicts, not to join them in their sin or to agree with their sin, but to humbly and lovingly point them to a Savior who can save them from their sins and shame and bring them into a new life.
We’ll never do this as long as we think like these Pharisees. We must realize what they didn’t realize: that we’re all sick. The “sick” Jesus came for are you and me. We’re the sinners in need of God’s mercy. The cross is for people like us. Jesus didn’t die because we’re awesome but because we’re sick with sin.
As long as we think that it’s other people who really need mercy and not us, we’ll never be changed, we’ll never leave everything and follow Jesus and go after the sick. Self-righteous people tend to stick together and avoid going after sinners, not realizing that self-righteousness is also sin, and indeed one of the most deadly and dangerous sins because it blinds us to our true condition.
May we be a church full of sick and sinful people who’ve tasted Jesus’ grace and left everything to follow him, wanting to get his grace to as many broken people as possible.
May the invitation Ray Ortlund used at his church for years be the banner over our doors as well: “To all who are weary, and need rest; to all who mourn, and are longing for comfort; to all who fail, and desire strength; to all who sin, and need a Savior, this church opens wide her doors with a welcome from Jesus himself, the Friend of sinners.”
[1]David E. Garland, Luke, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2011), 250.