We have, alongside the first followers of Jesus, been witness to amazing things, but all of them pale in comparison to what we witness today in the call of Levi. For Simon, Andrew, James, and John, following Jesus was a fairly simple matter; there was simply something about Him that compelled them to follow. Perhaps they sensed something of the air of prophecy about Him; perhaps they were men of such faith the Spirit of God opened their hearts to His invitation. Whatever the case may be, they seemed primed and ready to drop their nets and follow Jesus wherever He might lead them.
But then there is Levi. He is “…sitting at the customs post…”, meaning that he was, by profession, a tax collector, seen by Jewish society not only as scum but as a traitor, making money by extorting his own people, and collaborating with the Roman oppressors. Yet Jesus passed by this man and his customs post and did not avoid Him. He even speaks to him: “Follow me.” Levi does just that. Of all the miracles we have heard of this week, the conversion of Levi—also known as Matthew—is perhaps the greatest, because the conversion of a sinner’s heart requires more grace, more of a miracle, than driving out demons and curing sickness combined. Levi was a man afflicted with the most serious illness: estrangement from God. He sought to serve mammon rather than God (Matthew 6:24), and thus was not afflicted with a demon per se but was, more or less, a demon himself! The demoniacs and the sick in our past Gospel passages had only to come to Jesus and be healed but for Levi, Jesus had to come to Him. “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
It is impossible to know what occurred in the heart of Levi in that moment when Jesus spoke to him, but it must have been quite profound, for that very day Jesus was a guest at his table, and other tax collectors and sinners came to dine with Him and His disciples. Our passage indicates that there was a large number of people being entertained, and thus we can assume this meal was occurring at great cost to Levi: he was, in a sense, smashing the idol of mammon he had so long served! He had been moved to generosity, to pouring out his wealth, because suddenly he had come across a treasure greater than any he had ever possessed: Jesus. Levi had recognized that though his pockets were heavy with the gold of others, his heart was utterly broke: Jesus, in His great charity, had filled his heart with riches beyond compare.
Yet the Pharisees present there were indignant; to eat with such a person was to be made unclean by their sin. “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” they ask. Brothers! Were He to refuse such company at table, He would always eat alone. Yet He came to dwell among us (John 1:14), to not merely sit at the tables of sinners but to gather sinners around His table, laid out with the banquet of His own Flesh and Blood. Those who, like Levi, have the humility to recognize their sin and the courage to repent of it may come to the feast. Those who, in their pride, believe like the Pharisees that they are worthy of nobler company will find themselves in “…the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth,” (Matthew 22:13).