Luke 5:27, commentary and pictures

Jesus saw Levi, also called Matthew, a Jew collecting Roman taxes at his tax booth, and gave him a direct personal invitation to follow Him. The office was despised as service to Rome associated with oppression and loss of national independence, and choosing such a man offended religious and national prejudice. Jesus looked past that prejudice because Levi's heart was open to truth and thirsting for new life, and His welcome affirmed his dignity and broke the hold of greed and worldliness. Levi felt honored and obeyed at once without hesitation or conditions, leaving his profitable business without asking about pay or prospects, choosing fellowship with Jesus over wealth and security. He then openly separated from his old life and invited his former associates to meet Jesus, hoping they would be changed as he was, and some who heard at that feast later became believers and messengers.

Setting and Background

On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus went forth and saw Levi, also called Matthew, a Jew working as a publican or tax collector, sitting at the receipt of custom or tax booth gathering taxes. He was seated at the customs booth collecting tribute when Jesus gave him the call to follow.

That office was despised by the Jews and by the religious leaders because it was service to Roman authority in collecting tribute for Rome. It was associated with oppression and extortion, it continually reminded the Jews that their independence and national glory were gone, and his acceptance of it was seen as dishonoring his people. Choosing such a publican as an immediate attendant offended religious, social, and national customs, prejudices, and traditions. By honoring him with this call Jesus acted against those prejudices and traditions and angered the religious leaders, who also attacked the disciples for eating with publicans and sinners.

The verse belongs to Luke 5:12-28, grouped with the cleansing of the leper, the healing of the paralytic, and other healings also told in Matthew 8:2-4, Matthew 9:1-8, 32-34, Mark 1:40-45, and Mark 2:1-12.

Call and Immediate Response

Jesus gave Levi a definite, personal and direct call to follow Him, and those words carried compelling power that drew an immediate break with his former life. Levi had already been listening to His teaching and longing for help, yet he did not expect such a teacher to notice him. Jesus looked past social prejudice and saw a heart open to truth and thirsting for life, recognizing in this despised tax collector one He could use in establishing His church.

Levi felt highly honored by the call and obeyed joyfully at once, immediately and without question or hesitation. He left his profitable business at the tax booth, abandoning his former life with no lingering concern for the income he would lose. He made no conditions and did not first ask about pay, a salary equal to his former earnings, prospects or benefits. Jesus on His part promised no worldly gain or honor and offered no flattering prospects in this life, yet being with Him, hearing His words and sharing His work was enough, so Levi chose fellowship with Jesus, His teaching and His work over wealth and security.

That welcome and fellowship affirmed the human dignity of publicans and stirred in them desire to become worthy of His confidence. His voice itself broke the spell of worldly enchantment and the hold of the world, banishing unrest and doubt from the soul. It drove greed and ambition from the heart, changed enmity to love and unbelief to confidence, awakened new impulses and the possibility of a new life, and lifted the bowed down so that the one called rose emancipated to follow Him.

Discipleship and Gospel Outreach

Levi left all to become Jesus' disciple, immediate attendant, and co-worker, and his leaving shows that following Jesus is worth sacrificing wealth and status. Discipleship in this verse means immediate, unquestioning obedience that leaves all behind, for Matthew did not wait to demand a salary equal to his former earnings but followed at once without question or hesitation. Jesus offered no flattering prospects in this life and no promise of gain or worldly honor, while Matthew made no stipulation about what he would receive, content simply to be with the Saviour, to hear His words, and to unite with Him in His work. The call was a definite, personal invitation that Levi felt highly honored to receive, and he left the business he had followed to answer it.

The verse shows Jesus reaching the rich as well as the poor to gain access to their hearts and reveal imperishable riches, and it proves that by receiving power from on high through His grace a man can live an unsullied life. When Jesus chooses a person and calls him to follow, His voice itself breaks the spell of worldly enchantment, banishes unrest and doubt from the soul, drives greed and ambition from the heart, changes enmity to love and unbelief to confidence, and lifts up the bowed down so that the one called at once rises emancipated to follow Him. The calling of Levi the tax collector away from his business, which he obeyed joyfully, illustrates that Christ may still call people away from their farms, businesses, and other trades to warn the world.

Levi made his separation from his former business companions openly and without shame, and his new discipleship led him to invite former associates and other outcasts to a feast for Jesus to hear Him, hoping His teaching would affect them as it had affected him. Jesus used such occasions to make His work and character clear and to sow seeds of truth, and His sympathy and teaching awakened hope of a new life. Some who first heard the truth at that feast later became believers and gospel messengers, and Matthew himself became a devoted evangelist. The same definite personal invitations, not only general invitations, are to be given by Christ's ambassadors, and more personal calls will bring more decided movements to follow Christ.