A Question About the Kingdom

Repentance and faith in the good news get you into the kingdom. This gives us a clue about who gets to enter the kingdom and, by this point in Mark, we have received many clues about the kingdom of God that Jesus said was at hand.

First, when he selected his first disciples, we learned the kingdom centers around Jesus. They were to be with Jesus, imitate Jesus, and eventually be launched out into the world to do what Jesus did.

• He would make them into fishers of men.

Second, when he delivered a demon-possessed man in the Capernaum synagogue, we learned his kingdom collides with the unseen forces of evil that permeate our planet. 

• He is stronger than that realm of darkness, and he came to set us free from its shackles.

Third, when he healed Peter's mother-in-law, and many, many others, we learned his kingdom would confront all the natural brokenness produced by sin. 

• His cross and resurrection paved the way for all human illness and injury and death to be resurrected, made new.

Fourth, when he cleansed the leper, we learned his kingdom is one where spiritual uncleanness can be replaced with personal righteousness. 

• Jesus makes way for humanity to find inner wholeness. He deposits his cleanness into his people.

Fifth, when he forgave and then healed the paralyzed man, we learned his kingdom is one that begins with forgiveness. 

• Forgiveness is found in Jesus!

All these early snapshots of Jesus' life help prepare us for the answer to our question. He came and interacted with demon-possessed, physically unhealthy, and spiritually unclean sinners who needed forgiveness.

The passage before us today put it bluntly: Jesus came for sinners. He will say, in our passage, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17). Yay! This is where we all get to come into the story. Sinners of all stripes are loved by Jesus. However, there's a catch. To get into the kingdom, we have to know we're sinners. 

As long as we self-justify, self-excuse and self approve, we are like the Pharisees, outside the kingdom. We're going to see this play out in the episode before us. Let's learn from this passage.

Jesus Calls People Like Levi (Mark 2:13-14)

“He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.” (Mark 2:13-14)

Jesus Went Out Again

The episode begins with Jesus going out again beside the sea (13). Why does Mark say Jesus went out again?

Well, remember the last time Jesus was at Peter's house doing amazing things? He began his time there by healing Peter's mother-in-law but ended the day with massive crowds coming to him after sundown. He served tons of people that day, healing and delivering until late into the night. Then, Mark tells us, the next morning, Jesus arose early, a great while before daylight, and went out alone to the wilderness for prayer (Mark 1:35).

So when Mark says Jesus went out again beside the sea, it is a repeat of that first scenario. It's a practice Jesus followed. He went to Peter's house again. Everyone came from far and wide. He taught them the word. It was crowded. Then Jesus forgave and healed the paralytic. They were all amazed. Then, Jesus went out again for solitude and prayer with his Father.

This is a great pattern for life. Get alone with God to be recharged. Serve others. Then withdraw to be alone with God again. Serve others. Repeat.

Levi the Tax Collector

But, as Jesus sought his Father, the crowd was coming to him (13). As they accumulated around Jesus, he was teaching them, continuing his earlier practice (13). It appears this teaching was given while he walked because Mark says as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth (14).

Who is Levi?

First, we know he was a tax collector (Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27). Since he worked in Capernaum, a city at a major crossroads with the surrounding territories, he might've been involved in the taxation of various travelers using the Roman roads of that region. -- sort of a toll collector. But he also would've been involved in the taxation of the local economy, especially transported goods.

And, as much as we might chafe against our tax system, we really shouldn't think of an IRS agent when thinking of Levi. Taxmen in that era made their living by gouging the people and charging more than Rome required, and many of them became quite wealthy in the process. It was sanctioned theft, backed by the full force of Rome.

And, because they were viewed as traitors in step with Rome, the Jewish community was unforgiving in their attitude towards tax collectors. They were expelled from the synagogues. Their presence could render a house unclean. Some rabbis even taught you could lie to a tax collector without guilt. So Levi was a social outcast.

The name we know him by is Matthew, which is perhaps an alternative name for Levi. It's also possible Jesus renamed Levi with the name Matthew. My guess, and this is speculation on my part, is that Matthew changed his name.

Why would he do that? Well, he had an unsavory past, for one. But, secondly, the original Levi was one of Israel's twelve sons, so an entire tribe was named after him. And when the people of Israel came out of their Egyptian slavery through the death of the firstborn, God said all the firstborns in Israel would belong to him. Then, as a way to satisfy that firstborn requirement, God said he would instead take an entire tribe, the Levites. They would serve by running the tabernacle and temple worship systems. They were set apart for God's service.

I wonder if Matthew, all during the years he was called Levi, thought to himself, I am not living up to my namesake. I'm named after Levi, a gift to God, but I am serving myself. I am doing my own thing. When Jesus caught ahold of his life, I wonder if he began thinking, now I can truly be a gift to God. This is what the name Matthew means: "gift of God." After years of running from God, Levi was now a gift of God. Jesus had given him a new chance at life.

Jesus' Call / Levi's Response

But backup to this first day. As he walked by the sea, Jesus saw Levi. He said to him, "Follow me" (14). There was something Jesus saw in this man.

What would Levi do? Would he go? Would he resist Jesus? Mark says: And he rose and followed him (14). There was something in Jesus Levi wanted.

Now, when the four fishermen left their business to follow Jesus, they could (and did, temporarily) return to that work. But when Levi left his trade, he could never return. Tax collecting in that time and place was a dishonest profession. Because it required usury and theft to make a living, it was inconducive to Christianity. When Levi left it, he left it for good.

Some careers are incompatible with faith. Others are totally compatible. And, probably the most difficult of all are those careers that require great tact, discernment, and wisdom to operate in as a believer. If you are in one of those fields, my prayers are with you. I cannot imagine the challenges you face.

But it was clear for Levi. He could not continue as a tax collector and follow Jesus. Like Elisha, who sacrificed the oxen he plowed his fields with before following Elijah, Levi left it all and never looked back.

The Best Life

And this was the best decision of his life. I mean, let me put it this way. What would you rather be -- a corrupt tax official no one remembers or one of the most widely read authors in history? That's what Levi became. The book he wrote, the gospel of Matthew, might be the most widely read Bible book of all time. His life, formerly spent on Rome's kingdom and his self-serving interests, became an exciting part of God's kingdom.

This is what Jesus does. He gives hope to the hopeless. He calls out to the outcast. He gives meaning to the meaningless. He includes the unincludable.

Don't be afraid to follow Jesus. It is the best life you could live.

One example of this in Scripture comes from the life of Esther. Through God's sovereign hand, she became the queen of Persia (Esther 2). Hers was a life of power and prestige, festivals and fandom. But, though hardly anyone in the kingdom knew it, she was a Jew. When an anti-Semitic attitude began corrupting her empire, she became the spokesperson God wanted to use to spare the Jewish people from Persian persecution.

As she considered whether she was up to the task, she finally concluded, "If I perish, I perish " (Esther 4:16). She became convinced there was nothing better than to live for God, even if it meant dying for God. And, through her actions, Jewish lives were saved, and she became something much more meaningful than the mere queen of Persia. She became Esther, the heroine of God's people. It was the best life she could live.

Like Levi, there are sure to be things we must leave behind so we can follow Jesus. It might be a career. It might be a relationship, a desire, or an attitude. It might be a sin. But if Levi (Matthew) were here today, he would say, "It is worth it! Follow Jesus!" He's so much better than anyone or anything out there. He is the only one who can fulfill us.

(Stay tuned for Friend of Sinners, Part 2 - available 8/25/20)