I’m not much of a sports enthusiast. I can’t tell you who won the Super Bowl last year, or the baseball championships or much about traditional sports. But one sport I do have a weakness for watching is surf competitions. Thankfully, they aren’t on very often, because they can last for days and eat up a lot of my time. But in surf competitions they have color commentators like they do in other sports who make the long lulls that you have to wait out between swells more interesting. And there is a phrase that I hear these commentators use from time to time which I haven’t heard elsewhere. Maybe it is used for other sports, but since I don’t follow other sports it would stand to reason that I haven’t heard it. Anyway, when a pro surfer is trying to establish a winnable score during his heat, it is often referred to as “building a house.” The surfer goes out and starts getting waves right away, not necessarily waiting for the biggest and best wave, but trying to get on the scoreboard. And the announcers often refer to that as building a house.
Well, as I was studying this passage in Luke this week in an effort to prepare for my message, it occurred to me that in a sense, Luke is building a house. As Luke takes us through this series of seemingly unrelated events, I believe he is building a house, so to speak. He has laid a foundation of who Jesus was and how He arrived on earth, recorded the prophecies of what it was He came to do, and then he has systematically presented a series of events to reveal how Jesus is fulfilling that prophecy. And as we get to this last section of chapter 5, I think Luke is finally starting to show more clearly the focus and purpose of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus would heal some people from disease, and yes, Jesus would deliver some demon possessed people from spiritual oppression, but all those things were merely earthly demonstrations of an even greater spiritual transaction. In other words, as Jesus said in regards to the healing of the paralytic back in verse 24, “but so that you may know that I have the authority to forgive sins, I say to you, get up, take up your bed and walk.” See, the point Luke was endeavoring to make was that Jesus had the power to forgive sins, which is a spiritual transaction. Forgiveness of sins is not something that can really be seen in the human realm. So Jesus heals a man with the word of His mouth, to prove that He also had the power to forgive sins by the word of His mouth. The healing was secondary, forgiveness is primary.
And so Luke having introduced that concept in the last passage, now takes that a step further. He is building a house, teaching us the concept of forgiveness, and grace and divine sovereignty, and now introducing some other concepts as well, such as discipleship, what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Not to just give lip service to Christ, but to actually become transformed, by the power of Christ. The outcome then is a new life, the old passes away and all things become new. And so the example that Luke gives us next helps to build that part of our house of doctrine as we grow in wisdom and maturity in Christ.
In this next example then we see an almost inconspicuous event that at first hardly seems worth a second look. But I think there are many things here that will be instructive. It says in verse 27 and 28 that “After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me." (28)And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.”
So first of all, notice that this seems to follow immediately the healing of the paralytic, right after Jesus had just stated that He had the authority to forgive sins. The principle of forgiveness was introduced there. Now, almost immediately afterwards, Jesus just seems to randomly pick someone off the street and walk up to him and tell him to follow Him. But I think there is much more to it than that.
It might help to understand as background the tax system that was employed in the Roman Empire and throughout it’s territories, such as in Israel. There would be an official known as a publican, who worked for the Roman government, who was responsible for the tax collection for a particular district. And this publican was given a goal of revenue that he had to collect for each district. To do that, he would employ tax collectors, who worked various areas of commerce and so forth in order to bring in the prescribed amount of money. And one area that was heavily taxed was customs. The tax or custom that was charged for transport and shipping in the Roman colony. Levi occupied such a position. Now this could be a very lucrative franchise. There was a standard fee that had been assessed by the publican and the Roman government regarding the tariff that was to be added to every dollar amount in merchandise, but the way the tax collector made money was he would charge above and beyond that amount and keep the difference. They really couldn’t argue with him, and he had the power of enforcement with the Roman government standing behind him. So it was really a form of highway robbery.
As a result of this system, the tax collectors got rich at the expense of people in their own community. They were considered traitors, turncoats working for the hated Romans, and working against their own neighbors and fellow citizens. In fact, in all of Israel, they were probably the most hated, detested people around. They were usually disowned by their families, and even barred from the synagogues. They were considered unredeemable. The only people that would hang around them were other tax collectors, and perhaps other thieves and low lifes in the community.
So as Jesus is preaching and teaching and living in the area of Capernaum, I’m sure this tax collector became aware of Him, and perhaps even heard him preach. Maybe he was there at his booth when Jesus pushed out from the beach in Peter’s boat and he listened to Jesus preach, and saw at the end of the message Peter and James and John leave their nets and follow Jesus. Maybe Jesus had his eye on Levi for a while now. But one thing is for sure. Jesus knew what was in his heart. I’m sure that Jesus knew that Levi might have been rich, but he was miserable. He had found that money didn’t solve all his problems. And he could tell that Levi was ready for salvation. The only problem was, the culture had made tax collectors such outcasts from society, that he probably didn’t think that the gospel message applied to him. After all, the Pharisees had barred him from the synagogues. In their eyes, he was to be hated, and not worthy of the benefit of God’s grace.
But Jesus wants to make a point about salvation, and He knows Levi illustrates that point exactly. So as poor old Levi is sitting over there in his tax booth, an outcast of society watching the parade of people following Jesus around, Jesus reads his heart, and He walks over to a startled Levi, and declares; "Follow Me."
Now, let me tell you something right there. Jesus offered no less than salvation, forgiveness of sins to Levi. There are three parallel gospel accounts of this event in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and all of them agree on what was said. It wasn’t some long drawn out invitation. Just two simple words conveyed enough because Jesus knew his heart. “Follow me.” And Levi understood it perfectly. He knew what that meant. What that entailed. It meant walking away from an immoral lifestyle, walking away from a deceitful business. And in one instant, Levi got up, left everything and followed Him. He knew he could not continue to be a cheat and follow Jesus. He knew he could not just come as you are and stay as you are. No, he left everything. Listen, the decision to follow Christ is not a trivial decision. We do a disservice to the gospel to try to lower the bar in an attempt to win people.
You want to know what it means to be a Christian folks? It means following Jesus. It’s not being baptized, it’s not turning over a new leaf, it’s not getting your act together, it’s not adding some religion to your life. Salvation, forgiveness of sins, is following Jesus, being obedient to what He has told us to do through His word and leaving behind everything else.
Jesus told the rich young ruler in Luke 18 who had kept all the laws, Jesus said, “sell all you have and come and follow Me.” But the young ruler went away sad because he had many possessions. We look at that today and say, well, that is just an exaggeration, Jesus is just making a point by exaggeration. Really? You think? How about Peter, James and John in Matt. 4:19, “And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. In other words, they left the biggest pile of fish they had ever seen on the beach, and their boats and their nets and followed Jesus. How about Matt. 8:21, “Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead." Wow, that’s pretty harsh, isn’t it? He must be exaggerating! Jesus really doesn’t call us to follow Him like that, does He?
How about John 1:43, which says, “The next day Jesus purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, "Follow Me." Starting to sound familiar now, doesn’t it? How about Matt. 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Oh, there were many people that followed Jesus when He was passing out loaves and fishes, but not many when He was passing out crosses. But Jesus says a true disciple of mine will take up his cross and follow Me, denying his self, that is denying his own natural inclinations, his natural will, his good old fashioned common sense, and follow Him, walking where He walks, talking like He talks, doing what He does.
Let me assure you folks, that isn’t easy. It’s not easy to follow the Lord. There is a cost involved. A cost of friendships, associations, financial security, money making opportunities, boyfriends, girlfriends, you name it, there is a cost in following Jesus. But like Paul said in Phil. 3:8 “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Listen, don’t fool yourself and know you certainly aren’t fooling God: if you’re not following Christ, then you aren’t really a disciple of Christ. We are never going to be perfect in this life, but that doesn’t exempt you from picking your cross back up after you stumble and keep on following Christ. Peter is a great example. He had good intentions. He boldly swung a sword at a Roman guard’s ear. He was loud mouthed and a big talker. But when Jesus was about to be crucified he lost his nerve late one night around the enemies campfire and denied he even knew Jesus. Did it three times. That was almost enough to destroy ol’ Peter. He might have been in such despair that he would have hung himself like Judas. But Jesus didn’t come to save perfect people. Jesus came to save sinners, and Peter was a sinner just like you and me. And so Jesus made a special point to connect with Peter after his resurrection and offer him a way back. He says to him twice, “Peter, follow Me!” And again, “ You follow Me!”
Listen, too many people want fellowship but not follow-ship. They want to join the club, but are not willing to pay the dues. They want the prize, but aren’t willing to pay the price. Jesus said in Luke 14 that to be His disciple you have to count the cost. "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
Well, Levi knew the cost. He didn’t even have to be told. He just left his booth sitting there, and the money in the drawer and walked away from a very valuable franchise, because he knew it was incompatible with following Jesus. But what He gained more than made up for a few baubles here on earth. He may have lost his business, but he gained an inheritance far beyond all comparison.
There is a second characteristic of a disciple of Jesus Christ, and Levi exemplifies that as well. By the way, Levi is none other than Matthew, who becomes one of Christ’s 12 apostles. And he was probably one of the wealthiest disciples of Christ. It’s certain that he was worth quite a bit more than the average fishermen. We get that insight from verse 29, “And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.” It stands to reason that having a lot of money he was able to invite a lot of people from his profession and that knew him to his house for a big reception. He more than likely had a big house to be able to accommodate a lot of people. But the main reason that Matthew has invited all these people was so that they could meet Jesus. He was willing to give up that money to win the lost.
And that’s the point that I think needs to be made. Some people like to take passages like this and extrapolate from them that somehow this gives us permission to go hang out in bars and nightclubs in order to reach the lost. Or some with less noble ambitions just think it gives us permission to drink ourselves into a stupor every evening. But I don’t find that drunkeness works in the greater context of scripture. Rather, I think that what Matthew is doing is indicative of what happens in any new believer’s life. There is such joy at being forgiven, such joy of discovery, that naively we assume that everyone wants to hear about it, or at least should hear about it. So another characteristic of a follower of Jesus Christ is that he wants to share the good news with all his old friends and acquaintances.
And I’ve found that it’s easier to do that in the beginning. One reason is that your friendships are still fresh. But what I have found is that in my walk with Christ, it’s not so much that I refuse to hang around with the old crowd, but that the old crowd eventually doesn’t want to hang around with me. They are going to be curious at first, and that’s a real good opportunity to introduce them to Jesus, but when they find that you no longer have an interest in amoral things, and all you want to do is talk about Jesus, most of those old acquaintances are going to start slipping away.
Peter, who found out what it cost to follow Christ, speaks in this way in 1Pet. 4:1, “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”
I don’t know about you, but I’ve found that I can be convicting without saying a word. Maybe it’s the nature of being a pastor, but I think it’s the case with anyone that is trying to walk after God. We are going to be convicting by just showing up. And conviction works either one or two ways; it’s either going to make them aggravated at you, even to the point of hating you, or it’s going to cause them to examine themselves and seek your advice on getting right with the Lord.
Well, in Matthew’s case, he invites all his old friends and introduces them to Jesus. Boy, that sounds like a party, doesn’t it? Want to really impress your friends? Try inviting them all over next weekend for a big dinner and tell them you have a special guest. But instead of trying to sell them Avon or some vitamins or some of those multi level marketing scams, try introducing the preacher and have him preach salvation to them. Guarantee you will only do it once!
But as Jesus is inside preaching to the tax collector’s society, the self righteous Pharisees and scribes are outside attacking the disciples. Vs 30, “The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?"
And that’s the third characteristic of becoming a true follower of Christ, is not everyone is going to be a fan. In fact, chances are the devil’s going to target you for attack. I’ve found in ministry that the worse attacks come not from outside the church, but from within. From the self righteous. From those that think that they aren’t sinners like everyone else, but somehow they have received a special dispensation from God, and they have all knowledge and wisdom and judgment.
And I’ve also found that when the devil wants to tear down a church, he starts his attacks on the flock. See, the Pharisees haven’t been able to get too far by confronting Jesus, so they try to undermine His credibility with His followers. We need to remember to be harmless as doves and wise as serpents when people start coming around or calling on us to try to disparage the pastor or another Christian.
Jesus recognized right away what was going on, and He addresses it in the next verse; Luke 5:31 “And Jesus answered and said to them, "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
Jesus is the master of illustration, isn’t He? I really don’t find much reason to use many illustrations outside of the Bible. I think the illustrations of Jesus can’t be improved upon. So Jesus explains the principle of forgiveness and salvation with an illustration of a sick person who needs a doctor.
I don’t know about you, but I hate to go to the doctor. Maybe it’s a man thing. Most of us men are big babies when it comes to needles and pain and we don’t like to have to admit we are hurting bad enough to see a doctor. I hate the dentist office. But I’ll tell you what, I had a nerve in a tooth go bad one time and it almost killed me. I waited around and then finally made an appointment to see a root canal specialist and the soonest they could see me was in three days. And by the time I got through those three days I thought I would actually die. I hadn’t slept and couldn’t eat and was in constant pain. I was as sick as I have ever been. And you know what, when I got really sick I really wanted to see the dentist. All my fears and dislike of the dentist’s office melted away. I wanted to go to the dentist more than anything.
And that is exactly what Jesus is illustrating to the Pharisees. Sick people know that they need a doctor and are ready and willing to see the doctor. But people that don’t think they are sick don’t want to see the doctor. Jesus came to save sick people.
Listen, I have to close. But last week I told you that the purpose of Jesus coming to earth was not just to be our example, or just to heal some people of physical diseases, or just to overcome some social injustice. Jesus came to earth, according to Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." He came to forgive sins so that man might be reconciled to God. That was His purpose. But for that sacrifice to be appropriated for you here today, you must first recognize that you are a sinner. That you are lost, an outcast from God, hopelessly sinful and desperately wicked. That all your righteousness is as filthy rags before Him. That as Romans 3:12 says, there is no one that does good, no not one.” Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
And if you’re here today, and you recognize that you are sick, that you are a sinner, and that you need a Physician, then I have some good news. The Bible says in Rom. 10:13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
Jesus came to seek and to save those that are lost, those that are sick of their sin, that are ready to repent of their sins and receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And repentance is the same for you that it was for Levi, leave it all behind and follow Jesus. Step by step, He will lead you through His word. But you have to be willing to follow Him. You can do that today.
There may be some here today that say that they don’t need a physician. They think they are good with God. They may be trusting in something they did years ago at an altar, or at an invitation in some church. They tried to have a relationship with God. They performed some religious act. But the truth is, they haven’t really been following Christ. They’ve claimed the benefits, but haven’t carried their cross. And right now the Holy Spirit is convicting you that you are following another God, no less than an idol of your own making. Maybe your god is your career, maybe it’s your boyfriend or girlfriend, or your friendships. Whatever it is, it has distracted you from following the Savior fully and completely like Levi did, willing to leave everything. Today is the day God is calling you to make things right with Him. To come before Him and ask for forgiveness and ask Him to restore to you a right spirit like David prayed for. To restore unto you the joy of your salvation. Wherever you are today, God stands ready to forgive for those that come in repentance.
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