Luke 5:27-32 "The Call of Tax Collectors & Sinners"

Let’s Pray!

Good Morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

If you plan to watch the Super Bowl next Sunday… and would like a wholesome alternative to the terrible half-time show NFL has planned…

Turning Point USA announced “The American Halftime Show” celebrating Faith, Family, and Freedom…

Which are some great themes… The NFL halftime show is celebrating Sin, Perversion, and Lies.

They’re not marketing it that way… but they decided to choose a performer with staunchly unbiblical views… which the Bible states are an “abomination to the LORD your God.”

So… thankfully there is an alternative and you can tune in to… by going to americanhalftimeshow.com.

Well, let’s open our Bibles now to Luke. Luke 5:27-32 today.

We left off where Jesus has returned to Capernaum after teaching, preaching, and healing in various cities of Galilee.

Demonstrating His divine authority… and power… even to forgive sins.

Last time we saw Jesus heal a man full of leprosy and a paralyzed man.

I was thinking with the paralyzed man how disappointed his friends must have been.

Jesus initially said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

The friends had to be thinking… “Wait… that’s not what we ordered! We want his legs and body to work… what’s this ‘your sins are forgiven’ business?”

But, Jesus took care of his most dire eternal need first. Even if Jesus never healed the paralysis… and the man died… eternally… because of his faith… he would be in heaven.

So Jesus was going all around Galilee performing these miracles… and teaching about the Kingdom of God…

Since Luke 4:14 Jesus was on this ministry tour in Galilee… which has been called Jesus’ “Great Galilean Ministry”…

A ministry that will stretch into Jesus third year of ministry.

And today, with the conclusion of Luke 5… we come to the end of Jesus first year of ministry… which was Jesus’ “Year of Preparation.”

Beginning in Luke 6 Jesus’ second year of ministry begins… which has been called the “Year of Popularity.”

Picking up in V27 today… another of Jesus’ Twelve Disciples is called… Levi or Matthew the Tax Collector.

Which will add to the fishermen who were called at the beginning of Luke 5… who will be named amongst Twelve Apostles… as we’ll read soon ahead in Luke 6.

But closing out Luke 5… Luke takes us quickly from scene to scene… addressing a variety of topics…

But with an under current of scribes and Pharisees… complaining against and questioning Jesus as He connects with and calls sinners to repentance.

In a message titled, “The Call of Tax Collectors & Sinners.”

And, in reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Luke 5:27–32 “After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. 29 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. 30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Again, our scene today is back in Capernaum… the city that would become Jesus’ headquarters… on the Northside of the Sea of Galilee.

V27 begins “After these things He went out…”

“These things” likely refers to the ministry of Jesus… healing the paralyzed man and…

… because of his personal faith… Jesus forgave his sins.

And it had to be his faith in V20, not just the faith of his friends, because each of us must come personally to Jesus in faith for our sins to be forgiven.

Mark 2 tells us another detail of what “After these things” may refer to… in Mark 2:13 we are told that Jesus went out again by the sea… and the multitudes came to Him… and He taught them.

Jesus gave so much of Himself to ministering and teaching… from one scene to the next.

And the majority of people took and took… eventually taking His very life.

Which He came to give… for the sin of mankind.

But there were those… a minority… a remnant of faithful believers whom Jesus would call to be His disciples.

And we see one of the most unlikely callings in this account today.

As Jesus makes the short walk from the shore back into the town of Capernaum…

Jesus sees one… a Jew who was living about as far from God as one could possibly be.

He was a tax collector. And Jewish tax collectors… were considered traitors to Israel.

Tax collectors were given a quota by Rome on how much to collect in taxes… and they could get wealthy by over taxing and keeping the surplus… which they did…

… just consider the Chief Tax Collector Zacchaeus (Luke 19)… who committed to restore fourfold anyone he defrauded… which was probably a long list.

Rome permitted tax collectors to tax people how they saw fit… even inequitably. Jewish writings described tax collectors as those who “flatter one person while mistreating another.”

They could be inconsistent with what and how much they taxed.

And they could tax almost anything… produce… goods from artisans and tradesmen… there was a poll tax or “head tax” for living in the Roman world… port duties… sales tax… auction sales tax… estate duties… land tax… inheritance tax… postage tax…

And you’re thinking… sounds a bit like the United States.

My Pastor taught that many of our current taxes were influenced by this Roman system of taxation.

But… it was far worse in Israel under Roman rule… especially if you had a corrupt tax collector in your town.

So, for being in league with pagan Rome (unclean Gentiles)… for loving and serving money over God… and for cheating fellow Jews…

Tax Collectors were considered traitors… idolaters…thieves… robbers… untrustworthy… and extortioners… a lowest kind of sinner.

Years later in various Jewish writings like the Talmud and Midrash…

Tax Collectors were describes as worshippers of Molech… and Lev 20:5 wrote that a worshipper of Molech would be cut off from his people… him and his family.

And they were disqualified as serving as witnesses in court proceedings and taking oaths… as quoted in Jewish writings… “because we assume they take more than they are entitled by the law of the land.”

Tax Collectors were not permitted into the Temple… they were forbidden from sacrifice… they were cut off from synagogue… excommunicated as apostates. Essentially, by their standards they were apart from God.

In the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector- Luke 18:10-13 reads “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’”

That tax collector was far away from the Temple and full of shame for his sin.

Of course Jesus condemned the Pharisee for his pride… and praised the humble heart of the tax collector… stating he was justified… or ‘declared righteous’ in God’s eyes.

God sees the heart… and in V27 Luke records that Jesus “saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.”

He didn’t just see a tax collector… He saw Levi.

And he didn’t just glance at him… saw means “to behold or look upon”… Jesus was observing or focusing on Levi.

Seeing his hurt… his sin… his potential.

Levi is also known as Matthew… he becomes the Apostle and the writer of the Gospel of Matthew.

He was a Jew… very educated… and well versed in scripture.

He wrote his Gospel to the Jews… and in a very Jewish writing style… common to Jewish teaching methods… and similar to Psalms and Proverbs.

His command of OT scripture and fulfilled prophecy was strong.

He quotes the OT 96x… (2nd most in the NT books).

He writes “Fulfilled” 17x (more than any other Gospel writer).

And this is his story… where on this day Jesus saw him… and his life would never be the same.

Many of us can remember the day Jesus saw us. We were living our lives… sitting at our “tax booth”… going about life (some of us better than others)…

But… there was an encounter… many and diverse stories of how we first encountered Jesus…

And He saw us for who we were… His beloved creation… though fallen… and in need of a Savior.

And praise God that our eyes saw… and ears heard… and heart perceived… Jesus as Savior.

Interesting that here in V27… Luke would identify Levi by his position as tax collector… when in our previous two accounts… Luke was the only Gospel writer to identify the sick…

… NOT as a Leper or a Paralytic (as the other Gospel writers did)… but as “a man full of leprosy”… and “a man who was paralyzed.”

Perhaps that was the Dr. in Luke being sympathetic to the human under the condition that plagued them.

But Luke did not extend that same gentleness to Levi… he simply calls him a “tax collector.”

In the parallel account in Matthew’s Gospel… Matthew alone writes in Matt 9:9 that Jesus “saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.”

Perhaps Matthew personalized this encounter… and understandably… So many people… did not see a man, but saw a tax collector… which was synonymous to sinner and traitor in their eyes.

And Matthew was these things… but Jesus still “saw a man”… a man plagued with poor choices… rebellion… and sin… but a man none-the-less.

One whom He came to die for.

We have to be very careful with how we consider and how we treat other people. Do we see a sinful label… or do we see a person?

I mean what if a sinner wanted to attend church here?

Oh wait… that already happens… each of us… including me… need only look in the mirror to see a sinner saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

One day a tax collector may walk through these doors… and I’m not talking about the IRS… I’m speaking figuratively.

And when that tax collector does… how important for us to see a man… or a woman… and not just a label.

Because behind the label is a story… and the story of Matthew becoming a Matthew may be hinted at in his name.

He was born with the name “Levi.”

But his name is changed to Matthew.

We don’t know if his name was changed to ‘Matthew’ by Jesus, but several people in the Bible had their names changed to better represent how God saw them:

Abram to Abraham. Sarai to Sarah. Jacob to Israel. Simon to Peter. Saul to Paul.

In Rev 2… overcomers (believers) are promised a new name. Jesus declares, “I will write on him My new name.” (Rev 3:12)

What will God name you? What will he name me?

I’m hoping not for Esau… I don’t want to be known as “hairy”… though, given the beard… that may be appropriate.

Maybe Azariah… it means “Helped of the LORD”… and God has helped me over and again.

My guardian angel is probably nodding right now thinking, “You have no idea bub. You should see your file.”

Levi’s new name… Matthew means “gift of Jehovah” or “gift of God.”

How meaningful must this have been to Levi the hated tax collector… to now be known as Matthew the “gift of God.”

And what of his original name? Based on some trends in Matthew’s Gospel… I wonder… I have a theory about his story… that led him to be a tax collector.

It’s just a theory… but his birth name is “Levi”… he has a great grasp on scripture… as mentioned he quotes the OT 96x… and documents more fulfilled prophecy than any other Gospel writer…

Was Levi raised in a priestly home… was Levi of the tribe of Levites?

If so, why would he rebel and work for Rome as a tax collector… becoming the polar opposite of a priest?

I seriously doubt when Levi was a boy… that he dreamed about being a tax collector when he grew up.

I doubt he played a childhood game… where he had a little pencil and scroll and exacted fake taxes on his friends.

He would have observed how tax collectors were despised in Israel.

Many people don’t like the IRS… but we don’t ban IRS workers from church… Israel cut them off completely.

So what drove him to this place? And away from his people and his God?

Today… what often drives people away from church is hypocrisy. And boy does the media love to point out when a Pastor falls into sin… they love exposing hypocrisy.

In the NT… the term “hypocrite, hypocrites, or hypocrisy” appears 23x.

And which book do we read it the most? The Gospel of Matthew… 13x!

More than any book Old or New Testament…

More than all of the rest of the New Testament writings combined…

And, the same amount as the entirety of the OT…

I believe hypocrisy is what drove Matthew away from God.

The Gk word for hypocrite is hupŏkritēs and by def. it means “an actor.”

They were the stage players who wore different faces in different scenes.

In essence, a real hypocrite was a “moral or religious counterfeit.”

And we know hypocrisy was prevalent… Just read Matthew 23… 7x Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites.

For a variety of reasons… for pridefully seeking the praise of men in giving, in praying, in fasting…

For turning the temple into a den of thieves… and commercializing the sacrificial system…

If Matthew witnessed such hypocrisy growing up… especially if his was a priestly home… they may have been what drove him away from God.

While I don’t agree with turning from God because of the sin of man… many do.

Many people today say, “If that’s Christianity, then I want nothing to do with it.”

Was that Matthew’s heart posture? Did hypocrisy drive him to become a tax collector?

But Jesus sees the man. Jesus hated the hypocrisy as well… and maybe that… in part… is what he saw in Matthew.

He saw a man who desperately desired authenticity.

His life was on the wrong path as a tax collector, but this was NOT who HE WAS.

He was not hopeless. He just had never encountered the ONE who embodied HOPE… Jesus Christ.

And once Levi experienced that which had alluded… once he experienced the opposite of the hypocrisy he witnessed… what a mighty disciple he would become.

Jesus saw his potential. That’s what I believe anyway.

For sure… Jesus saw something in Matthew… that no one else did… and called him saying, “Follow Me.”

And powerfully we read Levi’s response in V28… “So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.”

Now… I don’t know about you, but I want more details than that!

What’s the back story?… I seriously doubt that Matthew had no idea who Jesus was and just followed Him.

Did Matthew hear of… or witness Jesus healing the paralyzed man?… that happened right here in Capernaum… he couldn’t have missed that.

Did Matthew reason… If Jesus could forgive his sins… maybe He can forgive mine too!?

Were there other moments or influences for Matthew choose to follow Jesus? We don’t know.

With the fishermen… Jesus’ calling upon them was progressive… and over the course of a year… we at least three moments documented in scripture of Jesus calling them… which we discussed in the Luke 5:1-11 message.

So… with just two words… “Follow Me.”

Matthew leaves his lucrative career… he leaves his tax office… which was situated in a strategic town…

Capernaum made for easy money… it was situated along a major highway (the Via Mares)… a major trade route.

It was a border town between two regions… Galilee and Iturea.

And there was a lakeside port… a major fishing hub… and the fishermen had to pay taxes for licenses, catch taxes, and transport tolls.

He surely taxed… and likely ripped off Peter, Andrew, James and John.

If they were there… they probably winced hearing the words to Levi, “Follow Me.”

It was probably perceived in slow motion… and internally their minds were screaming, “NO Jesus… not him!”

But soon they would be walking together with Jesus… that could be a whole other sermon on “forgiveness”… and how God brings former enemies together…

Like Simon the Zealot, a dagger man, and Matthew.

Formerly Matthew would have been a target for Simon’s dagger.

And just look around the room at the unlikely friendship made even in this church today…

Unlikely, but realized because of our connection to Jesus.

And I’m glad Jesus sees us… and gives us a second chance… just as He did for this tax collector.

And for Matthew… he is beginning that journey to be connected to Jesus.

And it would come at a cost.

But, despite the money… Matthew… who was good with money… counted the cost and saw far more to gain by following Jesus… then remaining in the tax office of Rome.

All of us need to count the cost at some point… and decide who we will live for… Jesus or Rome?

Jesus or Career? Jesus or pleasure and ease.

It’s not that life in Christ means an end to blessing or prosperity…

But… what are you living for? What has your heart.

Paul did not say “Money is the root of all evil.”

He said… 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

It’s when money becomes an idol… something you love more than God… which can happen to rich or poor alike.

What we’re seeing here with Matthew… is the moment he tear down his idol.

In the OT… when a new and good king ruled over Judah… he would send his servants to the pagan worship centers that were called “high places”…

And they would tear down the high places.

As Matthew tears down his high place… he is not losing a career… he’s losing an idol that held him in bondage.

If you’ve even rid yourself of an obsessive behavior… of a sinful and idolatrous love for something…

You know how difficult it was to decide to stop… and then how freeing it was after to not be held in bondage anymore.

When Jesus tells Matthew, “Follow Me”… Yes… it’s to be Jesus’ disciple.

And He offers freedom from the bondage of sinful idolatry.

He offers restoration of reputation lost by serving Rome and serving money… and ripping off your kinsmen.

He offers Matthew something money cannot buy… life now… and life eternally… which comes by faith alone in Jesus Christ.

Jesus spoke two words to Matthew… “Follow Me.” How many words… or what did it take for you to commit yourself to being Jesus’ disciple?

It was a longer process for me for sure.

Matthew didn’t need an extensive speech… he just needed to believe in something real… something without hypocrisy.

Jesus was unlike anything he witnessed in religious Israel.

If you haven’t committed yourself to follow Jesus… what would it take for you?

That’s something for you to take a walk with this week… and talk to God about.

Matthew stands and follows Jesus to become His disciple.

Barclay wrote, “He left his tax-collector’s table; but took from it one thing – his pen…this man, whose trade had taught him to use a pen, used that skill to compose the first handbook of the teaching of Jesus.”

How appropriate is it that God would use a lost priest to write to a lost nation… Israel?

And, if Jesus can extend grace to Matthew the tax collector… and transform a traitor and lover of money… what can He do with our lives… and our hearts?

In Ezek 11, God spoke about Israel’s physical return to the land followed by spiritual renewal.

God said in Ezk 11:19-20 “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”

That’s exactly what He did for Matthew… Jesus changed his hard heart and brought him back into relationship with God.

And, Jesus Christ is in the same business of heart change and reconciliation today… if you’ll let Him.

Rome would quickly replace Matthew… that career… that ship would sail…

But forsaking Rome’s tax office to follow Jesus… was not a foolish decision.

Choosing Jesus and eternity is not a foolish decision.

The earthly minded man would disagree. A person only living for the world does not understand forsaking all to follow Him.

In Luke 14… Jesus taught several hard lessons on what following Him means…

It means we cannot love anyone more than Jesus… not family… not even oneself.

Jesus said in Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

Your love for Christ must outshine every other relationship.

Of course we don’t actually have to hate our family… but in comparison to our love for Christ… those other relationships should be like hatred.

Jesus said in Luke 14:27 “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

Bearing your cross is not a fashion statement. It doesn’t mean to wear a cross necklace.

The Cross was a death sentence… it’s what Jesus carried publically through the streets of Jerusalem.

Can we do that… and die to self? In love of God and others?

Jesus said in Luke 14:33 “… whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

This is what Matthew did in our scene today.

One scholar wrote, “He left behind the source of his riches; he left his position of security and comfort for traveling, hardship, and eventual martyrdom; he left his old life for a new life with Jesus.”

Follow Jesus requires hard sacrifice, but it is not foolish.

American Missionary Jim Elliott was martyred at age 28 in Ecuador, South America…

And he journaled this before he died, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that what he cannot lose.”

Age 28… eternal perspective… died follow Jesus.

Took up his cross… loved Jesus more than life.

And for Matthew… life was about to begin.

With all his wealth… he did not have life… for money is a cruel master… and leads to bondage and problems… especially when ill-gotten gained… like how tax collectors acquired.

He did not have life… he was in bondage to money… he was hated by his people… and was estranged from God.

So… for him… to get a direct invite from the One who could cleanse the leper and heal the paralytic… AND forgive sins!?

He said, Yes… all day long.

And I love what happens next… He doesn’t keep this to himself… I imagined he was so overjoyed that… Matthew threw a big party!

Because joy and celebration is the appropriate response to being freed from bondage and following Jesus.

Look again at V29 “Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.”

Already Matthew has an evangelistic heart. He’s not just celebrating with Jesus and the disciples.

He invites many… a “great number of tax collectors and sinners.”

Mark 2:15 states, “… many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.”

There were “Help Wanted” signs for Tax Collectors going up all over Israel

Let’s Pray!

Our communion passage is…

1 Cor 11:23-31 “...the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.”

Please distribute the elements...

Communion is a time for us to look three directions…

We look back remembering Jesus’ sacrifice… His broken body and shed blood for the remission of our sins.

His new covenant. Salvation by faith through grace.

Look forward in hope of His imminent return… we proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. He is coming.

This is also a time to look inward for a moment of self-examination…

To reflect on our treatment of other Christians… have we been loving… and unselfish… (per the context of Paul’s passage)?

Reflect and also confess to God any unconfessed sin.

Examine yourself… in order to partake in a worthy manner.

But, the reality is… none of us are worthy… so Praise Jesus… because only in Him have we been made worthy.

Once you have prayed… take the communion elements individually.

Our worship team will play one worship song, and then close us in prayer.

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If you have never accepted Jesus as Lord...

...either let the cup pass and do not partake in communion -or- the better option...

Pray and trust Jesus as your Savior today.

Believe that His death was the sufficient sacrifice for your sins.

… and then take communion.

Our prayer team will be available to pray with anyone who needs prayer as we close.

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