It’s hard for us to imagine how much the Ancient Jews despised tax collectors. It was bad enough to have a bunch of pagans like the Romans taking over and telling them what to do. It was worse to have to pay taxes to support the Roman soldiers who all too often oppressed them. But many of those who collected the taxes, like Levi in 5:27, were Jews themselves, cooperating with the Romans to make all of their lives miserable.

But the way the tax collectors got paid – that was the worst of all. They were not government employees, but contractors, and they agreed to submit a certain amount of revenue from their jurisdiction. Everything they collected over and above this amount they got to keep for themselves. So, it was in their personal financial interest to wring every last drop from their neighbors – and that’s exactly what most of them did. In short, they were not only sellouts, but cheats to boot.

So, when Jesus called Levi to follow Him in 5:27, it was as shocking as it was scandalous. No wonder the Pharisees grumbled in 5:30 – what kind of rabbi would hang out with the worst of sinners? They had always been taught that the way for anyone to be holy, to be in a right relationship with God was to avoid such lowlifes.

And that sort of thinking is all too common in the Church today. As our culture fragments, Church folks are increasingly uncomfortable with the family structures and fashions and even the language of unbelievers. As a result, all too many of us act like the Pharisees, staying in our holy huddles, fearing and even hating the outside world.

But Jesus rebukes all of us in 5:32. The very reason He came to this earth, the very reason He died on the cross was not for those who think they are righteous, but for those who know they are sinners. And no one, not even a cheating sell-out, is beyond His reach.

But that doesn’t mean everyone can just go on living like they choose. After all, in 5:32 Jesus said He had come to call sinners to repentance. To repent means to change the whole direction of our lives, to turn away from ourselves and to turn to God. And for a tax-collector, John the Baptist made it clear what that involved. In 3:13 he said it was okay for them to collect taxes for the Romans if they wanted to, but they would have to give up any and all profits they might have made. If they could only collect what was actually owed to the government, they would have to work for free, serving the oppressive Roman government without compensation. To be truly righteous, they would have to impoverish themselves.

In other words, they would have to do what Jesus came to do – to live a life of selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love for those who are the least deserving. And this is what it means for anyone to follow Him, as Levi did in 5:28 – we must leave all our desires behind, devoting ourselves instead to His glory and the good of others. Will we follow Him today?

Luke 3:12-13 (NAS)

12 And some tax-gatherers also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”

Luke 5:27-32 (NAS)

27 And after that He went out, and noticed a tax-gatherer named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”
28 And he left everything behind, and rose and began to follow Him.
29 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax-gatherers and other people who were reclining at the table with them.
30 And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax-gatherers and sinners?”
31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”