An Unexpected Encounter (Luke 5:27-32)

Wayne Anderson

Walk through the Word 2023 • Sermon • Submitted 7 months ago • Presented 7 months ago

Matthew 5

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Introduction

Jesus starts His Ministry (3 events)

Baptism

Temptation

Proclamation

Mark 1:14–15 (ESV)

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus calls his first followers.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

Philip and Nathaniel

Here in our text: Levi (Matthew)

The calling of Levi caused a lot of controversy with the Pharisees, but also an incredible message about the Message and Ministry of Jesus, and the extent of the call of Christ.

The Encounter (27)

Levi (27a)

Luke 5:27 (ESV)

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”

Levi

Matthew/Levi

Matthew 9:9 (ESV)

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

Tax Collector

“tax collectors were some of the most hated people in Israel, due to the nature of their work and their association with the Roman government and were associated with sinners throughout Luke’s Gospel (e.g., Luke 5:30; 7:34; 15:1; 19:1–7). Jews in the first century despised tax collectors...Tax collectors generally obtained their posts from Roman authorities through a bidding system. They often made sizeable profits by levying higher taxes than Rome required. Consequently, Jews regarded Jewish tax collectors as traitors and as members of the lowest level of society. The mention of tax collectors alongside non-Jewish people reflects not only their poor reputation, but also the scope of Jesus’ ministry to redeem all of humanity, including the outcasts of society.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

Jesus associating with tax collectors and calling Levi to follow Him was a statement about his mission and message. Jesus came to call all to follow him not just the religious elite or the highly qualified.

Pharisees were very selective with the disciples they would pick to follow them. Pharisees would show their importance and religious standard through the disciples they picked.

Jesus calling Levi to be a disciple of His, was not something done by any other religious leader. They avoided Tax collectors and sinners, not sought them out.

We do not need to meet a religious standard before we can follow Jesus, He came to call all people to follow Him.

John 12:32 (ESV)

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus’ Call (27b)

Luke 5:27 (ESV)

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”

“Follow me.”

Same invitation given to Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

“to follow someone as a disciple, be a disciple, follow” (Arndt, William et al. A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature 2000: 36. Print.)

Rabbi/Disciple relationship.

Luke 6:40 (ESV)

40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

The goal of a disciple is to be like their teacher. A disciple would learn from listening to the teacher, watching the life of the teacher, and obeying the teacher. We are disciples of Jesus with the same goal, to be like Him.

The Celebration (28-29)

Immediate response (28)

Luke 5:28 (ESV)

28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

He physically left the Tax Collection booth and followed Jesus. He was also saying, “yes” to the invitation of Discipleship.

“The fishermen who became disciples were middle-class businessmen. If this new venture ended in failure they could always go back to fishing. Levi/Matthew was a wealthy tax collector, and you couldn’t give up tax collecting for the Romans on a whim and expect to ever return. He cut his ties. He gave up his wealth and privilege and position and did so gladly to follow Jesus.” (Larson, Bruce, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. Luke. Vol. 26. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1983. Print. The Preacher’s Commentary Series.)

There are many who have to sacrifice a lot to follow Jesus, Levi is one of them.

He is hated by the Jews because of His position. He is now rejected by the Romans for abandoning his post. Now, he only has Jesus and the rest of the disciples.

Might I add that in the group of disciples is Judas the Zealot (Zealots were people strongly opposing the Roman rule in Israel)

Celebratory Banquet (29)

Luke 5:29 (ESV)

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.

There is great joy/celebration when a person becomes a follower of Jesus.

Angels

Luke 15:8–10 (ESV)

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Those following

There are many accounts in the Gospels of great joy/celebration after people encountered Jesus.

There are 2 stories in Luke that say there was great celebration through feasting. (Levi and Zacchaeus, both are tax collectors)

Celebration with a purpose

Luke 5:29 (NET 2nd ed.)

29 Then Levi gave a great banquet in his house for Jesus, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them.

“For Jesus” - Jesus was the Honored Guest to sit at the head of the table in highest honor. Levi was setting up this banquet to honor Jesus for calling Him and introduce others to Him.

“a large crowd of tax collectors and others” - Levi introduced his friends and close associated to Jesus. Be cause he was a tax collector, he hung out with other tax collectors.

“This looks like a deliberate attempt by Levi to introduce Jesus and his circle to a particular sector of society, with Jesus as the guest of honor. This is the first of several scenes in Luke’s Gospel set at meals.” (France, R. T. Luke. Ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

When we think about our joy of following Jesus, Who do we want to share that with?

The Clarification (30-39)

The bitterness of the Pharisee (5:30): The Pharisees fault Jesus for association with such sinners.

Luke 5:30 (ESV)

30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

“Maintaining ritual purity was a central concern of the Pharisees. To enter a tax collector’s house was perhaps a formal breach of purity, and certainly no respectable religious teacher would mix socially with such people (note the addition of “and sinners” to underline the point). Sharing a meal was an important mark of social identification.” (France, R. T. Luke. Ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

This event happened at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and the Pharisees are still trying to understand Jesus. What they are seeing Jesus doing here is not a normal practice of religious teachers.

This event and Jesus’ healing on the sabbath will start the conflict between Him and the religious leaders. Eventually, the religious leaders will hate and decide to kill Jesus when He declares who He is (God).

Jesus knows that they will not approve of His interacting and discipling tax collectors. However, He is wanting all, even the Pharisees, to know that God loves and will forgive all who come to Him.

There is no one outside the reach of God’s love, mercy, or grace.

It does not matter who we are, where we were raised, what nationality we are, or what we have done, Jesus is calling all to repent and be forgiven.

Ephesians 2:13–22 (ESV)

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The basis of His Mission (5:31–32): Jesus explains these are the very people he has come to save!

Luke 5:31–32 (ESV)

31 And Jesus answered 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.”

Jesus uses the illustration of the sick with a physician as an understanding of His mission.

Jesus did not come with the mission of calling the righteous home, but the sinners to repent.

Jesus’ first coming is about providing and calling people to repent and believe.

Luke 19:9–10 (ESV)

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Today is the day of Salvation. Today, the gospel invitation is given. Salvation can be found in Jesus Christ.

Jesus second coming is for the calling of the righteous and judgment of the wicked.

Hebrews 9:27–28 (ESV)

27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

The Basis of Jesus’ mission is to seek and save the lost.

Jesus reached out to all, because we are all in sin and in need of a savior. The Pharisees saw themselves as righteous because they fulfill some religious services. (They read the torah, pray, Fast, fulfill Sabbath requirements, and avoid contact with Sinners)

“He scandalized the Pharisees by indicating there are no good and bad people—only those who know they’re bad and those who don’t. To sin is man’s condition. To pretend that he is not a sinner is man’s sin.” (Larson, Bruce, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. Luke. Vol. 26. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1983. Print. The Preacher’s Commentary Series.)

We need to see our need of a Savior.

The Gospel is the Good News of God providing forgiveness of our sins through His Son Jesus Christ. Part of the gospel is a realization of our Sin and the humbling of ourselves before God. Those who think they are righteous (Pharisees) will not come to Jesus for lack of their perceived need of Him.

It is like an addict realizing their addiction, understanding their need for help, and humbling themselves and asking for help from one who can help. If we think we are OK the way we are, we will not ask for help. Listen to Jesus parable in Luke 18:9-14.

Luke 18:9–14 (ESV)

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Lessons from Luke

Jesus associated with the outcast in contrast to the religious leaders of His day. He did this to show that the Gospel message is for all who would come to Him.

Jesus came to provide for and call all to believe in Him for forgiveness and eternal life.

If you have any hesitancy in coming to Christ because a perceived weakness or limitation (I did…, I am not religious enough…, I am not…), please don’t. Jesus is the gracious, merciful, all sufficient Savior, we need.

Levi was excited about following Jesus and could not wait to tell his friends. Who do we want to tell about the joy we have as a follower of Jesus?

Often when a person first believes in Jesus they are very excited about their new life in Christ and want to tell others.

Even if we have been a follower for a while can have the excitement of being followers of Jesus and desire to tell others.

Jesus came to be the divine Physician we all need.

“The pronouncement in 5:31–32 is the climax of the call of Levi and should be the central point of a message on 5:27–32. Jesus did not come to call those who consider themselves righteous (that is, the self-righteous), but rather those who recognize their need of him. Invite your listeners first of all to recognize that all of us should fit into the latter category. We all must come to God as sinners, desperately in need of the Divine Physician’s healing touch. We are saved by his grace alone, apart from anything we have done to earn that salvation (Eph. 2:8–9).” (France, R. T. Luke. Ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

Benediction

Jude 24–25 (NET 2nd ed.)

24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish before his glorious presence, 25 to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.

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