Mark 2:13-14 13He went out again beside the lake, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And after rising he followed him.
Jesus spent a significant part of his ministry around the Sea of Galilee. Everywhere he went, people followed. The curious question that undergirds much of the story in Mark’s Gospels is why the crowds followed Jesus. The unstated question as the story continues is, “What is your response to Jesus?” Many of his twelve closest disciples later called apostles lived around the area of the lake. The scene begins with a large crowd, but the focus of Jesus’ attention is one person.
The next story introduces another disciple named Levi. This is the only time the name Levi is mentioned in Mark. His name is not included in Mark’s list of the twelve apostles in 3:13-19 but rather Matthew. The obvious conclusion is that Levi was also named Matthew and went by this name as one of the disciples. He was a tax collector, likely the agent at a toll booth. He probably heard all the latest news and gossip and probably had heard about Jesus of Nazareth. Something stirred in his heart about this miracle worker and preacher. Tax collectors have never been liked. Levi may have been employed by the Romans, making him a collaborator with the occupying force. As the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 suggests, they took money from people who did not have much money to begin with. Tax collectors and sinners were often grouped together because people avoided both.
Jesus’ invitation to Levi was simple and echoed the one given to Jame, John, Simon, and Andrew. It is the key invitation to discipleship. Many people were following Jesus, but how many were disciples? Disciples are those who follow a teacher and imitate him or her. Jesus had a growing group of disciples, but how many were serious in becoming like Jesus? The spark in Levi’s life became a flame that moved him from his comfortable tax booth, likely with a good income and luxuries most people did not have, to becoming one of Jesus’ closest followers. Grace does not wait until we are ready. God comes to us and moves us to where we should be.
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