As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. Mark 2:14.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Many people have decided they are too old to follow My call, that is, to do something amazing with Me as the assignment for their lives. They wanted to do great things for Me when they first believed but somehow their dreams never came to be and the years have flown by while they looked and waited for the right door to open and they were not even sure what that door was or would be. They just kept trying to deal with the circumstances that came against them or to them each day.
To address this, let Me ask you a question. Who do you consider to be the two most pivotal and outstanding men of the Old Testament? That answer is easy, Abraham and Moses, the men of the Everlasting Covenant, and you could include Noah for his finding grace with Me was extremely pivotal in the fact that you are here today. Now may I ask you another question, what were their ages when they answered My call to do their assignment in life? Abraham was 75 years old. Moses was 80 years old. Noah was 500 years old. And if you would like to consider one more, it is Joshua who succeeded Moses and led My people into and conquered the promised land. He was 80 years old when Moses died. Case closed. So take comfort. You are not too old to go and you really have no excuse not to. I took no excuses from Moses. I simply told him I would be with him, as I have also promised to be with you.
The conversation that we will consider today is a conversation of success. It is the call of Matthew to follow Jesus, who at the time of Jesus’ conversation with him, which was short and to the point, was a tax collector named Levi (Leah’s third son from Jacob was named Levi and many Israelites gave their sons this name, this name signified he was of the tribe of Levi), well established in his career and a wealthy man. He had a large home that held a crowd of his friends when he gave a banquet to celebrate his call to be a follower of Jesus. Luke 5:29.
Matthew was not a youth. He was an established and wealthy man. He was considered a sinner, and an intentional sinner, but I look at hearts. When Jesus called him to follow as a disciple, he did not respond that he was too old and was a sinner, ostracized from the temple and synagogue. He just got up and left his old life behind and followed.
To Levi, the call was not a sacrifice, it was a gift of Me, the LORD, to him that he appreciated beyond measure and never regretted. He loved his call so much that Levi changed his name to “Matthew.” And Jesus honored that. The name Matthew means “gift of the LORD” and comes from the Hebrew name Mattityahu (מַתִּתְיָהוּ). Mattityahu is a combination of the words matan and yah, which mean “gift” and “LORD (Yahavah).” In the gospels of Mark and Luke they name him as “Levi” when he was called, but Matthew calls himself “Matthew.” As far as he was concerned that was who he was. He saw his life and his call as a gift from Me that he cherished.
I have called you each by name. But how do you view your life? What would you call yourself if you had to define your relationship to Me? John called himself the beloved disciple. Matthew called his life a gift from Me. David called himself the sweet psalmist of Israel. Solomon called himself “Qohelet (קֹהֶלֶת)” which means the preacher or assembler of the sayings he wrote. It is also the title of the book you know as “Ecclesiastes.” Ecclesiastes is the Greek word for Qohelet.
The call of Matthew came immediately after Jesus had healed the paralytic they lowered through the roof of His home in Capernaum. This is significant because He had just proved to the Pharisees who had come to His home that besides doing miracles of healing, He was able to forgive sins.
He asked the Pharisees gathered before Him, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone.
When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. Mark 2:9-12; Matthew 9:8.
Jesus then went out from there towards the seashore which came up very close to His house; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. And as He passed by, He saw Matthew, then Levi, the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax collector’s booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. Mark 2:13-14; Matthew 9:9; Luke 5:27-28.
Matthew made a decision on the spot and never looked back. He was not like the rich young ruler who, as a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, considered himself a righteous man who had kept all the commandments from his youth and found it much too hard to give up all he had amassed from his prestigious position in the Sanhedrin.
Matthew knew he was a sinner but he also heard that Jesus forgave sins. He was there in Capernaum close by the home of Jesus, when Jesus came out of His house He passed by Matthew’s tax collector’s booth. So earlier in the day, Matthew had observed the friends of the paralytic man lifting him up to the roof on a pallet, and then he saw that same man come forth glorifying God and walking on his own. And with the crowd coming out of the house speaking of the authority of Jesus not only to heal but also to forgive sins, Matthew was moved in his heart with hope for his own salvation. And I see hearts.
And Jesus responded immediately. He called Matthew on the spot. Jesus was not unknown to Matthew. You remember Jesus and Mary had moved from Nazareth to Capernaum when the people of Nazareth tried to hurl Jesus over the cliff. And I tell you that the gathering with the Pharisees and the paralytic let down through the roof was at Jesus’ home. Mark 2:1.
And what did Matthew do when he answered the call of Jesus to be His disciple? He did not go away sad. He honored Jesus with a tremendous celebration. He celebrated his call with his friends at his home by giving a big reception for Jesus in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes, observing this celebration, began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” 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.” Luke 5:29-32.
But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD will not take into account.” Romans 4:5-8.
Seeing Jesus’ disciples eating and drinking, they had more questions, John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.” And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” Mark 2:33-35.
Everyday is now a day of celebration for you because Jesus has promised to be with you always until the end of the age and then you shall be caught up to be with Him forever in My glorious Kingdom which will encompass all in all.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:22-24.
He is with you and that is why you are not fasting but rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving constant thanks, your bridegroom is with you restoring all to you.
And Jesus took every opportunity He could to teach the people, for My people perish for lack of knowledge, so He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.’” Mark 2:36-39.
I love you. To hold the new wine you must all be born again as a new creation in Christ. The grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil. It is all there for you in Jesus. Matthew understood and celebrated and he still is!
So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the LORD your God; for He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before. The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. Joel 2:23-24.