The Call That Changes Everything:
Reflections on Jesus and Levi
My Reflection of Mark 2:13-17
In the bustling streets of Capernaum, amid the disdainful glances and whispered judgments, sat a man who had chosen wealth over reputation, comfort over community. Levi, the tax collector, perched at his booth – a physical symbol of collaboration with Rome and betrayal of his own people. Each coin that passed through his hands seemed to drive the wedge deeper between himself and his community.
But then came the moment that would reshape history – not just for Levi, but for countless souls who would read his story across millennia. Jesus, walking by the sea, saw him. Really saw him. Not as the despised tax collector, not as a traitor, not as the sum of his mistakes – but as a person created in God's image, worthy of divine love and capable of transformation.
The words were simple: "Follow me." Two words that contained within them an entire universe of grace, forgiveness, and new beginnings. No conditions. No demands to first prove his worth. No requirement to make amends before being worthy of the call. Just an invitation to leave behind an old life and step into a new one.
What's particularly striking is that Jesus called Levi in his workplace – right in the middle of his compromised life. He didn't wait for Levi to clean up his act first or find his way to the synagogue. The Lord met him exactly where he was, in the midst of his broken choices and social isolation. This reveals a profound truth about divine love: it doesn't wait for us to become perfect. It meets us in our imperfection and invites us into transformation.
Levi's response was immediate and absolute. He "got up, left everything and followed him." The Greek text suggests a decisive action – no hesitation, no looking back. The very hands that had counted Roman coins would later pen the Gospel of Matthew, transforming from an instrument of oppression to a vessel of grace.
But the story doesn't end there. Levi immediately throws a great banquet for Jesus, inviting his fellow tax collectors and others regarded as "sinners" by society. This reveals another beautiful truth: when we encounter Jesus's unconditional love, our natural response is to want to share it with others, particularly with those who, like us, feel unworthy and excluded.
Jesus's response to the criticism of religious leaders who questioned his choice of dinner companions remains one of the most powerful statements in scripture: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." In these words, we see the heart of the gospel – that Jesus came precisely for those who know they need him.
This story speaks powerfully to us today. Perhaps we sit in our own tax collector's booth – trapped in patterns of behavior we know fall short, feeling unworthy of love or redemption. Maybe we've defined ourselves by our failures, our addictions, our compromises, or our past mistakes. Or perhaps we're simply going through the motions of life, feeling spiritually empty and disconnected.
To each of us, Jesus comes. He sees beyond our labels, beyond our shame, beyond our self-imposed limitations. He sees what we could become through his grace. And he offers the same invitation he gave to Levi: "Follow me."
The call might come in unexpected places – in our workplace, in our struggles, in our doubts, or even in our failures. It might come when we feel least worthy or least prepared. But that's the mystery and beauty of divine love – it meets us exactly where we are, while lovingly inviting us to become who we were created to be.
Like Levi, we're invited to respond with decisive action, to leave behind whatever holds us back, and to step into a new story. We're invited to open our lives to others who need to experience this same transformative love. This is the ongoing miracle of faith – that the God who called a despised tax collector continues to call each of us, making something beautiful out of our broken places.
©2025 James Dacey Jr.
©2025 James Dacey Jr.
