After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. Luke 5:27-28
Any rabbi who builds a reputation for godliness or learned discourse naturally acquires followers. When word reaches these bright, ambitious young men, they start making plans. They’ll need an introduction and references and travel money to get to the great man’s door. Once there, they’ll need a polished argument on some controversial topic to convince him of their worth. They plan on four or five years of study at his feet, and then with his blessing they can join some famous rabbinical school and jostle ever-so -learnedly for a reputation of their own.
Jesus acquires disciples a little differently. Of course he attracts young men in every town: likely lads, bright as buttons, sharp as tacks, with no family yet and sufficient leisure to take a few months off and tag along with this rising star. They would be good Jews, with good references, perplexed when he stops at Levi’s tax-collecting table and scandalized at the words, “Follow me.”
But that’s his way: he passes over most of the eager youngsters and seeks those who are right in the middle of their lives: fishermen at their nets, tax collectors at their tables. He claims them while they’re busy with something else. Commentators agree that the words “Follow me” were probably not the first that Peter and Andrew, John and Levi ever heard from him, but still. Jesus happened when they were making other plans.
That’s how he happens to most of us, isn’t it?
For the first post in this series, go here.
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