Mark 2:13-14 “Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”
Are you looking for God opportunities? Jesus demonstrates once again the sensitivity to the Holy Spirit that He maintains in His inner man. Jesus is out beside the lake teaching a crowd as He walks along. He is not merely sitting in a class room style seating arrangement, He is teaching on the move, using His surroundings as a part of His classroom. As He is walking along Jesus sees Levi, a tax collector and sinner who would have been despised and rejected by religious Jews for his compromising life and values. And yet because Jesus is looking with Spirit filled eyes, not the eyes of human judgment, Jesus sees a future Apostle.
What do you see when you look at broken people? Do you see their brokenness or do you see their potential? Jesus was willing to embrace the inconvenience of discipling a person who was coming from such a wounded place in his life. Jesus was also willing to endure the scorn and ridicule of those who would reject Him for His association with such a broken person. The moment we allow ourselves to identify with wounded people there is a cost. Are you willing bare that cost?
Jesus demonstrates such powerful priorities in this situation and as a result is able to initiate a powerful life transformation within Levi. His acceptance of Levi promotes Levi’s acceptance first by the other disciples and also by Levi himself. Imagine the testimony that Levi becomes to all those who knew him and all of those with whom he shares his story of redemption. His capacity to understand the power of forgiveness and to communicate the mercy of God is far different from that of men like Peter and John, Nathaniel and James. Though imperfect men for sure there is no record that any of these men came from sordid backgrounds. They could not fully comprehend the mercy of God the way that Levi would have been able to.
Jesus acceptance of Levi positioned Levi to be a powerful messenger to an audience that needed his example not just his message. To hear Levi’s story or to see the transformation of his life into a righteous man would be reason to hope for all who struggled with a sinful past. But imagine if Jesus would have been walking in the flesh that day. Imagine if Jesus’ religious convictions blinded him to the potential for redemption in Levi. In a moment, as Jesus was simply passing by, a life was changed because Jesus was living with a sensitive heart towards both God and man. This understanding compels each one of us to ask the question: “how many Levis have I passed by?” “How many potential Apostles have I concluded there was no redemption for?” Let the Lord open your eyes to who each man and each woman was created to be. Ask the Lord a new question today? Ask Him where you can find another Levi who is still waiting in the chains of darkness with an apostolic potential locked up inside?
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