I am glad to be posting the message for the week. This is an important week here on the blog. As of this week, I have been posting on this site for 15 years. I thank the Lord for the opportunity.
For the past few weeks now, we have been engaged in a study of the Gospel of Mark. It is going to take us some time to get through this book, but I know that we will learn from the life and work of the Lord Jesus.
In the last message, we learned about Jesus healing a paralytic man who was let down through the roof by his friends. Jesus healed him and forgave him of his sins. Right away, the religious authorities took a dislike to Jesus, and that would continue throughout the course of His life and ministry.
Today, we are looking at Jesus call of Levi who in other Gospels is called Matthew. Levi was a tax collector. In the context of Jesus' day, that meant that he was one of the most despised people in the land. Tax collectors were seen by the local population as collaborators with the Romans. Tax collectors were also seen as crooks who took more than they were supposed to in order to line their own pockets and live an extravagant lifestyle at the expense of the common people.
One day, while Jesus was teaching, He saw Levi at his tax collection stall. He called to Levi to come and follow him. Immediately, Levi left everything and followed Jesus.
That evening, Levi hosted a big dinner for Jesus and his disciples. Levi invited over some of his tax collector friends. Of course the Pharisees and religious leaders didn't like all of this one bit. They criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. However, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners."
There are a couple of things I want to focus on in this passage. First of all, Jesus called everyone to come and follow Him. What I mean by that is that He called all types of people. We already saw that He called ordinary fisherman to be His disciples. Now He was calling a despised person to come and follow Him.
The Pharisees did not think that a tax collector and other sinners would ever be acceptable to God. They didn't even attempt to get them to come to the Lord and do the right thing. They just excluded them. In Jesus' time, those in certain occupations and those who were sick were considered to be less and looked down on. However, Jesus didn't look down on or despise or reject anyone. He came to seek and to save those who were lost. He saw something in Levi that would make for a good disciple, and He invited Him.
We don't want to be like the religious leaders of Jesus time and exclude anyone from the grace, love and mercy of the Lord Jesus. He said that whosoever will may come. He also told us, "Come unto Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. All and whosoever includes everyone. Jesus invites you, me and the whole world to come to Him and receive His love and forgiveness. No one is excluded from the love of the Lord Jesus.
Levi immediately followed Jesus. He didn't wait around. That should be our response on two levels. For those who don't yet know the Lord, if you feel the Spirit calling you to faith in Christ, now is the time to respond. Now is the day of salvation. Come to the Lord immediately. For those who are already followers of the Lord Jesus, we need to be ready to do what the Lord is telling us to do right away without delay. Don't procrastinate in doing the Lord's will for your life. Don't waste time. Obey the Lord right away.
The final thing that I want to point out from this passage is what Levi did after he came to follow Jesus. He invited others to know about Jesus as well. Once we have experienced the love, mercy and forgiveness of the Lord, we need to tell others about what Jesus has done for us. We don't want to keep the good news to ourselves. We want to obey the Great Commission and go and tell.
If you don't know Jesus, come to Him today. If you are being called to a task or mission by the Lord, respond now. If you haven't been telling others the good news about the Lord Jesus, start right away. Amen.
Prayer Requests
There are supposed to be some bad storms in my area this week. Please pray that they won't be too bad.
War has come again. I know that it is distressing. Let us keep praying for peace. Pray that all sides in the conflict in the Middle East right now will lay down their arms and work for peace. Continue to pray for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. Let us all meditate for peace and goodness in the world.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in China and Tunisia. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday, and I will post the next section of the James commentary on Wednesday. May God bless you all.
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