Luke 5:26-39

You can read the story here if you don’t have a Bible with you:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%205%3A26-39&version=NLT

It’s helps me when I read this account of Levi joining Jesus’ followers to remember that he was also called Matthew and he is the author of the book of the Bible by that name. That book is so very Jewish. Levi knew his heritage. He knew his prophecy and his customs. But today we meet Levi at a time in his life when it was all head knowledge and hadn’t remotely changed his life. Levi is also relatable. I would say he is very like your everyday GenX. Raised in church/temple/synagogue, heard it all, never let it change him. He never let it challenge him. He was distracted by money and power. Faith was something he might get back to before he died, but at this point in his life he was living for number one. He was a tax collector so the religious people were quite happy if he didn’t darken the door of the Temple anyways. You certainly didn’t want him dating your daughter if you were a good Jewish dad. 

Enter Jesus, this young phenomenon whose heritage was always a little sketchy. Everyone was talking about him, and people really seemed to be reprioritizing their faith after hearing his teaching. But the things he said were just different enough that he made people in authority nervous. He certainly had influence. He knew the scriptures. Religious leaders were still trying to decide if they wanted him to date their daughter. 

So when he publicly hand picks Levi to be his student and follower they are baffled. Everyone wanted to be near Jesus. No one wanted to be around Levi. The guy was a tax collector.

Who wants a guy like that hanging around?

Apparently, Jesus.

And when he tells Levi to follow him, Levi follows. He drops everything. Somewhere along the way Levi has heard enough of what Jesus is selling to be convinced it’s worth more than all he has. He was almost certainly surprised by the invitation. But he was smart enough to take it without hesitation. 

He throws a party. When you are wealthy but no one really trusts you, that’s how you have friends. This time the guest list is pretty much as it always was except Jesus is the guest of honour. 

And Jesus really seems to be having a good time! He is having genuine conversations with a room full of people a respectable man wouldn’t want to be near. The religious leaders pull Jesus’ disciples aside (not Levi of course, why would they want to talk to him?) “What are you guys doing here? This is not going to help Jesus’ reputation. These are not the people you want to be seen with.”

Jesus responds. I love that when people whisper behind Jesus’ back he answers them publicly. He never had anything to hide. He also very frequently spoke in metaphor. He kind of let his audience choose to understand what he was saying, or ignore it. He says, “It’s people who know they are sick who visit the doctor.” Levi’s crowd weren’t under any misapprehension about their holiness. They knew they had problems, so when someone offered answers, they listened. Jesus knew focusing his attention on religious leaders who were more concerned about other people’s sin than their own, was a waste of time. Jesus had come to help people. Setting up a soup kitchen at an all you can eat buffet was kind of pointless. Jesus was on mission. He knew his time was limited and he was using it well, which brings us to the next story Luke records. 

It appears Jesus was spending entirely too much time at parties, and his disciples were along for the ride. In a culture that esteemed self denial and public displays of generosity, Jesus and his followers were having entirely too much fun. Those who taught religion had to be careful that the people who were watching them could see that it was a life of selflessness. True faith requires sacrifice. And they weren’t wrong. The Jewish system of law was full of literal sacrifices wherein you brought an animal or portion of grain, oil or wine and brought it to the Temple to give to God. That was how God provided for those whose job was maintaining the Temple. Faithful living did involve sacrifice. It still does. But we don’t have to create public opportunities to demonstrate that. Life will provide enough moments when we have to prioritize others, give until it hurts, or step away from the party so that we can focus our attention on God. We don’t have to schedule these things. They will come. But the religious leaders were concerned that Jesus wasn’t really looking the part. Perhaps his followers might begin to think that a faith filled life was an endless party. So they talk to Jesus, expressing concern for his disciples. “Your disciples aren’t depriving themselves like disciples of teachers who have come before you. You need to help them see that faith isn’t a party. It’s hard work.”

Jesus responds. He explains that pursuing a life of faith has many challenges. These guys are going to have overwhelming struggles. They will give up everything, but not today. Today there are so many things to enjoy, so many people who are showing interest in learning truth. Today there is good food on the table. It should be enjoyed with gratitude. 

Jesus knew that the old law was a picture of a future reality. His disciples didn’t need to portray self sacrifice on certain predetermined occasions, they were going to live it in real time as life hurtled toward them.

The sacrificial animals were a picture that symbolized that the only sufficient payment for sin was death. The bread of the presence that sat in the temple, and was later consumed by the priest, was a picture of Gods sustaining presence that would one day actually live inside those who trusted in him. The Temple itself, beautiful and carefully maintained as a house in which God could live, was a picture of the family of believers individually and corporately being Gods presence in the world. 

This was something new and it wasn’t about painting a picture or outwardly demonstrating relationship with God, it was about him living inside of us. 

I especially love the metaphor he draws with wine in wineskins. He points out that, in the same way that pouring new wine into old wineskins will just burst the wineskins and waste the new wine, trying to make this new way of relating to God conform to the way it had been practised in the past was going to destroy both. 

Of course he points out, once people have had a taste of a really nicely aged wine, they aren’t interested in trying a newer vintage. He understood that it would be hard for the religious leaders to give up the system that had shaped their lives for generations. 

A modern metaphor might be an old pair of sneakers. Sure, they aren’t providing any support and my big toe gets wet in the rain because it has pushed through the fabric, but they’re just so comfy!! Change is hard but some change has to happen. 

I don’t think Jesus was saying we  should never fast any more. He said his disciples would fast when this happy time that they spent together was over. I think maybe his point was that we don’t have to fast for the sake of fasting, and certainly not as an outward display of righteousness. Something new was happening and it wasn’t about how things appeared on the outside, it was about what was happening inside a person.