“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,”Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.” Luke 5.27-28
I want to assume more words were exchanged than simply the two written in verse 27, “Follow me.” Maybe not, though. Maybe Jesus was just walking by with an entourage of disciples, followed by the crowds. Simply walking down the street would have caused a big disruption.
Perhaps that parade of people, seen from the tax collector’s booth, stopped right in front of Levi, the tax collector. Maybe when they stopped, the crowd continued to surge, but Jesus locked eyes with Levi. I imagine disciples pushing and nudging Jesus, pausing to see why He stopped walking and who He was looking at. I imagine the noise, the laughter, the singing, the celebration from the man who was paralyzed and was now able to walk.
Levi, watching all this, hearing about it, knowing what had just happened (because word traveled quickly), remained firmly behind his booth. He had not joined in the merriment. He had not committed to the celebration. He had not bought into this traveling healer-preacher-Messiah.
But when Jesus “saw” the tax collector at his booth—meaning He looked at him with His eyes and into the eyes of Levi—weight came with that stare. It wasn’t that more words were needed; it was what was unspoken in that moment, in the space between a sinner and his God. Jesus didn’t need to say more than “Follow me,” because His look, His presence, His power said it all. And immediately, Levi got up, left everything behind, and followed Jesus.
Can you see it? Can you imagine it happening to Levi? A sinner saved by grace, seen by God, delivered from his prison, invited into abundant life today and eternal life to come. It’s happened to me—when God reached out, and I welcomed Him in. Once I tasted His goodness and experienced His forgiveness, I, too, gave up my old life of everything and followed Him.
Jesus encounters people all across the globe in exactly this way every day. It’s not uncommon, but it is remarkable—that God would want to be with us, that He would care about little you and me, that He would pay the ultimate price of death so we might have meaning, purpose, and joy in this world.
It doesn’t take an act of Congress to convert. It simply takes the surrender of your heart and the invitation to welcome Jesus in. Say, “Come, Lord Jesus, I confess my sins, I give You my heart, I surrender all to You.”
“O Lord God, the invitation ‘follow me,’ when spoken by the Word Made Flesh, is powerful. You are the One who spoke the worlds into existence, and now You ask us to join You in Your work? What an amazing invitation. Thank You, Lord, for saving us! Thank You for allowing us to say ‘yes’ to You. Come now, Holy Spirit, and rescue all who have not yet responded. Call us to follow You in wonderful and beautiful ways. For you are good and your love endures forever.” Amen