 |
 |
|||||
 young man once told me that he was a Christian, and then added that he was disappointed with God. So I asked him why he was unhappy and disappointed with God. He said that he thought God would make him rich like the man who had explained Jesus to him. I attempted to help him understand that God did not make all Christians rich. A person who seeks for and believes in Jesus is usually more interested in having their sins forgiven than in getting rich. The young man was seeking God for the wrong reason. Many remember the very rich man who asked Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered by telling him to go sell everything that he had. Some believe rich people need to give their money away to others. Do you like rich people? While most people would like to have the money of the rich, it is common to hear negative comments about the wealthy. What is God’s attitude toward those who are wealthy? We will discover the answer to that question in this study.Levi, Son of Alphaeus. In our recent studies, we have seen Jesus free a man from demon possession, heal a nobleman’s son, heal Peter’s mother-in-law, heal many people in Capernaum, heal a leper, and in our last study heal a paralyzed man. Jesus has healed men, women, and children from poor and rich families, and those who are the “common people” as well as nobles. Jesus has not refused anyone. He has had compassion on all.
Jesus has also called four men to follow Him. Their names were Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He had to call them three times before they would finally understand what it means to follow Him, and then completely commit themselves. They were from the middle class of the Jewish society. Jesus ministered to everyone and called ordinary people to be his followers.
When we come to this study, which is found in Mark 2:13-22; Matt. 9:9-17 and Luke 5:27-39, we discover that Jesus was teaching people while He walked along the seashore of the Sea of Galilee.
And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphabets. sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. (NASB) Mark 2:13-14) Both Mark and Luke call him Levi; only the gospel of Matthew calls him Matthew. Why would Matthew call him Matthew? The answer is that he chose to use his own name, Matthew, and not Levi. This shows the humanness of the gospels even while God is controlling what is being written.
Tax Collectors. It appears that Jesus was looking for Levi all along when He finds him in a tax booth. The tax booth was not a shaky four-sided wood frame with large openings on each side. History tells us that the tax booth stood high above the ground. It was more like a life-guard station on a beach designed to help the tax collector see boats and people coming and going. The tax collector could then approach the individual or individuals and collect taxes. The tax booth was located along a major commercial trade route which connected Damascus and the Mediterranean Sea.
|
||||||
|
||||||
| Life & Heart of Jesus | ||||||
