Jesus Calls a Tax Collector Everyone Hated
Month 3: Come, Follow Me · Loving Others
Today's Scripture
Read together: Luke 5:27-28
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.
Memory Verse
“And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.”— Luke 5:11 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: 1 Samuel 23-25
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 80 of 365 — Abigail's wisdom keeps David from revenge.)The Heart of It
After calling the fishermen, Jesus walked up to a tax booth and called Levi. We also know him as Matthew. To understand the shock here, you have to know how people felt about tax collectors. They worked for the Romans who had taken over. They took money from their own people, and usually skimmed extra off the top for themselves. People saw them as traitors and thieves. They were lumped in with "sinners," banned from the synagogue, and looked down on by everyone respectable. Nobody invited a tax collector to dinner. Nobody picked him for anything good. And Jesus walked straight up to this hated man and said two words: "Follow Me." And Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him. The grace that called clean-living fishermen was the very same grace that called the town traitor.
This is how Jesus loves. And it's how He's teaching us to love. He didn't wait for Matthew to fix his reputation or pay everyone back first. He called him just as he was, and the calling itself began to change him. Think about who that means is not out of reach. The kid no one sits with. The relative everyone's given up on. The person at school with the bad reputation. If Jesus had a "too far gone" list, Matthew would have been on it. Instead, Matthew ended up writing one of the four Gospels. Loving others the way Jesus does means we refuse to write anyone off. The people the world calls hopeless are exactly the people Jesus walks toward.
Around the Table
Lots of people didn't like Matthew. But Jesus walked right up and said, "Follow Me!" Jesus loves everybody.
Let's do it: Name one person who sometimes gets left out. Say a quick prayer for them. Then plan one kind thing to do for them.
Matthew was hated for cheating people. But Jesus called him anyway, and Matthew changed.
Let's talk: Is there someone at school or in our family that people are quick to give up on? How could you show them Jesus' kind of love?
Jesus called the most hated man in town. And that "outsider" went on to write the first Gospel. Grace doesn't keep a too-far-gone list.
Let's go deeper: Who have you secretly decided is "not worth it"? What would it look like to love them the way Jesus loved Matthew?
💬 Conversation Starter
If a brand-new kid showed up who everyone already disliked, what's one thing you could do to make them feel welcome?— That's exactly what Jesus did for Matthew.
🛡️ Defending the Faith
Critics say the church is full of judgmental people. And sadly, sometimes it has been. But Jesus Himself went looking for the very people religion had rejected (). The real Jesus draws a wider circle than His critics expect. And He calls us to do the same.
For Dad · Go Deeper
It is sobering how easily a family builds its own quiet "tax collector" list. The relative we roll our eyes at. The neighbor we avoid. The kind of person our offhand comments teach the kids to look down on. Children soak up our prejudices long before they understand them. Jesus' call of Matthew confronts that head on. He loved people across every social and moral barrier. And He commands us to love "all," because Christ died for all (; ). John Stott noted that the cross both humbles us and lifts us up. It tells us we were so lost we needed a Savior, and so loved that we got one. A father who has felt the weight of his own rescue cannot look down on anyone. So tonight, examine your own table-talk. The way you speak about the "Matthews" in your world is teaching your kids who is, and isn't, worthy of love.
Draws on: John Stott, The Cross of Christ.
Let's Pray Together
"Lord Jesus, thank You for loving people everyone else gave up on. Thank You for loving us. Give us Your eyes for the ones who feel left out or written off. And give us the courage to walk toward them with kindness. Help us love like You. In Jesus' name, amen."
Jesus keeps no "too far gone" list. So neither will I.