Mercy Triumphs over Judgment

This Sunday we continue our series reflecting on the theme of mercy in Luke’s Gospel. We consider the call of Levi, the tax collector, who we also know as Matthew, the human author of the first Gospel (Luke 5.27-32). Every human community falls prey to the temptation to define an individual by their moral failures, especially when those failures are particularly offensive to our sense of right and wrong. This is how tax-collectors were regarded in Jesus’ day. Traitors to faith and their people, misusers of their office, committed today the conduct they engaged in would likely lead them to jail as white collar criminals. In essence, they took personal financial advantage of the oppressive Roman taxation system. Mercifully, Jesus saw, understood, yet still called Levi onto his discipleship team. Mercifully Jesus fraternised with him and his kind. But how would the righteous religious experts respond to this? What kind of a Christ is this Jesus, that he would welcome such a one as Levi? And what does this pattern of ministry mean for the church today as we consider those who in our time might be written-off because of their moral failure, their questionable reputation?

Reflection Questions

1. Read Luke 5.27-32. Levi is described as a tax-collector. In the Roman taxation system tax-collectors took personal financial advantage of their role, taking more tax than the Romans strictly required so as to grow their personal income. Can you think of contemporary examples doing something similar? How would such conduct be regarded today if found out?

2. What strikes you about Jesus’ interaction with Levi? What attributes of Jesus shine?

3. What awareness of Jesus, and his ministry, might Levi have already had prior Christ’s call? Back up your perspective with clues from earlier in chapters four or five.

4. Discuss:

‘High grade stainless steel can be used to make a lethal commando knife, a weapon, or a precision tomato dicing knife, a chef’s tool. The same steel can be used to harm or to serve.

Levi is like that high grade steel. A mix of natural qualities, skills, god-given temperament, the image of God in him. A man with power to either harm or serve his community. In our account today Jesus sees the valuable resource Levi is, the image of God in him, and commandeers him for kingdom purposes, to serve rather than too harm. Levi follows immediately, laying down his tax-collector job.’

5. What does the discipleship community miss if it fails to demonstrate the mercy of Christ, forgiving and reinstating (where possible and appropriate) those who may have morally failed in the past?

Discuss: what kinds of virtues does the discipleship community need in order to responsibly support someone find their way after moral failures .