Day 49 – Follow Me
Study Luke 5:27-32
“After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.” Luke 5:27-28
Upon leaving the town, Jesus uttered one of the most profound phrases in all the Gospels, “Follow Me”. With these words He invited Levi, a notorious tax collector of Jewish descent, to become one of His followers. It was not by chance that Jesus chose Levi because God always has a plan.
Levi means united and joined in harmony. It is also the name of one of the Israel tribes dedicated to the priesthood of God (Deuteronomy 18:1-2). They were chosen to be set apart as servants and ministers to the Lord, to work in the Temple, and serve the other tribes through God’s commands and Word. Setting them apart wasn’t a punishment or burden, but a choice to keep them pure and holy – like a special possession. But as time went by from the Sinai experience, Israel fell deeper into sin and moved further away from God. And so did the Levitical priesthood.
Throughout Exodus and Deuteronomy, there’s no specific covenant with the tribe of Levi mentioned, only the tasks and ordinances. We only encounter the covenant of Levi in Malachi 2:4, 8. It was an engagement made by the Lord with the responsibility to teach, correct, and give guidance. But God’s commandments were being undermined and openly flouted by the defection of the priests. Instead of preserving the theocracy and reforming the people according to God’s Word, they adapted it to suit themselves and their selfish endeavours. Malachi charges the priests with having “corrupted the covenant of Levi” by encouraging cross effrontery to God in the matter of sacrificial worship and undermining the authority and impartiality of covenant law.
When Jesus called Levi, He not only called a person, but the whole embodiment of the Levitical priesthood to be united with Him in the Truth of God once again.
Pray with me: Father, you always have a plan and never do something “just because”. Through this act of calling Levi, You called an entire priesthood to follow You. Thank You, Jesus, that this invitation is also personal and that You call me too. Amen. ©
Love, Iriza
