His Workmanship

 

By Jared Green
    In this past week’s study in Luke, we read Jesus calling Levi, also known as Matthew (the Gospel writer), to discipleship. In the passage just before, when Jesus healed the paralytic, he made clear his ability—as the Son of God—to forgive sins (Luke 5:24). In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus came to forgive and call to discipleship those who are unworthy. He truly came to be Lord of all, and Levi’s call to discipleship makes that clear.     Levi was a tax collector, a Jew hated by Jews because of his dishonest work for the Roman government. Levi’s call to discipleship, and his subsequent feast celebrating his new life of following Christ, made the scribes and Pharisees angry. They could not understand Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, eating with tax collectors and sinners. To them, Jesus’ participation in the feast was blatant acceptance of sinful living. Jesus, however, stated that his purpose in eating with sinners was to redeem them, not to condone their ways of living. He said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (5:31-32).     As we talked about Sunday, this story paints for us a beautiful picture of Christ’s salvation, as well as an example of how to faithfully engage with those living in sin. To add to the lessons we have already studied from this encounter, we also learn what Jesus sees in those he calls to discipleship. When faced with the call to discipleship in our own lives, it is natural for us to feel inadequate. At times, the feelings of inadequacy come from the control sin has had over our lives in the past. Sometimes, we feel as though we have nothing to offer to Christ and his church. Other times, we allow ourselves to believe we can never be the people our Lord calls us to be. These feelings of inadequacy are natural, and they are used by the devil as a tool to keep us right where we are.     The story of Levi’s call to discipleship shows us that “Jesus sees what we can become even when we are lost in our sins. Christ saw in the disfigured life of Levi (tax collector) a Matthew (writer, evangelist, collector of souls)” (R. Kent Hughes, Luke, 190). Levi was a tax collector. Simon was a Zealot. Paul persecuted Christians. From the outside looking in, those called by Christ often seemed unworthy, inadequate candidates. The truth is, however, our Lord sees past our imperfections and inadequacies, and he sees souls made in his image. When he calls us to discipleship, his focus is on who we can become, not who we have been. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). God loves you, and so do I.

Jared Green preaches the Calvert City Church of Christ in Calvert City, KY.  He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.calvertchurchofchrist.com