…Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet…” (Luke 5:27-29a).

Please take a moment to read this week's entire passage!

[chutzpah: (huts-puh) a Yiddish term meaning audacity, courage, or nerve] 

The old saying “Birds of a feather flock together” holds, doesn’t it? We gravitate toward people with whom we have things in common. 

This flocking propensity shows up in our story of Levi and his fellow tax-collectors, the Pharisees and teachers of the law, and Jesus. (It actually doesn’t show up in Jesus, but we’ll get to that later.)

Tax collectors were a group unto themselves. They were Jews who had sold out to Rome—and greed—to get wealthy off the backs of their fellow Jews. Their neighbors would have put them in the category “very-messy.”

Then there were the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They had issues with any group that wasn’t as religious as they were. They put themselves in the superior--and not-at-all-messy--category. (Their neighbors would have had other ideas about that.) 

We keep bumping into these two groups in Scripture. The prevalence of stories about them should alert us to the timelessness and universality of their ilk.

Now—enter Jesus, who, by the way, was and is in a category of His own: Immanuel, God with us. 

Jesus had the chutzpah to single out Levi the tax-collector to follow Him. Then Levi had the chutzpah to leave everything and do that.

Aware that Jesus was unlike anyone his fellow tax collectors knew, Levi threw a party for his fellows to meet his LORD.  (Speaking of chutzpah.)

Are we surprised that the Pharisees and teachers of the law had an issue with this? Of course not. For one thing, we already know they had an issue with the tax collectors’ morality. For another, we know they had an issue with Jesus. 

To them, the fact Jesus called an immoral tax collector to follow Him indicated Jesus wasn’t religious enough. They had no vision for the dramatic transformation from sin-sick to heart-healthy Jesus worked in people. 

Therefore, Jesus spelled out his mission for them: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Lk.5:31).

Would it require more chutzpah for you to pull-a-Levi by throwing a neighborhood party for Jesus and Pharisees or for Jesus and tax-collectors? (Try to think of equivalent groups today.)

How about a party that included both?