Why Jesus Chose a Tax Collector to Be His Disciple

[Jesus] said to him, “Follow me.”

Luke 5:27

Why would Jesus choose a man like Matthew the tax collector to be a disciple? Wasn’t it obvious that a man like this, known for his collaboration and corruption, would be a liability?

Luke tells us that the Pharisees “grumbled at his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’” (5:30).

The disciples were probably asking the same question: “Jesus, why don’t you stick with fishermen? We may not have a fancy education like Levi, but we are known as hard-working people who earn an honest living.”

So why did Jesus call Levi? “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Lk. 5:32).

The call of Levi is a marvellous sample of grace. Jesus calls the least likely, the least deserving. To Levi, who had practised extortion, Jesus said, “Follow me.” To the thief on the cross, a violent man, He said, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43).

And who would have imagined that Jesus would call Saul of Tarsus, who hated Christians? He described himself as a blasphemer, persecutor, and violent person. “But I received mercy.” Why? Because “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:13, 15).

That’s grace! “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak... to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised... so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:27–29).

If there is hope in Jesus for Levi, the thief on the cross, and Saul of Tarsus, there is hope in Jesus for you and for every person you will ever meet.

Reflect on Jesus’ choice to call the least likely and the least deserving.