Today’s story unfolds in the middle of a busy marketplace of a hardscrabble village in Galilee. “Have you heard?” a neighbor whispers. “Jesus, the talk of Galilee, is in town. He came out of the nowhere that is Nazareth and has been performing miracles.” Everyone is jostling for a chance to see him, to touch him, to talk to him and become the next beneficiary of a miracle. For a place that is a speck in a corner of the Roman Empire, it is as if the Emperor himself has come for a visit!
And then he stops. Right in front of the tax house which is the most hated place in the village. And he beckons to Levi who is its most hated man. And in a loud voice so that all can hear, He invites him to become his follower.
Imagine stunned silence followed by an uproar. People shout curses at both Jesus and Levi for this unholy association. This abuse continues all the way to Levi’s house where Jesus defiantly turns and defends himself: “I have come to call sinners to repentance.”
Jesus deliberately did this in such a public manner to make his point. His miracles grab the attention of his audience and make him credible. But his words imprint themselves on their souls — as well as on ours who can only imagine what may have happened. His words force us into reflection. He has come to call sinners to repentance. He has come to call us.
