And as He was passing by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, “Come after Me.” And he got up and went after Him.
This verse shows the freedom and power of Christ’s grace. Levi was a tax collector, that is, someone who in the eyes of society was often despised and considered sinful. But the Lord sees not only a person’s past or present condition, but also what grace can do in his life. One brief call—“Follow Me”—was enough to change his whole course. Levi got up and left his former occupation. This is a living picture of repentance: when the voice of Christ reaches the heart, a person can leave even the way of life to which he had been bound for a long time. This episode gives great hope to every sinner, that the Lord’s call reaches even there where people no longer have much hope.