Follow the Leader Luke 5:27-31

In this passage Jesus has an encounter with a tax collector named Levi or other wise known as Matthew. Tax collectors were regarded as traitors to Israel because they collected taxes for the hated Romans. And not only were they seen as traitors, but also as thieves, because Rome only required a fixed sum but allowed the tax collectors the right to charge people any amount above that sum for their own pay. And sometimes they would charge exorbitant amounts. The people had to pay whatever the tax collectors demanded because these were the representatives of Rome. Now along comes Jesus - walking down the road - and he stops right in front of Matthew’s table. And He says nothing more than: “Follow me.” Matthew jumps right up, closes shop and leaves everything to follow Jesus. As I thought about this I couldn't imagine somebody I didn't no coming into my office and say follow me and actually take that person serious. Put yourself in Matthew's shoes your in the middle of your job working a man comes by and says follow me. What do you do?? How crazy does that sound. Matthew gets so excited about following this stranger named Jesus, that he holds a meal and invites all his friends to come and meet him. I want to blog about three observations this passage has revealed to me.

1. Jesus went looking for Matthew

Jesus only had 12 disciples. These were primary builders of His early church. And here Jesus hand-picks Matthew to be one of those followers. A lot of people would not have picked Matthew after all he was a tax collector. But people like Matthew is who Jesus was looking for. People who were sick inside and who wanted to change their lives. This is why I think Matthew was so prone to follow Jesus when he said, "Follow Me" Matthew needed a change from the inside out.

2. Jesus looked for Matthew because He knew Matthew was ready to change.

Most people would have written Matthew off he's a tax collector lowest of low. There are people out there that we just don’t think are interested so we don’t invite them or don't talk about our faith. I want to challenge you to never give up on people you don't know what the Holy Spirit is doing in their heart. Sometimes it can be simple words like follow me that have such an impact on somebody's life. Thats all Jesus said to Matthew and his life was forever changed. Some of the people that you may have written off long ago may be ready to be changed from the inside out and there waiting for you to step up and say something!!!

3rd thing we learn from this story is that every new person we bring to Christ has friends.

Matthew had friends probably not many but the ones he did have he wanted to share his new found faith with. A relationship with Jesus is contagious as a Christian we have the greatest gift ever offered what are we doing with it??

Rejected Luke 4:14 -30

By this time in the gospel of Luke the news has spread widely about the miracle worker from Nazareth so His family, friends, and neighbors were anxious to see and hear Him. Jesus was asked to read the Scripture text and to give the sermon. The passage He read included Isaiah 61:1-2 and He selected it for His text. The Jewish rabbis interpreted this passage to refer to the Messiah, and the people in the synagogue knew it. Can you imagine how shocked they were when Jesus boldly said that it was written about Him and that He had come to usher in the "acceptable year of the Lord." The reference here is the "Year of Jubilee" described in Leviticus 25. Jesus was bringing a spiritual "Year of Jubilee" for the nation of Israel.

The problem was that His listeners would not believe in Him. They saw Him only as the son of Mary and Joseph, the boy they had watched grow up in their own city. How crazy is that!!!! Jesus is right there in front of them and all they see is the son of Mary and Joseph. The crowd wanted Jesus to preform miracles in Nazareth like he did in Capernaum, but He refused. That's the meaning of the phrase, "Physician heal thyself.

At first, they admired the way He taught, but it didn't take long for their admiration to turn into antagonism. Why? Because Jesus reminded them of God's goodness to the Gentiles! The prophet Elijah bypassed all the Jewish widows and helped a gentile widow in Sidon 1 Kings 17:8-16, and his successor Elisha healed a gentile leper from Syria 2 Kings 5:1-15. Our Lord's message of grace was a blow to the proud Jewish exclusivism of the congregation, and they would not repent. Jesus is saying that Jews had to be saved by grace just like the pagan gentiles!! The congregation was so angry they waned to kill Jesus! Augustine said, "They love truth when it enlightens them, but hate truth when it accuses them." (Ouch!!!) This applies to us today we want gracious words but we don't want to face the truth.

In spite of the unbelief of the people in Nazareth, the scriptures declared that Jesus of Nazareth is God's Son, the Messiah sent to fulfill His promises. I bloged about this passage because maybe like Jesus you feel like the hardest people to reach are the ones who have known you the longest. Be encouraged today that if you face rejection from those who say they know you your in good company.