After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him,
Parallel translations
- WEB After these things he went out, and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and said to him, “Follow me!”
- KJV And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.
- NKJV After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.”
- NASB After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”
- NLT Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus calls Levi, a despised tax collector, to follow him. He summons an outcast into discipleship by sovereign grace.
Overview
Tax collectors were scorned as collaborators and cheats, yet Jesus calls Levi (Matthew) with a simple 'Follow me!' The call demonstrates that no one is beyond the reach of grace. By choosing such a man, Jesus enacts his mission to seek and save sinners and foreshadows the controversy over his table fellowship with the outcast.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Mark 2:13–22Once again Jesus went out beside the sea. All the people came to Him, and He taught them there.
- Matt 9:9–17As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
- Matt 10:3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
- Mark 3:18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,
- John 1:43The next day Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. Finding Philip, He told him, “Follow Me.”
- Matt 4:19–21“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
- Luke 18:22On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
- Matt 8:22But Jesus told him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
- Matt 16:24Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
- John 12:26If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
- John 21:19–22Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after He had said this, He told him, “Follow Me.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 5:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.