Advanced Level, Block 9—Jesus’ Closest Followers
Week 86
Levi (Matthew)—Being Called to Follow
Point to Emphasize: Have you admitted to yourself and to God that you are a sinner?
Reference Reading: Matthew 9:9-13 with footnotes; Mark 2:14-17, footnotes 141-2; Luke 5:27-32
Memory Verse: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners… (Luke 5:32)
Sample Story
[Note: please do not have the children confess they are sinners.]
So far we have been talking about those whom the Lord Jesus called to follow Him. And these followed Him closely. And it is worth our time to read the three accounts of Jesus’ calling a tax collector. As we read, please pay attention to one phrase that is repeated in each account. [Have one child read Matthew 9:9-13, then another read Mark 2:14-17, and another read Luke 5:27-32.] Now, what is the phrase that is repeated in each of the three accounts? [Tax collectors and sinners.]
First, let’s start with the word sinner because I think you know what a sinner is. [Let them discuss what a sinner is.] Right, a sinner is anyone who breaks one of the Ten Commandments. So, if we replace the word “sinner” in the phrase “tax collectors and sinners” with the commandment that he is breaking, then we could say “tax collectors and liars” or “tax collectors and idol worshippers” or “tax collectors and murderers” or “tax collectors and thieves”. Would you like to be included in any of these groups? No! Each group —liars, idol worshippers, murderers, thieves— are not people you want to be associated with, much less sit at the same table and eat with them.
Now, what about tax collectors? The tax collectors at that time were no better. Tax collectors were Jews who worked for the Roman Empire and collected taxes for them. The Jews were not under their own government. They were under the rule of the Romans and they did not like it. They also did not want to pay taxes to the Romans! But some Jews liked being tax collectors because they could get other Jews to pay more than the tax the Romans demanded and keep the rest for themselves. As long as the Romans got the tax amount, they didn’t care if the tax collectors profited from the others in the process. And this is why the Jews despised the tax collectors and put them in the same category as sinners—liars, idol worshippers, murderers and thieves.
So, when the Lord Jesus went to the tax office to call Matthew (called Levi) to follow Him He knew that He was not calling a “high class,” “respectable” person. He knew that Matthew was a sinner who needed His salvation.
Now, consider the three accounts we just read. What other group of people was mentioned in each account? [The Pharisees.] Who were the Pharisees? [Have the children discuss: A group of Jews who thought they were the legal experts of the Law of God. They thought they were above other Jews when it came to the matter of keeping the Law.]
And does anyone recall how each account ended? What other person was mentioned? [Let them discuss. Each one ends with a physician.] Mostly, people go to see a doctor when they are _______? [sick.]
When I was your age, I never thought that I was a bad person. I was a pretty “good kid”. I usually minded my mom, got pretty good grades at school, and tried not to lie or take anything that was not mine. But really, I was sick just like Matthew. And I was a sinner just like him. But unlike Matthew, I did not face the facts. I terrorized my younger sister. She became so afraid of the dark because of what I did to her. And I thought my older sister was the “stupidest” person around. She did so many things I thought were a waste of time. I really looked down on her. And when I got grounded for misbehaving, I would slam the door of my room and yell “hateful things” into my pillow. Here I thought I was such a “good kid” yet I was a sinner doing so many wrong things. Eventually, I admitted a lot of these kinds of things to myself and realized I was not that good. [Storyteller, use your own example of how you thought you were a “good kid” but realized you were a sinner who did so many wrong things. If you don’t have one, tell this story in the third person.] I am sure that while listening to my examples you can think of things you said and have done this week that are just as bad. This is because we all are sinners.
Does anyone remember the line at the end of each account we read? [If no one remembers have them turn and read Matthew 9:13, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:32. “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners…”] The Lord Jesus knows who we really are and He sees each thing that we do. And He knows we are WRONG all the time in how we talk to our moms, criticize our teachers, and are mean to younger children. In so many things we are not right.
Now is the time for you to start admitting this to yourself. And then admit it to the Lord Jesus. Remember, He is the One who tells us that He does not call those who think that they are so RIGHT! He comes to call those who know that they are WRONG in so many things.