Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. (Mark 2: 13-14)

Levi is also known as Matthew. Levi was his Hebrew name. Matthew was his Greek name. Jesus, except for an accident of Greek spelling, would be known to us as Joshua. His Hebrew name was Yeshua (meaning Jehovah is salvation). Most of us have different identities depending on the time, place, and who is with us.

Those appointed by the Romans or the Herodians to be tax harvesters were wealthy men. They were given a quota to collect and were allowed to keep whatever they could collect above the quota.

Levi is not a tax harvester. He is sitting at the tax booth. Levi is employed by a tax harvester in a role that is similar to a toll booth operator. Because he is beside the lake Levi was probably collecting a fee for fish taken from the lake. He was also given a quota, but he was always paid the same very low wage regardless of what he received in fees.

The tax harvesters were often influential and respected men. Their employees were despised as being little more than theives. The first followers called by Jesus were all fishermen. I expect Jesus had heard them grumbling - or worse - regarding Levi.

I wonder if it was especially for the benefit of Simon and Andrew, James and John that Jesus called Levi. We are usually satisfied with our own partial definition of another. Jesus consistently demonstrates that we should, instead, come to truly know one another as unique expressions of God.