Levi the Tax Collector

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 19, 2010 under Ask the Pastor |

A visitor to our website from Korea writes to ask:

Would the Levi, the tax collector, in the chapter 5 of the Book of Luke be a descendant of the tribe of Levi, a son of Jacob in the
Old Testament? The people of the tribe of Levi was supposed to work as priests or at least some attendants in the temple, weren’t they?

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Dear friend,

Greetings; and thank you for writing.

The name “Levi” (which means, “attached”) came originally from the man Levi who was born to the patriarch Jacob by Leah. Leah was often in competition with her rival, Rachel (who was Jacob’s other wife) for her husband’s love. When the ancient Levi was born, Leah said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me” (Genesis 29:34)—and that’s how he got his name.

And you are right—the decendents of ancient Levi was the tribe that served in the ministry of the temple. Ancient Levi’s descendent Aaron (the older brother of Moses), along with Aaron’s sons—was appointed by God to serve in the priestly role. So, it may be that Levi the tax collector was named after Levi the son of Jacob. But the fact that Levi the tax collector was named “Levi” doesn’t necessarily mean that he was of the tribe of Levi. We don’t know anything about the tax collector’s ancestry except that he was Jewish, and that he was born of a man named Alphaeus (see Mark 2:14).

A tax collector, in Jesus’ day, was a Jewish man who collected taxes from his own Jewish kinsmen on behalf the gentile Roman government. He made his living by collecting not only the required revenue appointed by the Roman government, but by also collecting a percentage above the required amount as his own cut. Such man was considered to be a notorious traitor to his own people. It would be hard to imagine that a man of the priestly tribe (the tribe of Levi) would have done such a thing; but it’s not impossible either. (See Judges 17:7-13 for a story of an ungodly Levite.) In the end, we simply don’t know.

You may find it interesting that this man Levi is the same man who wrote the Gospel of Matthew. When the other gospel writers tell the story of how Jesus called him to become one of His disciples, they use a different name for him. Mark and Luke, in their gospel accounts used the name “Levi” (Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32). But when they listed him as one of the apostles, they used the name “Matthew” (Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15). Many people in the Bible had two names; and so, when Mark and Luke wrote of his ministry as an apostle, they chose to call him by his more familiar name “Matthew”; but when they told the story of his being called while a tax-collector, they used his lesser-known name “Levi”. Perhaps they did this out of respect for his apostolic ministry; and out of a desire to protect his ministry from the scandal of his notorious past.

But Matthew didn’t hesitate to use his name. In telling his own story in Matthew 9:9-13, he told the story of his sinful past as “Matthew”. In fact, even when he included his name in the list of apostles, he identified himself with his sin by writing it out in bold letters: “Matthew the tax collector” (Matthew 10:3). He had been a very notorious and very despised sinner in the sight of his Jewish kinsmen. But he was a sinner that Jesus loved. He was a man that Jesus called to Himself, and that He pardoned and cleansed, and that He placed into his service, and made into one of His own twelve ambassadors to the world, and to whom He gave the privilege of penning the longest and most “Jewish” of the four gospels.

Thanks again for your note; and blessings in Jesus’ love,

Pastor Greg Allen
Bethany Bible Church

(All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version.)