SOMEHOW, I KEEP THINKING about the paralyzed man who was healed by Jesus to the astonishment of all. In both Luke and Mark, the story is sandwiched between two others. The first, which we’ve seen, is the healing of the leper. The second, which we’ll explore here, is the story of Jesus calling Levi the tax collector—whom we know as Matthew—as a disciple.

When we take the vignette of the paralytic by itself, in isolation from its surrounding context, it may sound a little odd for Jesus to tell the man that his sins were forgiven as opposed to telling him to get up and walk. And it’s not as if Jesus wouldn’t have healed the man physically if he didn’t have to prove a point with the scribes and Pharisees. Again, I think the moment of healing came as Jesus spoke the words of forgiveness.

But here’s my point. In the previous story of the leper, Jesus gave the man not only the gift of physical healing but of spiritual and emotional healing as well. Jesus was not only willing to do something on behalf of a person who was used to being counted as unclean and treated as an outcast; he touched him, reaching out to him across a social boundary others dared not cross.

What if something similar could be said of the paralytic? We know nothing of the man’s history or background. But given stories like the one found at the beginning of John 9, about Jesus giving sight to a man who had been born blind, we know something about how Jews of the first century might have thought of a man who couldn’t walk. Their question, whether asked outright or whispered through the gossip mill, might have been the same as that of the disciples who saw the blind man and casually asked Jesus, “Who sinned?” (John 9:2).

It’s quite possible, in other words, that the man had for some time heard the whispers or even internalized them. He didn’t just see himself as disabled; rather, he was tainted, inferior, sinful, under the harsh discipline of a holy God. He and his friends believed that Jesus could heal him, just as the leper did. But also like the leper, the paralytic may have wondered if Jesus would heal him.

And just as the leper needed to feel the touch of Jesus’ hand, so too may the paralytic, deep down, have needed to hear the words, “Friend, your sins are forgiven” (Luke 5:20, NIV).

In one way or another, all three stories involve Jesus’ encounter with someone presumed to be spiritually unclean or sinful: first, a leper; then a paralytic, and now, a tax collector. We’ve discussed tax collectors (also referred to as publicans) before, when we considered the preaching of John the Baptist. Many were Jews, and considered traitors by their own people for the way they profited from their association with a despised Gentile empire.

So: Jesus has healed an unclean leper by touching him, and a paralytic by forgiving his sins. Would Jesus go so far as to call a despised tax collector as a disciple? Here’s Luke’s answer:

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:27-28)

This is the only mention of Levi in the gospel of Luke, though Luke then records the name “Matthew” in his later list of the twelve disciples (Luke 6:15). A comparison of this story with the parallel one in Matthew 9:9-12 makes it clear (though not all agree) that it’s the same person, either because Jesus changed Levi’s name or Levi had a second name (just as Simon was known as Peter and Saul as Paul).

Once more, Mark gives us a little context that Luke leaves out. Here’s his version of the calling of Levi:

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. (Mark 2:13-14)

Mark has us picture Jesus walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, probably in or near Capernaum. A crowd gathers as usual, perhaps even more so after the healing of the paralytic. Jesus is walking along and teaching with the crowd in tow. He passes Levi’s booth, where Levi no doubt collects taxes from the fishermen and others visiting Capernaum, by land or sea, to do business.

This is not, of course, a story of physical healing. But as with the other stories, Jesus issues a command, and the results are immediate and complete. Matthew (we’ll call him that from now on) hears the command and obeys: he gets up, leaves everything behind, and follows Jesus.

Again we might ask: was this a complete cold call? Did Matthew have no idea who this man was but followed him anyway? That seems unlikely. If Matthew did business in Capernaum, he would have heard the stories. Not only that, but listen to how Mark’s version of the story continues:

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.  (Mark 2:15)

Did you get that? There were already other tax collectors and those considered to be “sinners” (as the Pharisees would have labeled them) who were already followers of Jesus. These were the friends and associates he invited to his home after he received his own call and joyfully threw a celebration dinner. And as we’ll see, the issue of who’s a sinner and what sinners need will continue to be a central theme in what happens next.

For now, we too can remember to celebrate. Jesus touches those whom others won’t touch, forgives those who need it, and sits down to share a table with those others would treat as outcasts. The only reason to not celebrate such grace is if we think we don’t need it.