The text tells us of the power which Christ exercised over the mind, the will, and the affections. "Follow Me, follow Me," and immediately he rose up, and followed Him. There was power power over the mind, power over the will, power over the affections; and that is the demonstration beyond all parallel that Christ is God. Now, about this Levi. We know very little about him, except that he was a Jew, a native of Galilee, and that he was a publican that is, a collector of the Roman taxes. Now for a Roman citizen to become a collector of the taxes upon the Jews was an offence to them, for it carried the conviction constantly to their minds that they were a subjugated people; but that a Jew should be so far recreant to the honour of his country and to the feeling of his people as to take office under the Roman government for such a purpose, it carried the conviction home still further. How did Levi come to follow Christ? There are four things that will help us to determine the reality of his conversion.
I. First, the change of occupation in obedience to Christ. The rule is to continue in that calling in which we were unless the providence of God, or some other reason, justifies the change. There are but two exceptions to this rule. The first is where the business in which a man is called, converted, is itself injurious to himself and his fellowmen. The other is where a man is called to a different field of labour.
II. The second evidence is the sacrifice endured. Levi sacrificed the source of his wealth. The publicans did get rich; he forsook it, gave it up. You know it takes grace to do that.
III. The third evidence is his identifying himself with Christ. He did not act as Nicodemus did, who said, "I will come round the corner at night;" nor like Joseph of Arimathæa, who was secretly a disciple. He was no neutral; he came right out, identified himself with Jesus Christ, to go where He went, and suffer or rejoice as He suffered or rejoiced.
IV. I have one more evidence his concern for his fellowmen. It is added, "He made a great feast in his own house, and there was a great company of publicans and others that sat down with them." Why did he make that feast? Levi understood human nature; he knew that more people would come to a feast than to a prayer meeting. He made a feast; he called the publicans to it; he designed to tell them why he had determined to quit that business. He made a public profession of religion. He had a hope that as he had experienced a saving benefit, so those others would also desire to share it with him. If any individual should bring in such evidences as Levi's in proof of his conversion, I take it that he would be received into the Church.
J. Patton, Christian World Pulpit,vol. vi., p. 120.