Luke records the story of Levi, who became one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. His is a remarkable story. We are told that Jesus “went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth” (5:27).

The fact that Levi was a tax collector tells us two things about him. The first is that he was brilliant. He was likely an educated man who spoke three languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. He would have been a skilled accountant who kept meticulous records.

Second, Levi was part of a system riddled with corruption. Tax collectors were local people who worked for the Roman regime. They were hated because they collaborated with the oppression of Roman rule and because they were notorious for extortion.

Why would anyone collaborate with the oppressor? Well, there was a great deal of money to be made. Tax collectors could add a surcharge that they kept for themselves.

Levi had chosen a path for making a lot of money and enjoying a comfortable life. He had no conscience about adding to the burden on his neighbour to make life better for himself.

We are told that Jesus “saw” this man “sitting at the tax booth” (5:27). Jesus saw him in action. What the tax collectors did was a breach of the eighth commandment, “You shall not steal”; the ninth commandment, “You shall not give false witness”; and the tenth commandment, “You shall not covet what belongs to your neighbour” (Ex. 20:15–17).

Levi was actively engaged in breaking the commandments of God, as much as a man robbing a bank, lying in court, or taking another person’s life. But Jesus said to this man, “Follow me.”

How would you have reacted to this man taking advantage of poor and vulnerable people?

Jesus never endorsed or promoted violence. The gospel can never advance by violence or conquest. So, what did Jesus mean when He said that He came to bring a sword? The meaning of any passage of Scripture will often become clearer when we look at the context.

What went before
Jesus said to His disciples, “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake” (Mat. 10:17-18). The sword is in the hands of those who oppose Jesus, and it is raised against His disciples.

What comes after
Then Jesus told His disciples that those who oppose us will include some in our own families. “I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother… And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Mat. 10:35-36).

Perhaps you have a son or a daughter who has walked away from faith in Jesus. And now there is a tension between you. The effect of the coming of Jesus has been a distancing between you and someone you love!

Think about this in the life of Mary. At the temple, Simeon said to her, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also)” (Lk. 2:34-35).

How Mary must have grieved over the hatred of the world toward Jesus. The coming of Jesus brought a sword that pierced the soul of Mary. His coming will bring a sword for us too.

How have you experienced a “sword” against you because of Jesus?

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace” (Mat. 10:34), but these words are really good news. Here’s why: God has promised that one day, there will be peace. Crime and violence will cease. A world of wars will give way to a world of love.

When will that day come? “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples… nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Is. 2:4).

When will there be peace on earth? When God judges between the nations and decides disputes for many peoples. The Bible refers to this as “the Day of the Lord.”

When Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace,” He is saying, “The Day of the Lord has not yet come.” If Jesus had come to judge between nations, He would not have come as a baby. He would have appeared in a blaze of glory, with an army of angels.

So here is the most basic question of Christmas: Why was Jesus born as a baby? Because He did not come to “judge between the nations” or “decide disputes for many peoples.”

He did not come to judge the world, but to save it. He came to make a way in which sinners like us (who would never be qualified to enter the world of peace and righteousness that He will bring) might be saved.

He was born as a baby, He went to the cross, and He rose from the dead so that when He does come to judge and settle disputes, we may be saved.

Aren’t you glad that when Jesus came into the world the first time He came as a baby, instead of in power and glory?

Jesus, the master teacher, again anticipates a misunderstanding. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.” It would be entirely natural for those who believe in Jesus to think that was why He came.

God had promised a day when a Messiah would come, a child would be born, a son would be given. The government would be on His shoulders, and His name would be “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6).

When Jesus was born, angels said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace” (Lk. 2:14). So, it would be natural for believers then and now to think that the coming of Jesus should mean peace on earth. But Jesus says, “Don’t expect that. Do not think that I have come to bring peace.”

We need to hear these words of Jesus. Two thousand years have passed since He was born, years filled with wars and violence. When we sing Christmas carols and hear the angels’ song about peace on earth, we might reasonably think, These are nice sentiments, but they are a long way from the world in which we live today.

If Jesus came to bring peace, the last two thousand years have been a spectacular failure. But Jesus is clear: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.” If you thought that the birth of Jesus would lead to a world of peace, that would be a misunderstanding.

If you are honest, have you found yourself feeling disappointed that Jesus has not brought peace to the world?

This is good news. The reason Jesus came is that you may be able to live a new life that is pleasing to God. And this life is made possible for you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A man was serving time for theft. In prison, he heard the good news of Jesus Christ and was wonderfully converted.

When he was released, the man knew that he would face a great struggle. Most of his old friends were thieves, and it would not be easy to break the pattern of his old way of life.

On his first Sunday of freedom, he slipped into a church. The Ten Commandments were on a plaque at the front, and his eyes were drawn to the command that seemed to condemn him: “You shall not steal.”

That’s the last thing that I need, he thought. I know the battle I’m going to have. As he kept looking at the plaque, the words took on a new meaning.

He had read these words as a condemning command: “You shall not steal!” But now it seemed that God was speaking these same words as a liberating promise: “You shall not steal.” God was promising that the Holy Spirit would make it possible to overcome his old way of life.

When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God will give you His Holy Spirit so that you can live a life that is pleasing to Him. His power will make the difference between a struggle in which you are destined for defeat and a battle in which you will have ultimate victory.

In what area of your life do you need to believe God’s promise of victory through the power of the Holy Spirit?

It is a wonderful truth that Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law for us. But what Paul says here is that God sent His Son into the world so “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.”

How is that possible? How can you live the life to which God calls you? Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding of the gospel is that Jesus was simply a good moral teacher who told us how to live. And that if we want to please God, we must follow His teaching.

Maybe you are saying to yourself, “If I really focus and exercise self-discipline, I can live a life that’s pleasing to God.” That’s what the Pharisees did. But if you try this, you’ll soon find that it is unsustainable.

You are trying to be something that you are not, and sooner or later, you will say, “I can’t do this anymore. I have to do what I really want to do.”

The only way you can live the life to which Christ calls you is if righteousness becomes your deepest desire. That is why Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” You are trying to live a righteous life, but unless the Holy Spirit brings you to a new birth, you “cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).

Christ calls you to pursue a life of love, a righteous life, and that is only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Have you been trying to please God in your own power?

This is an astonishing statement. The scribes and the Pharisees devoted their entire lives to the pursuit of righteousness. How could our righteousness ever exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees?

Jesus was scathing in His critique of the Pharisees, first, because their righteousness was arrogant. The Pharisees liked to pray where they could be seen. Jesus said to His disciples, “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (6:6).

The Pharisees liked people to know what they were giving. Jesus said to His disciples, “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (6:3–4).

Then Jesus was critical of the Pharisees because their righteousness was external. “You clean the outside of the cup... but inside they are full of greed and self–indulgence” (23:25). Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

It would be easy to say, “This is why we need to trust Jesus as Saviour, so we will have His perfect righteousness, which is far better than that of the Pharisees.” This, of course, is true. But it’s not what Jesus is saying here.

Jesus is calling His disciples to the pursuit of a righteous life, a righteousness that is better than the Pharisees, a righteousness that is humble and that comes from the heart.

Can you see some ways in which the righteousness that you are pursuing may be arrogant or external?