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Comparitive Bible Studies |
Levi, Paralleled |
Who Was Levi |
© 2002 by Cosmeta. |
Levi Remains,
Levi. |
Mark's Gospel |
Matthew's Version |
Luke's Version |
John's Version |
Chapter 2 14 And when he was passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alpheus sitting at the receipt of custom; and he saith to him: Follow me. And rising up, he followed him. 15 And it came to pass, that as he sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat down together with Jesus and his disciples. For they were many, who also followed him. (Mk 2:14,15) |
Chapter 9 9 And when Jesus passed on from thence, he saw a man sitting in the custom house, named Matthew; and he saith to him: Follow me: And he rose up and followed him. 10 And it came to pass as he was sitting at meat in the house, behold many publicans and sinners came, and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. (Mt 9:9,10) |
Chapter 5 27 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom, and he said to him: Follow me. 28 And leaving all things, he rose up and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house; and there was a great company of publicans, and of others, that were at table with them. (Lu 5:27-29) |
(Omitted) |
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Author's Notations Concerning the Big Cover-Up When reading Mark's Gospel, the placement of Levi would make him the fifth disciple. We can also glean from Mark's Gospel that Jesus went to Levi's house. This would mean that Jesus followed Levi home and not the other way around. For remember, a few passages later, when Jesus' mother and brothers and sisters were calling him (Jesus) home, he refused to go. (Mk 3:31-35). This must have been some cause for concern for biblical scholars. Notice that the author of Matthew's version has sought to change Levi's name to Matthew; while the author of Luke's Version assigns him the position of publican. John's fourth solves the problem by omitting both names from his account. The question remains: Why did Jesus go to the receipt of customs? Was it to pay his taxes, or his mother's? If so, then isn't it possible that Levi were doing the same. In other words, the question becomes, why was Levi sitting down at the receipt of customs? Was he really a tax collector as some have supposed, or was he merely doing what Jesus did: paying his taxes. Still, there is a larger question that needs to be addressed. If Jesus went to Levi's house and sat down with others, is it possible that both Levi and Jesus formed some sort of alliance and that the remaining disciples were of Levi's clan. For soon after, Mark gives out a complete list of the twelve. (Mk 3:18). Where did they come from we would ask? The answer, might very well be, that the remaining seven were disciples of Levi's and that they were not fishermen but publicans or sinners or a combination of both. Truly, cause for concern. It concerns us, because then the word publican might also have been a latter-day insert; and one inserted in Luke's Version in an attempt to correct Matthew's version; yet in so doing, it corrupted Mark's Gospel instead. Yet ironically, as we read the Matthewian version, Levi's name is not there. Instead we find the name of Matthew and in the seveth position relative to Simon. We also notice that at this meeting Jesus's changes his name to Peter. He assigns a new name to James and John also. Yet strangely enough, we do not see Levi's name changed to Matthew and we do wonder why. Is this an error on the part the author of Mark's Gospel, an ommission or oversight? Or is it possible, that biblical scholars have sought to make Mark's Gospel fall in line with the author of Matthew's version. If so, then it becomes even more imperative that we place Mark's Gospel first when doing a comparison. In this manner we can find the interpolations and the deceptions; of words that were either added or omitted. Ultimately, the question becomes: Why would Jesus befriend Roman publicans? For surely this is not right. We find a partial answer in Mark, chapter 2, verse 17, where he says of his Jesus: , "I come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." In other words, according to Mark's Gospel, Jesus' seven disciples acquired at Levi's house were sinners. Our conclusion is this: Levi should remain Levi. And based upon the 'Priority of Mark'. The question remains, however, if Jesus met Levi at the house of custom and then later on went to Levi's home; did they leave after they paid their taxes or before? In other words, we ask: Why was Levi and his associates called sinners; not only by the scribes of the Pharisees but by Jesus also? (Mk 2:16,17). And why cover-up by calling them publicans instead? We may never know; but one thing is certain, something very important happened at that meeting; something that eventually led Jesus up into the mountains where he gathered the twelve. |
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