Chapter 27 - Levi-Matthew (Oratorio)

Описание: [Verse 1]
Among the names the people scorned,
No rank was held in lower view;
A taxman serving foreign rule,
Despised, rejected, cast askew.
Yet while the rabbis turned away,
One heart was stirred by truth and light;
He listened when the Teacher spoke,
And longed to walk within His sight.

[Verse 2]
At Levi’s post the call was made,
No sermon long, no warning given;
Just two clear words fell on his ear,
And all his former life was riven.
He rose at once, left wealth behind,
No bargain struck, no second plea;
It was enough to walk with Him
Who simply said, “Follow Me.”

[Chorus]
He did not come for those made whole,
Nor claim the proud who need no aid;
But for the sick, the lost, the bound,
For hearts in debt that could not pay.
“I will have mercy,” Jesus said,
“Not sacrifice or empty show;
I call the sinner, not the just—
Come, rise, and let the old life go.”

[Verse 3]
At Matthew’s house the table spread,
With friends once shunned by righteous men;
The Teacher took His place with them,
And spoke of life and hope again.
No rank was weighed, no past recalled,
No soul dismissed as beyond repair;
Where thirst was real and hearts were open,
Grace was poured with patient care.

[Verse 4]
The Pharisees looked on in scorn,
Their charge was cold, their tone severe:
“Why does your Master eat with these?”
They asked, to plant distrust and fear.
But Jesus spoke with steady grace:
“The sick, not whole, must seek the cure;
I came for those who know their need,
For hearts unclean, not self-secure.”

[Bridge]
They asked of fasts and hollow signs,
Of mourning worn as acts of worth;
He spoke of joy while He was near,
The gift of heaven sent to earth.
The Bridegroom stood among His friends—
This was no hour for grief or pain;
The days would come for tears and loss,
But not while He with them remained.

[Verse 5]
No patch could mend the worn-out cloth,
No old skin hold what must expand;
The living truth He came to bring
Could not be bound by human hands.
Traditions dry, once prized and kept,
Had left no room for life made new;
The wine of grace would break their form
If hearts refused what God would do.

[Final Chorus]
So Matthew rose and left it all,
As the fishermen had done before;
The same clear call, the same full cost,
For rich and poor alike once more.
Where Christ leads on, the faithful follow,
Counting all else as lesser gain;
For those who lose their life for Him
Will find it whole and free again.

[Outro]
He still seeks hearts made empty now,
Released from pride and self-control;
New wine requires a willing frame,
A yielded mind, a cleansed-out soul.
And those who hear His voice today,
As Levi did beside the road,
May rise, leave all, and walk with Him—
New vessels shaped to bear His word.


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