The Call of Matthew

Let's examine the text in Mark's gospel that focuses on the beautiful story of the redemption of Matthew, a tax collector and traitor to the Jewish people.

Mark 2:13-17  Then Jesus went out again beside the sea.  The whole crowd was coming to Him, and He taught them.  Then, moving on, He saw Levite son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!”  So he got up and followed Him. Dining with Sinners.  While He was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also guests with Jesus and His disciples, because there were many who were following Him.  When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”   When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  NKJV

Matthew's Background

The calling of Matthew takes place in Capernaum, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Matthew is a customs collector, considered by the Jews to be the most corrupt position imaginable.  Jews were forbidden to take this kind of job, as it was essentially an institutionalized form of extortion. Matthew had "bid" for the right to tax trade coming into and going out of northern Israel.  Whatever amount he could collect above the set amount by the Romans was his to keep.  Rome did not have any restrictions about how Matthew would collect the taxes, and even supported him with the force of soldiers to seize property and incarcerate people unwilling or unable to pay the customs fee. 

Matthew the Traitor

Matthew had forsaken his family, his honor and reputation, his social standing and identity as a Jew with access to the synagogue, all for money.  Imagine the sorrow his family felt that could no longer associate with him or let him participate in family events like weddings and funerals.  This separation was absolute within Jewish society, to the point the only people Matthew could call as friends were other tax collectors and prostitutes.  Jews considered tax collectors traitors to Israel and people in the market were not to associate with them.  It was actually considered morally upright according to Rabbinical teaching to try and cheat on taxes paid to Rome.

Jesus Meets Matthew Where He Is

When Jesus called Matthew to join him, he is being asked to forsake his only possible source of income for the rest of his life.  No one in "polite" society would ever hire him or buy goods from him.  He would still be banned from public ceremonies at the synagogue and family events.  There is no job waiting for him now at the toll booth since he had deserted his post.  He left everything physically in this world to follow Jesus.

He had nothing but Christ…Yet he had everything.  From his poverty and desperation, he had joy and wanted everyone to know he had been "reborn" as a new creation in Christ.  He throws a "birthday party," publicizing his commitment to Jesus as a sign of respect.

Everybody Is a Critic

But the Pharisees who are following Jesus everywhere now are morally complacent.  They don't care that Matthew has repented of his past life.  The Pharisees can only criticize the company Matthew and now Jesus keeps. They feel that they would be infected if they were exposed to "sinners" and would not associate with such people.  They consider themselves righteous and not needing moral healing as Matthew did.  They judged sinners without mercy, only concerning themselves with the outward appearance of righteousness that involves following detailed rules and rituals.

We are sent into a fallen world to reflect the light of Christ. And while the world is clearly full of evil and already condemned, it is not our job to dispense the penalty.  We often fail to read the "rest of the passage" where Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus his purpose for coming to the world:

John 3:16-21 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 

Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God. “This, then, is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  NKJV

The Lesson for Us

Don't be so protective of your "good" reputation that you fear to associate with and show compassion to the despised and morally fallen in our midst.  They may be used to do great things for the Lord if they receive and respond to the gospel.

Knowing Matthew was chief among sinners, he was called to write one of the Gospels detailing the life of Jesus to the Jews.  Great sin and scandal in someone's prior life, if addressed fully and repented of, doesn't have to be an obstacle to someone being a useful member of the Kingdom of God.  Redemption is God's specialty.  Pardon to the greatest sinners often yields the greatest love. 

Even as Matthew was celebrating his new life in Jesus, he invited dozens, maybe hundreds to his party where they were able to meet Jesus in person. Imagine the impact that made on their lives.  And none of this hope ever would have come from the "righteous" pharisees.  In fact, the Pharisees stood condemned by Jesus as having a faulty perception of who is righteous and who is not.

_____________________

Scripture citations are from:  New King James Version®. (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson