Another Scandal
Matthew 9:9-13
Just in case you haven’t heard, this is a presidential election year. It looks like we know who the major candidates will be. Now, we are waiting for them to announce their choice of running mate, that person whom they wish to serve as vice-president, that person who will be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Years ago, when Nelson Rockefeller was chosen to be Gerald Ford’s VP, reporters asked him if he had given up on being president. He quipped, “Well, I’ve never been closer.”
Though we sometimes joke about how little the Vice-President has to do, we know it is an important position. The choice of a running mate may even influence who votes for or against the presidential candidate. You can be sure Senators McCain and Obama will try to find a running mate who is popular in his or her own right, who brings a kind of balance to the ticket, and, above all, who has no scandalous baggage, nothing to reflect negatively on the campaign. If that’s important when choosing a potential Vice-President, how important is it should you be choosing those who will help you start a spiritual revolution?
If avoiding negative opinion were the criterion Jesus used in choosing his closest associates, his apostles, Matthew would have never made anyone’s short list.
Nothing here or in Mark and Luke’s accounts of the event suggest Jesus had any previous contact with Matthew (also known as Levi). Jesus appears to have simply passed by the tax-booth where Matthew was working and said, “Follow me.” It’s hard to know which is more amazing, Matthew’s response or Jesus’ invitation.
Maybe we may assume Matthew had heard something about the remarkable Teacher and Healer who was making such an impact wherever he went. Perhaps that is why he was so eager to learn more. Whatever Matthew’s motives for closing shop and following Jesus, had we been living in that first century world we would have found Jesus’ invitation the most shocking.
Though we know they are necessary, most of us moan at least a little about paying taxes. We may complain that the government too many of our tax dollars much money studying squirrel dandruff and not enough keeping schools in repair, but most of us don’t believe the tax-collector is a reprobate.
It was a different story in first-century Galilee and Judea.
The word translated as “tax-collector” in the Gospels can refer to the officials collecting taxes for Rome or to those collecting custom taxes for Herod. Some Bible scholars believe Zacchaeus, of tree-climbing fame, worked for the Romans and Matthew worked for Herod. Either way, tax collectors were hated.
• Their methods were little short of extortion. They bled people dry to please their masters and enrich themselves.
• Their work financed the extravagant lifestyles of the elite, lifestyles that often involved immoral behavior.
• They were looked upon as traitors to the Jewish people, whether they worked for the hated Romans or for the half-breed usurper Herod.
In Jewish writings of the day, they were often associated with thieves, notorious sinners, and were considered “unclean” because of their work.
In short, a tax collector was just the kind of person you’d expect a religious leader to avoid at all cost.
Jesus doesn’t.
Before we talk more about that, perhaps there’s question we need to consider. Why would Matthew, who also bore the unmistakably Jewish name Levi, become a tax collector? One commentator suggests the Jews viewed tax collectors the same way the French viewed Nazi collaborators during World War II. Why would he enter such a despised profession? We can only speculate on an answer.
• Like most of us, Matthew probably knew there are some things money can’t buy. But, like most of us, he probably also knew there are some things only money can buy. A tax collector could become wealthy. The story suggests Matthew may have done well in his profession. He could afford to host a banquet at a moment’s notice.
• Perhaps Matthew sought prestige. The local tax collector was a man of influence in the community. He possessed power. Some ancient writers report that tax collectors could have delinquent clients beaten if they didn’t pay promptly. That kind of power appeals to some people.
• Perhaps he liked rubbing shoulders with the authorities. Though he might have been a small one, he was, nevertheless, a cog in the machinery of government. Whenever the Romans or Herod built a new building, the tax collector could say, “My work helped make that possible.”
As I said, we’re just speculating. We don’t know what led him to become a tax collector, to flaunt the traditions of his people. We just know that he seemed content to remain in that profession until he met a wandering teacher from Galilee.
It’s unlikely Matthew and Jesus had met before but it is also likely that Matthew had heard something about Jesus. Matthew’s Gospel is not necessarily as chronological as Mark’s but both agree that Jesus was slowly gaining fame in the region, fame for his teaching and fame for his miracles. After one such miracle, the people agreed, "We have never seen anything like this!"
Perhaps, in the aftermath of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew had heard one of the little stories Jesus had told. It went something like this:
24 “Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. 26 Everyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house, and it fell with a big crash.”
That’s just speculation, but maybe Matthew had been asking himself about the foundation on which he was building his life. We never know when a person may be open to considering a change, when a person may realize that making a u-turn is preferred to pursuing the path that is no longer fulfilling, when a person may yearn for a greater purpose.
We don’t know what thoughts may have been in Matthew’s mind, but we know that, when the opportunity came, he left his well paying position and followed Jesus.
He took Jesus to his home and called some his friends over. We see this same behavior mirrored in those new Christians who can’t wait to tell their friends about Jesus. Many other “tax collectors and sinner” came to this party and ate with Jesus and his disciples. It must have been quite a party. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were already following Jesus when Matthew joined their ranks. Though these fishermen were not among the religious elite, I doubt they had ever been around people like these. Older commentaries used to suggest that the term “sinners” meant Matthew’s friends were common people who didn’t follow all the elaborate hand-washing rituals and other practices the scribes and Pharisees thought were so important. If that were so, the disciples themselves might sometimes fall under that indictment. More recent commentators believe “sinners” refers to “sinners in a more blatant sense.”
Jesus’ disciples eventually may have learned to relax in this situation, but the Pharisees were incensed by what was going on. The Pharisees didn’t eat with this crew, but they seemed to have been able to watch the proceedings. It may have been in an outdoor setting of some kind. Anyway they saw the camaraderie between Jesus and these outcasts and didn’t like it. In their view, Jesus was sullying his reputation just by sharing a meal with such people.
The Pharisees knew it was important to call people to faith, but they seem to have preferred pursuing the better sort of sinner.
Rather than complain to Jesus directly, the Pharisees complained to his disciples, in effect, “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riff-raff?” Jesus, no doubt as the Pharisees intended, overheard this and recognized it for what it was, a challenge which demanded a verbal response. Jesus played along.
First, he quoted a proverb popular in that day: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” A cardiologist friend of me once told me that pathologists wanted the prestige of being doctors but didn’t want to be around sick people. Jesus didn’t mind being around “sick people.” In fact, Jesus seemed to be saying the only way to heal the sickest of people is to be willing to be with them. The Pharisees (and those in their tradition) believed it best to keep their distance so the “sinners” wouldn’t influence them. Jesus believed he needed to be near the sinners so he could influence them.
Second, Jesus quoted the Scripture. He quoted the Old Testament book of Hosea, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” Hosea’s message was about the depth and breadth of God’s love. His own life dramatically reflected how God loved his people. Hosea’s wife left him to become a prostitute. In an act of gracious love, Hosea took her back. Jesus’ words imply that these “Bible scholars” knew nothing about the prophet’s message of love and his insistence that a relationship with God is more important than ritual. The people Jesus pursued might never learn the right time and way to wash their hands, but they could have a relationship with God.
In the end, this is not a story about Matthew, it is a story about Jesus.
Jesus can give new potential to a life that has been poorly invested.
Matthew’s life before meeting Jesus seems to have been invested in making money and pursuing the prestige and power his position gave him. In the end, it wasn’t enough.
Jesus changed that. Matthew became one of Jesus’ apostles, one of his closest followers. His life was no longer about making money; it was about changing lives. The man who had disdained Jewish tradition would eventually write the most Jewish of the Gospels.
Jesus saw value in those others had devalued.
We don’t like to admit we ever think like the Pharisees, but sometimes we assume some people are beyond redemption. We discount them. Jesus never thought that way. A. B. Bruce described Jesus’ approach to others. He said, Jesus “was entirely indifferent to men’s antecedents.” A person’s past would never stop Jesus from seeing a person’s worth.
That view of people fits with Jesus’ understanding of his mission: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
Conclusion
This year’s presidential candidates are going to try hard to pick running mates untouched by scandal.
Those of us who are sinners can be grateful that Jesus didn’t mind moving from one scandal to another. We can thank God he was willing to be a friend of sinners.
