Someone said, you never could take your money with you, but
some can remember when the government would let you keep
some while you were still here. It is hard for many to believe that
our country was founded partly to avoid taxation. As bad as taxes
are, however, only two classes of people ever complain-men and
women. Taxes are nothing new, however. The Romans had just
about every tax we do today, and they were heavy. Rome needed
taxes because she built the best road system the world had ever
seen. Some of the roads built in New Testament times are still in
use today. Trade was booming because of the road system.
Soldiers patrolled the roads to protect travellers from bandits.
To maintain this system and highway patrol protection, plus build
government buildings, town halls, baths and stadiums, there was a
need for many taxes.
They taxed one tenth of crops of grain, one fifth of produce of
wine, oil, and fruit, plus they had an income tax of one percent.
On top of this, they had a poll tax for men 14 to 65 and women 12to 65.
This was one denarius a year, which was the wages of an
average man for one day. Then, of course, there were the import-export
taxes, the road taxes, the harbor taxes, and the tax for the
use of the market place. Custom officers were stationed
everywhere to collect these taxes, and they had the power to be
very unjust. It is known that some levied taxes so high the trader
could not pay, and so the tax collector would loan him the money
for his tax at a high interest rate. It was literal highway robbery.
This tax burden and the abused power of the tax collector has
survived into the modern day. Charles Brown, the dean of Yale
Divinity School, went to Palestine years ago when it was under
Turkish control. He talked to a farmer in Jericho who told him he
was required to place his harvested crop of wheat in ten stacks.
He made them as even as possible because the tax collector had
the right to come and select one of the ten for the state. To get the
tax collector to come and make his selection he had to give the
collector another of the ten stacks for his personal fee. Then to
get a paper signed permitting him to thresh his crop he had to
give another stack in final payment.
This same kind of oppression was going on in New Testament
days, and the Jews despised it, and everyone connected with it.
The Jews were not opposed to taxes, but, as a theocracy, they felt
only a God appointed man had the right to collect taxes. They did
not mind supporting their government, but the objected to the
support of a foreign government. Those who cooperated with the
Romans were considered traitors to Israel. They were so hated
that their money was not accepted in the temple. Their word was
of no value in court, and they were listed by the Jews along with
harlots and murderers. Even the Romans themselves did not
respect the tax collector. Cicero said that it was a trade
unbecoming to a gentleman, and it was vulgar. Lucian listed them
with a adulterous, informers, and money-lenders. All in all it was
a class of people highly unlikely to contribute anyone to a
religious movement, and yet Jesus chose one of these tax collectors
to be one of His 12 select men.
Matthew the publican was chosen long before the only Pharisee
Jesus ever chose as an Apostle, which was Paul. Matthew, or Levi
as he is called, also had potential which no one else would have
ever tried to discover, but Jesus not only discovered it, He
developed an used it. When Matthew left his tax booth he took his
pen with him, and was used of God to record words of Jesus which
we would otherwise not have, and be much the poorer. The
Sermon on the Mount being just one of the major examples.
In 1844 a New Testament scholar visited the monestery of St.
Catherine on Mt. Sinai. While there he saw some papers in a
basket. His eye detected Greek characters which turned out to be
the famous manuscript of the Bible called Codex Sinaiticus. It
was a copy that dated back to the 4th century. To the monks
there it was just an old Bible of no value, but to the scholar it was
a priceless discovery. So it was with Matthew the publican. To his
own people he was a worthless Jew; a disgrace to his nation, and
of no value at all, but to Jesus he was so precious that he chose him
to be one of the foundation stones of the New Israel-the Church.
Jesus did not select His 12 according to any standard of social
acceptance of His day. He chose men of any class or position who
had depth of character and commitment. In His selection of
Matthew we noticed that He chose a man who was successful and
wealthy. We know this because he had a house and was able to
throw a big party in it for Jesus and His disciples, plus a large
number of old friends who were publicans and sinners. The
Scripture stresses how big this affair was. It was probably the
largest social event Jesus ever attended, and the news of it spread
so that the Scribes and Pharisees complained of his eating with tax
collectors and sinners. In Luke 5:29 we read, "Levi made him a
great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax
collectors and others sitting at table with them."
Matthew was obviously a leader among his class of despised
people, and he was well liked if they would all come to his party.
The point we want to notice again is that Jesus did not call a dozen
loafers to be His key men. He called men who had already
demonstrated their ability in the secular world. Matthew had
achieved success in his profession, as did Peter, Andrew, James
and John in the fishing business. As far as we know everyone of
the 12 were in middle and upper middle class of the society of that
day. Often we like to emphasize that Jesus took a bunch of poor
nobodies and turned them into dynamic leaders. He can and has
done it, but when He chose men for the foundation of His church
He chose the best He could find. We are not being honest with the
facts of Scripture if we do not recognize that the men Jesus chose
were sharp men in their field.
Another factor that is common in the selections Jesus made is
the way He chose sets of brothers. Peter and Andrew were
brothers; James and John were brothers, and now we come to
Matthew who also had a brother who was one of 12. In Mark 2:14
we read, "As he passed on he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting
at the tax office, and he said to him, follow me, and he rose and
followed Him." Mark gives us the same quick picture of a call to
discipleship without any detail as to the background just as he did
in the call of the fisherman. We know, however, from John's
Gospel that a great deal of background took place beforehand.
We can be confident that this was true with Matthew as well. We
don't know the story of that background, but Jesus must have had
frequent contact with Matthew and his family, for Matthew is
called the son of Alphaeus, and the other Apostle named James is
in Matthew , Mark, Luke, and Acts, always listed as James the son
of Alphaeus.
This is no doubt to distinguish him from James the son of
Zebedee and brother of John. It also links Matthew and this
James together as another set of brothers. It is not impossible it is
only a coincidence that they both had fathers of the same name,
but the pattern of Jesus makes it probable that Jesus got into that
family and won both boys to Himself, just as He did with other
families. Jesus seemed to specialize in brothers. The result was
that He had a close knit group from the start. He had a natural
loyalty to build on from the beginning. What a joy this must have
been to Alphaeus the father of Matthew. Remember, Matthew
was a despised outcast by the establishment, and the majority of
respected citizens. Matthew had sold his patriotism down the
drain because he wanted to make money at any cost.
Matthew represents the millions who long to make a fortune,
and are willing to forsake all other values to do it. Matthew was
money hungry, and the path he took cut him off from his people,
and alienated him from the institutions of Israel's faith. Matthew
said the religion of Israel irrelevant, but making money and
friends in the world, and getting somewhere is all that counts.
Yet, though he made his decision, and was doing quite well, he was
not satisfied. You can just imagine Matthew at that big feast
giving his testimony. There can be no doubt that he did so, for he
was leaving his old life to follow Jesus, and he wanted to tell his old
gang why. He had gained all he could ask for in terms of wealth,
success, and fame among his class of people. Yet, he was empty.
The story of Matthew is repeated in lives everyday. Boswell said to
Johnson as they went through the mansion of
Lord Scarsdale, "One would think the proprietor of all this must
be happy." "No sir," replied Johnson, "All this excludes but one
evil-poverty." That is the only evil Matthew escaped, and it cost
him more than it was worth, and he knew it, and Jesus knew that
he knew it. Jesus knew that sometimes your best potential is in
people outside the institution of the church. Sometimes a rebel is
so valuable just because he has broken away, and found the world
so empty, and is hungry to find his way back into the real
experience of commitment. Matthew was not in the pig pen like
the Prodigal, but he was just as empty and hungry.
Matthew was a rebel who had fulfilled his dream in the world,
and who realized it was not satisfying. He calls himself the
publican, however, in his Gospel, because he rejoices that he is a
trophy of grace. He had quite a testimony in his giving up success
in the world to follow Jesus. Matthew's Gospel reveals clearly the
authors personal experience. Matthew is the only one who
records the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great
price. These so fit him that he could never forget them. The story
of a man hunting for something, and then finally finding it in
Christ, describes Matthew perfectly.
It is also in Matthew that we find such text as, "You cannot
serve God and mammon." That was the decision he had to make.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be
added unto you," is only in Matthew. How it fits him. Or, "What
is a man profited, if he gain the whole world and lose his own
soul." That is the very thing Matthew almost did. How it must
have poured out of him as he wrote for others to read the words of
Christ which had been so relevant to his own life. There are
many more that reveal the author was very conscious of the
dangers of the love of money.
Matthew became a zealous Bible reader, for his Gospel has 65
quotes from the Old Testament. It is the first Gospel, and it
bridges the gap between the Old Testament and the New
Testament. Tradition says that for 15 years Matthew preached to
the Jews. He is the most Jewish of the Gospel writers, and aims at
Jewish conversions. Matthew forsook Israel to get rich, but Jesus
called him to forsake his riches to be a missionary to Israel. He
had already learned to be hated by the Jews for being a money
hungry collaborator with Rome, so he had no problem in
adjusting to be hated for being an Apostle of Christ. All the hate
and ridicule he faced in his old life prepared him to be a bold
witness for Jesus.
It is interesting how little things can reveal a factor in a man's
character. Matthew was a humble man, and one who, no doubt,
felt inferior to the other Apostles who had never deserted Israel as
he had. In Mark and Luke the Apostles are listed with Matthew
and Thomas, in that order. But in Matthew's Gospel it is Thomas
and then Matthew. This is an incidental witness to the author's
humility. You need to know the author of the part of the Bible you
are studying, for this gives you the perspective from which you are
seeing his revelation.
Traditions vary as to where and how Matthew died. Some say
in a Arabia, and others in Ethiopia. Some say he died by the
sword, but the Greek church uses fire as a symbol of Matthew,
because they believe he died a martyr by burning. All we know
for sure is that this ex-tax-collector became a profitable servant of
Christ; teaching us to never underestimate the potential of any
worldly person for the kingdom of God. When ever you see an
ambitious, materialistic, money hungry man, remember Matthew,
and do not despise him, but pray and labor for his conversion.
Like Matthew, he can become as zealous for the Master as he
formerly was for money.
