“RELIGION IS MAN-MADE; THE GOSPEL IS GOD GIVEN. RELIGION IS WHAT MAN DOES FOR GOD; THE GOSPEL IS WHAT GOD DOES FOR MAN. RELIGION IS GOOD VIEWS; THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS.
RELIGION IS AN OUTER REFORMATION; THE GOSPEL ENDS IN AN INNER TRANSFORMATION. RELIGION OFTEN BECOMES A FARCE; THE GOSPEL IS ALWAYS A FORCE -- THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION.
JESUS SEES SOMEONE WHO NEEDS SUCH A GOSPEL. A MAN WHO IS PROBABLY DESPISED AS MUCH AS HE. A MAN WHO NEEDS INNER TRANSFORMATION AND WHO HAS THE ABILITY TO PRESENT THE GOSPEL IN SUCH A WAY FOR IT TO BE A FORCE –THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION.
THE MAN JESUS HAD HIS EYES ON WAS LEVI. JESUS WAS WATCHING LEVI AS HE FED COINS INTO A ROMAN TAX BOX THAT HELD THE COLLECTED FUNDS OF TARIFFS AND OTHER TAXABLE ITEMS. IT WAS LEVI’S JOB TO RECORD EACH TAX, ITS PURPOSE, AND THE NAME OF THE TAXPAYER.
WHILE LEVI’S ACCURACY WAS INTRIGUING, JESUS FOUND THE TAX COLLECTOR’S BUSINESS METHODS FAR LESS NOTEWORTHY. AT BEST, THEY WERE MOSTLY DISHONEST AND HYPOCRITICAL.
BUT JESUS’ PURSUIT FOR LEVI’S HEART HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MATERIAL FORCES SURROUNDING THE TAX COLLECTOR’S LIFE. INSTEAD, IT WAS CENTERED ON LEVI’S ETERNAL FUTURE.
JESUS KNEW THE TRUTH ABOUT LEVI, JUST AS HE DOES ABOUT EACH ONE OF US. HE KNEW OF LEVI’S PRIVATE STRUGGLES – HIS HEARTACHES AND INSECURITIES.
HE WAS AWARE OF THE TIMES LEVI STRUGGLED WITH FEELINGS OF FEAR AND LONELINESS. HE ALSO UNDERSTOOD THE TEARS LEVI CRIED WHEN NO ONE ELSE WAS NEAR.
JESUS WAS ABLE TO DISCERN THE HIDDEN LONGING OF LEVI’S HEART – A LONGING THAT CRIED OUT TO BE LOVED AND ACCEPTED BY GOD. JESUS KNEW LEVI’S NEEDS AND HE WAS DETERMINED TO SEE THEM SATISFIED.
JUST REMEMBER THAT TAX COLLECTORS WERE AMONG THE MOST DESPISED INDIVIDUALS IN JEWISH SOCIETY. THEY WERE VIEWED AS TRAITORS AND WERE HARSHLY TREATED AS SOCIAL OUTCASTS BECAUSE THEY HAD "SOLD THEMSELVES" TO THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT BY AGREEING TO COLLECT TAXES FROM OTHER JEWS.
AN EVEN GREATER REJECTION CAME AS THE RESULT OF THEIR CONSTANT CONTACT WITH GENTILES AND THEIR LACK OF WORSHIP AND SACRIFICE IN THE TEMPLE.
FOR THESE REASONS, JESUS KNEW HIS DECISION TO ADD LEVI TO HIS BAND OF DISCIPLES WOULD NOT BE A POPULAR ONE – CERTAINLY NOT WITH THE PHARISEES WHO WATCHED HIS EVERY MOVE, OR WITH THE DISCIPLES WHO WERE ALREADY FOLLOWING HIM.
BUT JESUS WAS NOT INTERESTED IN SATISFYING POPULAR OPINION. HIS ONLY INTEREST WAS TO DO THE WILL OF GOD, AND LEVI WOULD RECEIVE THE CALL.
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF YOURSELF AS BEING CALLED OR CHOSEN BY GOD? EVERYONE HAS A CALLING! WE ARE CALLED BY GOD TO LOVE AND SERVE HIM. WE ARE CHOSEN TO BE WITNESSES OF HIS LOVE AND FORGIVENESS TO A LOST AND A DYING WORLD.
LEVI WAS NO DIFFERENT. REGARDLESS OF HIS PAST FAILURES, AND IN SPITE OF HIS PRESENT LIFESTYLE, GOD REACHED OUT TO HIM AND OFFERED HIM THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE.
IN CALLING LEVI, JESUS DID SOMETHING THAT HE HAD DONE BEFORE: HE CHANGED LEVI’S NAME. NO ONE KNOWS WHEN THIS CHANGED OCCURRED, BUT WE CAN IMAGINE IT CAME QUICKLY BECAUSE OF LEVI’S OBEDIENT RESPONSE TO JESUS’ INVITATION.
MARK 2:14, "[JESUS] SAW LEVI THE SON OF ALPHAEUS SITTING IN THE TAX BOOTH, AND HE SAID TO HIM, ‘FOLLOW ME!’ AND [MATTHEW] GOT UP AND FOLLOWED HIM."
MATTHEW, WHICH MEANS "THE GIFT OF GOD," WAS THE NAME JESUS CHOSE FOR HIS NEW DISCIPLE. LEVI WAS HIS JEWISH NAME. IT SPOKE OF HIS EARTHLY HERITAGE, WHILE THE NAME MATTHEW DESCRIBES HIS ETERNAL LEGACY.
THE DECISION TO LEAVE THE THINGS THAT WERE FAMILIAR AND COMFORTABLE MUST HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT FOR MATTHEW, BUT IT WAS NECESSARY.
WHILE HIS LIFE WAS FAR FROM BEING SOCIALLY INVITING, THE INCOME MATTHEW MADE COLLECTING TAXES WAS SUBSTANTIAL AND PROBABLY PROVIDED A COMFORTABLE EXISTENCE.
STILL, SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR LEVI GOT UP AND LEFT HIS FORMER OCCUPATION WITHOUT EVEN TAKING THE TIME TO LOOK BACK!
MATTHEW DISCOVERED, AS DID PETER, JOHN, AND ANDREW, THAT IN MAKING THIS DECISION, HE ISOLATED HIMSELF EVEN MORE FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
NOT ONLY DID HIS JEWISH PEERS DESPISE HIM, NOW HE WOULD HAVE TO FACE THE REJECTION OF THE FEW FRIENDS HE HAD GAINED AMONG THE ROMAN PUBLICANS.
YET JESUS WAS WORTH IT. HE WAS UNLIKE ANYONE MATTHEW HAD EVER MET. THE SON OF GOD HAD TOUCHED HIS LIFE WITH TRUTH, HOPE, AND PROMISE. THESE QUALITIES WERE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO DRAW HIM TO GOD.
AS CHRISTMAS APPROACHES WE BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WE WILL GIVE AS GIFTS TO THOSE WE LOVE. SELDOM, IF EVER, DO WE CONSIDER GIVING A GIFT TO SOMEONE WHO HAS REPEATEDLY HURT AND DENIED US HIS OR HER LOVE.
JESUS CAME TO EARTH KNOWING HE WOULD BE REJECTED. HE WAS THE ETERNAL GIFT OF GOD TO EVERY MAN AND WOMAN WHO WOULD EVER LIVE, AND YET HE MET REJECTION AT EVERY TURN. THIS, HOWEVER, DID NOT HINDER GOD’S LOVE FOR MANKIND.
LIFE’S GREATEST GIFT IS NOT CONTAINED IN A BEAUTIFULLY WRAPPED BOX. THE GREATEST GIFT WE WILL EVER RECEIVE WAS GIVEN TO US OVER 2,000 YEARS AGO IN THE FORM OF A BABY WRAPPED IN STRIPS OF CLOTH.
JESUS CHRIST IS GOD’S GIFT TO YOU. HE IS GOD’S EXPRESSION OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE TO ALL OF US. THE APOSTLE PAUL TELLS US THAT GOD’S GIFT IS FREE. THIS MEANS THAT THERE IS NO BALANCE DUE ON YOUR ACCOUNT. THIS MEANS THAT THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO EARN IT.
MONEY, GOOD DEEDS, OR SOCIAL POSITION CANNOT BUY YOUR WAY INTO HEAVEN. GOD GIVES THE GIFT OF SALVATION BASED ON HIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR YOU.
HE CREATED YOU. HE KNOWS YOUR FLAWS, AND YET HE LOVES YOU WITHOUT CONDITION. IN LOOKING BACK ON MATTHEW’S LIFE, WE FIND THAT JESUS DID NOT REQUIRE HIM TO CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT HIS LIFE BEFORE HE ANSWERED THE CALL. THE CHANGE AND SHIFT IN LIFESTYLE CAME LATER.
THE DECISION TO LEAVE THE TAX BOOTH WAS LEFT UP TO MATTHEW. JESUS EXTENDED HIS LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP WITHOUT ONE RECORDED DEMAND.
IT WAS MATTHEW’S CHOICE TO WALK AWAY FROM THE THINGS THAT BROUGHT SHAME AND DISGRACE TO GOD. AND IT WAS MATTHEW’S DESIRE TO ACCEPT GOD’S GIFT OF LOVE AND FORGIVENESS.
MANY THINK WHEN THEY COME TO KNOW JESUS CHRIST IN A PERSONAL WAY THEIR LIVES BECOME STAGNANT AND UNFULFILLING. BUT THIS IS SO FAR FROM THE TRUTH.
MATTHEW’S NEW LIFE WAS ANYTHING BUT THIS. HE TRAVELED WITH JESUS, RECORDING THE EVENTS OF CHRIST’S LIFE, AND LATER ASSEMBLED THE INFORMATION HE HAD GATHERED INTO WHAT WE KNOW TODAY AS THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, MATTHEW BECAME A TREMENDOUS REFLECTION OF GOD’S MARVELOUS GIFT. THE NAME GIVEN TO HIM FIT PERFECTLY. IT WAS CHRIST IN HIM THAT MADE HIS LIFE COMPLETE. AND IT IS CHRIST IN YOU WHO BRINGS FULLNESS AND A SENSE OF PEACE TO YOUR LIFE.
THE APOSTLE PAUL WRITES IN COLOSSIANS 1:27 THAT IT IS CHRIST IN US THAT IS THE HOPE OF GLORY. WE ARE GOD’S HOPE, GIFTS OF HIS GRACE AND MERCY, REFLECTIONS OF HIS LOVE TO THE WORLD.
MATTHEW, IN AND OF HIMSELF, WAS NOT THE GIFT OF GOD. HE CONTAINED GOD’S GREAT GIFT. AND IT WAS JESUS WHO LOVED HIM, FORGAVE HIM, AND, AFTER THE RESURRECTION, LIVED IN HIM. IT WAS JESUS WHO ALSO PREPARED MATTHEW TO BECOME ONE OF THE FIRST MESSENGERS OF GOD’S GIFT TO THE WORLD.
IS GOD’S GIFT OF SALVATION FOR EVERYONE? YES. NO ONE IS EXCLUDED WHEN IT COMES TO THE LOVE OF GOD. HE LOVES EACH OF US EQUALLY. JOHN 15:13: "GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE THAN THIS, THAT HE LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS."
THIS IS WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR YOU. HE WILLINGLY LAID DOWN HIS LIFE SO THAT YOU COULD HAVE FREEDOM FROM SIN AND SUFFERING. THE ONLY REQUIREMENT TO RECEIVING THE GIFT OF GOD IS ACCEPTANCE.
YOU MUST ACCEPT GOD’S GIFT IN THE FORM OF HIS SON. WHEN YOU ASK JESUS TO BECOME YOUR SAVIOR, HE ANSWERS YOUR PRAYER.
IN THE BEGINNING, MATTHEW’S LIFE WAS FAR FROM WHAT GOD HAD ORIGINALLY PLANNED. SIN CORRUPTED HIS HEART, BUT CHRIST CLEANSED HIM AND MADE HIM WHOLE.
JESUS SAID IT IS NOT THE HEALTHY WHO NEED A DOCTOR, BUT THE SICK. HE ALSO SAID HE DID NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT SINNERS.
WHAT JESUS OFFERED TO MATTHEW IS BEING OFFERED TO YOU: SALVATION. GOD’S GIFT WAS NOT TO SEND HIS SON TO SAVE SINNERS. GOD’S GIFT WAS TO SEND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST BECAUSE HE LOVES US AND SAVES US AS SINNERS!
