Matthew 9:9-13
Matthew – a transformed tax collector
Scripture Readings:-
Luke 18:9-14
Matthew 9:9-13 (text)
When you hear a name you often associate an image with that name.
If I told you that someone named their pet dog “Butch” – you would have a certain picture in mind wouldn’t you. But when you know that “Butch” is a clipped poodle – there is a sort of disappointment isn’t there.
Or what if there was a man at work who told you that his daughter’s nick-name was “princess”. “What does princess look like?” you ask. If princess was sitting in the dirt covered in mud and no shoes – well again you might be somewhat disappointed.
Now let’s take that same analogy and apply it to Matthew. When we do so we can be certain that Matthew the tax-collector was a disappointment – a real disappointment to his parents. How do we know this? Matthew’s decision to follow Jesus is recorded in three different Bible books. And in the other books Matthew has another name.
As Jesus walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.
Mark 2:14
Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed Him.
Luke 5:27-28
People know him now as Matthew ... Dad and Mum called him Levi.
Levi was the priestly tribe. They were set aside to conduct the worship of the LORD and to give spiritual service to Israel. Matthew’s father was in the priestly line … so was his grandfather … and great grandfather. From childhood, Matthew Levi would have been trained for the day he would enter into this same holy work.
As a young boy Matthew was destined to give great service for the LORD. But it didn’t work out that way.
At some point in early adulthood his heart wandered from the ways of God.
He disgraced his family and his heritage.
His life turned from serving the LORD to serving self.
That is what you had to do to be a tax-collector.
Tax collectors were a family disgrace because they worked for the Romans … local Jews working to raise finances for the enemy ... that is how they were seen. In fact you actually had to buy the right to collect tax in a certain area. Your fellow Jews treated you as a traitor. And if they wouldn’t pay ... well all you had to do was threaten to report a person to the Roman soldiers. No-one liked the tax-collector.
Tax collectors were also cheats. They didn’t care about God and honesty – they were only interested in serving self and they had many inventive ways to extract money from people.
• Production tax … one tenth of the crop.
• Income tax … one percent of a man’s wage.
• Poll tax … that’s a tax for being alive … one denarii a year.
• Purchase tax … basically a GST.
• Road use tax … an ancient road toll.
Then there were the under-the-table expenses … like extortion money and bribes. The hate they endured was sometimes justified.
Tax collectors … they had a public image problem. In Jewish society a tax collector was seen as a religious and social outcast.
As a young boy Matthew was destined to give great service for the LORD. Matthew the tax-collector was a disappointment.
A source of family embarrassment and shame.
A collaborator with the Roman enemy.
A traitor that sucked people dry because of his greed.
A man who had intense social and religious prejudice against him.
BUT NOW ... Matthew is in the sight of Jesus and Jesus is going to call him to become one of the founding apostles of the church.
As we see Jesus walking to Matthew we see a Saviour whose ministry partners can include anyone from any background.
The back slidden.
The morally corrupt.
The socially unacceptable.
The people your parents warn you about.
Those who you would never think to invite into your home.
Jesus includes them all. Why? Because Jesus loves “sinners”.
That sounds a little strange doesn’t it … but listen well. I didn’t say Jesus loves “sin”; He abhors it … He came to defeat it. But Jesus loves sinners. If Jesus didn’t love sinners, there wouldn’t be room in the kingdom for the likes of you and me. We would all be left out in the cold … actually … we would all be left to suffer in the fiery torment of hell.
That says a lot about the focus of the ministry of Jesus.
Jesus’ ministry is a ministry of reconciliation … because we would never come to Jesus of our own free choice. Our hearts and minds are so bound by our own desires ... and our own goals ... and our own plans ... that we can’t even see the need for accepting a Saviour … unless that Saviour taps us on the shoulder and says, “I’m here … welcome to My family”. Jesus brings us back to where we belong … a ministry of reconciliation.
Jesus’ ministry is a ministry of restoration … our sins are so pervasive that, in God’s sight, we have become detestable to Him. This perfect creation called man – man who was the crowning jewel of creation – is now an enemy. That will remain the case unless the Saviour comes and makes us part of the family. Jesus making us acceptable in God’s sight … it’s a ministry of restoration.
As we see Jesus walk up to that tax-booth to challenge Matthew to be a disciple we are given a visual picture of how Jesus works. Jesus doesn’t come to us when we meet the standard. Jesus meets us as we are, not as we should be. Jesus makes the transformation possible … which is exactly what He is doing with Matthew. And it changes Him in an instant.
Jesus just comes up and says, Follow Me, and then everything changes
One moment Matthew is at the booth ripping-off people in the name of tax.
The next moment he’s a disciple with no security and no steady income stream.
Jesus just comes up and says, Follow Me, and then everything changes.
Its one thing to say that is what is going to happen – but it is no small matter.
For Matthew it means giving up a very lucrative job and the wealth which his job creates. It also means moving from one life of being scorned … to another life of being scorned. People hated him because he was a tax collector. People will still hate him when he becomes a disciple for Jesus said, No slave is above his master. If they persecute Me they will persecute you also.
It’s not a small matter to be a disciple. The Greek word for follow literally means “come after on the road” … Follow Me … “came and take the road I am taking”. From youth Matthew was groomed to be a Levite … but he rebelled. From the time of that rebellion Matthew didn’t imagine himself to be a righteous man. Now Matthew leaves everything … and follows … accompanying a holy man on His itinerant travels. What an impact the ministry of Jesus has on Matthew.
It is a huge change ... and it is a very visible change. That’s when you know God is at work. But this whole situation also raises a question. Especially when you consider the situation.
Jesus has just installed a cheating … Rome-loving, morally-corrupt … spiritually-challenged … tax collector … as a disciple.
Which raises the question
How can someone who has such a history be effective as a disciple?
Once again we see the wisdom of God prevailing over the wisdom of man. Once again we also see the grace of Jesus prevailing where lack of grace is being exercised. For look at what Matthew does … he holds a dinner party.
If you and I were there, we might have sat stiffly and kept a close eye on our wallet. These are out and out thieves, unbelievers, open sinners, social renegades. Perhaps not the sort of people we would usually invite home … and they probably wouldn’t feel comfortable in our home either.
But look at Jesus – Jesus comfortably mixes with the crowd Matthew usually hangs out with. They were people who wouldn’t normally seek company with a religious Rabbi. But there is Jesus getting acquainted with people who have been afraid to approach Him because all their lives they had been told they were not worthy to be in the presence of such religious men.
Why did it happen – because Matthew knows these people. These people trust Matthew, so they are also willing to give Jesus a go. Matthew is a very effective disciple because he is friends with exactly the sort of people that Jesus has come to love. It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
If all were righteous and spiritually healthy, Jesus would have no necessity to pay a house call. But because we are not so righteous … because our souls are blackened by sin – so black that we cannot see the light of His grace on our own … because of that we desperately need Jesus to come and to deal with the filth we call life.
Jesus went to people where they were and called them to be different … that’s how He got His disciples. That’s how we also make disciples.
What lessons do we learn from this passage? There are at least two.
Firstly ... we can be sure that no matter who we are Jesus is willing to accept us as His disciples.
There is no-one too far gone.
There is no-one too far wrong.
Jesus has come to give new life ... to anybody.
Matthew 27:45 says From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”.
“Can’t You see this is My greatest hour of need”.
“The sin which I have taken is overwhelming Me”.
“The wrath which I am experiencing is beyond expression”.
“Why have you left Me?”.
But heaven is silent … a sacrifice needs to be made … and Jesus will give it.
Why. Because He is continuing to build a group of ministry partners who can include anyone from any background.
The back slidden.
The morally corrupt.
The socially unacceptable.
The people your parents warn you about.
Those who you would never think to invite into your home.
Those who were a disappointment to their parents.
You.
Me.
Jesus does it because He loves “sinners”.
Secondly ... if we are going to be effective disciple-making disciples we also need to be effective at loving sinners. We need to pray that we will have the same eyes and compassion as Jesus. That compassion is seen again so clearly on the cross – and on Jesus response to it.
Have you ever stopped to think why God poured out His anger on His beloved Son? Why does the Son endure that anger?
John 3:16 gives the answer God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. It was an act of love and compassion. An act which Jesus acknowledged that He needed to be a part of.
In John 15:13 Jesus showed that when He says to us Greater love has no one then this, that He lay down His life for His friends … you are My friends.
God and Jesus priorities their love … and we come out on top.
Despite the fact that we broke the relationship with God … we are loved.
Even though we tried to hide from God rather then admit our sin … we are loved.
We laid blame on others for our own faults … yet we are loved.
We were irresponsible in the way we treated God … but we are loved.
We are loved because God crushed His Son … and the Son volunteered to be crushed for us.
That is the compassion of Jesus at work. A compassion which should drive our desire to go to those who need to hear about the Great Physician.
We have a message of hope.
We know Jesus is the only answer.
Shouldn’t we also want to see others experience that same salvation?
That they find the grace which has been missing from their lives.
That they finally discover they are on a road which is taking them away from God.
These people will not make an appointment with the Great Physician on their own. Rather Jesus is relying on His disciples to help make those appointments. To go to the sick … sick because of sin … and show them their need for the great Physician.
Jesus is not willing to see people sitting at a tax-booth making a huge fortune while their spiritual life is going down the drain of hell. And, if Jesus wasn’t willing, we ought not to be either – that’s what makes us disciples.
Prayer
