Readings: Ezekiel 2:8-3:11 | Ephesians 4:7-16 | Matthew 9:9-13
Text: Matthew 9:9-13
Today we’ll be following along with excerpts from a book called The Message of Matthew by Dr. Michael Green,[1] in a section called “What do we know about the tax collector?”
Most of what we know about Matthew the tax collector comes from Matthew 9:9-13, with its parallels in Mark 2:13-17 and Luke 5:27-32. We can make a number of very probable inferences.
First, Matthew got a new name. Mark 2:14 calls him Levi, son of Alphaeus. So does Luke 5:27. Clearly his name was originally Levi, son of Alphaeus, and after he began to follow Jesus, he received a new name, just as Simon had. ‘Matthew’ means ‘gift of God.’ Jesus saw what Levi was, and anticipated what he would become—God’s gift. It is significant that only Matthew’s account mentions the new name.
This is a pattern that God shows in many places when He dealt with His people of old. Abram became Abraham. Sarai became Sarah. Jacob became Israel. Simon was called Peter. In each case, the Lord takes where this person was at on their own, and gives them a name that is descriptive of what He is doing in and through them. We don’t often think of Matthew receiving a new name. Levi was a very strong Israelite name, hearkening back to the tribe of priests and temple workers (Numbers 1:50).
However, in a stroke of grim irony, Levi, son of Alphaeus did not serve the Lord, at least in his professional life. He served Herod Antipas and had the reputation of taking advantage of his fellow Israelites. Perhaps if he were to be compared to any Levite, he would have been akin to the wicked sons of Eli who selfishly abused their office (1 Samuel 2:12-17).
But what would God do with this profligate son of Israel?
“He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him.”
This is remarkable, because for someone who has served an abusive government to walk off the job is a terrible risk to him. Such insubordination struck at the nerve of Herod’s luxurious way of life, and in turn at the funds he must pay on to his superiors in the Empire. Such nobles were accustomed to giving one another extravagant gifts to each other. This is the gift that money can secure, and if Levi were any good at his job, he would not be scarce in this. However, he forsook all of it so that He could receive the gift of salvation that comes only from the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Then, he himself would share that divinely paid-for gift to men. He truly became a Mattijah, a gift of God.[2]
Secondly, Matthew belonged to a fascinating family. We learn from Mark and Luke that he was the son of Alphaeus. And so was James (Mark 3:18). They were therefore brothers. And at the end of the apostolic list (for all its variations) we find James ben Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot as the last four mentioned. We know that Simon was a Zealot, that is to say a violent resistance fighter against the occupying Roman forces. Very likely Judas Iscariot was as well: one of the more probable derivations for his name is sicarius, the Latin for ‘Zealot.’ It is possible that James the son of Alphaeus shared the fierce, nationalistic patriotism of the Zealots… But his brother, Matthew or Levi, was totally different. He farmed[3] taxes for Herod Antipas. He co-operated with the occupying power that his brother seems to have been set on seeking to overthrow with bloody revolution. The quisling [traitor, collaborator] and the freedom fighter were brothers in the same family! This is not certain, but it is probable, and has often been noted by the commentators. It took Jesus of Nazareth to bring those two brothers together. Nobody else could.
The political tensions and righteous causes ran hot in the time of Jesus. Every serious Jew resented the Roman occupation, and to one degree or another, desired things to return to the sovereignty and golden age of King David. Just a few generations before this, the Maccabees had been vindicated in their victory over the occupying Seleucid Greeks. The Zealots were still fired up to disrupt the proverbial status quo. But Levi, son of Alphaeus, was an opportunist. He had been given this position, and even though it meant extorting his own people to be successful, this is how he chose to survive in this tumultuous time.
Two sons of the same father, Alphaeus, went in vastly different directions with the present circumstance. For us, it might be reminiscent of families divided over the sharply divided political issues of our day. What is it that could bring devotees of Fox News and CNN in a family back together? Only the Lord Himself, who offers Himself as a ransom for all and breaks down even the fiercest-held walls of hostility by His Gospel (Ephesians 2:14-16). That’s because He will unite them under another banner, in the cause of a Kingdom which has no end, and which rightly and without corruption, seeks the good of all men.
Thirdly, Matthew was a tax collector, who left everything in his life for Jesus. The publicani, or tax collectors, were the people who raised the dues required by the Romans. They were much hated as social pariahs, and the Jews classed them with murderers. They were not even tolerated in the synagogues, and that is why, in the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14, the tax collector stands ‘afar off’. There were two main sorts of tax: the fixed taxes (ground tax, grain and wine taxes, fruit and oil tax, income tax and poll tax) and the more arbitrary taxes levied on customs, transport, exports and imports. The former had a fixed percentage, which was well known. It was in the latter category that there was limitless opportunity for the bribery and extortion that made the publicani so hated. Matthew had his tax office at Capernaum, on the main road from Damascus to Egypt, which passed through Samaria and Galilee. He was working under the direct employ of Herod Antipas, who, in turn, had to make massive block tax disbursements to Rome. It was a very lucrative place in which to work. This is the man who changed from his disreputable profession to become a wholehearted follower of Jesus.
Money is power. In a time of inflation as we are facing, it has the power to make it more difficult to maintain a standard of living, and can easily cause difficult decisions to be reached. Money has great sway over our daily life, and what is demanded by law is a very present threat to our standard of living. On top of that, less so for believers, money hits on the very security that we long for. It has the power to turn a monthly budget into a frustration, and a piecemeal plan into a recipe for disaster.
Now, imagine those who are tasked with collecting revenue for the government. They are hated by all universally. They charge for what some take for granted. They charge for what the citizens don’t want. Taxes grate against what we dream could be true if only certain people’s decisions were not followed. Yet, Levi’s job was square in the middle of this tension.
Why would the Lord choose such a man as this? Surely there are more humble, honorable men Jesus could have chosen as an apostle. But this is explained for us by one of Jesus’ other unlikely picks: Saul of Tarsus, who became St. Paul.
12I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:12-16)
Fourthly, Matthew threw a party for Jesus. That was both pathetic and glorious. Pathetic, because apparently he had no other friends apart from his fellow publicani, but delightful because his first instinct after discovering Jesus was to reach out to them and invite them to a meal to meet the Master (Matt. 9:10).
Here, we are able to get a glimpse into what Matthew’s personal life was like. When he wants to rejoice in a God who loves him, all he can contact as a friend is his coworkers and outcasts. In the Parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, the shepherd and woman have people they can call together to rejoice over the good news. Matthew had no friends, except those who shared his profession or his status as a pariah.
But he still has the impulse to rejoice over this. Salvation coming to a sinner such as him is amazing news! It’s something that nobody would expect, and which was utterly undeserved. He had no friends and was considered a traitor to his people because of his own choices. It wasn’t a matter of what this man could do to mend his reputation, fix his image. The Lord stepped into his corrupt and wicked life in order to give Matthew a new name, a new heart, a fresh reputation, and truly God-pleasing occupation!
Finally, Matthew clearly brought his pen with him when he entrusted his life to Jesus. Most of the disciples of Jesus would have found that a fishing-net came more readily to hand than a pen. Not so Matthew. He was skilled at book work, and if we are to believe the united testimony of the early Christians he used this gift in the service of the gospel.[4]
Matthew was indeed an educated man, after that much writing and accounting. He appears to have a ready understanding of the Scriptures, and it’s clear in the way his Gospel is written. From the very start, the Holy Spirit had Matthew write it as a conclusion to what had been written before. It is consciously written as the Word of God, beginning with these words:
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Matt. 1:1)
Yet, despite his penchant for writing, it was not Matthew’s own skill that made him fulfill his name of being a “gift of God.” Rather,
“20knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Today, as we are gathered together in this place, by the same Lord, we rejoice that His grace has overflowed even to us. No matter our background, no matter the choices we’ve made, no matter what we have been called before—He gives us a place in His Kingdom as He calls us to follow Him. He gives us a Kingdom which has no end, a Name in Holy Baptism which is written in the Book of Life, and His precious blood which wash away all of our sins.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
[1] https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/15-february/gazette/obituaries/obituary-canon-michael-green
[2] “Ματθαῖος” Thayer, Joseph Henry. 1889. In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti. New York: Harper & Brothers.
[3] Alternative translation for τελώνης from extra-biblical sources: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph.jsp?la=greek&l=TELW%2FNHS#lexicon
[4] Green, Michael. 2001. The Message of Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven. The Bible Speaks Today. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
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