Hello dear friends,
Today, let’s look at the apostle Matthew’s calling and learn what it means to leave everything behind and follow Jesus.
“And as He passed by, He saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’ And he stood up and followed Him.”
— Mark 2:14
In this account, we see Jesus calling out Levi, who is also called Matthew.
“As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax office; and He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’ And he stood up and followed Him.”
— Matthew 9:9
Some scholars believe that the tax collector simply had two names: one in Greek (Matthew) and the other in Hebrew (Levi). This means John Mark referred to him by his Jewish name, while Matthew referred to himself in his Gospel account by his Greek name.
From the previous verse, we also know that this took place in Capernaum, an important business center that connected heavy traffic from nearby towns. Because of this, the Roman government placed tax collectors in the area to collect taxes from both Jewish residents and merchants who passed through.
Levi, or Matthew, is of particular interest because of his vocation. The text tells us he was a tax collector—one of the most despised and hated groups during that time. Being Jewish, Matthew was looked down upon by his fellow Jews for collecting money for the Roman Empire. To them, this meant he had betrayed his people and was helping their enemy. On the other side, the Romans despised Jewish tax collectors because of their ethnicity. This was the predicament tax collectors found themselves in.
In Jewish circles, tax collectors were synonymous with the most extreme of sinners. This is why, as we’ll explore in the next verse, Jesus’ involvement with tax collectors and sinners is highlighted:
“When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, ‘Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?’”
— Mark 2:16
We see a similar sentiment reflected in the prayer of the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable:
“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people—swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.’”
— Luke 18:11
Tax collectors were a very despised group, and Matthew belonged to this group. Knowing this background, it is fascinating to see Jesus call a tax collector to follow Him. In previous verses, we’ve seen how Jesus called fishermen—Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Comparatively, this was a relatively safe group to call. They may not have been at the peak of society, the wealthiest, or the wisest, but at least they weren’t viewed as criminals.
This was not the case for Levi. He was considered an unworthy kind of Jew. Yet, we see Jesus—the Messiah, God incarnate, the Son of Man—openly calling this tax collector to follow Him.
What’s interesting about how Jesus called Levi is that it was similar to how He called Simon, Andrew, James, and John. The text states, “He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’” This shows that Jesus did not treat Levi differently just because society viewed him as more of a sinner. He called Levi in the same way He called His other disciples.
As believers, this reminds us that we are not to treat different groups of people based on the kinds of sins they are involved in. Just like Jesus, we should regard them as people who need Him, just as much as we do.
This is risky because many Christians fall into the trap of unjustly judging others based on their sins and offering segregated treatment to certain groups of sinners. This is a self-righteous attitude, the same attitude the Pharisees had—they considered themselves holier than others. When believers adopt this perspective, they treat certain groups unfairly.
Jesus, however, did not do this. He knew that those He called were all lost sheep in need of a shepherd:
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
— Luke 19:10
On the other hand, Matthew’s decision to follow Jesus was also uniquely significant. Unlike his fellow disciples, who could return to fishing, this was a one-way ticket for Matthew. His decision to abandon his office under Roman employment meant that he couldn’t simply get his job back the next day.
For Matthew to make such a decision, he must have had a very high regard for Jesus’ call. Matthew exemplified the kind of person Jesus describes as having forsaken everything to follow Him:
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
— Luke 14:27
This is the attitude believers should model. We should understand that the call to salvation is not something to back out from; it is a one-way ticket. Once we decide to follow Jesus, we should never look back.
I pray that this interaction between Jesus and Matthew encourages us not to show prejudice toward the different groups of people we are reaching out to, and more importantly, to follow Jesus wholeheartedly, never looking back to our old selves.
May grace and peace abound in you.
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