seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
So, Matthew went to work that morning... thinking all he had to do was stamp a few receipts as "paid" and collect some duckets for Ceasar. Along came Jesus, and well, his life would never be the same.He gave up his job and his home to follow Jesus. His friends didn't have a problem with Jesus. They were tax collectors themselves.
The Pharisees, though, the leaders of the church, had a real problem with a tax collector and his friends.
Matthew would go on to write a whole gospel. He would tell the story of the Messiah through the eyes of a government employee.
Matthew was indeed a sinner.... if he was like the other tax collectors of the day. He got his wages out of what he collected. So, if you had two cents.... Matthew would get one cent and the government would take the other. Matthew had a job to do... he didn't care if it left someone homeless.... it was his job.
On the other hand... Matthew's friends didn't have a problem with Jesus. They were happy to eat with Him.
So the Gospel of Matthew was written by a government worker who gave up everything to follow Jesus.
