Rest For Your Souls: Jesus Calls Matthew

Can you think of someone really unpopular, a person that makes immoral choices, someone who does not care about family or friends and just does things for his own good? Now imagine someone brought this person along to dinner with friends. That could be quite awkward or maybe even make you angrily think “Why is this person here?”

Tax collectors in the times of Jesus were unpopular people. They were considered traitors by the Jewish people because they worked for the Roman Empire, the occupier. They collected the people’s taxes and they could take more money than they needed and rob their own people of their money.

In Matthew 9:9-13, Jesus encountered one such tax collector named Matthew. Jesus found him at the tax booth and simply said, “Follow me,” and Matthew did so (Matt. 9:9). It is assumed that this is the very author of the Gospel of Matthew, so he became one of Jesus’ disciples and was an eye witness to all He did.

Why did Jesus pick him? It seemed like a very strange choice.

After Jesus called Matthew, they had dinner together. And lots of, "tax collectors and sinners,” were there as well. (Matt. 9:10) The religious leaders of the time did not approve and asked why Jesus would spend time with those kinds of people (Matt. 9:11). It is remarkable how Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means. ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9: 12-13).

Jesus knew very well that the people he had dinner with were sinners. They were not the, “good,” people of society. He did not pretend they were good, or say what they did was right, but he still made the effort of building a relationship to them. Maybe those people that are not likable, that are broken and difficult are the ones that need community the most. Jesus knew they were broken and offered to be their doctor. He was not afraid of their mess.

Life can be a mess! Of course maybe some lives are messier than others. But isn’t it a common human wish to be loved, even with our messy parts? Many of us hide these parts well and do not show them to many people. But don’t we all want to be known and loved fully? But that can be very scary, because we don’t want to be judged. I certainly struggle with that.

How profound that Jesus said He desires mercy. He offers us His mercy without any expectations. He does not need us to clean ourselves up first or do a certain list of things first. He just sits with us in our mess and wants fellowship with us. That is where healing starts.

I see two challenges here. Firstly, are we as individuals willing to let God see our brokenness and let Him fix it? And secondly, as church, are we willing to take people in with their brokenness without a list to fulfill first, providing them a safe space to heal?

As for Matthew, his meeting with Jesus was life changing. He gave up his old life as a tax collector and chose a life following Jesus. I’m sure it was still messy and hard, but he had a new purpose in life and a community he could belong to.

A big part of healing happens in community. Struggling through the mess of life isn’t easy, but it becomes easier when we share it with others. If you are interested in joining our community and exploring how this can be done, we would be happy to welcome you. Check out our upcoming Explore the Bible event.