Matthew the Publican

• The calling of Matthew

• Matthew 9:2-7 is the account of the man with the palsy being healed by Jesus.

• Matthew 9:8-9, But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

• Matthew may have followed Jesus so quickly because he witnesses this miracle of Jesus.

• This short passage tells us nearly everything we know about Matthew

• Even though we think of Matthew as one of the more popular apostles, he is only mentioned 7 times in the entire Bible.

• He isn’t mentioned at all in John

• John includes several quotes made by the apostles

• There is no recorded words of Matthew in the Bible

• He is identified as Matthew in the gospel of Matthew and in Acts

• He is identified as Levi in Mark and Luke 

• Levi is a Hebrew word that means “joined together.”

• Levi was a very common name.  Mark called him Levi the son of Alphaeus in Mark 2:14.  

• Maybe Mark mentioned his father just to pinpoint which Levi was being discussed

• James the less is also identified as a son of Alphaeus.  They could have been brothers or just coincidentally both had fathers named Alphaeus.

• It could be a tribal name identifying him as a member of the tribe of Levi.

• The Levites were the priestly line and didn’t have any land allocated to them when Israel was divided among the 12 tribes.

• If he was from the priestly line of Levi, Matthew’s job as a tax collector was all the more of an insult to his family

• Matthew is the Greek form of a Hebrew word Mattityahu which means, “gift of Yahweh.”

• He was probably named Levi at birth and Matthew was his Greek nickname.

• So we only know for certain that, 1) He is called Matthew or Levy, 2) He is the son of Alphaeus and 3) He was a tax collector

• Matthew 10:2-3,  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

• I think it’s interesting that nearly all of the other apostles are identified by their family or place of origin.  Matthew is called “Matthew the publican.”

• Publican is virtually a synonym for sinner

• The Jews hated the Romans but understood that they’re acting like Romans

• Publicans are actually worse than Romans because they’re Jews who have betrayed their own people.

• Matthew 9 mentions that Jesus ate with “publicans and sinners” as though being a publican was a sin in its own category

• Luke 18 talks about the Pharisee and the publican who prayed at the temple

• v. 11, The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

• v. 13, And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

• Matthew might have included this title in his own gospel as a reminder that God is able to save anyone

• As Christians, we understand we are saved only by grace through faith

• We sometimes struggle with the idea that God can forgive even really, really, really bad people.

• Some people attack the Bible on the grounds that it seems unfair that God could forgive even someone like Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer

• If you believe you’re “good enough” to deserve God’s grace but really bad people aren’t good enough, then you’re endorsing a type of salvation by works

• 1 Timothy 1:15, This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

• We should not be embarrassed when skeptics criticize God for forgiving the worst sinners.  They should rejoice because that means God could even save them!

• The biggest difference between Matthew and the other apostles we’ve studied is that Matthew wrote one of the gospels.  

• We can perhaps gain insight into Matthew by studying his gospel

• For example, Gold and silver are only mentioned once in Mark, and four times in Luke. But Matthew mentions them 28 times. The famous parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-20) only appears in the Gospel of Matthew.

• Matthew’s gospel begins with a genealogy of Jesus going back to Abraham

• This specifically identifies Jesus as a Jew

• This specifically identifies the tribe to which Jesus belonged, Judah

• Maybe Matthew included these facts because they were important to him and he assumed it would be important to his readers

• Matthew 1:18-23, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

• So immediately after detailing the Jewish genealogy of Jesus, Matthew specifically goes to the OT book of Isaiah, identifying the Jesus as the One born of a virgin.

• This is radically different than Mark’s gospel which starts with the coming of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus

• Matthew seems to build the case that Jesus is the Messiah they’ve been waiting for.

• V. 22, Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

• Matthew frequently makes statements like this, pointing out fulfilled prophecy as though the reader might not have seen it immediately

• This might tell us something about Matthew

• He seemed to be well studied in the Scriptures, specifically in prophecy

• He was either schooled in these things or had a keen interest in them in his youth

• If Matthew was of the tribe of Levi, he would have come from a line of priests and may have studied to be a priest himself

• How disappointing it would have been for his family if Matthew had studied the Scriptures so well in his youth, only to become a publican as an adult

• Matthew appears to be a type of Prodigal Son.  

• Raised in a godly home, rebelling, and then returning to his father after an epiphany.

• We’re not sure if Jesus and Matthew had any interaction before this but Matthew seems to have been a witness to the miracle of healing the paralytic

• The event must have made a great impression on Matthew to make him suddenly leave everything he’d made of his life.

• It may have been the training of his youth that made him immediately recognize the significance of this event.

•  But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. Matthew seemed to see it immediately.

• Proverbs 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

• Matthew 9:10-13, And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

• Most scholars believe this dinner is being held in Matthew’s house.

• We see a glimpse of Matthew’s wealth.

• Remember the wedding in Cana where they ran out of wine.  Here, Matthew seems to have enough resources to host his friends and all of Jesus’ disciples

• The Pharisees are supposed to be the religious leaders but they seem to have written off these sinners.  

• We sometimes forget that sinners are not our enemies.  They are who we are fighting for!

• The publicans and sinners were likely the only people who would associate with Matthew

• Our history becomes our testimony.

• History disagrees about how Matthew died.  The early church fathers claim he was burned, stoned, stabbed, or beheaded for his faith. In John Foxe’s famous Book of Martyrs, the entry for Matthew states: The scene of his labors was Parthia, and Ethiopia, in which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a halberd in the city of Nadabah, A.D. 60.