St. Matthew's Day

For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
(St. Matthew ix. 13)

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle, and we are called to reflect upon his life and find some inspiration from him for our own spiritual journey. And to tell you the truth, it is difficult to give you a complete picture of his life because the historical information that we have about him is fragmentary and scarce. But from the Gospels, we can try to put together a picture of who he was.

For starters, the four Gospels tell us that he was one of the original twelve Apostles. We learn too that he was the brother of St. James, both the sons of Alphaeus. They came from Galilee, which was home to Jesus during most of His adult ministry. In Jesus’ time, Galilee was part of the Roman Empire and was ruled by King Herod Antipas, who killed John the Baptist and played a role in the Passion and Crucifixion of Our Lord. Matthew’s name means the gift of God. Matthew is also the author of the first Gospel in the New Testament. In addition, we know that he was a tax collector for the Roman overlords. As a Jew who worked for the Romans, Matthew was considered a sinner by his fellow Jews. And in addition to working for the Roman foreigners, Matthew’s profession was despised because Roman tax collectors not only collected taxes for Caesar but were allowed also by the Romans to charge interest arbitrarily. The interest the tax collector demanded was his salary. Tax collectors were extortioners; they charged more than was morally reasonable because of their greed. As you might well imagine, Jewish tax collectors were despised. Tax collectors were viewed to be about as virtuous as prostitutes in the ancient Jewish world.

So, Matthew’s conversion was going to be a hard sell for the Jews. The Pharisees were already unhinged by Jesus’ tendency to offer men the forgiveness of their sins. The Jews considered this blasphemy. Then we read of what happened to Matthew. Jesus was passing by the customs house; he saw Matthew, busy collecting his taxes and tips; their eyes met, and Jesus said, Come follow me. Matthew immediately abandoned his work, mesmerized by Jesus, and followed Jesus. Later, when Jesus was caught eating a meal in Matthew’s house, the Scribes and Pharisees judged Jesus to be one who ate and drank with publicans and sinners. Publican is another name for tax collector. But, not only did Jesus offer the forgiveness of their sins, but he promised sinners that He could make them better.        

Thus, we learn that Jesus called all kinds of men to follow Him. He was especially interested in sinners whom the Jews had condemned and shunned. Jesus never excluded anyone from His friendship. He says in response to the Scribes and Pharisees, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (St. Mark ii. 7) Jesus knew Matthew and understood how Matthew must have felt as an outcast and alien to his own people. And while the religious Jews might have been scandalized, this didn’t stop Jesus from calling Matthew forth into the new life. Later, Jesus even uses a parable about the Pharisee and Publican to describe why Matthew would have been more interested in what Christ brought into the world than the Pharisees. The Pharisees, as Jesus tells it, were full of themselves, proud, arrogant, and self-consciously holy and good enough. The publican or tax collector, tended to be humble, wholly conscious of his own sin, torn and conflicted between the Romans and Jews, able only to pray, God be merciful to me a sinner. The publicans, or tax collectors, like Matthew, were wholly conscious of their sinful lives, their compromises, and their greed. They were totally aware of their sins against God and their fellow men. Because they were shunned by the religious Jews, the publicans were ashamed, sorry, sad, and lost, like sheep without a shepherd.

Until Jesus passed by the custom house. Then, Matthew’s eyes met Jesus, and his spirit was arrested; his soul was apprehended in the act of his sin; his heart was taken captive by one who seemed to call him forth to find a treasure much greater than money. Matthew was caught. Jesus’ eyes penetrated Matthew’s heart, and Matthew knew that the Lord knew him. Matthew’s sin was public, notorious, and subject to rejection from his own people. But Matthew sensed that Jesus knew the secrets of his heart. Matthew knew that while his sins were many, God’s mercy in Jesus Christ was more. Unlike the rich man who couldn’t sell all he had, give it to the poor, and follow Jesus because he loved his money more than God, Matthew forsook all and followed Jesus. He didn’t flinch or hesitate, but dropped everything, left the custom house behind, and followed Jesus.

And we might ask ourselves today, how could Matthew do this? Can a man just drop everything –his job, livelihood, and earnings– to follow Jesus? I think the answer is found in St. Matthew’s soul. Matthew was honest about his own sin. The Jewish priests condemned his occupation, hated him for it, and banished him from the temple. Matthew knew that his life was conflicted and that he had betrayed his own people. To the Jews he was a Roman quisling; to the Romans he was a useful tool. And so, he must have been inwardly torn, sad, and lonely, a friend to all but a friend to none. And then came Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus didn’t judge or condemn him. He merely said, Come follow me. Jesus was interested in Matthew in a special way.

So, where does this leave us today? Jesus is passing by today at St. Christopher’s. He is looking at every one of us. He sees into our hearts. He knows that we are often torn, sad, and lonely. He wants us in a special way. He knows that we, like Matthew, have preferred to worship the gods of this world. He knows that we have divided loyalties, are conflicted, and have even worshiped money and mammon rather than God. But the message for today is that Jesus wants sinners for His Kingdom. Matthew was a self-conscious sinner who needed Jesus. Will we need Jesus also?

St. Matthew and his fellow Apostles forsook all and followed Jesus. The first Apostles were remarkable in their faith, hope, and love. Of course, not everyone will achieve their level of otherworldly austerity and self-renunciation. Jesus knows this too. But I would like to suggest that we can at least try to be a little bit more like them. With them we should try to begin to see that Jesus offers us something not temporary and uncertain but eternal and sure, not imperfect but perfect, not for the here and now, but forever in Heaven.

St. Matthew was arrested by a love that called him from the receipt of custom and into the new life that leads back to God. In our own ways, we too can be arrested and called by Jesus Christ. To be sure, St. Matthew had the benefit of being called by the historical Jesus. But Jesus calls us too from the pages of the New Testament. The New Testament is not just a history of ancient man’s relation to Jesus Christ. It is our story, and in it we can find ourselves. If we cannot relate to those whom Jesus called long ago, I would suggest that we have some real problems with arrogance and pride. By reading Scripture, we might just find that Jesus is calling us to know ourselves, be honest about our sins, confess them, and follow Him. We can learn too about what virtues He wants us to embrace. In so doing, the same love that arrested and possessed Matthew, might begin to repair, redeem, and save our lives for Heaven. 
 
Of course, if we would be more like Matthew, we must also remember what Christ has done for us. With Matthew, we must thank Jesus for dying for our sins and putting them to death. We must also ask Him to help us to see death in a new way, not as the dreaded end of earthly life, but as a daily invitation to spiritual new beginnings. We must ask Him to help us to be dead to sin but alive to righteousness. We must ask Him also to plead our cause with our Heavenly Father, and to assist through all our spiritual struggles, as we strive to reach His Kingdom.  

Today, my friends, we are called to consider how Jesus arrested and called St. Matthew. With St. Matthew, let us pray that we shall be unafraid to call ourselves publicans and sinners. Let us then be intent upon embracing the help and salvation that Jesus Christ alone brings into this sorry world. Let us be courageous enough to spend a less time on earthly treasures and temporal concerns and more time on pursuing Heaven’s riches and our eternal destiny. Then we shall be more diligent in allowing Jesus to take us, as he did St. Matthew, from sin into righteousness, from sickness to health, from brokenness to spiritual repair, and from the threat of Hell to the hope of Heaven.

Amen.
©wjsmartin