My Walk Through the Book of Matthew by Annette Godtland

Matthew the Tax Collector (Matthew 9:9-13)

9As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him.

10Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

12When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13But go and learn what this means: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Another follower who is called directly from his work place... Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John while they were out fishing. Now He called Matthew while still in the tax office. I know I tend to keep my work life and private life very separate. Unfortunately this means I tend to keep my religious life only in my private life. I do not include it in my work life. I get so focused when I am in at work, leaving all other matters at home, that I wonder if I would even hear Jesus call me if He called me while I was at work. I think this is a reminder to me that I need to keep aware of God's presence in my heart at all times, even at work.

Just as Peter, Andrew, James, and John did, Matthew simply left behind what he was doing and immediately followed Jesus. I admire their ability to do this. I wonder if I would be able to.

I don't know the culture of the time, but I gather that tax collecting was not a very admirable job. In fact, they seem to have been understood to be sinners. Did they tend to skim some off the top for themselves when they collected taxes or was it simply a matter that they thought collecting taxes for Caesar was a sin? I wonder if simply having Matthew, a known tax collector, therefore a known sinner, at the table made it more inviting for other tax collectors and sinners to join Jesus too. Jesus opened a new door and many entered.

I find it interesting that the Pharisees asked the question of Jesus' disciples rather than of Jesus. Were they trying to intimidate the disciples? Were they trying to sway the disciples away from wanting to follow Jesus? Or were they still a little afraid of Jesus so they didn't dare bring the question straight to Jesus? The disciples' faith was still weak, so testing their faith in Jesus with questions such as this could be one way for the Pharisees to make them turn from Jesus. But Jesus knew of the question and answered it head on. Of course He will associate with tax collectors and sinners, for they need His healing love even more than the righteous do.

Is it right that tax collectors and sinners be shunned by the righteous and religious leaders? Jesus was addressing this when he told them to learn what the text meant.

The scripture quoted here is from Hosea 6:1-6:
Israel's Insincere Repentance
1Come, and let us return to the LORD;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
2After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
3Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.


Impenitence of Israel and Judah
4"O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?
O Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
And like the early dew it goes away.
5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
And your judgments are like light that goes forth.
6For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

This scripture gets more and more beautiful the more I read it. Verses 1-3 seem to be Hosea speaking for himself where he is urging the people to return to God. He explains that yes things have gotten bad, but God, the master physician, will heal them. He seems to be foretelling the coming, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God will return them to right so they may once again live in His sight. It is important that they try to learn the knowledge of God, learn right from wrong. His coming is as assured as the coming of the morning. When He comes, He will come like the rain, covering everyone and everything regardless of worthiness, just as the rain does.

Verses 4-6 seem to be words from God based on the use of the quotation marks. Here God asks what shall He do with these sinners whose faithfulness is always so brief. He has sent prophets to help guide these people to what is right. He has punished them by his commands. I struggled with the words of "your judgments" for awhile. First I thought He was referring to the judgments we will receive, like a light shining before us. But that doesn't make very clear sense. Then I started wondering if God is referring to judgments that we make of others. That interpretation ties in with the rest of His words much better. First of all I believe we have no place in making judgments. But when we do, whether we intend it or not, our judgments are like light that goes forth. We cannot prevent what radiates from our judgments. Our judgments shine from us for all to see. Others can tell when we are judging them poorly. Just as when the Pharisees shun the tax collectors and sinners, their judgment is clear for all to see. Just as God desires to show us mercy, God desires mercy from us. In fact He desires this mercy from us more than sacrifices from us. He desires us to learn the knowledge of God even more than He desires burnt offerings from us. So what shall God do with these sinners? God wants us to show mercy to them, teach them the knowledge of God, so they can repent and God can show them mercy. God wants to show mercy.

Jesus is following the desire of God. He is showing mercy to the sinners. He is trying to spread the knowledge of God to everyone, including sinners and tax collectors. The Pharisee's judgments of the tax collectors are as obvious as a light going forth. They study scripture, they try to keep all the laws, they follow all required sacrifices and burnt offerings, but in the presence of sinners they do not show the mercy that God desires. Instead of shunning the sinners and tax collectors, they should be working with them so they too can know what God desires of them, so they too can learn the knowledge of God, so they can repent and God can show them mercy too. God wants us to show mercy as well.

Jesus did not just come to gather up the righteous, for they come to follow Jesus willingly. But he came to call the sinners so they could repent so they too could be right in God's sight. He came as a rain that would fall on everyone! And aren't we fortunate that He came for each of us too! He can heal us, to give us knowledge, so we too can repent and God can show us mercy. Let's try to show that same mercy to those around us.