Matthew 9:9 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Matthew 9:9

Comments

According to Mark, Christ now went back to the shore of Galilee and the multitude was eager to be with him and to hear him teach and they followed him, and the Lord responded to their need and began to teach them. But as he passed along the great West Road from Damascus to the Mediterranean, the custom office at Capernaum, ‘he saw Levi.’ Luke and Mark call this man ‘Levi’, but Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 9:9-13) makes it clear that this man was Matthew himself, the writer of the first Gospel. In all probability Christ gave him the name of Matthew. It more or less means God's gift, probably in the case of Matthew, something given by God to Matthew. In Mark and Luke he is called Levi at first, and Matthew thereafter, but Matthew’s Gospel doesn't mention the name Levi at all. Matthew was a tax collector, and he was a Jew. The tax collectors were hated by the Jews as betrayers of their own country. For the sake of money, they were willing to enter into the employ of the hated Romans, and to gather taxes on their behalf from their own people. What is more, having purchased the right to collect taxes, they often extorted more money than they were supposed to and added a generous margin for themselves. But you didn’t have to do it all yourself, so what the rich would do was to sell on the franchise to others. We don’t know how big a franchise Matthew had, but judging from the mention of his tax booth, he seems to have bought the right to collect from fishermen. Tax collectors were regarded as traitors, quislings. They were outcast from temple, and it was said that a tax gatherer had to be someone who didn’t mind this. They put money before religion and nation, and were associated with other evils. They went in for wealth and all it could purchase. Such a man Christ chose. Certainly there was no advantage for the Lord in human terms in having such a disciple. He would not have been automatically acceptable to the Jews, but rather the opposite. In fact, Christ found it immediately necessary to defend his association with such men.As Christ passed by he saw Matthew and we should understand that the eye of Christ sees all things. The way it is expressed, he seems to have set his eye upon Matthew, and he knew all about him. He knew his sin; he knew his greed. If he was a cheat, he knew that. Matthew probably knew a good deal about the Lord too. It was the business of those tax officials to know what was going on in the city. But he didn't only see the needy side of Matthew, and the sin. He saw the person he would make of him too, the change he would bring about in him, the conversion he would work in him. Matthew would be pardoned given a new life and a new heart. He would be made a true disciple.‘Follow me.’ That's very significant. There are wonderful things that we are called to. Christ could say to us, ‘Come and have your sins forgiven; be washed. I will hear your prayers. I will be with you throughout life's journey. I will take you safely and securely to everlasting bliss. I will be with you in trouble, in happiness. I will guide you.’ But he doesn't say that here; he simply says, ‘Follow me.’ And this comes first. Matthew is not asked if he would like to follow Christ, but is ordered to follow in such a way that the Lord’s right to require this of him is made clear. He was called to leave a life of luxury and advantage and to identify with the Lord in poverty, but he does not hesitate. He was called to fellowship with the Son of man in walking the same road. He was convicted of sin. He believed in Christ as the Son of God and God had been at work in his heart.

Application

What Christian does not envy this tax collector? He may have been asked to leave behind riches and security, and to embrace property and hatred for Christ’s sake, but he was with the Lord. He could observe him moment by moment, study his person, hear his words, witness his miracles. He had been given a personal invitation by the Lord. Again, Luke tells us that this man leaves all, convinced he has made a better choice. He is happy to part with whatever earthly advantage he may have had in extorting tax from his countrymen, and to exchange all this for heavenly riches. What the rich young ruler fails to do, Matthew does promptly.

Have you heard the call of Christ? ‘Leave worldliness; leave showing off; leave love of money and fame, and follow me; do all for me; bring children up for me.’ Do you hear and struggle? Matthew left and walked out of his franchise. ‘It has nothing to do with me anymore’, he said. ‘I will learn of Christ; I will seek to know him, and seek to serve him.’ A lot are not prepared to do this. Tragically some whole church movements turn back from this path. We hear of a person in the USA, earning a name. He even uses bad language in the pulpit. He is adapting Christian culture to worldliness – same pleasures, same tastes. It is terrible to look at the blog of that preacher – what films he likes, what music tracks. He is still in the world, still unconverted. How did he get to be a preacher? If someone is still addicted to this world, Scripture shows us the case of Matthew who leaves all; we must do the same.

Christ looks upon us. We cannot see him, but he looks upon us, and he looks right into the heart, and he sees what you've done, and what you always do, and the kind of person you are. He sees things you don't like to look at and you won't admit. He sees any dishonesty; he sees the selfishness; he sees every moment of unkindness. He says everything that will take you to hell and to condemnation. But if you are going to be saved, and if he is going to rescue you and change you, he sees you with a new name and a new nature. He sees the new person he will turn you into.

I knew a man many years ago. He would weep, and he was very rich. He said once, ‘I would do anything just to know that I could have one foot in heaven in the last day, to have salvation and eternal life. I would do anything.’ The trouble is he wouldn't do anything. He came regularly to the services. He could speak so beautifully about the Lord, but there was another side to him. He cheated in his business. He was a womaniser. He was a secret drinker, who upset is wife no end. All these things pointed to the fact that he was unsaved. He had the right desire. You could have thought he was a seeker. He could speak about the Lord, but he never followed him. He didn't give him his life and obey him.

Questions

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Matthew 9:9 Commentary and Bible Study