I want you to meet all my friends

Matthew 9:9-13

The early church was nearly unanimous that the apostle Matthew was the author of the gospel that bears his name – which makes the account of the call of Matthew by Jesus especially interesting. When we read the call of Matthew by Jesus, we are reading a first hand, front seat, personal view of what happened.

What do we know about Matthew?

First of all we know a bit about his name. He is recorded as Matthew in each of the lists of the apostles in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts. His name is found only one other time in the Bible and that is in this account of his call to follow Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. But an interesting tidbit about his name is that the accounts of his call in Mark and Luke identify him as Levi, not Matthew.

When Matthew wrote his gospel, he used the gospel of Mark as his starting point and when it came to his story, he changed his name from Levi to Matthew. And then in the next chapter when he listed the twelve apostles, he alone added after the name of Matthew the explanation, the tax collector – to make sure readers did not miss the point that he, Matthew, was the same as Levi in the other accounts of Jesus.

The change of his name from Levi to Matthew was significant to him. Although he was born Levi, he soon became known among the followers of Jesus as Matthew which means gift of Yahweh.

He was born Levi which indicates he was likely born into the tribe of Levi. As you may remember, the twelve sons of Jacob formed the twelve tribes of Israel and when God gave the law to Moses, it was decreed that the tribe of Levi would be the priests of Israel. Aaron, Israel’s first high priest, was from the tribe of Levi.

This placed a special responsibility on the families of this tribe. At a minimum, the sons of the tribe of Levi were expected to be good Jews and the fact that Levi / Matthew, was a tax collector was a particular embarrassment.

What was the life of a tax collector?

Rome was the occupier of Israel and their practice was to divide the country they occupied into provinces. They used the local population to collect taxes and the way they did this was to accept bids for each province. The person who paid the most money won the right to collect taxes for that province. This was a great strategy on the part of the Romans but created tensions between those who won the bid to collect taxes and the rest of the population.

The largest source of tax revenue came from custom tolls placed on the transportation of merchandise, so tax collectors were concentrated at key points of entry such as sea ports and the main caravan routes.

Matthew was stationed in Capernaum where he collected taxes on the main route connecting Damascus and the cities of Palestine. He was stationed by the Sea of Galilee and you can get a picture of what his tax booth might have looked like on the cover of the bulletin.

Tax collectors were despised by the Jews for a number of reasons. First, they collected money for the Romans who occupied their land. In this way they were viewed like the French women who sympathized with the German occupiers of France in the second World War. When the Allies came into France at the end of the war, the French resistance took the women who had collaborated with the Nazis and shaved their heads as a public act of shame.

The tax collectors were viewed in the same way. They disgraced their country and their countrymen by cooperating and collecting money for the Romans.

The tax collectors were also despised because they used the system to make themselves rich. They bid to win the right to collect taxes in an area but then overcharged because they could keep any amount they collected in excess of what they had bid.

Thirdly, the tax collectors were despised because their work put them in contact with Gentiles, making them ritually unclean.

When Jesus wanted to tell the chief priest and the elders how sinful they were, he told them:

I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Tax collectors and prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners, this was how they were commonly linked.

This is all speculation, but how do you think the family of Levi felt about him? Levi was intelligent enough to do the work of a tax collector so he had the intelligence needed to do the work of a priest. He could have been a priest. He could have been at least a leading elder in the synagogue. He could have made his family proud, but what did he do? He made himself rich by taking money from his own people and made himself ritually unclean by the work he did. He disgraced himself and his family.

We all have stories that lead us to live the lives we do. Who knows what his parents were like or why he chose to take this path that would alienate himself from the respectable Jews in the community?

Was it just that he was an intelligent rebel who was not satisfied maintaining the status quo of religious society? Was he bored or dissatisfied with the local synagogue?

For whatever reason he rebelled and cut himself off from religious society. But it is apparent that he did not cut himself off before he had studied the Bible. Matthew’s gospel is distinguished by all the quotes from the Old Testament that predicted the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Messiah. Matthew knew his Bible.

But now as the account begins, Levi, (I say Levi because we are talking about him before Jesus called him.) Levi stood at his tax booth, collecting taxes from the merchants making their way past his booth and increasing his wealth. He was an outcast, cut off from the respectable people of Capernaum, but he was not without friends. There was a society of people who stood apart from the synagogue. This society was not concerned with keeping the Law of Moses. They were not concerned with the teachings of the synagogue. They were outcasts but they had their own community.

The day Levi was called by Jesus to follow him was not the first time he had seen him or heard about him. Jesus had passed by many times before and with the crowd that always followed him, he was hard to overlook.

And Levi had heard all the reports of what Jesus did. Capernaum at the time of Jesus had a population of about 1,500 so there is not anything that happened in Capernaum that the whole town did not know.

Last week we talked about the healing of the servant of the centurion, which happened in Capernaum. Given Levi’s profession, he may have had contact with this centurion. He might not have been good friends with him but he certainly knew him. And he surely knew the servant who was healed.

Peter’s home was in Capernaum and in the previous chapter we read that Jesus

came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

¹⁶ When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.

There were undoubtedly people Levi knew well who were among those healed by Jesus.

As Levi sat by his tax booth, there was a lot of time for conversation and it is certain that a lot of the talk focused on Jesus and the miracles he was performing.

Thirty some years after these events when Matthew wrote his gospel, he reflected on the miracles of Jesus and quoted the prophet Isaiah.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities

and carried our diseases.”

This is one of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah who was to come and when Matthew wrote his gospel, this is the connection he made.  But did this thought also run through his mind when he first heard about what Jesus was doing? When Levi talked with his friends at the tax booth, did he speculate about the connection with this prophecy from Isaiah and what Jesus was doing? He knew the Scriptures. Did he consider that this might be the promised Messiah because of the healings taking place?

If Levi had cut himself off from the religious community because he was bored with it, what he saw in Jesus was no longer conventional, boring religion. This was no longer the status quo. This was something dynamic. This Jesus was an interesting person to know.

Levi had many chances to think about what Jesus was doing and who Jesus was. But however he thought about Jesus, he was stuck. He had distanced himself from religious society. As a tax collector, he had no right to go up to a respected teacher like Jesus. Jesus was clearly a holy man and he had no right to approach him.

But nevertheless, Levi felt increasingly drawn to him. We know that Levi left his profession and followed Jesus and this did not happen by magic. It is not that Jesus snapped his fingers and Levi jumped up to follow him. The scriptures are a condensed view of what happened. This account has simply the invitation, Follow me and then Levi followed. But the scriptures do not give the full story. They do not tell about the thinking that led to the decision to follow, only that he followed.

Levi had been thinking about Jesus for a long time and his desire to be accepted by Jesus grew even while he knew this was not possible because of the choice he had made to be a tax collector.

So picture Levi on that day, sitting by his table, counting the money and making record of the tax paid. Levi wishing but not daring to hope he could start his life over and be a follower of Jesus.

Then the noise of the crowd can be heard. People announce that Jesus is approaching. People are running to be with Jesus, to see what he will do next. The crowd noise increases meaning that Jesus is coming closer. Where is he going? It seems that Jesus is going to pass right by Levi’s tax booth. He is, and now he is coming down the road and Levi cannot help himself. He is staring, absorbed in the moment.

And then Jesus stops. The crowd stops. The crowd looks to see why Jesus stopped. Jesus looks at Levi. Their eyes meet. Maybe Levi cannot meet his gaze and drops his eyes. It seems like a moment frozen in time. The eyes of Jesus and the eyes of Levi. And then Jesus speaks: Follow me.

Did I hear right? What did Jesus say? Who did he say that to?

Maybe Levi looked to his left and to his right to see if Jesus was speaking to anyone else. But no, Jesus was looking straight into his eyes. As far as Levi can tell, there is no crowd, there is only he and Jesus, eye to eye. Maybe Jesus said once again, Follow me and hope sprung like water into a dry heart. And he followed Jesus.

How excited was Levi?

In his account of his call, Matthew simply moves on to

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.

But Luke, who interviewed eyewitnesses of the events in the life of Jesus, wrote

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.

Levi was so excited he threw a big party and he told Jesus, “I want you to meet all my friends!”

All the people who disregarded the Pharisees’ emphasis on keeping the law were there. The outcast society of Capernaum was there. Prostitutes were there. Tax collectors were there. And in the middle of it all was Jesus with Levi.

How do you think his disciples felt? I would imagine some of them, at least, were uncomfortable. Was it really OK for them to be with these people? Did following Jesus mean hanging out with these kind of people?

If they thought back to see what kind of people hung out with Jesus, this is a partial list of who they came up with.

Lepers

demon-possessed

paralytics

epileptics

and now, tax collectors and prostitutes were to be added to the mix.

This was not religion as it had been.

You have to try to imagine how Levi felt sitting there next to Jesus, making sure the servants were bringing plenty of food and drink, making sure Jesus was having a good time. He kept introducing his friends to Jesus and telling him a little about each one. “Jesus, this is my good friend Haman. He tells the best jokes. And Simon, come over here, come meet Jesus.” What a night!

The sentimental part of me believes that some time after this, maybe weeks or months afterwards, Jesus, in a moment of affection,  called Levi my gift of Yahweh and that is how Levi preferred to be called the rest of his life, Matthew, gift of Yahweh. He made a new start with a new name and never forgot what it was like that day when Jesus had stopped by his tax booth, looked him in the eye and told him to Follow me.

Matthew received a great gift from Jesus. He received hope when he had none. He was accepted when he was rejected by everyone else. He was invited to come when the religious community told him he was not welcome.

How do you thank someone for such a gift? Matthew thanked Jesus by giving him a present. He threw a party and invited all his friends to come meet Jesus.

The truth is we can never repay Jesus for all he has done for us, but we can thank him by giving him gifts. One gift is our obedience. We obey Jesus as a way of giving Jesus a thank you gift. But another way we can thank Jesus is to give him the gift of introducing our friends to him.

When I became a Christian while I was in university, I was enthusiastic about the new life I was experiencing and I wanted the people I knew to meet Jesus who had invited me to come into his kingdom. I invited my friends to church, to retreats, to evangelistic outreach events we sponsored.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to share my faith with many people but as time goes on, we get more connected to the church and the percentage of our friends who are in the church increases. We begin to lose contact with people outside the church.

So a second question to be asked is: Who are you talking with who can meet Jesus and then introduce all his or her friends to Jesus?

Who are you praying for that needs to be hungry and thirsty for the life Jesus offers? Who are you praying for that when they come to Jesus will go out and bring all their friends to meet the man who accepted and loved them? When someone like Levi comes into the kingdom of God, there is a whole circle of friends who are then opened up to Jesus as well. This is how the church grows.

Have you introduced your friends to Jesus? Who are you praying for that can introduce their friends to Jesus?

This is the first point of application for us.

But let’s go back to the story for a second point of application.

Levi – Matthew as he would prefer we call him – may have been excited that day. His guests may have had a good time and had their own encounter with this teacher / rabbi who was willing to eat with them. But not everyone was excited.

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

The Pharisees were genuinely confused. Remember that Saul later called Paul was among the Pharisees who did not understand Jesus. What Jesus was doing went against everything they had been taught to believe. I am sure that among the Pharisees there were the political ones who schemed and plotted, but there were also true seekers of God among them. And they could not understand.

On the one hand the teaching of Jesus was impressive. His miracles indicated that he was from God. And yet he did not obey the law. In fact he showed disregard for the law. His actions indicated that he was a rebel, not a follower of God. The most pure of the seekers among the Pharisees were confused.

Jesus was at the center of this party, being introduced to person after person. You can see him laughing and having a good time with the friends of Levi. The Pharisees could not talk with Jesus because of the people with whom he was associating, but the disciples were not at the center of the party. Perhaps they were a bit taken back themselves at the easy way Jesus mingled with these tax collectors and sinners. Perhaps they were standing by the side as observers, not comfortable with being participants.

So the Pharisees approached them.

“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This leads to the second point of application. Did Jesus come for you?

Are you healthy or sick? Are you righteous or a sinner?

There are some people who say that they don’t like Christian churches because the church is full of hypocrites. And in a sense they are right.

Christians are followers of Jesus who profess ideals they are unable to meet. Everyone of us fails to live the life we know we ought to live.

Paul said in Romans 7

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

So we are all, from one point of view, hypocrites. But the true hypocrites are the ones who deny the reality that we are all sinners. The true hypocrites are Christians who view themselves as respectable people, not like all the sinners out there in the world.

Christians who know they are sinners and live in grateful dependance on Jesus are authentic Christians, not at all hypocrites. Authentic Christians know that they are simply beggars telling other beggars where they found food.

Jesus came for sinners and that is who we are. It is true that the Holy Spirit is working with us to make us more righteous, but that is an ongoing process that will never end. To the day we die there will still be more work to be done to make us holy and righteous.

The problem Christians have is that on a relative basis, we think we are more righteous than others. Other people steal but not us. Other people cheat and scheme to get ahead, but not us. (There are occasional church fights and splits, but …) Other people take drugs and get drunk, but not us. Other people have sexual affairs, but not us. (There is the occasional pastor who has an affair, but …) Other people do all kinds of terrible things, but not us. And so we think they are sick but we are healthy.

Matthew never forgot who saved him and from what he had been saved.

It is only in Matthew that Jesus is recorded saying to the Pharisees (Matthew 21)

I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.

It is only in Matthew’s gospel that tax collectors are linked with prostitutes.

It is only in Matthew’s gospel that the disciplinary teaching of Jesus is recorded and when someone who is sinning refuses to repent, Jesus taught:

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

These negative references to tax collectors were a reminder to Matthew of who he was and from what Jesus had saved him.

In the same way we need to remember who we are and from what Jesus saved us.

Alcoholics Anonymous is an organization of men and women who are alcoholics and meet regularly to encourage one another to resist drinking alcohol. When you go to a meeting, the person leading the meeting will stand up and say, “My name is Jack (or Bruce or whatever his or her name is) and I am an alcoholic.” And then everyone responds, “Hi Jack.”

Even if Jack has not touched a drop of alcohol for thirty years, he will stand up and say, “My name is Jack and I am an alcoholic.”

Christians need to find some way to remember who they are and from what Jesus has saved them. We are sinners, saved by the mercy and grace of God. We are sinners, saved by Jesus. We are sinners, desperately in need of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

For whom are you praying who desperately needs Jesus. Begin to think of what would happen if this person responded to Jesus’ call to follow him. What friends would this person bring to introduce to Jesus. Renew your efforts to pray for this person, to love this person in the name of Jesus.

And secondly, this week, find someone, Christian or non-Christian, and tell them the story of how Jesus saved you. Be reminded once again of how dependent you are on Jesus who accepted you, welcomed you into his kingdom and continues to love you.