A life that points to Christ
Matthew
From Matthew we learn that Jesus calls the people religion despises, that a single word from Christ can turn a life around, and that the forgiven long to bring their friends to Him. His life teaches the transforming call of grace, and it points to the Savior who came to seek and save sinners.
“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 9:9
“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.”Matthew 9:13
“And he left all, rose up, and followed him.”Luke 5:28
“But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”Matthew 9:12
Their story, honestly
Matthew, also called Levi, was a tax collector, a profession despised as collaboration and extortion in his day. As he sat at his tax booth, Jesus looked at him and simply said, follow me, and Matthew rose, left everything, and followed. He then threw a great feast and filled his house with fellow tax collectors and sinners so they could meet Jesus. When the religious leaders sneered that Jesus ate with such people, Jesus answered, they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick, and, I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Matthew went on to become an apostle and, by tradition, wrote the first Gospel.
What their life teaches us
First, Matthew teaches that no one is beyond Jesus' call; Christ deliberately called a man the community had written off, and that call reordered his life in an instant. Second, he teaches the immediacy of true response; Matthew left his lucrative booth at once, holding his old security loosely for the sake of Jesus. Third, he teaches that grace received wants to be shared; his first instinct was to gather his disreputable friends around Jesus. Matthew's story is a standing rebuke to any notion that we must clean ourselves up before coming to Christ, for Jesus came precisely for the sick and the sinful.
How their life points to Christ
Jesus said He came not to call the righteous but sinners, and Matthew is the living proof. Christ is the physician who seeks out the sick, the friend of tax collectors and sinners, and He calls us not because we are worthy but because we need Him. Matthew heard follow me while still sitting in his sin, and that is how grace always comes, meeting us before we deserve it. The despised tax collector became an apostle and Gospel-writer, showing that Jesus takes the ones the world discards and makes them witnesses to His mercy.
Questions people ask
Why did Jesus call a tax collector?
To show that His grace reaches exactly the people religion despised. Tax collectors were seen as traitors and cheats, yet Jesus called Matthew with a simple follow me. It teaches that no one is too disreputable for Christ, who came to call sinners, not the self-righteous.
What does Matthew's feast teach us?
That grace received overflows to others. Matthew's first response after following Jesus was to gather his fellow outcasts so they too could meet Him. It teaches that those who have found mercy naturally want to bring their friends to the Savior, rather than keeping Him to themselves.