Even Jesus didn’t minister alone.
The paradise of Eden had one problem. Adam didn’t have a person like himself to be intimate with, to complete him, and to partner with him in ministry. Together, Adam and Eve were given a mission to multiply (have kids) and bring the rest of the world under God’s creative order and dominion.
As we know, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and lost their purpose.
The apostle Paul wrote how Jesus was the second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), a new model for a new humanity, the Spirit living within men and women. Since he was this model, he gathered disciples unto himself to partner with him to fulfill his mission. The main 12 disciples we call apostles.
Each of the main 12 were interesting men. Matthew stands as one of the most fascinating people Jesus called to follow him.
The Jews had returned to Judea and Jerusalem after years of exile, yet they lived under Roman Imperial control. The Romans oppressed and subjugated the Jews, treating many like slaves. Matthew worked as a tax collector for the Romans, taking money from his own people for those who oppressed them. Most would have seen him as a traitor. Further, tax collectors would often overcharge and keep extra money, developing a reputation for greed and theft. Jews viewed these “publicans” as traitors and robbers.
However, one day, while Matthew sat working at his tax booth, Jesus looked at him and said, “Follow me.” This would have been scandalous to the religious Jews of the day to even offer redemption. After hearing Jesus call him, Matthew obeyed. He left behind his position and wealth to embrace a new life as Jesus’ disciple for the Kingdom of God. The Pharisees critiqued Jesus for associating with such a sinner. But Jesus told them, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Matthew’s story tells us no one is beyond redemption. Once an agent of oppression and getting rich from it, he transformed. God’s voice and call can change and redeem anyone, even the ones we may feel are the least likely. In truth, no one is worthy or able to be saved. We all need his grace and mercy, and just as God saved us, he can save anyone. This gives us hope to pray for others and keep on praying.
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The Bible tells us Matthew had another name, Levi. Matthew means “gift of God.” Levi connects to Israel’s priestly tribe. Moses and Aaron came from the tribe of Levi, and ultimately, Aaron became the high priest. Israelite priests all came from the tribe of Levi. The Bible contains several characters who had dual names or ones God changed.
Levi was a common name in Jesus’ day. In the Old Testament, the Levites had no land inheritance. Their direct service to God gave them a bigger inheritance in God. They ministered to God and led worship in the Tabernacle and the temple. His name, Levi, becomes ironic since he worked for the oppressive Roman government and built earthly wealth.
After Jesus called him, he became known as Matthew and lived as a disciple of Jesus. His new name reflected his mission to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Just as God called the Levites to serve him in the old covenant, Jesus called Matthew to a larger priesthood in the new covenant. The two names show a transition from the Law to grace, as well. The Law contained rituals and external traditions maintained by humans, which they failed. Under Christ and the new covenant, salvation happens by grace, a complete gift, and Matthew becomes the “gift of God.” Matthew experienced the complete gift of Jesus’ calling and then shared the same gift with the world.
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Matthew immediately responded to Jesus’ call. The Gospels show another scene where Jesus calls fishermen, who also immediately lay down their nets to follow Jesus. In both cases, these disciples didn’t hesitate. While the Bible doesn’t give specific explanations, the Jewish culture expected the Messiah, using dates interpreted from Daniel and other Old Testament writers. Living under an oppressive government would have caused even more longing for a just and peaceful society.
Fishermen, however, could go back to their boats if things with Jesus didn’t work out. James and John could go back to work with their father. And fishermen were working-class poor. In contrast, Matthew had a stable, profitable career. And he didn’t give a two weeks’ notice. He just bolted to follow Jesus, abandoning his post. Rome wouldn’t welcome him back after that. Matthew made a more radical decision.
He gave up everything for Jesus and the kingdom of God. Matthew’s heart longed for more than wealth. He had probably heard of Jesus or maybe experienced his teachings before that moment. When the opportunity came, he responded.
Matthew shows us how following Jesus takes full surrender, recognizing the greater and lasting benefit of eternal treasure and purpose, far greater than riches that rust and fade.
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Matthew left his job and tax booth to follow Jesus. His next action was to have a party.
The former tax collector invited Jesus to his house for a banquet, and he invited his tax collector friends to come meet the Messiah. If Jesus would call Matthew, wouldn’t he also call others like him? Matthew immediately reached out to others to share the Good News of redemption, engaging his community with generosity. He leveraged his wealth and large home to showcase Jesus, making his new life a public event. Matthew transformed his home from a place of luxury to one of grace where outcasts and sinners could meet a Savior.
One group of religious leaders, the Pharisees, saw this and became disgusted. To eat with someone was an act of intimacy, and Jewish law forbade the righteous to eat with the “unclean” sinners and Gentiles. They challenged Jesus about this, and he responded, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have come not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
As disciples of Jesus, we should also use our resources and influence to tell others about Jesus. We should live our faith and invite others to encounter the living Christ for salvation and purpose.
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Matthew continued to use his resources and skills to serve Christ and spread the Gospel. He even wrote one of the four documents in the New Testament telling the story and teaching of Jesus. We call these Gospels, and they go through the lives and doctrines of Christ.
Among the four, Matthew’s Gospel focuses more on proving how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Messianic prophecies. As one of the first Gospels, he wrote for a Jewish audience, and he connected Jesus’ words and actions with the prophets. He used the phrase, “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet,” more than any other writer.
Matthew traced Jesus’ genealogy back to Abraham and David, which connected Jesus to the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. Through David, Jesus came from the royal line of Judah. Matthew highlighted Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, the virgin birth, and more, referencing the passages from Isaiah and Micah and others. Jesus lived the Gospel, as well, opening the eyes of the blind, healing the lame to walk, and preaching good news to the poor, all straight out of Isaiah. Even though Jesus’ death and resurrection, Matthew points to Old Testament verses to prove it all happened according to God’s plan.
The apostle Matthew carefully shows us how God fulfills his promises, and we can trust him to do the same today. When we read God’s promises in the New Testament, we can rely upon his word, knowing he fulfilled the ones from the Old Testament.
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In Matthew’s Gospel, he records the Sermon on the Mount, one of the longest of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels. Many people take pieces of the sermon for separate teachings, but Matthew writes the sermon as a whole, with a beginning, middle, and end. The Sermon on the Mount reveals the culture of the Kingdom of God. Jesus came to earth to show people how to live a godly life on earth. As God in the flesh and the Son of the Father from heaven, only he could. He taught about the Father’s love and the Kingdom of God.
The Sermon on the Mount starts with the Beatitudes, radical blessings upon godly character. He blesses the merciful, the meek, and the peacemakers. Jesus taught how the world’s values fail, and God’s values bring reward and eternal life. Christ continued by calling his followers to a deeper level of obedience, one of the heart, living from love instead of obligation and law. The heart of God’s love will care for enemies, pray for those who persecute them (as Matthew was once one of them) and seek the Kingdom first, trusting God for material needs.
Matthew writes down this sermon, detailing Jesus’ model and doctrine for living in heaven on earth, a people separate from the world who act with humility, love, and faith. Therefore, as disciples today, the Sermon on the Mount continues to teach and inspire us to live in the Kingdom of God now through faith.
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Jesus rose from the dead and took time to teach his disciples more about the Kingdom of God. Before his ascension, Christ gave them what we call the Great Commission, which Matthew records—to spread the Gospel and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to follow Jesus’ commands.
Matthew became a missionary and spread the Gospel beyond Jerusalem and Judea. Church tradition tells us he traveled to places like Ethiopia, Persia, and possibly Syria or Parthia, all to make disciples. Some sources show how he went to Jewish communities in those regions first, much like Paul did, to declare the Messiah had come.
And like all the apostles and evangelists, he faced intense persecution and rejection. Tradition claims he was martyred for the Gospel, although accounts differ. Many sources say he was stabbed to death in Ethiopia, while others write he was burned, stoned, or beheaded. Either way, Matthew remained faithful to Jesus to the end. As a former tax collector who helped Rome oppress his own people, the chosen nation of Israel, Jesus’ call radically changed his life. He became a man who lived and died for the eternal Kingdom, greater and more powerful than the Roman Empire, and for eternal rewards.
Through his life, his writings, and his ministry, Matthew made sure Jesus’ message would reach later generations, including us today. May we also live and die for the King and Kingdom that will never fade or fail.
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