Life of Christ 48
We will see, in the
course of this series, that Jesus will
make a gradual transition of emphasis in His ministry from offering Himself to
Israel as her messiah to passionately training the Apostles in light of His own
forthcoming death. But I believe He had that in mind from the very beginning.
In fact, He gathered to Himself Andrew and another one or two of John the
Baptist's disciples before He had preached a single sermon or performed a
single miracle.
Henrikk ter Brugghen, The Calling of St. Matthew, 1621 |
So where does that leave
us? I believe Jesus did every single thing on purpose, so why did He choose
Matthew, and see to the fact that this choice was recorded if Matthew then
never did another thing in all the Bible? I believe the answer is in the story
of Matthew's calling itself. I think Jesus is giving the Church through the
centuries a lesson on whom it should be reaching, namely, sinners.
I have spent four
decades intricately connected with local churches, seventeen of those years as
a pastor. I have noticed that it is very easy for a church to turn inward, and
to become about the church, and the people in it, as it seeks to minister to
the genuine needs of the people who call it home. But Jesus spent (literally)
His life going after sinners, of all kinds and stripes, and that is the lesson
for us here I believe.
The outstanding thing we
know about Matthew's life is what he did for a living. He was a tax collector,
otherwise known as a publican. But what did that entail, and what did it mean?
The Roman Senate, after
the Second Punic War, farmed out the direct receipt of taxes and customs.
Certain capitalists agreed to pay the Roman treasury a given amount for the
right to collect taxes within a certain geographical area. They often formed
for-profit companies and then hired commissioned contract workers to do the
actual collecting. For this purpose they would usually seek to employ locals
who would know their way around the area. Adam Smith, in his seminal work on
economics, The Wealth of Nations,
says this system is essentially vicious, and he was correct.
We can see in the
Scriptures that they were known to overcharge at every possible opportunity.
'Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall
we do? And he said unto t hem, Exact no more than that which is appointed you'
(Luke 3.12-13). They were also known to bring false charges of smuggling in the
hope of extorting hush money. 'And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord;
Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any
thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold' (Luke 19.8).
The publicans, in the
face of societal opposition to taxes, would often band together, and demand
that the local government pass stringent laws preventing their work from being
impeded, and attach to those laws severe penalties if violated. All over the
Roman Empire they were known to be harsh and fraudulent, and in the Roman
system there was no real remedy for this. In fact, Cicero famously said that
dealing with publicans and the issues around them was the hardest part about
being a Roman governor. They were so universally despised that three different
Roman writers, Terence, Stobaeus, and Zeno, speak of being a publican as the
absolute worst way to make a living.
This bad situation was
only aggravated to awful in the Jewish provinces of Judea and Galilee. Most
religious Jews did not believe in paying taxes to a secular government (Matthew
22.17). In fact, Judas of Galilee (not one of the Apostles) led a revolt
against Rome in the time of Christ because of this very issue (Acts 5.37).
If the publican was
Jewish, and remember, they sought to hire locals, the other Jews regarded them
as national traitors. Not only that, but they were regarded, because of their
chosen vocation, as religiously apostate. To add insult to injury, because of
their frequent interactions with their Gentile bosses, they were also regarded
as unclean or defiled. Matthew 11.19 classes them sinners. Matthew 18.17 classes
them with the heathen. Matthew 21.31 classes them with harlots. The Talmud
gives three classes of men to whom promises need not be kept: murderers,
thieves, and, you guessed it, publicans. Their money was not accepted in the
alms box at the synagogue or the Temple. To write a publican's ticket or carry
ink for him on the Sabbath was considered a sin. They were not allowed, under
Jewish canon law, to sit on a jury or even to testify under oath in a court of
law. They were, in every sense of the word, outcasts in Israel.
In view of all this, the
story related in Matthew 9.9-13 regarding Matthew's calling by Jesus Christ
takes on a new light. All we know about Matthew is that he was a publican. All
we know about publicans is that they were universally despised. Consequently,
what we discover about Jesus is that the Saviour warmly welcomes to His side
those whom society frowns upon the most.
If we are to be like
Christ there isn't anybody we shouldn't be willing to reach, to whom we
shouldn't be willing to extend a hand of hope and mercy. The Gospel is the
clarion call of good news for all men, not just the ones like us, or the ones
we like. Let us reach ever color, every career, every age, every religion,
every background, and every kind of sinner.
When Jesus reached out
His hand to me twenty six years ago I only had one qualification: I was a
sinner – and Jesus welcomes sinners. John Newton, the author of the most famous
hymn in the English language, 'Amazing Grace', slowly lost his mind toward the
end of his life. On his deathbed he reportedly said, 'I remember two things:
that I am a great sinner, and He is a great Saviour.'
We are surrounded in our
towns and factories and offices and lives with great sinners of all types and
descriptions. This is wonderful. It means they qualify for welcome at the hand
of the Saviour. He welcomed me. He welcomes you. He even welcomed Matthew the
publican. The Saviour welcomes sinners.
Do we?
If you would like to listen to the audio version of this blog you may find it here on our church website. Just press 'launch media player' and choose We Preach Christ 23, 'The Saviour Welcomes Sinners.'
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