Recently, I’ve been under the conviction that I’ve not been emphasizing the Saviour sufficiently. Our last five major Bible studies have only touched upon Christ – Who is the Key to who we really are. On Wednesdays for many months we studied through the Book of Psalms, before coming to King David. Before that, for several years, we looked at the history of God’s work in the Book of Acts. Then we had an in-depth study of God’s salvation of grace using the Book of Romans. And our last major study was of the Book of Daniel. I have eased my conscience by telling myself that we have often looked at Christ during all of those studies. But beginning today, I’d like to look more directly towards Him “whose Name is above every Name.” If our past is any indication, this may take several years.
In fact this may take us right up to the day that we’re translated – we may never finish this study.
Just because we are making a chronological study of the Book of Matthew that doesn’t mean that we must be strictly chronological. You’ve probably seen me over the last few years, hop around within chapters of Daniel or Acts, looking for a scripture which I think is more appropriate for a Sunday morning than a Sunday night. At this time, I think that it’s important to introduce the penman of the Book of Matthew, and the best way to do that is to jump up nine chapters.
Since this isn’t a letter or epistle, like Galatians or Romans, there isn’t an introduction, and the writer doesn’t mention his name in the opening paragraph. In some of the Gospels there are internal evidences about the writer, but not always, and they are not always very reliable. For example, in the Gospel of John, that writer never mentions his own name, but he does name the other disciples. Comparing his Gospel with the others, and using the process of elimination, we assume that it was John who was the penman. In Matthew there isn’t that kind of evidence, and we are forced to rely on the testimony of the early Christians. Fortunately, there really isn’t any credible evidence that anyone other than Matthew wrote this book.
Who is this man? There isn’t a great deal of information about him, but what little we have is instructive. And right now is a good time to introduce him.
Before he became a disciple of Christ and eventually an apostle of the Lord, Matthew was a tax collector. His employer was the Roman government – he was a receiver of customs money. In Matthew’s list of the twelve disciples, he admits of himself that the was a “publican.” In English the word “publican” comes from “publicanus” which means “public revenue.” And the Greek word translated “publican” is “telones” (tel-o’-nace), meaning “tax collector.” Matthew was a Jew employed by the hated Romans to collect taxes from the merchants traveling on the highway outside of Capernaum. Many of these publicans were thieves, charging arbitrary sums of money, only some of which they passed on to the government. The word “publican” is used twenty-two times in the Bible, and it is never used in a strictly positive way. For example – if in church discipline the offender refuses to listen to the counsel of the church, then “let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” And in rebuking the Pharisees the Lord Jesus said, “The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.” Publicans were often lumped into the same category as whores and prostitutes – not good company.
But in this we have a wonderful lesson and a blessing. The Lord does not concern himself with our credentials – or lack of credentials. We need to concern ourselves with His, but with Him it does not matter. We must discover and learn the truth about many things. For example, before someone joins our church it is important that we hear his testimony. We are obligated to see to it, as much as possible, that only genuine Christians become members. And to do that we have to see, hear, and use a little discernment. But Christ “needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”
At this time of year, there are all kinds of human interest articles summarizing the past year. Yesterday there was one on my computer’s home page called – “The Smartest people of 2010.” Earlier, I saw one of those summaries entitled “The Most Admired People of the Year.” I didn’t read it, so I can’t tell you who my neighbors most admire. In fact the whole idea is silly because our choices would all be subject to our personal ideas of worth. And like it or not, our opinion of worth or value does not match the Lord’s. God has never yet looked upon any human being with admiration, or respect, or deference. His holiness won’t permit it. The most sin-free person on earth; the most inspiring, the most beneficent, the kindest person on earth is still a filthy sinner in the eyes of the Lord. As far as God is concerned there is no difference between the meth-head and the head of the charitable foundation. Both are sinners and in need of redemption.
In Matthew’s case, the man was a collector of Roman taxes. He was probably more hated by the average Jew than the harlots with which he was associated. Not every publican was a thief, but it’s impossible to say whether that was true of Matthew or not. Zacchaeus, of Luke 19, was another publican whom the Lord appears to have saved. Scripture says that he “was the chief among the publicans, AND he was rich.” Which came first his wealth or his employment? Did he become rich by stealing from his neighbors or by cheating his employers? Who can say? Was Matthew headed down this same path?
As I have said, Matthew had a second name – “Levi” . The experts argue about those names – which came first, and which is the more important. Some say that “Levi” was his Hebrew name, while Matthew was the name the Romans used for him. Some think that the Lord Jesus gave him the name “Levi” after his conversion, but there is no evidence of this. It is interesting that “Levi” is never used in the Book of Matthew, while both are used elsewhere.
Could it be a deliberate act of humility and self-deprecation that Matthew chose to use his least honorable name when speaking of himself? This could have been a step like Paul’s – “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” It is curious that there is a slight difference in the three lists of Christ’s twelve disciples. In two lists – down toward the end, Matthew’s name precedes that of Thomas. But in Matthew’s own list, he names Thomas (doubting Thomas) before himself and Judas. Was this a deliberate or even accidental reference to what he considered “worthiness”?
Matthew was one of those hated Jewish-born, Roman-employed tax collectors. But it didn’t matter to Lord Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners. “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”
So we are left with the naked command – “follow me.” If you’ll remember, Jesus’ words were recorded exactly the same way in both Matthew and Mark. This leads me to believe, without much real reason, that this was all that Jesus said on this occasion. He didn’t say, “I know that you’ve been listening to me for months now, and if you like what you hear, come and be one of my disciples.” He didn’t say, “Would you be interested in becoming a disciple?” He didn’t even use the magic word – “please.” This was an order just as if a military general wanted a private soldier to do something. It was the command of a king to one of his subjects. Right off the bat we see the authority of Christ over this man.
Do we have the right to say that Matthew had met Christ before and had been listening to His messages? That may have been the case, but we have no authority from God’s word to make that statement. We have more Biblical authority to say that Christ and Matthew had never spoken before. And for the sake of argument, let’s say that was the case. Under those circumstances, does Jesus have the right to give this order? Absolutely. Does it make any sense for Christ to give this order, if there had been no preparation made for its obedience. Absolutely.
The One who met the tax collector on the highway that day was the same One who created the universe by the word of His mouth. He spoke and the world came into existence out of nothing. He spoke and energy was created; it could be seen in the sun, and felt in the sunshine. He spoke and living things instantly appeared when there had never been life before. Yes, this same sovereign God could command even the dead heart of Matthew to come alive and make his feet to follow him.
At some point this Matthew had been dead in trespasses and sins. That is the condition of every human being ever born. At some point there had been no inclination or desire to follow God or to believe that Jesus is the Christ. But at some point this man was regenerated – quickened – born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Sinners aren’t born again by their own command – but at the touch of God. Sinners aren’t regenerated through their faith and repentance. They repent and believe on Christ when they are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Obviously Matthew had been regenerated – saved – redeemed. But there is no one who can positively say that Matthew wasn’t regenerated at the very moment when Jesus commanded him to “follow me.”
That is the kind of authority and power which this Christ has over the hearts of people like us.
Matthew obeyed the command of God – for Christ is the Son of God. The Bible couldn’t commend this kind of obedience any more than it already has. “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.” “Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
Undoubtedly Matthew was giving up a job which would eventually make him rich, but he was willing to do that. He may have thought that his neighbors hated him for what he did for the Romans, but he will find that many of them will hate him even more for following Christ. Yes, many will call him insane, but there is no greater insanity than obedience to the word of the Lord.
When the Lord commands you, the wise choice is to obey. When the Lord gives you and order, the only choice is to obey. Those commands are often found in the pages of the Word God – obey. Sometimes we hear the command of God down in the depths of our hearts – obey. But a word of caution, never automatically assume that God is speaking to your heart, when you are deliberately disregarding what He has already said in His word. I am not sure that Christ is going to waste His time speaking to someone who is already a rebel.
Matthew instantly obeyed the order of the Lord.
We are not going to study the meal which Jesus ate that night at Matthew’s house. We will keep that in the context of our study of Matthew 9. But let it suffice to say that Matthew immediately took the opportunity to be a blessing both to the Lord, and to what few personal friends and acquaintances he had. He took of some of his wealth and made arrangements which enabled others to hear the Saviour. This feast was something that he could provide, but which Peter or John probably could not do. He had the resources, but some of the other brethren didn’t. Obviously, not everyone can render the same service – some don’t have the talents, and some don’t have enough tallents, shekels or pennies. This meal offended the self-righteous Pharisees who knew about it, but it gave the Lord the opportunity to share some much needed truth. The point is that Matthew did what he could and without much delay.
Something else that Matthew was equipped to do was to write. It’s not for me to say whether or not all the apostles were literate or that their writing was legible. But even if they all could read and write, not all of them had the gift for writing. Paul and Luke were well educated, and we aren’t surprised that the Bible is filled with their writings. John was a gifted writer and apparently so was Mark. Among them was this man who had been trained to work with ledgers and to send reports to his superiors. For the next three years Matthew followed Christ, and took periodic preaching trips into the country-side. Then sometime after the death and resurrection of his Saviour, the Holy Spirit led him to put pen to paper and out came this Book of Matthew, the longest of the four Gospel.
Matthew is not the primary person that we are going to be studying for the next few months, but he is the one who has recorded what we are going to be studying. Of course, it is the Holy Spirit who gave Matthew the words to write, but the character of this man still plays a part in the expression of that revelation. And the points to keep in mind are these: He was a sinner saved by grace. He knew the importance of instant obedience. And he served the Lord with a willing heart, using the talents that the Lord had given him. If these three lessons are the only things that we learn from this coming study, we will not have spent our hours in vain. Is your faith and love in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning as we being this new year?