St Matthew
Mt 9:9-13
9/21/25
Last Sunday I received a number of
comments from people about how they liked seeing the red paraments, such as the
chasuble that I wear. This happens every
time that we are using the red ones. People go out of their way to remark on
how they like seeing the red.
Now I guess I should not be surprised.
After all, a large percentage of the members at Good Shepherd are Cardinals
fans, and so are naturally inclined toward the color red. But more generally
the bright color red is very striking.
It is striking, and it is meant to be
so. It signals that we are celebrating a
special day in the church year. It is
also striking because we see it so infrequently. There are only two Sundays each year
when it is certain that you will see red in church: Pentecost and the Sunday on
which we celebrate the Reformation. That’s it.
Now there are other days in the church
year that have been assigned the color red. However, none of them are on a
Sunday each year. Instead they are a
particular date on the calendar that eventually falls on a Sunday as the years
go by. And even if they do fall on a Sunday, it doesn’t mean we will
necessarily observe that day. Generally speaking, we don’t interrupt the
festival half of the church year – the first half that includes, Advent,
Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter.
Instead, it is
in the second half of the church year – the non-festival half when we do so. We
are in that time of year and so last Sunday when Holy Cross Day fell on a
Sunday we observed it and used red paraments. Today – a week later – the Feast
of St Matthew falls on a Sunday, and so we are observing it and using red once
again. Red two Sundays in a row. Enjoy
it, because it doesn’t happen very often.
Today is the
Feast of St Matthew. Mathew was not just an apostle. He was also an evangelist – the writer of the
first Gospel found in the New Testament. In that Gospel he provides a narration
of his own call to be an apostle of Jesus Christ.
We hear in our
text, “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting
at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed
him.” Matthew held the position of an agent collecting taxes. He didn’t work
for the Roman government. At this time Galilee was not a Roman province. Instead, it was ruled by Herod Antipas, and
was a client state of the Roman Empire.
We don’t know
all that much about the specifics of Matthew’s position and the work he was
doing. But two things are clear. First, like in our own day, no one liked
paying taxes. Those involved in collecting taxes were not popular. I don’t want to interact with the IRS, and
people in first century Palestine didn’t want to deal with someone like
Matthew.
Second, tax
collectors had a reputation for being dishonest – for lining their own pockets
as they did their job. This could be done in different ways such as over
estimating the value of a cargo for tax assessment, and then keeping the excess
money collected.
Yet when Jesus
saw Matthew at the tax collecting booth, he said to him, “Follow me.” The Lord
called Mathew to follow him. And Matthew
got up and did just that. Surely this was not the first time Matthew had heard
about Jesus. Matthew tells us in chapter
four, “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues
and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease
and every affliction among the people.” We learn that Jesus’ fame spread
widely, and that great crowds followed
him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from
beyond the Jordan.
Next we learn,
“And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax
collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.”
We aren’t told explicitly that this was Matthew’s house, but that certainly
seems to be the impression we are supposed to take away from the statement.
This situation
was certainly noticed by the Pharisees. We learn, “And when the Pharisees saw
this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax
collectors and sinners?’” The Pharisees
were offended by the company that Jesus was keeping. By eating with these people, Jesus was
showing that at some level he accepted them.
We have already
discussed why the Pharisees would have objected to tax collectors. The term “sinners” surely referred to people
who did engage in a publicly sinful life, like prostitutes. It is also likely
that it included people who didn’t follow all of the rules that the Pharisees
had added on top of the Torah itself – the law that God had given to Moses at
Mt Sinai.
However, when
Jesus heard what they said he responded: “Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire
mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners.” Our Lord declared that he was
here to save those who were sick with sin.
In our text,
Matthew identifies himself with the sinners – with those who needed Jesus’
help. This is a very important point that we cannot overlook. We live in a world that says everyone should
be accepted. “Judging others” – saying
that a behavior is sinful is considered unacceptable by our world. One even
finds this attitude among Christians who say that we need to promote unity by
accepting people and not judging them.
After all, Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners.
But this is to
ignore Jesus’ own preaching. Matthew says this about the beginning of the
Lord’s ministry – the one that drew great crowds: “From that time Jesus began
to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Jesus
called sinners to repent. He did
not affirm people in whatever choices they wanted to make about how they
lived. He judged people by saying
that there was God’s way, and that the other ways of doing things were sin.
Jesus has just
been teaching about God’s way in the Sermon on the Mount. He taught, “You have heard that it was said
to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be
liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with
his brother will be liable to judgment.” He taught, “You have heard
that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you
that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.” He taught, “You have heard that it
was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to
you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Jesus called
sinners to repentance. He calls us to repentance. He reveals the anger, lust,
and hatred in our hearts. He calls it what it is – sin. He leads us to confess
it as what it is. But this confession
does not lead to despair because of the One who speaks these words. Our
Lord says in our text, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but
those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy,
and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners.”
Jesus came to
call sinners because he himself is God’s answer to sin. Later in Matthew’s
Gospel Jesus says, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.” At his baptism, Jesus the sinless One began
his course to bear our sin on the cross.
On Good Friday he received the wrath of God that we deserved. He cried
out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me” as he received God’s judgment
for us. Because of this, as repentant sinners who believe in Christ, we are now
forgiven sinners.
Jesus called
Matthew to be a disciple. But he did more than that. He chose Matthew and
eleven others out of those disciples to be apostles. In chapter ten of
Matthew’s Gospel we learn, “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave
them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every
disease and every affliction.” Matthew
then gives us the names of the twelve apostles, among whom is listed, “Matthew
the tax collector.”
An apostle is
an authorized representative. Matthew accompanied Jesus during his ministry. He
heard his teaching. He saw his miracles.
In the end, like all of the apostles, he failed Jesus as he fled and
abandoned the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane.
On the way
there, Jesus said, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is
written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be
scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Jesus died on the cross and was buried. But on the third day – on Easter – the
women went to the tomb and found it empty. There the angel said, “Do not be
afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for
he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go
quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and
behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I
have told you.”
Matthew tells us
that he and the other eleven apostles went to Galilee, to the mountain to which
Jesus had directed them. There they saw the risen Lord and worshipped him. Jesus announced: “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.”
Christ sent
Matthew as his apostle – as his authorized representative. Matthew went as someone who was a repentant
sinner. He knew that in Christ the reign
of God had entered this world to give forgiveness and life. He had been with
the crucified Lord who had risen from the dead.
Matthew is
significant for us because as an apostle he serves as a reminder that the
Christian faith is not about something that happened, “a long time ago, in a
galaxy far, far away.” Instead, it is
based on events that happened when Pontius Pilate was prefect of Judea. It is
the result of things that God actually did in our world. Because of Jesus
Christ, sin really has been forgiven before God. Death really has been
defeated. We have salvation in Christ.
But of course,
as I mentioned earlier, Matthew is not just an apostle. He is also an evangelist – a Gospel
writer. We learn in John’s Gospel that
Jesus said, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the
Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear
witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have
been with me from the beginning.” The Lord declared that the Spirit would
be means by which they would bear witness as he said: “But the Helper, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you
all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
We were not
with the Lord Jesus. But the Lord now comes to us through the inspired words of
the Gospel writer – words given us by the Spirit of Christ. Jesus Christ is true God and true man. And the
word by which he comes to us is truly divine and truly human. It is truly human in that Matthew was a real person
who lived in the first century. It is truly divine in that the Spirit used
Matthew as his instrument so that what he wrote is what the Spirit wanted to
give us. These are Spirit provided words by which the Spirit of Christ is at
work. They are the means by which the Lord comes to us as he gives forgiveness
and strengthens faith.
Jesus says in
our text this morning: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but
those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not
sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” The
apostle Matthew knew that he was one of those sinners. He repented and believed in Christ as he
followed him on the way that led to cross of Good Friday and the resurrection
of Easter. Through the word of
Scripture, God has done the same thing.
He confronts our sin and works repentance. And by the Spirit he gives
faith in Christ and eternal life.
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