Jesus Called Matthew to Discipleship (Part 2)

A call to discipleship from Jesus Christ is a call to obedience for life.

October 27, 2021

"And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me.  And he arose and followed Him.  And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and His disciples: for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with publican and sinners, they said unto His disciples, How is it that He eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?"

Mark 2:14-16

Part 2

Yesterday:  The “Follow Me” of Discipleship

Today: “The Cost of Following”

“Later that day, Jesus and His followers ate at Levi’s house.  There were also many tax collectors and others with bad reputations eating with them.  (There were many of these people who followed Jesus)” (Mark 2:15, HSB[1]).

Yes, Matthew made that instant decision to follow Jesus. Here’s how Luke describes Matthew’s decision, “And he left all, rose up, and followed Him” (Luke 5:27-28).  He had been a rich man, most likely through ill-gotten gains.  No doubt, his lifestyle was far above the people he would end up serving. Luke’s words are significant because he said that Matthew “left all.” That ancient word “left” means just that; he left everything.  It is “to leave behind, … to forsake, … to abandon” all! (Thayer). [2]  We could say that Matthew “burned his bridges behind him.”

 

“And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house.”
Luke tells us of the “great feast” that Matthew gave in honor of Jesus, his new Master.  And it seems that he invited many of his old friends and associates.  Perhaps this was his way of telling them goodbye as he went off to follow Jesus Christ.  Following Jesus was a costly proposition for this tax collector.  He gave up his profitable position serving Rome.  Matthew was leaving family and friends to follow Jesus.  And it seems here that he is even giving up his great fortune because following Jesus Christ was more important than his money. “Following Jesus” was certainly costly to Matthew.  If Matthew’s reputation mattered to him, which it didn’t, he had this feast for publicans, and sinners would have ruined it as far as the Pharisees were concerned.

“Jesus went to dinner at Levi’s [Matthew’s] house, and this scandalized the teachers of the law who saw it as going too far.  This was because the house was full of tax collectors and ‘sinners,’ with not a ‘righteous’ person among them. ‘Sinners’ may simply be a bitter reference to the same tax collectors, or it may refer to the other people from the margins of society who also flocked to Jesus for forgiveness and a new life” [3] (NBC).

 

“Many publicans and sinners.”
Matthew, being a hated tax collector, had no friends among the religious Jews.  But he did have plenty of friends who were tax collectors and prostitutes.

Publicans:

“The ‘publicans’ properly so-called were persons who farmed the Roman taxes and in later times were usually Roman knights and men of wealth and position.  Those here alluded to were the inferior officers, natives of the province where the taxes were collected, called properly portitores” [4] (Cambridge Bible). [5]

Sinners:

The religious Jews hated the publicans so much that they included them in their list with “harlots and other sinners” [6] (Cambridge Bible).

“To those who were self-righteous and self-satisfied, He [Jesus] had nothing to offer, for the only way to enter the kingdom of God is as a self-confessed sinner.  Do ‘loan sharks,’ cheats, and prostitutes flock to our churches today?  And would we welcome them if they came in penitence and faith?  Or would we react in the same way as the teachers of the law?  Would we be embarrassed and turn away?” [7] (NBC).

Matthew was right at home with publicans and sinners; they were his kind of people. Matthew listed the 12 disciples in his book, and he still calls himself “Matthew the publican” (Matthew 10:3).  He never got away from the stigma of what he used to be, nor did he try to.  Here is Luke’s take on Jesus’ time spent at a meal with publicans and sinners in his house.

“And Levi made Him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them” (Luke 5:29).

Sinners were welcomed there.

 

“Sat also together with Jesus and His disciples.”
Sitting together at a meal usually indicates fellowship and camaraderie.  When the Pharisees saw Jesus and his disciples in this “compromising position,” they were scandalized!

“And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?” (Matthew 9:10-11).

Interestingly, they didn’t ask Jesus, but He will answer their question anyway (Mark 2:17). Jesus’ ministry was “calling sinners to repentance.” It stands to reason that if He didn’t know any sinners, or He never talked to any sinners, that He could not call them?  Jesus mixed and mingled with sinners daily.  It is no wonder then that Jesus was called the “friend of sinners.” Amen, for that’s you and me.  Fellow believers, this is a good lesson for us, for if we do not know any sinners, how can we faithfully witness to them?

 

“For there were many, and they followed Him.”
These words at the end of verse 15 are surprising.  Among those known as sinners and publicans, “there were many, and they followed Him.” Someone has said that when we get to heaven, “we may be surprised at those who make it there, and those who don’t.”

Believers, let’s be faithful witnesses to the sinners around us.

Please join us again tomorrow as we look at the “people side” of ministry.

 

Quote:

“Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! lover of my soul;
friends may fail me; foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
he is with me to the end.” [8]

 

 

 

[1] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.
[2] J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] NBC, Cole, R. A. (1994).  Mark.  In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st-century edition (4th ed., p. 954).  Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.  The emphasis is theirs.
[4] Portitores are “the actual custom-house officers, who examined each bale of goods, exported or imported, assessed its value more or less arbitrarily, wrote out the ticket, and enforced payment.” See Smith’s Bible Dictionary; definition downloaded: October 27, 2021.  From:  https://www.christianity.com/bible/dictionary/smiths-bible-dictionary/publican.html.
[5] Cambridge Bible, the electronic Bible notes in eSword.
[6] Cambridge Bible, ibid.
[7] NBC, ibid.
[8] This is the first verse and refrain from Chapman’s great Gospel song, “Jesus What a Friend for Sinners,” (1910) text by J. Wilbur Chapman (1859 – 1918).  Melody is the Welsh tune, HYFRYDOL, by Rowland Hugh Prichard, written in 1830 when he was only nineteen.  Copyright Status: Public Domain.