PRAYER
God, you are the Word.
Open my eyes to the Person behind this story.
Help me to see these miracles of Jesus from
Matthew’s eyes, and show me what I can learn from this tax collector.
Take a few minutes of silence. In your own words, ask God to meet you here.
READING
As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow Me and be My disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed Him.
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners (
RESPONSE
After reading those verses, what are your first impressions? What do you imagine it was like to be at that dinner party? Write down anything that comes to mind about this passage.
INSIGHT
We find Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. It was his job is to collect the Roman taxes from his fellow Jewish people. To most Jewish people of his day, this was seen as an act of betrayal, because they viewed the Romans as godless occupying forces, and Matthew was helping them collect money to fund the occupation and support Rome. Most tax collectors in Israel also added their own taxes, sometimes even doubling them. It was possible for a Jewish man to pay 75 percent of his income in taxes. These tax collectors were disliked because they stole from their own people and helped the Romans steal from them.
The Jewish people recognized Jesus as a rabbi or teacher. Rabbis invited a special group of students to follow them and learn how to be a rabbi. It was the dream of every Jewish boy to be called to follow a rabbi and become his disciple; it was an honor to be called a disciple. This may explain why Matthew got up and followed Jesus so quickly. It made others question Jesus, however, because He chose one of society’s most disliked people to follow Him.
At first, this story may not seem to be such a miracle, but imagine the healing in Matthew’s life: Most people hated him; Jesus loved him and brought him wholeness.
Matthew later told the story of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. He experienced firsthand a new life following Jesus. In the Book of Matthew, we see the ways Jesus offers us new life and makes us new.
REFLECTION
What do you think it would feel like to be hated by society, but then invited to follow the Son of God?
What would happen if you invited someone who is hated by everyone in your school to sit with you for lunch?
This week, take that challenge. Invite someone who is an outcast to sit with you during lunch. See what happens when you reach out in love to someone who everyone else sees as worthless.
