“A frustrated Jew”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Thursday, September 21, 2023

Matthew 9:9-13 (Forward, p. 54) CEV p. 992

I have often reflected on the life of Matthew, especially in light of the gospel that has been attributed to him. I accept that attribution, that supposition, as being accurate, and, as such it seems to me, at least, to say a great deal about the man.

To me, he is a frustrated Jew, a man who became a tax collector almost ‘in spite of himself’, namely something that he ‘fell’ into somehow and that something that violated his innermost leanings and longings. From his gospel I get the sense that he was a devoted scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures and was a fervent believer in a coming Messiah. But such was his occupation, and his unsavory reputation that stemmed from it, that he’d never be welcome in the synagogue, much less be welcome in any scholarly gathering of rabbis or students of the Scriptures. We have no idea at all of how he came to become a tax collector, but my hunch is that he often lamented the day that this happened and yearned earnestly to be free of it. And so the ‘call’ of Jesus to come and follow Him was most welcome: the break that he really needed and wanted.

But, even so, the break could not have been without serious consequences and ramifications in his own life. As a tax collector, he was under the firm thumb of the Roman government, so how would they take his desertion of his task? Would he have owned them money, or had he already paid their share in full, meaning that everything left on the counting table when he left to follow Jesus was actually his? Did he bring that along with him? And what of his accounting books? Surely they needed to be safeguarded and kept in some safe location? And what about the armed guards that probably watched over his ‘establishment’ and enforced his nefarious dealings? And, of course, in choosing to follow Jesus, he was leaving an assured, steady income for something that was pretty uncertain and nebulous.

On the other hand, coming over to Jesus would have been a great relief. He would have certainly identified with Jesus’ characterization of himself and his fellow tax collectors as sinners, as people who were ‘unwell’, particularly in the eyes of the society around them. He, and all of them, would have craved acceptance, community, belonging and forgiveness, and that is something that he now had with Jesus and the small cluster of disciples. And so, it was entirely worth it, entirely worth giving up all that he’d had, for better or for worth, and ‘coming over’ to Jesus.

What this says to me in our present world is that there may well be those who feel ‘trapped’, trapped by circumstances of family or upbringing or experiences or personality, or trapped because of unfortunate choices, who, like Matthew, are yearning for a way out. I suspect that these people may well feel bad, even guilty, about how ‘things have turned out’, but who cannot see their way clear to making a change and starting afresh. To me then, the example of Jesus and Matthew says that it is never too late, that Jesus calls each and every one of us to leave what binds and sullies us, and start all over again, this time with Himself as leader and guide and helper. Thanks be to God that this is indeed possible. Amen.

Forward notes: “And as [Jesus] sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples” (verse 10).

Commemorations: St. Matthew, Evangelist

“Jesus did not seek students who would simply soak up all his wisdom. Jesus did not rally cheerleaders or call people to follow him in order to amass power for himself. Jesus invited people to go and be with him on a mission to go and be with others.

“Plenty of people have written about Jesus sharing meals with his disciples as well as with people who were socially ostracized, like ‘tax collectors and sinners.’ What strikes me about this scene in Matthew, though, is how it speaks to the kind of relationship Jesus was interested in having with people. Jesus invites a tax collector to be part of his mission, and the next thing Jesus does is to each with him and other people employed as tax collectors. In this, I see a Jesus who is interested not in seeing how many supporters he can acquire for himself or in ordering people to do his bidding but in sharing life with his disciples and with people he meets. Discipleship with Jesus is ‘sitting with.’ It is being with. It is solidarity.”

Moving Forward: “When is the last time you broke bread with someone outside of your circle of family and friends?”