Set the table:

Take a moment and think of all the things stewing in your mind and heart – and then lay them down. Ask God to clear your mind and to open your heart to hear Him speak.

 “Vindicate me, Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Examine me, Lord, and put me to the test; Refine my mind and my heart. For your goodness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.”  Psalm 26:1-3 NASB

On the Menu

Beverage:  Take a moment to drink in His Presence.

¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who wait for His faithfulness,
¹⁹ To rescue their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
²⁰ Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
²¹ For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
²² Let Your favor, Lord, be upon us,
Just as we have waited for You.

Psalm 33:18-22 NASB

Main Course:  Study His Word.

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s office; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. ¹⁰ Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and began dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Now go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, rather than sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Matthew 9:9-13 NASB

(The same occasion can also be found in Mark 2:15-17; Luke 5:27-32)

Main Course 1: The Man

Matthew is, of course, the same Matthew as the writer of the Gospel of Matthew. He refers to himself as Matthew, though in the books of Mark and Luke, he is called Levi.

As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. Mark 2:14 NASB

After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”  Luke 5:27 NASB

It was common for people in Jesus’ day to have several names. It may be that he refers to himself this way because he is more commonly known as Matthew to those who knew him well. Some even think that perhaps Christ changed his name from Levi to Matthew after he was called, but we are not told that in scripture.

The name Matthew means “gift of the Lord.” This could also be a reason why he refers to himself by that name, to remind himself of how far he came from the person many thought he was as a tax collector. In the list of the disciples called by Jesus in Matthew 10:3, he does refer to himself as “Matthew the tax collector.” This fact along with a couple others listed later shows that Matthew was a humble man, not trying to hide from his past, or pretend he was something he was not.

The Book of Matthew was written anywhere from as early as AD 50 to AD 70, depending upon which commentary or reference is used. It seems that Matthew wrote more for a Jewish reader. The facts to support that are:

1) Matthew traces back the lineage of Jesus only to Abraham, where Luke goes all the way back to Adam. As prophesied, the Messiah was to come from Abraham and David’s lineage.

2) Matthew quotes OT prophetic passages more than 60 times, which is more than any of the other Gospels, again to support the fact that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.

3) Matthew also mentions Jewish customs without explaining them, knowing that the Jews would understand.

4) He also adhered to the Jewish hesitancy to speak the name of God by referring to it as the “Kingdom of Heaven,” instead of the “Kingdom of God,” as the other Gospels do.

Matthew probably spoke the local Aramaic language as well as Greek. His job as a tax collector was to collect tolls or taxes. His booth was located on the main road from Damascus to Capernaum. The taxes he collected were probably taken from both local merchants and farmers carrying their goods to market, as well as caravans passing through Galilee.

Tax collectors would lease the booths from the Roman government, paying taxes up front. They would then collect the taxes and tolls from people. They often had a bad reputation because they would collect more than necessary, keeping the excess to make a bigger profit. They were also deemed traitors by the Jews for working for Rome.

However, because of this job, Matthew would have been good at record keeping and writing. He used those talents when writing the Book of Matthew.

Main Course 2: The Call

According to Matthew and Mark, Capernaum was the home of Jesus.

Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; ¹³ and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew 4:12-13 NASB

Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the Sea of Galilee and came to His own city. Matthew 9:1 NASB

When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home.  Mark 2:1 NASB

Although there is no evidence of a previous interaction between Jesus and Matthew,  since Capernaum was the home of Jesus, it is quite possible that Jesus had passed by Matthew many times as he sat in the toll booth. And since the news of Jesus, the miracle-working teacher, was widely spread, surely Matthew had heard of Him. I wonder how often Matthew had seen a crowd following Jesus and wanted to just close up his booth and follow, too? Had he thought to himself that he wasn’t worthy to follow that great Teacher, or that Jesus probably wouldn’t want to associate with him?

How often are we sensitive enough to the Spirit that we can sense Him passing by?

Let’s look at a couple instances where people would have missed out on a blessing had they let the Lord pass them by.

Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. ² When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground, ³ and said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree;  Genesis 18:1-4 NASB

Had Abraham not been sitting at the edge of his tent watching, he would have missed these passer-bys, one of whom was the Lord. The Lord and 2 angels were on their way to pass judgment on Sodom. But with Abraham watching, and asking them to come in to rest, they revealed to Abraham a couple of things. First, they told Abraham that Sarah would have a son within a year, fulfilling the covenant God had made with him. That long awaited covenant now was within reach. Secondly, Abraham also found out the direction they were headed and bargained with God to spare the city. The destruction still happened due to there not being at least ten souls that were righteous like Abraham had fought for; but, could it be Abraham had mentioned his nephew Lot or did the two angels “just happen” to stay with Lot that night? We can’t know for sure, but Lot and his family were saved from the destruction.

Now consider this encounter.

Moses had spent much time in the presence of the Lord. On this occasion when the Lord was angry with the people and was telling Moses to lead the people without His continuing presence, Moses begged for God to not withhold His presence. He did not want to continue to lead the people unless the Lord’s presence was with him. He then asked for God to reveal His glory.

Then Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory!” ¹⁹ And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” ²⁰ He further said, “You cannot see My face, for mankind shall not see Me and live!” ²¹ Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; ²² and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” Exodus 33:18-23 NASB

And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. ⁶ Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth; ⁷ who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” ⁸ And Moses hurried to bow low toward the ground and worship. Exodus 34:5-8 NASB

Because of Moses worshipping the Lord and finding favor in His sight, the Lord did as Moses requested and continued to bless the Israelites with His guiding presence.

One more. We know the Lord is always near, watching over us. But even though He is near, it’s even better when we can have a one-on-one meeting with Him.

When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ Seeing them straining at the oars—for the wind was against them—at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. ⁴⁹ But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, Mark 6:47-51 NASB

Sometimes when we are in storms, we know God is with us. After all, He promised never to leave or forsake us. But when we ask Him to actually get in that boat with us, to pick us up and hold us close, the storm raging around us can feel calm.

We often feel the presence of the Lord when we are singing praise and worship music at our church. You will see people raising their hands in worship and some, like me, can’t hold back tears for the awesome privilege of feeling Him in our midst. But then there are times when I’m struggling with anxiety and depression when I can see others experiencing the Lord’s presence while I’m not. I’ve let Him pass me by.

Let’s not let the Presence of our Lord simply pass near or by us. Let’s invite Him to dwell with us as we fully worship and commune with Him.

Returning to our main passage, notice what Matthew was doing as the Lord passes. Matthew was simply doing his job, minding his own business. Jesus notices Matthew and tells him to follow Him. We are told Matthew got up and followed Christ. In Luke it even says, he left everything. 

And he left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.  Luke 5:28 NASB

Christ called Matthew while he was working, just like He called Peter and Andrew as they were working. Perhaps Christ saw something in him, a man, despite the probable sinning, who would work. God sees our hearts and motives.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.  I Samuel 16:7 NASB

God is the One who initiates a call on our life. We cannot call ourselves and expect to have His favor on our terms. We are to bow to His will and call on our life.

Just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, ¹² so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.  1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NASB

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it.  1 Thessalonians 5:24 NASB

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 NASB

Our God is the One who calls us, chooses us, elects us, to be His. We have to be willing to leave all behind and follow Him. Those who receive Him as Lord, are called His on this earth. But we shall also be the called ones that will be with Him through all eternity!

These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.  Revelations 17:14 NASB

So, Matthew showed no hesitancy to follow.  We are never told anywhere that Matthew returned to that job. He became a disciple of Christ’s and was eventually martyred for his faith.

But sadly, there are some that try to come on their own terms instead of truly repenting and trusting in the Lord and Him only, for salvation. Or once they hear the Gospel and are asked by Christ to follow Him, they simply refuse.

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Matthew 7:21 NASB

For many are called, but few are chosen.  Matthew 22:14 NASB

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not give false testimony, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰ And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth.” ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But he was deeply dismayed by these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. ²³ And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” Mark 10:17-23 NASB

May we all be sensitive to His voice and heed His call. Pray that when He calls those who do not believe, that they will receive Him as Lord and Savior. And may we all continue to follow Him each and every day, never to return to our old ways of living.

Main Course 3: The Feast

We find in Matthew’s account another way in which he shows his humility. He never states that this home they were eating in was his. He simply states it was “in the house.” However, according to Luke’s account, it was a substantial feast with lots of guests, showing the possible wealth that Matthew had.

And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. Luke 5:29 NASB

We do not know Matthew’s thoughts, but we can surmise that he wanted to honor Jesus by inviting Him for a great meal. He not only wanted Jesus to be his guest, but he wanted all of his friends to come and meet this Man who had changed his life when He called Matthew to follow Him.

We should want everyone we know to know the One who saved us and changed our life. We ought to be inviting them to come and see for themselves the Savior. Another disciple of Jesus did the same thing, inviting a friend to come and see the One who called him.

The next day He decided to go to Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets also wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel!” John 1:43-49 NASB

It does us good to invite others to know our Savior. They need to see the change He has made in our life. But often they will not believe until they experience the Savior for themselves. So don’t stop inviting.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Psalm 34:8 NASB

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ¹⁴ How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” ¹⁶ However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.  Romans 10:11-17

Let us not grow weary in spreading the Gospel of Christ to others. Let’s continually invite them to meet the One who invited us to follow Him. Throw that feast!

Main Course 4: The Lesson

Since Matthew had been a tax collector, it would stand to reason that many of his acquaintances and friends were of the same profession. As stated previously, tax collectors were often considered great sinners for working for Rome and for collecting more money than required from the people. Because of them being considered sinners, they would have been considered unclean, making those who ate with them unclean as well. We see this was an assumption of the Pharisees when they questioned the disciples of why Jesus was eating with the sinners.

Yet those sinners, they were in need of a Savior just as much as the “religious” Pharisees. The difference between those sinners and the Pharisees is that the Pharisees were sinners who represented themselves as righteous. We find that many of the sinners were actually looking to become righteous.

Now even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what are we to do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Luke 3:12-13 NASB

Even before Christ began his public ministry, we find common folks looking for answers. But even during the ministry and preaching of John the Baptist, it was the religious leaders who would scoff and question John’s teaching, but the humble of spirit were the ones who sought the way to life.

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to Him. ² And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2 NASB

Could it be these tax collectors and sinners who began coming to hear John’s and Jesus’ teaching were some of the same ones who were guests at Matthew’s feast? Or perhaps those who were at Matthew’s house, who saw the change in him, told other friends who also wanted to know more about Jesus. Never underestimate the power of sharing the message of salvation with those God places in our path. It can cause a small ripple effect that will cause more than just the one person we spoke with to seek out the Savior.

There were consequences to Jesus for accepting the invitation to Matthew’s feast. He got a reputation.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a heavy drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ And yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Matthew 11:18-19 NASB

John came preaching repentance. He lived a strict solitary life, never partaking of wine. (Luke 1:15) He preached repentance unto the Lord. Yet the Pharisees did not like him because John called them out for living hypocritical lives. And then Jesus came and associated freely with sinners, preaching and fulfilling the same message of salvation, but He, too, was ridiculed by those who deemed themselves religious.

The Pharisees questioned the disciples, asking why Jesus ate with sinners. Jesus never did anything wrong but was always accused of wrongdoing.  The Pharisees were more concerned with outward appearances and following a strict set of rules and laws than they were in allowing God to change them inwardly.

Do we allow the truth of God’s Word to change our minds and thoughts rather than holding to the thoughts and teachings of human teachers? Do we pass judgement on those who do not look or act like we do? Matthew had chosen to follow Christ, yet he still cared enough about the friends from his old life to invite them to know Jesus, too.

What the Pharisees did not understand was that Jesus’ association with the tax collectors and sinners wasn’t His stamp of approval on their lifestyle. Rather it was the fact that He knew they needed Him and His message. We can love people and care about them without approving of and participating in their lifestyle.

Jesus was simply carrying out the task He had come to perform.

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10 NASB

Jesus replied to the Pharisees attacks by saying the sick are the ones who need help, not the well. Sin is a sickness – a spiritual sickness. The Pharisees had this same sickness but refused to believe that their form of religion was not righteousness.

And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰ Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you maintain, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. John 9:39-41 NASB

Jesus then tells the Pharisees they need to go do something. I find this a little funny. These Pharisees took pride in their great knowledge. They were teachers of God’s Word. Yet when Jesus told them to, “Now go and learn what this means,” He was in effect taking on the role of teacher. The Rabbis would instruct their students in this same way. And here was this Man that associated with tax collectors and sinners giving the religious leaders a little lesson.

The lesson Jesus was wanting them to learn comes from Hosea 6:6.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 KJV

God knows our hearts and understands completely the motives behind our actions. When the Israelites offered the sacrifices with impure hearts, God didn’t even want to smell the aroma coming from those sacrifices.

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. ²² Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. ²³ Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. ²⁴ But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Amos 5:21-24 KJV

Jesus was trying to get the Pharisees to see the impurity in their own hearts. They were passing judgement on others when they, themselves, were also spiritually sick and in need of Jesus. May we not be so quick to judge others, but may we be swift in allowing the Lord to search our hearts and correct us in whatever way is needed.

Our take-aways from this lesson today.

1. Ordinary people can be used by God in mighty ways if they respond to His call.
2. When God calls, we need to answer immediately. We are not promised that He will call again.
3. We need to tell others about our Lord. There are many who are searching, but until they hear of the salvation offered to them through the sacrificial death and resurrection of our Lord, they will be searching in vain. Invite them to feast at the table of our Lord!
4. Don’t hold to the teaching and rituals of man if they are not firmly grounded in the Word of God. Ask God to reveal spiritual truths to our hearts and then follow Him instead of striving to live from our own righteousness based on worldly opinions and rituals created by man.