Jesus and Matthew The Tax Man.
Brian shares the story of Jesus and Matthew, the tax man, formerly known as Levi. Matthew became one of the gospel writers.
Jesus and Taxes
I would like to read Mark 2:13-17.
“He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him. And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
Mark 2:13-17 (ESV)
Tax Makes People Nervous
Internal Revenue Service. Canada Revenue Agency. These words can make people nervous. Today we look at the head of the Capernaum Revenue Service, the Chief Tax Collector, Levi. Jewish tax collectors were hated because they cooperated with the Romans to take taxes from their own people, and they often took more tax than they should.
It was so rare to find an honest tax collector that one Roman writer said he once saw a statue to an honest tax collector. That would have been an unusual tax hero. Levi is a Chief Tax Collector, a Big Tax Collector. He’s probably not that unusual hero, but a crooked crook.
Levi, The Tax Collector
Levi is a very imperfect person to be a faithful, honest follower of Jesus. But Jesus is obviously not like a modern-day “head-hunter”, tracking down the people in the top 5% of their field. He takes imperfect men and women and turns them into people who, the Bible says, “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). They do that, not because they are so talented, but by the power of the living God with them and in them.
Artists in Florence
It is amazing what can happen to rough, raw material. Take this example, centuries ago in Italy: Workers are dragging a great marble block into the city of Florence, expecting it to be made into the statue of a great Old Testament Prophet. But it contains imperfections and is rejected. One day another sculptor sees the rough block, but his mind sees something of immense beauty, and he decides to sculpt it.
Finally, on January 25, 1504, the greatest artists of the day assemble to see what he has made out of the rejected block. In the crowd are Leonardo Da Vinci and Botticelli. As the veil drops to the floor, the people cheer. It is a masterpiece! It is Michelangelo’s “David”, one of the world’s greatest works of art.
Levi Becomes Matthew
Christ saw in a cracked, lifeless block named “Levi”, a man whose other name was “Matthew”, which means “a gift of God”. He saw the man who would tell Jesus’ story in the Gospel of Matthew.
What does he see in you? He doesn’t see Michelangelo’s “David” carved out of marble. He sees “The Son of David”, Jesus himself, formed in you. Romans 8:29 tells us:
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
Romans 8:29
And how is this for a great sculpture:
“We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
(2 Corinthians 3:18)
Put on Jesus
If you are a Christian, God wants you to,
“Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
[Eph 4:22-24]
He wants to do something better than putting off Levi and putting on Matthew.
He wants you to put off …. YOU …. and put on JESUS.
Did you enjoy this post about Jesus and Matthew, the tax man? Contact us at HopeStreamRadio, or comment below.
Brian Stapley
Brian Stapley is the husband of Margaret and “Christian-proud” father of Tabitha, Ben, Jeremy and Joel. He has been director of the Boys JIM Club of America since 1981 and a “JIM Clubber” since 1958, the year he became a Christian. The mission statement of the JIM Club is, “Discipling boys to love Jesus deeply and express him vividly.”
He has been an educator since 1970, primarily as a high school English Teacher. (Don’t dangle your participles.) He has been in fellowship at Scottlea Gospel Chapel, St. Catharines, since 1976 and travels to preach about three dozen times a year, in Ontario and New York State. He is a ventriloquist, in company with Casey, Theodore, Dodo, Grumpa, and a menagerie of others. Also, a bit of a magician.
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Images Courtesy of:
Taxes – stevepb
David – squirrelsdoom
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