Matthew #80

Matthew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, a Jewish tax collector in Galilee who left his work at Jesus’s call. He is named in all four lists of the Twelve (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), and in Matthew’s list he is identified as “Matthew the tax collector.” Church tradition also identifies him as the author of the first Gospel, which is placed first in the New Testament and bears his name.

Biblical Significance

The call story is short. Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth and said to him, “Follow me,” and he rose and followed (Matthew 9:9). Mark and Luke tell the same story about a man they call Levi, the son of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27-28). Many interpreters take Levi and Matthew to be the same person with two names, which was not unusual, though the Gospels do not say this directly. The tax booth was probably in or near Capernaum, on the road that ran past the lake, where tolls were collected.

Tax collectors were widely despised. They worked for the Roman authorities or their agents, often collected more than was owed, and were regarded as traitors and sinners by many of their neighbors. That Jesus called one to be a close follower was a notable choice. Matthew then hosted a dinner for Jesus at his house, where many tax collectors and sinners joined them. When the Pharisees objected, Jesus answered that the healthy do not need a physician but the sick, and told them to go and learn what it means, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:10-13, citing Hosea 6:6). Luke adds that Matthew left everything behind (Luke 5:28).

After the account of his call, Matthew is largely silent in the Gospels and appears only in the lists of the Twelve. He was present in the upper room after the ascension (Acts 1:12-14).

Legacy

The Gospel of Matthew carries no author’s name in the text itself. Early Christian tradition, going back at least to the second-century writer Papias as reported by Eusebius, holds that Matthew compiled sayings of Jesus in Hebrew or Aramaic, and later generations identified him as the author of the Gospel. Many scholars question whether the Greek Gospel we have was written by an eyewitness, and some see it as dependent on Mark, while others defend the traditional view. Whatever one’s view on authorship, this Gospel is known for its emphasis on Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament promises, and for the Sermon on the Mount. Traditions about Matthew’s later life, including missionary work in Ethiopia, Persia, or elsewhere, and about his martyrdom, vary and cannot be verified. He is commonly held up as an example of how Jesus calls people from the margins.