“And he rose and followed Him…” (Matthew 9:10).
I have been meditating upon Saint Matthew the Apostle.
He is such an interesting Saint. After all, he was – according to the customs of his time – a terrible sinner. You see, Saint Matthew was a tax collector. And that means that he was a person who would collect the taxes as prescribed by the Roman government (which were extraordinarily high in any case) and then he would collect a sort of “commission” just for himself.
And that additional payment – though it was illegal for him to collect – was the part that made tax collectors in those times so highly hated… You see, those illegal payments that tax collectors received allowed them to maintain a standard of living far and beyond that of the rest of their community. And this was an incredible problem for someone like Matthew, because it meant that no “decent” Jewish people would accept or tolerate him in their community. So he managed to collect all this money and live with all of this comparative luxury, but the end result was an emptiness and loneliness that meant that he was unable to make genuine connections with anyone other than people who were also outcasts, who had been rejected by society…
And then – one day – out of the blue so to speak, Christ called Saint Matthew. And who was Christ? A poor nomadic religious teacher… To follow Christ Matthew had to decide to throw away all the stuff that he had collected in his life. He had to decide that he would not try to make any more money or live in a nice home. He had to decide that he would not treasure material things. He had to understand that he would never be rich or comfortable or even terribly important ever again…
And the story is told in Matthew’s own words…
“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed Him… And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ But when He heard it, He said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’” (Matthew 9:9-13).
And IMMEDIATELY Matthew got up and followed Christ. He did not delay for an instant. Even knowing that he was moving from comfort to discomfort, he still chose to follow God. Why? Because he knew – somewhere deep inside himself – that he was wasted as a tax collector. He knew – somewhere inside himself – that he was wasting his own life. And when Christ called him, Saint Matthew knew that Someone else could see that waste in him and wanted something more for him.
And I wonder whether I get up and follow Christ IMMEDIATELY, or whether I continue to waste this life He provided to me…? I just wonder…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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