The Call of Matthew - paraphrase of The Training of the Twelve, Chapter 3 (part 1)

The call of Matthew powerfully illustrates Jesus’ complete disregard for the wisdom of this world. A disciple who was a tax collector would prove to be a stumbling block for many of the Jews that Jesus was trying to reach. Jesus was completely aware of this fact and yet publically invited Matthew to follow him and later appointed him as one of the twelve.

Matthew was employed as a tax collector in the town of Capernaum, the place that Jesus had adopted as his home base. It was there that Jesus encountered Matthew and spoke the command, “Follow Me”. From the way that Matthew immediately responded to the call, we can infer that he knew Jesus. They would have had plenty of opportunity to get to know one another since they lived in the same fishing village.  The fact that Matthew lived in Capernaum makes it absolutely certain that he knew of Jesus before he was called. No man could live in that town in those days without hearing of the mighty works done in and around it. People were being healed, demons cast out, blind men received their sight and paralyzed men were walking. The daughter of the synagogue ruler had even been raised from the dead. These things had been done publically and were well known at the time that Jesus called Matthew to follow Him.

The idea that Matthew had some previous knowledge of Christ demonstrates the reasonableness of his discipleship without diminishing its moral value. The miracles themselves were not enough to get Matthew to leave everything and follow Jesus. If miracles were enough, then everyone in Capernaum would have become a follower of Jesus. Instead, Jesus later rebuked Capernaum saying, “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.”(Matthew 11:23 ESV).The people of Capernaum wondered about the miracles of Jesus and talked about them, but what they did not do and what Matthew actually did do was repent.

The first fruit of Matthew’s repentance was a party. Matthew invited his friends who, of course, were other tax collectors and “sinners”. It seemed that Matthew had at least four reasons for giving this party. First he wanted to honor Jesus; this was a great banquet and Jesus was the guest of honor. The second was to celebrate his emancipation. The third reason was to say goodbye to his old friends as he embarked on his new journey of discipleship. He wanted to depart from his old comrades in peace. The fourth and final reason was that he wanted to introduce his friends to Jesus.

Are there any better signs of repentance and discipleship than these? A new disciple will immediately honor Christ, rejoice in his new life, say goodbye to his old life and tell his friends about Jesus. Matthew did all of these things just by throwing a party!