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 as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 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.”

Consider the apostle Matthew. In the passage above, he doesn’t begin very well—at least He doesn’t appear to be someone we’d initially describe as a model disciple. Scripture tells us that he was “sitting at the tax office.” Later, we read specifically that he was a “tax collector” (Mt 10:3). Collecting taxes wasn’t simply another profession in the time of Jesus. Tax collectors were responsible for extracting money from people, and they often did so without mercy. They stole from the people, increasing tax rates and pocketing the extra money for themselves.

As a Jewish tax collector, Matthew would have been viewed as even worse. Roman rule was a serious problem for the Jews. God had given them the Promised Land, and they were supposed to have their own king, not a Roman emperor. Rome was the enemy, and anyone who stood with Rome was an outcast, a friend of the enemy. That’s Matthew.

Like Matthew, we too don’t always begin from a place of strength and confidence. All of us have lives filled with things of which we aren’t exactly proud: bad decisions, old wounds, or a nagging sense of inadequacy, weakness, or failure. Yet, we can learn from Matthew’s story. No matter how far away we might seem, nor how hopeless we might feel, nor even how irredeemable we might think ourselves to be, God is willing to approach us. It was this way for Matthew, and it can be the same for us. No matter how seriously we have sinned, we are never beyond the reach of God. Therefore, we should never give up hope. God sees more than our sins and He desires to meet us where we are.

Inner Conflict (v. 9)

We shouldn’t miss how dramatic this moment is in Matthew’s life. He isn’t a hollow character. He is a real man, with a real life and real problems. He’s a thief and a traitor. He’s given in to the allure of wealth and of power. Therefore, when Jesus says to Matthew, “Follow me,” you can imagine the inner conflict that must have unfolded inside of him:

On the one hand, he’s probably thinking about the opportunity in front of him. The thought of no longer being a tax collector, being ashamed of himself, and feeling like a traitor must be enticing. Surely, he eagerly desires the new life that might be possible for him.

On the other hand, you can also imagine his hesitations: “Can I really give it up? What about my money, my career? Can I really change? Do I even want to change? Do I even know this man? What happens if I follow him? What’s it going to cost?” Matthew had probably developed a comfortable life, materially speaking. Being a tax collector gave him wealth, power, and likely some sort of peace with the Romans. The decision to follow Jesus wasn’t going to come without a cost. Should he give up his career and his money for the possibility of a new life or should he hold on to these earthly comforts and remain as he is?

Like Matthew, we too might feel this tension. Maybe we’re not sure following Jesus is a good decision. Maybe we sense God calling us to something, but we’re afraid of what it might cost. Maybe we’ve done some bad things in the past and don’t think we can change. This inner conflict is normal. God sees it and understands it. At the same time, God is not content to leave us there. He meets us in our turmoil and invites us deeper.

Jesus Christ, Friend of Sinners

Jesus enters right into the midst of Matthew’s precarious situation. We shouldn’t underestimate the significance of Jesus’ action. Not only does he invite Matthew to “Follow me” while Matthew is still sitting at his post as a tax collector, but He also took the opportunity to have a meal with Matthew afterward—and not just with him, but with “many tax collectors and sinners” (v. 10). Such actions would have been considered scandalous at the time of Jesus. For the Jewish people of this time, meals were an incredibly intimate time. Not only this, but the Pharisees would have considered Matthew and his fellow sinners unclean. For Jesus to be in their presence for a meal would have been a radical break from the social conventions of the day. But Jesus was willing to overcome the perceptions of the people around him in order to reach out to Matthew. He loved Matthew so much that He was willing to endure the scorn of others so that Matthew could be saved.

Jesus is willing to do the same in our lives as well. He comes to meet us in our sinfulness, and he isn’t deterred by our weaknesses and failures. Too often, it is we ourselves who exclude ourselves from the Church or from God. Because of our sins, we feel like we don’t belong, like people will judge us or that God would never want anything to do with us. We might even come up with creative excuses—it’s just not my thing; I’m busy; I don’t know anyone; they’re judging me—and the like. But these are our excuses, not God’s reasons.

We learn something very different from Jesus. He says explicitly, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (v. 13). Later in the Gospel, he is referred to as a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Mt 11:19). Jesus’ mission was not merely to gather a bunch of good people together to make them better. Rather, he chose to enter into the very worst of our human experience and redeem it. The people that Jesus wants to be with are sinners like us, sinners who can be saved by His redeeming love.

The question, at this point, is a very personal one: Are we willing to let Jesus into the broken places of our lives? As sinners, are we willing to approach God and ask for His mercy or will we be overcome by shame? Will we allow our past sins to ruin our future life, or will we present our sins to Jesus for forgiveness? He is willing to come to us. Will we respond?

Follow Me

Jesus’ call to Matthew was a moment of restoration. Matthew was transformed from a sinful, traitorous, tax collector into one of Jesus’ closest followers. But Jesus didn’t merely restore Matthew by having dinner with him and his friends. Rather, Jesus invited Matthew to “Follow me” (v. 9). This is very important for us to remember. Jesus comes to restore us, but this restoration requires that we choose to follow Jesus. It is only when we actively choose to follow Jesus that we experience the transformation that God wants to accomplish in our lives.

Further, following Jesus has a cost. Matthew had his job and his money. He couldn’t stay sitting at his customs post and follow Jesus at the same time. He had to leave his old life behind. The same is true in our lives. Jesus invites us to follow him, but following Jesus requires change. Each of us has things in our lives that we don’t want to give up, attachments to the things of this world that we struggle to let go of. Maybe, like Matthew, it’s wealth. Maybe it’s pleasure. Maybe it’s a relationship that we know isn’t good for us, but we just don’t think we can live without. Or maybe it’s the fear of leaving a life that is easy and comfortable. Will we love Jesus more than these things? Or will our love for the things of the world prevent us from following Him?

Additionally, following Jesus is about much more than merely saying an occasional prayer and going to Mass on Sunday. Those things are essential, but they aren’t enough. Nor can we merely say, “Yes” to Jesus once, and then move on. Following Jesus means being willing to walk with Him every step of our lives, to listen to His teachings, to accept His way of life, to go wherever He goes—in short, to have a deep, intimate friendship with him. This was His invitation to Matthew. He makes the same invitation to us.

DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR YOUR BIBLE STUDY

Passages: Mt 9:9-13

The Call of Matthew

1. (Optional) Launching Question: Have you ever been invited to something (an event, activity, or social gathering) that you knew was going to be amazing, but that also made you incredibly hesitant? What was the invitation and what made you hesitate?

Allow group to discuss.

Please read aloud: In this study, we are going to read about Jesus’ call to one of His disciples, Matthew.

2. Launching Question: What do you think it would have been like to be invited by Jesus, in-person, to follow Him?

Allow group to discuss.

Please read aloud: Let’s take a minute to read Matthew’s story and see what we can learn from his experience of being called by Jesus.

Read Matthew 9:9

3. What do we know about Matthew from this passage? And what does this tell us about who Matthew is?

Answer: Scripture tells us that Matthew was “sitting at the tax office” and thus, we learn that he is a tax collector.

4. What do you know about tax collectors at the time of Jesus, if anything?

Allow the group to discuss. Answer: Collecting taxes wasn’t simply another profession in the time of Jesus. Tax collectors were responsible for extracting money from people, and they often did so without mercy. They stole from the people, increasing tax rates and pocketing the extra money for themselves.

As a Jewish tax collector, Matthew would have been viewed as even worse. Roman rule was a serious problem for the Jews. God had given them the Promised Land, and they were supposed to have their own king, not a Roman emperor. Rome was the enemy, and anyone who stood with Rome was an outcast, a friend of the enemy.

5. Matthew doesn’t exactly begin his encounter with Jesus from a place of strength and confidence. Like Matthew, we too might not always begin well. What does Jesus’ encounter with Matthew teach us about how God approaches us, even when we have things in our life of which we aren’t exactly proud (i.e., a sinful past, old wounds, inadequacy, weaknesses, or failures)?

Answer: No matter how far away we might seem, nor how hopeless we might feel, nor even how irredeemable we might think ourselves to be, God is willing to approach us. It was this way for Matthew, and it can be the same for us. No matter how seriously we have sinned, we are never beyond the reach of God. God sees more than our sins and He desires to meet us where we are.

Please read aloud: Let’s take a moment to imagine what this encounter must have been like for Matthew.

On the one hand, he’s probably thinking about the opportunity in front of him. The thought of no longer being a tax collector, being ashamed of himself, and feeling like a traitor must be enticing.

On the other hand, you can also imagine his hesitations: “Can I really give it up? What about my money, my career? Can I really change? Do I even want to change?”

6. How do you think Matthew felt during this moment?

Allow the group to discuss.

7. Have you ever felt the tension between being called by God to something more while also being hesitant about what it might mean for your life? If so, what is your experience with this inner conflict?

Allow the group to discuss.

Please read aloud: Let’s read a little more about Jesus’ encounter with Matthew:

Read Matthew 9:10-13

8. What does Jesus do after Matthew begins to follow Him? Why was this action so significant and what does it tell us about Jesus?

Answer: Jesus enters right into the midst of Matthew’s precarious situation. Not only does he invite Matthew to “Follow me” while Matthew is still sitting at his post as a tax collector, but He also took the opportunity to have a meal with Matthew afterward—and not just with him, but with “many tax collectors and sinners” (v. 10). Such actions would have been considered scandalous at the time of Jesus. For the Jewish people of this time, meals were an incredibly intimate time. Not only this, but the Pharisees would have considered Matthew and his fellow sinners unclean. For Jesus to be in their presence for a meal would have been a radical break from the social conventions of the day. But Jesus was willing to overcome the perceptions of the people around him in order to reach out to Matthew. He loved Matthew so much that He was willing to endure the scorn of others so that Matthew could be saved.

9. In the Gospels, Jesus is referred to as a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Mt 11:19, Lk 7:34). Too often, we are tempted to exclude ourselves from the Church or from God. Because of our sins, we feel like we don’t belong, like people will judge us or that God would never want anything to do with us. We might even come up with creative excuses—it’ just not my thing; I’m busy; I don’t know anyone; they’re judging me—and the like. What does Jesus’ interaction with Matthew teach us about how to address these thoughts and feelings?

Answer: We learn that Jesus wants to meet us in our sinfulness. He even says explicitly, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (v. 13). Jesus’ mission was not merely to gather a bunch of good people together to make them better. Rather, he chose to enter into the very worst of our human experience and redeem it. The people that Jesus wants to be with are sinners like us, sinners who can be saved by His redeeming love.

10. The question, at this point, is a very personal one: How do you feel about Jesus meeting you in the broken places of your life? Are you willing to let God see your struggles? Why or why not? What hesitations do you have?

Allow the group to discuss.

Please read aloud: Jesus’ call to Matthew was a moment of restoration. Matthew was transformed from a sinful, traitorous, tax collector into one of Jesus’ closest followers. But Jesus didn’t merely restore Matthew by having dinner with him and his friends. Rather, Jesus invited Matthew to “Follow me” (v. 9). This is very important for us to remember. Jesus comes to restore us, but this restoration requires that we choose to follow Jesus. It is only when we actively choose to follow Jesus that we experience the transformation that God wants to accomplish in our lives.

11. What do you think following Jesus cost Matthew? And what did he gain by choosing to follow Jesus?

Allow the group to discuss. Answer: Matthew had probably developed a comfortable life, materially speaking. Being a tax collector gave him wealth, power, and likely some sort of peace with the Romans. The decision to follow Jesus cost him his career and his money. At the same time, He gained the joy of being freed from his sins and living in friendship with Christ.

12. Following Jesus has a cost for us too. Matthew had his job and his money. He couldn’t stay sitting at his customs post and follow Jesus at the same time. He had to leave his old life behind. What do you think would have to change in your life for you to follow Jesus (or follow Him more closely)? And what do you think you would gain by doing so?

Allow the group to discuss.  

(Optional) Wrap-up: Please read aloud: Following Jesus is about much more than merely saying an occasional prayer and going to Mass on Sunday. Those things are essential, but they aren’t enough. Nor can we merely say, “Yes” to Jesus once, and then move on. Following Jesus means being willing to walk with Him every step of our lives, to listen to His teachings, to accept His way of life, to go wherever He goes—in short, to have a deep, intimate friendship with Him. This was His invitation to Matthew. He makes the same invitation to us.

In this Bible study, we are going to continue to talk about what it means to follow Jesus and discuss together what that might look like in our lives. Thank you for being here and I look forward to learning more with you.