Matthew 9:9–13

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.  ¹⁰And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹²But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Had it not been for Jesus calling to Matthew, “Follow Me,” he would have died just another rich man.  In fact, we would have never even known he existed. Scripture only gives us a few details: he was a tax collector, gave a banquet, his father’s name was Alphaeus (cf. Mark 2:14) and his name is listed among the twelve Apostles.  However, this narrative is not about Matthew—the sin sick tax collector.  It is about Jesus Christ who walked by Matthew’s tax booth saying, “Follow Me.”  Saint Luke writes that “leaving everything, [Matthew] rose and followed him” (Luke 5:28).  Jesus called this despised by his countrymen, sinful, traitorous, tax collector to be His disciple.   

Then the Pharisees (men who sought righteousness by adhering to the Law of God) complained that Jesus was eating with sinners, and especially with tax collectors.  Jesus replied, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick . . .. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  A person who believes they are righteous by following the law is like someone who refuses to go to the doctor.  But when those who are sick go to the clinic, the doctor can help them.  Matthew knew he was sick with sin and needed the Great Physician to heal his soul.  Matthew confessed his sins and Jesus forgave them all.  Jesus took a sinner and made him a saint.

Matthew’s name means “gift of God.”  He certainly was a gift to others by inviting sinners to his banquet to meet Jesus. Matthew is God’s gift to us today.  Through the book that bears his name, Saint Matthew invites all who are by nature terminally ill sinners to hear Jesus’ call “Follow Me.”  Through His Word, Jesus took a sinner and made him a saint.  Through His Word, our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord, shows us “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (cf. Romans 6:23).  Jesus knows you are a sinner, but as Saint John writes in his first epistle, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1:9).  When Jesus forgives your sins, you are a saint.  That’s what the word saint means, “to be a holy person.”  No, that does not mean we will be perfect, because we still have a sinful nature and do sin.  But by His grace, God forgives our sins and calls us to be His saints as we wait for the final resurrection of the body and life everlasting.

825 North 1^st West

Cheyenne Wells, CO, 80810-0728

Sunday Service begins at 9:00AM