Mercifully Sacrificing for Sinners, even for a Tax Collector Named Matthew

St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist

September 21, 2014

Matthew 9:9-13 & Romans 12:1-3

Mercifully Sacrificing for Sinners, even for a Tax Collector Named Matthew

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In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I.

Tax collectors were cheats, liars, and scoundrels. They deserved no place in the kingdom of God. And no one knew this better than Matthew the tax collector. Jesus said,

¹⁵If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ¹⁶But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' ¹⁷If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Matthew 18:15-17

Tax collectors were viewed with suspicion and contempt. Tax collectors made their money by charging their clients more than necessary. The Romans wanted one dollar for their purposes, but these tax collectors took two dollars, one for Caesar and one for themselves.

And so Jesus used a tax collector, reviled by his own people, and a person everyone assumed was reviled by God, to demonstrate His mercy.

⁹To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' ¹³But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' " Luke 18:9-13

And so Jesus had mercy on Matthew the tax collector.

⁹As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow Me," He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him. ¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. Matthew 9:9-10

Matthew's given name was Levi. It's quite likely that he was from that tribe of Israel, the tribe of Levi. The Levites were the priests, and we can see from Matthew's Gospel account of his good education that came from his priestly upbringing. Yet somehow he had become a wealthy outcast from his own tribe.

II.

Jesus took Matthew the outcast and brought Matthew into His people. Jesus' call to Matthew created one of the great theologians of the New Testament. And Jesus promised that He would rescue Matthew and all sinners from their status as outcasts by His sacrifice on the cross. This is the heart of Matthew's Gospel: that the Father sent His Son to restore what Adam destroyed. He did this by fulfilling the Law, both its upfront demands and by paying off our failure to keep the Law in its content and in its spirit.

And Matthew became the first evangelist of this great promise. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, he wrote this account of Christ. Then church tradition holds that Matthew traveled to Ethiopia to baptize, preach, and feed sinners with Christ.

And the content of Matthew's preaching remains clear. It is Jesus' beautiful reply to the concerns of the Pharisees and the other good people of His day.

¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with Him and His disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:10-13

It was a good question that the Pharisees asked. Why eat with sick people? And Matthew was sick. He was a sinner. And that's exactly why he was certain that Jesus came for him. That's why He was certain that Jesus called him on account of His mercy for sinners. That's why He was certain that Jesus sacrified Himself and died for him and for all the rest of these sick sinners of the world.

And so Matthew's life was lived in view of God's mercy for the sick. Matthew's fellow apostle, Paul, wrote:

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

In view of His mercy towards him, Matthew became a living sacrifice. Matthew used his wealth to feed Jesus and His disciples and Matthew's fellow sinners. He used his book learning to write an account of Christ's life. He used his mouth to proclaim Christ, not for the healthy righteous, but for the sick sinner. He used his hands to pour water on the heads of babies and grown-ups for the forgiveness of their sin-sick souls. He used his hands to place Christ into the mouths of worthy communicants at the Lord's table, worthy only because they were sick sinners who received His true Body and Blood for the forgiveness of their sin.

III.

In view of His mercy for us, we are living sacrifices, too. We sacrifice by staying at our posts and sacrificing where Christ has already placed us. In view of God's mercy to tax collectors and other undeserving sinners and me, parents show mercy to the undeserving child who refused to be comforted by me. In view of His mercy, spouses how mercy to the undeserving spouse who struggle to trust them. In view of His mercy, citizens shows mercy to government officials and employees who seem to be less than helpful.

Sacrifice where you are; you need not travel around the globe to be a living sacrifice. Your life in Christ, in view of His sacrifice of mercy, is a life spent serving others and their needs. This is what you have already been doing, since the moment that Christ called you in Baptism, just as He called Matthew with His Word: "Follow Me."

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.