NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER NINE

Part II

Verse 7: The man stood up, grabbed his mat, and went home.

Now Matthew reports the impact this healing had on everyone else in the room. The scribes may have been skeptical, but not those who came to see Jesus and those who brought loved ones to be healed. We see that it had two effects on those observing our Lord’s ministry. As soon as the man stood up and walked away, it shut the mouths of the critics, and opened the mouths of the believers who began rejoicing over this miracle.

We must remember now, Jesus did not cure this man to prove that He had the power to heal, but to show them that as the Anointed One He had the authority to proclaim sins forgiven. We must keep this tandem alive in the church today. And as it was done back then in Bible days, so it is done to day – by the authority of Jesus, the Son of God, the Anointed One.

Verse 8: The people saw this and they were amazed. They praised God for letting a human being on earth have such power.

The people who saw this happen had little doubt about where the power to forgive sins and heal the sick came from. In their minds, only God had the power to take away the chastisement for sin. In this case, Jesus did both. Not only was the illness removed that they saw as punishment from God for sin, but it simultaneously removed the record of that sin. And once God obliterates the record, there can be no punishment ever given for that same sin.

Chrysostom gave this commentary: “Do you see how He is shown to be both Creator of souls and bodies? He heals therefore the palsy in each of the two substances, and makes the invisible evident by that which can be seen, even while the body is restricted to remaining on the earth.”¹ Chrysostom goes on to point out that the term “marveled” was actually more out of awe than admiration. This then caused them some anxiety, seeing that a human among them had been given such power.

We also see that Jesus did not rebuke them for harboring such reservations about Him. His whole purpose of doing such miracles was to arouse their faith and get them to think more spiritually than legally about the forgiveness of sin. Chrysostom goes on to write: “Since at the time it was no small thing for Him to be thought greater than all men since He came from God. For had they established this firmly in their own minds, it would follow that they would have known, that He was in fact the Son of God. But they did not retain these things clearly, wherefore neither were they unable to recognize Him. For they said again, ‘This man is not of God;’² ‘how is this man of God?’ And they continually harped on these things, putting them forward as cloaks for their own misgivings.”³

But it was more than just being unsure, behind it all was their unwillingness and emotional temperament that kept them from bringing themselves to accept Him as the true Messiah, the Anointed One on whom they all waited; the One who was to bring them deliverance and victory; not from sin, but from the Romans and poverty. Perhaps that’s why Bishop Hilary states: “Admiration and not fear had to accomplish this work, but even now the order of the mystery remains. To add a glimpse of the future to the truth of the present, the crowds fear the Lord’s words and actions. It is frightful to face death without having one’s sins forgiven by Christ, for no one returns to the eternal home unless forgiveness of sins has been granted.”⁴

In other words, their reluctance to accept Jesus as Messiah involved their recognition that if sins needed to be forgiven in order to inherit everlasting life; and He was in fact the Anointed One sent to redeem mankind from sin, then the whole legal mechanism they had under the Law requiring sacrifices would go out the window and they would not be able to manipulate the system as they were doing. After all, if He could discern what they were thinking without their saying a word, then they would by necessity need to seek forgiveness with full and total sincerity and contrition. Because if they did not, then their request for forgiveness would be denied because of their lack honesty and integrity.

Verse 9: As Jesus was leaving the city, He saw a man named Matthew sitting in a booth collecting taxes. Jesus walked up to him and said, “Follow me.” So he immediately got up and followed Jesus.

Now the narrative takes a sudden twist. There is no record that Matthew had been seeking to follow Jesus or that he attended any of His teaching sessions. We know that elsewhere he is also referred to as Levi, the son of Alphaeus.⁵ He was one of the dreaded tax collectors for the Romans, as well as for the Temple. But from Matthew’s instant response to Jesus’ invitation, it is clear that Jesus recognizes Matthew and that Matthew knew who Jesus was. No doubt he had heard Him teach and saw His miracles, but had not to that point decided to give up his position as tax collector to become a permanent disciple.

However, the call of Jesus was all he needed to help him decided that this was his moment, and he did not fail to answer. We see what the Jews thought of this apostate of the Torah and deserter of his position as a true Jew. The Rabbis even kept record when one of their own left to follow Jesus. In their writings we find this: “Our Rabbis taught: Yeshua had five disciples, Matthai, Nakai, Nezer, Buni and Thodah. When Matthai was brought before the court he said to the judges, Should not I, Matthai, be executed? Is it not written, Matthai, shall come and appear before God?⁶ At that point they countered; Yes, Matthai, you shall be executed, since it is written, when Matthai, shall die, his notoriety will fade away.⁷”⁸

In this secondhand account of how Matthew was called by Jesus to be a disciple had given scholars a reason to believe that this gospel was written by someone who wanted Matthews experiences and memories to be made public. Scholars reckon that it was written between 80-90 AD, which means that Matthew had passed away by that time, especially since we don’t hear anymore about him after the Upper Room experience (cf. Acts 1:13). As a matter of fact, sometime after the 2^nd Century AD the phrase “According to Matthew” was added to the Gospel title on most manuscripts.

However, early Christian writings reveal: “Nevertheless, of all the disciples of the Lord, only Matthew and John have left us written memorials, and they, tradition says, were led to write only under the pressure of necessity. For Matthew, who had at first preached to the Hebrews, when he was about to go to the non-Jews, committed his Gospel to writing in his native tongue, and thereby made up to those he was ministering to for his no longer being with them.”⁹

So it may have been then from these journals that this gospel was put into Greek by one of Matthew’s own disciples. In any case, we find Jesus over at Matthew’s house where the new disciple invited many of his friends to come and dine with the Master. Now it was the Pharisees’ turn. They were obsessed with rules and rituals concerning purity, so it upset them that One who called Himself the Messiah, would eat with those considered unclean for many reasons. Little did they know what God said about people like them with such attitudes: “They are like smoke in My eyes, and their fire never goes out.”¹⁰ Jesus had a touché response to their objections, by pointing out that the sick need the doctor, not the healthy.

With regard to Matthew’s sudden and undelayed response to Christ’s call, early church theologian Chromatius had this to say: “The Lord, about to give salvation to all sinners believing in Him, willingly chose Matthew the former publican. The gift of His esteem for Matthew stands as an example for our salvation. Every sinner must be chosen by God and can receive the grace of eternal salvation if one is not without a religious mind and a devout heart. So Matthew was chosen willingly by God. And though he is immersed in worldly affairs, because of his sincere religious devotion he is judged worthy to be called forth by the Lord (‘Follow me’), who by virtue of his divine nature knows the hidden recesses of the heart. From what follows, we know that Matthew was accepted by the Lord not by reason of his status but of his faith and devotion. As soon as the Lord says to him, ‘Follow Me,’ he does not linger or delay, but thereupon ‘he arose and followed Him’.”¹¹

We find that some have identified the other four disciples listed in this Talmudic story: Buni was the Semitic name for Nicodemus, and Todah was short for Thaddaeus, also known as Judas, son of James. Also Nezer and Nakai are thought to be the Semitic names for Andrew and Philip.¹² However, others believe that these disciples were not part of the original twelve, but of the 60¹³ that Jesus sent out.¹⁴

The place where Matthew worked was variously known at the “Custom House”, “Toll Booth”, or “Publican’s House.” We are told by this story: “A human king passed through his custom-house and said to his attendants, ‘pay the tax to the tax-collectors’. They said to him, ‘But all taxes go to you!’ He answered them, ‘All travelers will learn from me not to evade their payments of taxes’.”¹⁵ These collection houses were not just in the city center, nor were they elusively for taxes. They were also built at the foot of bridges, at the mouth of rivers, and at passenger ports on the sea shore to levy tolls.¹⁶

As such, tax collectors were not held in high esteem in Jesus’ day. In fact, Jewish scholar Rashi describes what we may call the “Wild West Days” in Israel: “…that instead of the noise of your adversaries, its the noise of ambushers, bandits, and tax collectors who band together to ambush travelers at water crossings, there the donkey riders and travelers will remind them of the righteous deeds of the Lord”¹⁷. As a matter of fact, the Jews made receipts to show what they paid for. We read: “Parchment paper made from papyrus large enough to write a tax collector’s receipt upon was given to each one who crossed a river, to be shown at the other side. And anyone who carries a tax collector’s receipt would require a large piece of parchment.”¹⁸

When we put all of this together, it appears that Matthew was sitting in a toll booth on Lake Galilee’s shore collecting taxes as ships with cargo arrived as Jesus walked out of Capernaum. It also could be that he had been sitting there and heard Jesus teaching the crowd that gathered there on the beach. After being called by the awe inspiring prophet, Matthew was so moved that he invited Jesus home for dinner. Although it was a time of celebration, it offered the opponents of Jesus an opportunity for criticism and trouble for making such a choice as Matthew.

Chrysostom offers this comment on Matthew being selected. He says: “He who is acquainted with our inmost hearts and knows the secrets of our minds knows when each one of us is ready to respond fully. Therefore He did not call all disciples together at the beginning, when Matthew was still in a hardened condition. Rather, only after countless miracles, after his fame was spread abroad, did he call Matthew. He knew Matthew had been softened for full responsiveness. We may admire, incidentally, the self-effacing temperament of Matthew, for we note how he does not disguise his own former life. In his account he freely adds his own name and his own bad profession, while the other Gospel writers had generously protected him under another name.¹⁹ But why did Matthew himself indicate precisely that he was ‘sitting at the tax office’? To point to the power of the One who called him, underscoring that he was being actively drawn away from the midst of the very evils in which he was presently engaged and that he had not already abandoned his wicked business as a tax gatherer.”²⁰

Verse 10: While Jesus ate dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and others with bad reputations came and ate with Him and His followers.

It appears that Matthew had many friends in the civil service around Capernaum. But like himself, they were all considered the worst of the worst. The Pharisee’s reaction can be taken two ways. One, they were looking for anything to criticize Jesus. Or two, if they were going to accept Him as the Messiah, this was not the kind of conduct they wanted to see. It appears that these tax collectors, or “publicans” as they were called, were lumped in together with other types abhorred by the citizenry, such as murderers and thieves.²¹ The venerable Maimonides speaks disparagingly about customs-collectors by comparing them to highway robbers: “…all of their property can be assumed to have come from robbery, for their profession is based on robbery.”²²

No doubt he drew his conclusion from verbal traditions that expressed it this way: “No money may be taken for change either from the box of the customs collectors or from the purse of the tax collectors who collect customs or taxes in an unlawful manner, especially those who were not appointed by the government, or one, who charges, as he pleases, as these are considered to be stolen goods, nor may charity be taken from them”.²³ And since the food for this meal was purchased by funds collected by this publican Matthew, Jesus was violating this custom because He was benefiting from ill-gotten wealth. And in the Greek dictionary by Fabricii, he states: “…all publicans are robbers.”²⁴ This thinking is clearly supported by Maimonides: “When a trusted aide becomes a tax collector, a collector of customs duty, or the like, he must be stripped of his status as an aide. However, if he abandons his evil deeds, he will be considered as every other person. If he is rehired as an aide, he must begin at the bottom as he did in the beginning.”²⁵

This was also part of the Jews’ unwritten traditions.²⁶ Maimonides goes on to say: “When Jewish tax-collectors for the ruling government entered a house to take security for money that is owed, everything in the house they touch becomes contaminated. If they are accompanied by a non-Jewish official, their word is accepted if they say they did not touch anything, because they are afraid of the non-Jewish official.”²⁷ Not only that, but such transactions were known to be done under pressure, much like we’ve seen in movies of mafia men or loan shark bullies. One Jewish Rabbi includes them in his list of crooks: “…herdsmen, tax collectors and civil servants.”²⁸ In fact, if a tax collector entered a Jew’s house for anything, it was immediately considered unclean.²⁹

Chrysostom gives his understanding of the status of such civil servants. He writes: “Now the tax collectors came together because they were of the same trade as Matthew was. For he took pride in the visit of the Messiah and invited them all together. The Messiah applied every form of healing. Not only while He was engaging in a formal discussion or healing or refuting His enemies, but even at breakfast He used to restore persons who were in bad condition. By means of these practices He taught us that every moment and every action can offer benefit to us.”³⁰ How different was our Lord’s selection process than the ones we use today in choosing candidates for ministry. That’s because Jesus saw what only He could see. That’s why most of us who were chosen by God through the Spirit before we sought any accreditation or licensing by a church or denomination, know how humbling it is to look back and say, “He knew!”

Then Chrysostom goes on: “Certainly the food Matthew set before Him at that time had come from unrighteousness and covetousness. But Christ did not ask to be excused from participating in them, because the gain to be derived from it was going to be great. Rather, He shared the same roof and the same table with people who had erred in their manner of acquiring such things. For such is the nature of the physician. If He did not put up with the decay of the persons who are sick, He would not set them free from their sickness. Certainly Jesus got a bad reputation from this action, by eating with Matthew, by eating in his house and by eating with many tax collectors. This is why you see them criticizing Him (in verse 11).”³¹

And Chrysologus, also known for his preaching, gives us this homily: “Jesus’ sitting at table has more significance for Matthew than just dining. Jesus will be feasting not on food but on the return of sinners. He will call them back through feasting, collegiality and human affection, enjoying Himself with their pleasant conversation while reclining at table. He knew that if they recognized Him as a powerful judge they would be shattered by the terror of His majesty and overwhelmed by the sheer presence of God unveiled. Thus, veiled in a human body He was able to communicate with humans. He who wanted to assist the guilty hides the fact that He was a judge. He who did not deny dignity to faithful servants conceals His lordship. He who desired the weak to be embraced by a parent’s love covers His majesty.”³²

Verse 11: And when the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and other sinners?”

Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria said that people of his day “…looked upon tax collectors as common enemies and destroyers,” so they made all kinds of different excuses at different times, and neglected all laws and ordinances, and with much jumbling and evasion tried to avoid the taxes and payments which are levied on them.³³ Now we see that part of the Pharisee’s objection is that a clean person should not eat with an unclean person, because in so doing they become unclean themselves. But today, this would be like telling a person with infected hands not to use sanitizing soap or gel because they might get the disinfectant dirty. Couldn’t they see the effect Jesus was having on Matthew?

Early church theologian Hilary has this to say of why Jesus ate with sinners. He writes: “The Jews were seething with envy that the Lord was spending time with publicans and sinners. He declared to them that the words of the law were being concealed under a cloak of faithlessness. He gave aid to the sick and medicine to those in need. For those who believed they were healthy, however, no cure was necessary. But in order for them to understand that none of His followers were healthy, He advised them to learn the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’³⁴ In other words, the law linked to the ritual of sacrifices was unable to give help, but health was in store for all in the granting of mercy. ‘For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’³⁵ He had come for all. So why does Jesus say that He did not come for the righteous?… No one is righteous by reason of the law. He therefore showed the emptiness of boasting about the law, because with sacrifices imposed on the sick for their health, mercy was needed for all things set down in the law. For if righteousness came from the law, forgiveness through grace would not be necessary.”³⁶

And one of Hilary’s contemporary theologians, Chromatius, gave this spiritual exposition: “According to the allegorical or mystical account, Matthew’s house is his mind, which Christ entered through Matthew’s faith in His grace. He is viewed as having truly ‘sat at table’ there, for this same Matthew deserved to be the writer of this Gospel. Describing the Lord’s deeds and power, he presented a heavenly feast not only to the Lord and His disciples but also to all believers who, coming as publicans and sinners to the knowledge of Christ, deserved being included in so great a feast. In effect, Matthew’s house can be viewed as a church comprising publicans and sinners. He presents to all the leaders there the feast of his faith and preaching, with the Lord and His disciples seated at table.”³⁷

While all of this skepticism and derogatory response to a person such as Matthew, known as being part of the criminal class as far as Jews were concern, to be suddenly walking behind Jesus as one of His disciples might be passed off as a result of the times and conditions in Jesus’ day, believe it or not the same is often heard today when a former criminal is converted while in jail and goes out to become a preacher of the Gospel. For those who remember, such was the case of Nicky Cruz who was a member of a New York street gang before being converted under the ministry of David Wilkerson.³⁸