Picture: Matthew: From Tax Collector to Apostle 3TC 170.1
This chapter is based on Matthew 9:9-17; Mark 2:14-22; Luke 5:27-39.
Roman officials in Palestine were hated. The fact that a foreign power had imposed taxes was a continual irritation, a reminder to the Jews that they had lost their independence. And the tax collectors, the publicans, were not just instruments of Roman oppression, they were extortioners on their own account, enriching themselves at the expense of the people. A Jew who accepted this office was despised and classed with the worst of society. 3TC 170.2
Levi-Matthew, whom Jesus would call to His service, was just such a person—a tax collector. Matthew had listened to the Savior’s teaching, and as the Spirit of God revealed his sinfulness, he longed to seek help from Christ; but knowing how the rabbis kept most other people away, he had no thought that this Great Teacher would notice him. 3TC 170.3
Sitting at his toll booth one day, Matthew saw Jesus approaching. He was astonished to hear Jesus say to him, “Follow Me.” 3TC 171.1
Matthew “left all, rose up, and followed Him.” There was no hesitation, no questioning, no thought of the profitable business he would be exchanging for poverty and hardship. It was enough for him to be with Jesus, to listen to His words, and unite with Him in His work. 3TC 171.2
It was the same way when Jesus called Peter and his companions to follow Him. Immediately they left their boats and nets. Some had friends who depended on them for support, but when they received the Savior’s invitation, they did not ask, “How will I live and provide for my family?” When Jesus later asked them, “When I sent you without money bag, sack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” they could answer, “Nothing.” Luke 22:35. 3TC 171.3
Matthew in his wealth and Andrew and Peter in their poverty faced the same test. At the moment of success, when the nets were filled with fish and the impulses of the old life were strongest, Jesus asked the disciples at the sea to leave everything for the gospel. Everyone is tested this way, to see which is stronger—the desire for temporary prosperity or for fellowship with Christ. 3TC 171.4
No one can succeed in the service of God unless his whole heart is in the work. No one who holds anything back can be the disciple of Christ, much less His colaborer. When men and women appreciate the great salvation Jesus has provided, their lives will reflect the self-sacrifice of His life. Wherever He leads the way, they will follow. 3TC 171.5
The call of Matthew made many people angry. For Christ to choose a tax collector as one of His closest companions was an offense against religious, social, and national customs. By appealing to prejudice, the Pharisees hoped to turn popular feeling against Jesus. But Jesus’ choice created widespread interest among the publicans. In the joy of his new discipleship, Matthew made a feast at his house and called together his relatives, friends, and former associates. Not only were tax collectors included, but many others who were shunned by their more scrupulous neighbors. 3TC 171.6
The feast was given in honor of Jesus, and He did not hesitate to accept. He knew very well that it would give offense to the Pharisees and their followers and would also make the people question what He was doing. But no political concerns could influence His movements. 3TC 172.1
Jesus sat as an honored guest at the table of the publicans. By sympathy and social kindliness, He showed that He recognized the dignity of humanity, and people longed to become worthy of His confidence. His presence awakened new impulses and opened the possibility of a new life to these outcasts of society. 3TC 172.2
Many people were impressed who did not acknowledge the Savior until after His ascension. When three thousand were converted in a day, many of them had first heard the truth at the table of the tax collectors. To Matthew himself, the example of Jesus at the feast was a constant lesson. The despised publican became one of the most devoted evangelists, following in his Master’s steps. 3TC 172.3
The rabbis grasped the opportunity to accuse Jesus, but they chose to work through the disciples. By stirring up their prejudices, they hoped to alienate them from their Master. “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” they questioned. 3TC 172.4
Jesus did not wait for the disciples to answer. He replied Himself: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ... I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” The Pharisees claimed to be spiritually whole and therefore to have no need of a physician, but they regarded the tax collectors and Gentiles as dying from diseases of the soul. Then was it not His work, as a Physician, to go to the very people that needed His help? 3TC 172.5
Jesus said to the rabbis, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ “They claimed to expound the Word of God, but they were completely ignorant of its spirit. 3TC 172.6
The Pharisees were silenced for the time but were only the more determined in their hostility. They next tried to turn the disciples of John the Baptist against the Savior. These Pharisees had pointed with scorn to the Baptist’s simple habits and coarse garments and had declared him a fanatic. They had tried to stir up the people against him. The Spirit of God had moved on the hearts of these scorners, convicting them of sin, but they had declared that John was devil-possessed. 3TC 173.1
Now when Jesus came mingling with the people, eating and drinking at their tables, they accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. They would not consider that Jesus was eating with sinners in order to bring the light of heaven to those who sat in darkness. They would not consider that every word dropped by the divine Teacher was living seed that would germinate and bear fruit to the glory of God. They had determined not to accept the light, and although they had opposed the mission of the Baptist, they were now ready to cultivate the friendship of his disciples, hoping to win their cooperation against Jesus. They claimed that Jesus was setting aside the ancient traditions, and they contrasted the austere piety of the Baptist with how Jesus feasted with publicans and sinners. 3TC 173.2
At this time the disciples of John were in great sorrow. With their beloved teacher in prison, they spent their days in mourning. And Jesus was making no effort to release John. He even appeared to discredit his teaching. If John had been sent by God, why did Jesus and His disciples follow a course so widely different? The disciples of John thought there might be some basis for the Pharisees’ charges. They observed many rules established by the rabbis. 3TC 173.3
The Jews practiced fasting as an act of merit. The most rigid of them fasted two days every week. The Pharisees and John’s disciples were fasting when the latter came to Jesus with the inquiry, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” 3TC 173.4
Tenderly Jesus answered. He did not try to correct their false concept of fasting, but only to set them right regarding His own mission. John the Baptist himself had said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.” John 3:29. The disciples of John could not fail to remember these words of their teacher. Taking up the illustration, Jesus said, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?” 3TC 173.5
The Prince of heaven was among His people. God had given His greatest Gift to the world. Joy to the poor, for He had come to make them heirs of His kingdom. Joy to the rich, for He would teach them to secure eternal riches. Joy to the ignorant, for He would make them wise unto salvation. Joy to the educated, for He would open to them deeper mysteries than they had ever understood. This was not a time for the disciples to mourn and fast. They must open their hearts to receive the light of His glory so that they could shed light on those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. 3TC 174.1
It was a bright picture, but across it lay a heavy shadow that Christ’s eye alone could see. “The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast.” When they would see their Lord betrayed and crucified, the disciples would mourn and fast. 3TC 174.2
When He would come out from the tomb, their sorrow would turn to joy. After His ascension, He would still be with them through the Comforter, and they were not to spend their time mourning. Satan wanted them to give the impression that they had been deceived and disappointed. But by faith they were to look to the sanctuary above where Jesus was ministering for them. They were to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit and rejoice in the light of His presence. Yet days of trial would come. When Christ was not personally with them and they failed to recognize the Comforter, then it would be more fitting for them to fast. 3TC 174.3
The Scripture describes the fast that God has chosen—“To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke”; to “extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul.” Isaiah 58:6, 10. This describes the character of the work of Christ. Whether fasting in the wilderness or eating with publicans, He was giving His life to redeem the lost. We find the true spirit of devotion in the surrender of self in willing service to God and humanity. 3TC 174.4
Continuing His answer to John’s disciples, Jesus spoke a parable: “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.” An attempt to blend the tradition and superstition of the Pharisees with the devotion of John would only make the gap between them more evident. 3TC 175.1
Nor could the principles of Christ’s teaching unite with the forms of the Pharisees. Christ was to make the separation between the old and the new more distinct. “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” After a time, the skin bottles used as vessels for new wine became dry and brittle, and they were then worthless to serve the same purpose again. The Jewish leaders were set firmly in a rut of ceremonies and traditions. Their hearts had become like dried-up wineskins. Since they were satisfied with a legal religion, it was impossible for them to become the trusted holders of living truth. They did not want to have a new element brought into their religion. The faith that works by love and purifies the soul could find no common ground with the religion of the Pharisees, made up of ceremonies and human rules. To unite Jesus’ teachings with the established religion would be futile. The vital truth of God, like wine, would burst the old decaying bottles of the Pharisees’ tradition. 3TC 175.2
The Savior turned away from the Pharisees to find others who would receive the message of heaven. In uneducated fishermen, in the tax collector at the marketplace, in the woman of Samaria, in the common people who heard Him gladly, He found His new bottles for the new wine. People who gladly receive the light that God sends are His agents to give truth to the world. 3TC 175.3
Christ’s teaching, represented by new wine, was not new doctrine but what had been taught from the beginning. But to the Pharisees, His teaching was new in almost every respect, and they did not recognize it or acknowledge it. 3TC 175.4
“No one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’” The truth that had come through patriarchs and prophets was shining out in new beauty in the words of Christ. But the scribes and Pharisees did not want the precious new wine. Until they could be emptied of old traditions and practices, they had no place in mind or heart for the teachings of Christ. 3TC 176.1
This proved to be the ruin of the Jews, and it will be the ruin of many in our day. Rather than give up some cherished idea or idol of opinion, many refuse the truth that comes from the Father of light. They insist on being saved in some way by which they may perform some important work. When they see that there is no way of weaving self into the work, they reject the salvation provided. 3TC 176.2
A legal religion is a loveless, Christless religion. Fasting or prayer, if it comes from a self-justifying spirit, is an abomination in the sight of God. Our own works can never purchase salvation. To those who do not know their spiritual bankruptcy comes the message, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.” Revelation 3:17, 18. Faith and love are the gold. But with many, the gold has become dim, the rich treasure lost. The righteousness of Christ is a robe unworn, a fountain untouched. 3TC 176.3
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:17. When we renounce self, then the Lord can make us new creatures. New bottles can contain new wine. The love of Christ will fill the believers with new life. The character of Christ will be evident in them. 3TC 176.4
