1 | When Things Capture Us (Introduction)
In 2015, I spent a few months living and working in Tanzania before starting my training for the Ministry. It was a fantastic time away, and one of those periods when the new becomes the normal. The weather, rhythms, language, and buzz of Tanzania became something I enjoyed. I remember the last week taking it all in, and then preparing to head home and beginning to realise just how much I would miss those things. All the travel went well. We travelled up through Kenya by Bus, staying overnight in Nairobi before making it to the airport early in the morning and catching that flight back to Heathrow. As we were travelling back, I was in that stage where you miss what you have left, but you are also ready for home. The moment Home captured me was about five minutes into running through Heathrow when I heard – for the first time in months – the sharpest, thickest Northern Irish accent. It was a moment I laughed to myself, because I had not heard one for over three months! I found myself laughing and thinking, “Is that what I have sounded like?” Strangely, I found myself more ready for home, almost off guard, as it suddenly captures me in that moment.
I wonder if you have ever been captured by something or someone? That moment when whatever you were doing, thinking about, or going through is just forgotten because something else has caught your full attention. It might be a view at the end of a hike, the sight of someone you haven’t seen in a long time, or, if we are honest, a notification on our phone about something in the news that draws us in.
Jesus has been ministering publicly for a while now, and what is becoming clear as he moves through the Judean countryside is his ability to both capture and offend in equal measure. In the moments before our passage today, Jesus came back across the lake “to his own town” after some ministry on the other side. Immediately, he is met by the need that is before him, and immediately, he does what only Christ can do – he forgives sin and restores home for a man who is paralysed. What happens? He captures the attention of all who are there as the religious leaders think to themselves of his blasphemy, and the rest ponder just who it is their eyes have been set upon, as when “the crowds saw this, they were awestruck… and gave Glory to God.” Jesus had captured both those who opposed him and those who were drawn to him, even if they were not sure what it meant or who he was. Yet, today our focus isn’t on the crowds or the Pharisees; our focus narrows into a more personal moment and scene as Jesus walks up the coast and captures not just the attention or moment but the life of a tax collector in a way that will change everything for him.
2 | Follow Me (v9)
I love these scenes, these moments when we get to glimpse something of the normal where Jesus ministered, the places he walked, the people he interacted with and the culture that he navigated. There is something about this moment in Matthew’s Gospel when Jesus calls Matthew that is so simple and powerful, yet profound and mysterious. The fact that Jesus has been on the move ministering and displaying his power, drawing crowds who are amazed at his authority and then dismaying the religious leaders with his blasphemy. Yet, in the Chaos of all that is going on, Jesus knows where he is going and what he intends to do; that is, he leaves the crowds and the Religious leaders after healing a paralysed man and heads on down the coast to find someone whom he has been searching for, to find Matthew the Tax collector.
I often try to put myself into these moments and to try and feel what it was like; not in being a man character, but simply being in the crowd and watching everything unfold. Imagine that moment when Matthew set his eyes upon Jesus for the first time and heard his call to follow. Was there something about Jesus’ appearance that made him stand out, something that would have drawn the gaze of Matthew? Yet, the words of Isaiah that described the messiah should ring in our ears here: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him… a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering… none from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3-4). There was nothing special about the appearance of Jesus that would attract the gaze of anyone to him; he was not attractive by the standards of worldly beauty or power. Yet there must have been something about his presence, or the way that he handled himself, that drew both the crowd and Matthew to him.
In one verse, we have so much to capture and think through. Think about what Jesus has just left: the religious elite of his day, and crowds who adore him and his power. The religious leaders were meant to be the type of people with whom Jesus would be, the ones he would look to, serve under, and eventually call. The crowds loved him, and in many ways, they were like him. If he had asked any one of them to follow him in that moment, they would have. Both groups were the kind of people Jesus was meant to draw to himself! Yet, he had no interest in them; the religious leaders distained him because he was nothing like them, even though they were meant to worship and teach the same things; and ultimately Christ seemed to know that while the crowds would be drawn to him by power, they would never follow him on the Kingdom Road, the road of the Cross.
Yet, it is more than that – because even now, Jesus is teaching about the nature of his Kingdom and work. In ignoring the crowd and religious leaders of his day, he is showing that the very thing he has come to do does not conform to the world’s patterns or expectations. Jesus has come to do something, and it looks nothing like the world. He has come to call a people to himself, and the people he will call will be those the world would rather ignore – the unseen and the outsider. People like Matthew. Because let’s be clear, of all the people whom the crowd might expect Jesus to call, Matthew the tax collector was not one of them. Why? Because he was a traitor to his own people, as the taxes he collected went directly to aid their ongoing oppression. This was not Matthew collecting taxes to build new schools and hospitals; it was Matthew collecting taxes to pay for the soldiers that were occupying the very streets the people lived on. That is why “The rabbis taught that tax collectors were disqualified witnesses in court, societal outcasts, and utter disgraces to their own family.”1 Yet, this is the person whom Jesus stops at and says, “Follow Me.”
What happens? Does Matthew ask Jesus some clarifying questions? Does he ask for a few days to weigh up just what Jesus is asking him to do? He needs to plan in terms of work and family and make sure everything will be okay when he does hop on board this Kingdom train. No, he “got up” from his seat and “followed Him.” The unqualified of the world, the enemy within, the traitor to his own people, the one whom Jesus saw among crowds of people and under the glare of the religious leaders, could do nothing but resist the power of Christ’s call upon his life, rise and leave it all behind and follow the one whom he knew very little about. Why? Because that is how powerful Grace is, Matthew met it as soon as Jesus spoke those words, “follow me” He might not have understood it, but he could not deny it. Thus, he got up and left all the comforts of his life behind to embrace this new call of Christ on his. It is a beautiful moment that captures the allure of Grace, the power of Christ, and the reality of the Kingdom. It captures the allure of Grace because in that moment Matthew grasped that whatever Jesus was offering – unknown it was – was far better, far more profound than anything he had in this world. It captures the power of Christ because when He truly calls, it is irresistible. And, it captures the reality of the Kingdom because Jesus knew exactly what he was doing; he knew the disdain that Matthew would create, and how it would offend both the crowd and the Pharisees and the crowd who had just adored him! Did he care? No, because Matthew both embodies the reality of Grace in his person and illustrates how the Kingdom of God and the power of God will confront the world by drawing in those the world would reject, and by using those to accomplish great things for God that the world would rather ignore. Matthew was the scum of the earth and the enemy of his people, yet Jesus called him by Grace, and he responded to it! Matthew is you and me, and he challenges us in how he responds to the call to “follow” to wrestle with our own response and willingness, and then with those we think will populate the Kingdom of God, the Body of Christ and whom the Spirit will empower to do the work of the Kingdom.
Furthermore, the call of Matthew should challenge us to consider the very way in which we think God might work and display His Glory in the world. Does it look like people like Matthew, and the Glory of the Cross, or are we still thinking with notions of power, grandeur and earthly Glory? Jesus says to each of us, “follow me” We must assess if we are the Mattheans who know our sin and need of Grace and willingly leave it all behind, or if we are the crowd who are following him for our own benefit.
3 | The Company One Keeps (10-11)
They have moved on from the Tax booth, and soon we will have an image of Jesus at peace and relaxing. Specifically, he is in someone’s house, and as he is there, he is in no rush. This is an influential and controversial scenario for those who are trying to figure out just what this Jesus is about. In Jewish culture, to sit with someone was to respect them, to eat with them was an act of hospitality, friendship, and love. That Jesus is sitting in the house with Matthew is one thing; that all of Matthew’s friends are coming to join them at the table as Christ reclines is entirely another. It is not just bad that Jesus is associating with one traitor of his people; he is among all of them, not to rebuke them or threaten them but to recline with them and enjoy their company. Not only are Tax collectors gathering with them, but seemingly Matthew’s company or friendships have no moral limit, as in this house and at the table of Jesus, as he reclines, arrive more “disreputable sinners” (NLT).
This is not a typical scene for a religious teacher of his day; this is not the sort of company that a man of God who has been teaching the word of God and the way of God should be keeping. Here is Jesus ignoring the crowd of his day who love him, scorning the company of the ” men of God.” Instead, he is literally sitting with enemies of his people, the irreligious, and probably reputed violators of the law. Tax Collectors were so despised that they were banned from worshipping in the temple, and some Pharisees had said it was morally okay to lie to avoid paying them. Here is Jesus, the friend of sinners, dining at the table with the worst of them and ignoring the love and adulation of the crowd and the potential to improve his standing with the religious leaders of his day. Why? Because he has not come for those who think well of themselves, he has come for those who know their sin, situation, and that help must come from beyond them. This is the best of scenes and the worst of scenes in terms of how natural it appears and how casual Jesus is in this moment, among the worst of the worst. I love how JB Philips captures it:
“Jesus was in the house sitting at the dinner table, a good many tax collectors and other disreputable people came on the scene and joined him and his disciples.”
Here is Jesus, the sinless son of God, sitting at the table with the worst of sinners; in fact, the word Matthew uses to describe sinners is as much about the Pharisaical law as in any spiritual sense. That is to say, Jesus was sitting with people who he knew would offend the Pharisees and their religious code, and offended they are! They cannot even bring themselves to speak to Jesus directly, perhaps because the company around him at the table would make them religiously unclean if they went to him. Thus, they go to his disciples and ask:
” Why does your master have his meals with tax-collectors and sinners?”
A Challenge to Us Today
It is a beautiful and chaotic scene, as Jesus again confronts the religious notions of his day about the way God would work and the company God would be willing to keep. It is a beautiful moment of Grace and a challenge to us as we read this passage and scene and watch how it unfolded. How Jesus ignored the adulation of the crowd and the purity of his religious companions and instead called a disreputable tax-collector to be his disciple. Not only did he call Matthew to wake with him, but he then used his relationships to find more company to be among. He saw someone the world would rather ignore and then used Matthews’ relationships to go where the need was most significant, and it caused the religious leaders of his day to ask of him: “What sort of company does this teacher of God keep?”. It is a beautiful image of Grace and one that sums up where God has met each of us and brought us to. Yet, if I am being honest today, the problem is that so often we become like the Pharisees, religiously pure and afraid of mess. Standing on the outside of where Grace is working, looking in and scared to get mucked up.
I wonder the last time that we kept the sort of company that needed God, knowing that if people saw us, they would wonder what was happening? I wonder if the last time in a moment of Grace and to make Grace known, we were willing to be among those the world would rather forget in a public place so that they could know they were loved by God? I ask this of myself, but I wonder the last time we were willing to be moved by the Spirit to where the need is, regardless of how the world around us might perceive it. To be among those God is bringing into our city from across the globe who he is calling to be his children, to be among those whom our city would rather ignore, and if we are honest, who would rather ignore us, to make known to them the wonder of Christ and joy of the Gospel.
I wonder perhaps how we even consider this moment in our own heads, the thought of Christ visible, joyful and in relationship with those whom the world considered disreputable sinners. The table is not just a way of relationship, it is an image we use to describe what it means to be a church because of how the culture of Jesus’ day understood it. That is why communion as a meal was such a radical means of Grace and gatheirng, because at the Christian table all where welcomed in equality, that is why Paul wrote in rebuke: “When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper” (1 Cor 11:20). The table is a place of Grace, and those who gather at is should be those who have grasped it. Thus, we should ponder and question what we want our church to be: A place of religious purity? Where everything happens as expected, people dress a certain way, live a certain way, act a certain way and do not disturb us? It might not be something we want, but we must consider whether it has become something. How do we react to the tax collectors and disreputable sinners of our day, age and time? I love the casual flow of Christ’s table in verse 10, as the disreputable come with ease, because that should be the flow of the Church. The question then is, are we willing to be a place that is known for how it welcomes the unwelcomeable, where the disreputable can find Grace? Are we willing to find joy in the thought that people might say of us and our family – have you seen who goes there? Because that is the way of Jesus and the way of Grace in the world. God does not work in ways that people expect; instead, he chooses the least to show his power, and the broken to show his Grace. That is the point that Jesus makes in his answer.
4 | Who Knows What They Need (12-13)
The Pharisees may have asked the disciples about the sort of company that Jesus was keeping, but it was Jesus who answered. And answer he did! Let us be clear here, the Pharisees are not asking out of some sense of general enquiry, they are accusing him of keeping the worst of company, and they are appalled by it. They are shocked by it because by his very company, Jesus was becoming religiously defiled, and opening himself up to the charge of being guilty by association. Thus, the power of his answer is an ironic rebuke: ” Healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do.” Jesus is using the Pharisees’ own religious pride against them to highlight both the Spiritual state of those who he is with and how the religious leaders see themselves in light of the law of God – healthy. The Pharisees thought they were very nutritious because of how they observed the law and lived the perfect religious life. Yet, in the irony of their health, they were blind because they did not see their actual need, their spiritual sickness. Whereas, the disreputables of the world recognise their need for Grace and are happy to seek it. Jesus is making it clear that in this moment, it is the company of Matthew who are living well because they know what they need to live with him. The challenge is then: which one are we?
Mercy not Sacrifice
He has told them why he is here in one swift answer, and now he teaches them whether they are willing to learn or not. Jesus references Hosea 6:6 for the Pharisees to better understand the situation and the way of Grace, if they are eager to take a moment and learn:
Hosea 6:6 CSB: For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Hosea 6:6 NLT: I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.
This is not a dismissal of the Old Covenant system that had shaped the Jewish religious life for centuries, because God desired them. Instead, it is a rebuke as to what the sacrificial system has become in the religious life of God’s people in his day. The Pharisees would trust in religious actions and routine without ever examining their hearts before God, and they would judge people by how they adhered to their understanding of what it meant to approach God and live for Him, rather than seeking to know their hearts. Today, it is a rebuke to the Church that would rather be religiously pure than face the interruptions of the sinners and disreputable seeking Grace. God wants us to be pure and transformed. We understand this through our own efforts, but it is in the Spirit by Grace. There was not one moment that Matthew and his friends were convinced that Jesus was sinning or being corrupted, because the Grace of God and way of the Kingdom looks nothing like the world – in fact, by being there, he was displaying the very heart of God! Jesus was showing mercy, because that is what God loves above empty religious routine – mercy and compassion in radical hospitality and company. Thus, Jesus was telling the Pharisees that they were no better than the religious robots that Hosea was addressing in his day. Why? Because they never once showed mercy to the sinner or had compassion for the lost, they trusted their own spiritual righteousness and used it to judge people. Worse than not being willing to live it out, they could not even find joy in the fact that people were responding to Jesus’ teaching about God. Thus, the fullness of what Jesus finishes with: “For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
4 | The Call and Its Reality (Conclusion)
The problem today is that often we sinners become like the self-righteous in that we isolate ourselves from all the dangers and disreputability of the world because it is uncomfortable and easier to ignore them when God desires that we welcome them into our family, and seek them with our lives so that all can know the wonder of His Grace.
Ponder again what this place might look like if we found ourselves amid the tax collectors and disreputables of our day. That this house might be full of those who know they are sinners in our age? Addicts, outcasts, broken, refugees, those recovering? It might be disreputable, it might be chaotic, it might even be uncomfortable and costly, but it would be a picture of Grace, and the call of the Doctor, where each of us who have been captured by Grace delight in living it, showing it and being moved by it so that all the fringes of our city and context might come to know the joy of the Gospel, that Christ died for sinners like us, rose again and destroyed death and makes possible not just that we can recline at the table with him in a moment, but that we dwell with him enterally by faith. This is the Grace that captured Matthew, drew the disreputable, and sends us into the world to find our fringes, and moves us every day in the life of our Church to practice radical hospitality that is comfortable with uncomfortability, and joyful with interruption when it is sinners finding Grace. Are we willing to answer Christ’s call to follow him, and then follow him to wherever he brings us?
Atr Irwin 