On the Feast of Saint Matthew (Matthew 9:9-13)

 Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Monday, September 21, 2020

According to the New Testament, Matthew was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ; and according to Christian tradition, he was also one of the four Evangelists; hence, he is known as Matthew, the Evangelists. So, we are celebrating a man who was an Apostle, an Evangelists, and a Saint. But before he was called by Jesus, Matthew was a tax collector. In fact, he was sitting at the tax collector’s office when Jesus called him. Being a tax collector meant that he was deeply despised by fellow Jews for collaborating with the Roman occupation forces. To his fellow Jews, he was a public enemy number one for working with the enemies of his people to oppress and suppress them. As such, he was considered a traitor and a sinner. 

Immediately after his call, Matthew invited Jesus to his home for a feast. Upon seeing this, the scribes and the Pharisees complained and criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners, which prompted Jesus to say, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mk.2:17). Although Matthew was seen by many Jews prior to his metanoia as a renegade, he was one of the witnesses of the Ascension of Lord.  Thereafter, he preached the Gospel to the Jewish community in Judea before heading to other countries. Matthew later died as a martyr. The once upon a time great sinner eventually became an amazing saint. His life did not end up in a tax collector’s office, in a place of fraud and deceit, in a place of lies and betrayal. He did “steal” from his fellow Jews through  a corrupt tax schemes, but he ended up offering his very life to the Author of life. He betrayed his own people, but became a co-redeemer of his people when he went to Judea to preach the Gospel to them. 

Today’s Gospel tells us that Jesus “…saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post” and said to him, “Follow me” (Mt. 9:9). “Follow me” means “walk as I walk; think as I think; talk as I talk; choose as I choose; see as I see.” It means “walk in my footstep.” Upon hearing the call, Matthew “got up and followed him.” Now, the Greek word used for “got up” is anastas, the same word used to describe the resurrection (anastasis) of Jesus from the dead. What does this mean? It means that following Jesus is indeed a kind of resurrection from the dead because it entails the transition from a lower form of life to a higher. People who repented and converted after living terrible lives often describe their past lives as a time of death or as a time when they lived in darkness, and their new found life in Christ as new life and living in the light. Remember the father of the prodigal son. When his wayward son returned home, the father said, “This son of mine was dead, and has come to life again.” So, conversion and following Jesus is an anastasis, a rising from death. Though we are puny human beings, imperfect people, people conceived in sin and born in guilt, but if with the help of God we are able to rise above our tendencies to lie, to hate, to belittle others, disparage and discriminate against them, then we are risen with Christ. If we are able to rise above our inclinations to be greedy, selfish, egocentric, we are risen with Christ. If we are able to cooperate with the grace of God, by resisting the four false substitutes for God- wealth, pleasure, power, and honor, we are truly risen in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen