Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Matthew 9:9 As 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.
CALLED TO STOP SITTING
Before Jesus called him, Matthew could daily be seen sitting in his tax booth in Capernaum. His station was no doubt located at the intersection of two major roads along which moved commerce -- and therefore taxable goods. Perhaps it was near the wharves on Galilee's shore and the commercial fisheries there.
And while other men sweat and strained in manual labor, Matthew got rich while just sitting, probably on a cushion, in his tax booth. For, backed by the Roman government and its legionaires, the tax collectors of first century Israel were free to add to their tax bills whatever commission they felt "reasonable."
But all that stopped for Matthew the day Jesus looked him in the eye and said, "Follow Me." That day a terrific weight was lifted from off the conscience of Matthew. Just as he truly realized the enormity of what he had done over the years, he also was brought to know that all the sin and all the guilt greed had led him into had been assumed by Jesus. The same Jesus who now occupied the throne-room of Matthew's heart.
No more sitting now. "Follow me" meant just that. From village to village and town to town throughout Galilee and Judea and surrounding regions. Walking and listening. Hiking and hearing. Watching and learning. A disciple in training for apostleship. Gospel preaching was not a cushy calling, not a sit-down job. At least not until, after years of selfless labor for the Master, Matthew sat down to write the Gospel that bears his name.
Sitting or standing,walking or riding, the King's men and women are honored to work for their Lord. For there is no more important word to share than the great good news of the King who laid down His life so that sinners once enslaved might come to know the freedom of Christ's gracious rule.
