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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

September 21, 2022

Feast of Saint Matthew

The Invitatory

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The earth is the Lord’s for he made it: Come let us adore him.

Reading: Matthew 9:9-13

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

Jesus included among his disciples persons of widely diverse backgrounds. They included Matthew, a tax collector and former agent of the Roman government In turn, Matthew brought many of his former associates to meet Jesus who extended compassion and love to these “social outcasts.”

The name ”Matthew" means "gift of the Lord." Mark and Luke, in their version of his calling, name him "Levi." Perhaps this was his original name, and he received a new name from Jesus when he became a disciple. (It has also been suggested that he was simply a member of the tribe of Levi.) The Scriptures tell us nothing of Matthew's life after Pentecost. Later accounts of his life vary, some reporting that he was martyred, others that he died a natural death. The Christian community since early times has commemorated him as a martyr.

There is part of me that speaks out of her 21st century cautiousness around strangers. I am not sure that just because someone asked me to follow him that I would. Yes, there is some kind of learned distrust operating when a strange man approaches me. And it causes me to wonder, if Jesus should appear to me, how would I react. Nonetheless, Jesus calls Matthew to follow him, yet Jesus follows Matthew and the “sinners” to the table. Jesus calls Matthew to follow him. As it turns out, he accepts hospitality in Matthew’s house. Perhaps it is salutary that Jesus accounts for possible hesitation on Matthew’s part and alleviates that by following him.

Nonetheless, he shares a table with his typical crowd, tax collectors and “sinners.” Several rabbinic sources indicate tax collectors enjoyed a wicked reputation, but the story shares all we really need to know. The Pharisees perceive “tax collectors and sinners” as natural companions, and Jesus himself compares them not to those who are well but to those who are sick.

Jesus says the healthy do not need a physician while the sick do, that he has come to call not the righteous but sinners. Yet Jesus’ companionship with sinners appears to be just that, companionship and not treatment. While Jesus has many harsh words to say in Matthew’s Gospel, yet he directs none of them to sinners. His opening message is a call to repent, and he denounces the cities he has visited for failing to repent. He pronounces woe against the scribes and the Pharisees. But in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus does not once reprimand sinners. He does not criticize them. He does not demand their repentance. He simply eats and drinks with them. In sharing a meal and fellowship with them, he brings them into a relationship in which they are seen fully. (This is true of the entire Gospel tradition, except for the story of the Adulterous Woman.)

Jesus receives credit for touching a woman with a bloody discharge and for touching a dead girl’s body. According to this preaching tradition, Jesus overlooks Israel’s purity codes in doing so. More recent scholars recognize that Jesus does not transgress the Law in either instance, but he does touch ritual impurity. Jesus initiates neither contact. Once again, he practices the art of following someone into another’s needful situation.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy Name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done,

        on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

    as we forgive those

        who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

    and the power, and the glory

   for ever and ever. Amen.