Tax Collector!

For Tuesday, February 28, 2023:

Matthew 9:9 NLT: “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.”

Matthew, also known as Levi son of Alphaeus, was working an evil job. He had forsaken his own people to work as a tax collector for the other side, the bad guys, the Roman government. Tax collectors charged what Rome required, and then over-charged for themselves. Greed was rampant and corruption was expected. Roman soldiers were their enforcers, so no one got away with not paying!

To the Jews, a tax collector was considered an outcast from society. He was disqualified as a judge or a witness in a court session, was thrown out of the synagogue, and his disgrace extended to his family. The Bible often refers to ‘sinners and tax collectors.’ Sinners were bad, but tax collectors were even worse!

And yet Jesus called Matthew, proving that no matter who you are, no matter where you’ve been, no matter what you’ve done, Jesus has a place for those who repent and return!

Obviously Matthew had been searching for the truth. In Jesus, he found what he had been seeking!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship