1.4.7 — The Twelve Disciples
Matthew
The Tax Collector
Matthew was despised by his own people — and chosen by Jesus. He left a profitable career at a moment's notice and gave the world the first Gospel.
Who Was He?
Matthew (also called Levi) was a tax collector working at a customs booth in Capernaum. Tax collectors in first-century Judea were despised as collaborators with Rome and notorious for extortion. They were considered ceremonially unclean and were excluded from synagogue life.
Matthew's Gospel identifies him as 'Matthew the tax collector' (Matthew 10:3) — a detail the other Gospels omit. This self-identification suggests Matthew never forgot what he had been, and never stopped being amazed that Jesus had called him.
His Calling
Matthew's calling is one of the most dramatic in the Gospels. Jesus walked past his tax booth and said simply, 'Follow me.' Matthew 9:9 records that Matthew 'got up and followed him' — leaving behind a lucrative but despised career without apparent hesitation.
Matthew then threw a great banquet for Jesus, inviting his fellow tax collectors and 'sinners.' When the Pharisees objected, Jesus replied, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners' (Matthew 9:12–13). Matthew's party became a parable of the gospel.
His Life With Jesus
Matthew's most enduring contribution is the Gospel that bears his name — the first book of the New Testament. Written primarily for a Jewish audience, it presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, quoting the Hebrew Scriptures more than any other Gospel.
Matthew's background as a tax collector — someone trained in meticulous record-keeping — may have made him uniquely suited to preserve the teachings of Jesus in organized form. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) and the five great discourses of Matthew's Gospel are among the most carefully structured teaching collections in the New Testament.
After Jesus' Resurrection
Matthew is listed among the apostles gathered in Jerusalem after the resurrection (Acts 1:13). He was present at Pentecost and part of the early Jerusalem church. The Gospel of Matthew, traditionally attributed to him, is itself a lasting testimony to his ministry — a carefully structured account of Jesus' life and teaching written for a Jewish audience. Beyond these references, the Bible does not provide a detailed account of his later missionary activity.
Early tradition suggests Matthew preached first in Judea before traveling to other regions. Various traditions associate him with Ethiopia, Persia, or Parthia, though accounts differ significantly.
Traditions also differ on whether Matthew died as a martyr or of natural causes. Some early sources describe him dying peacefully; others describe martyrdom. The conflicting accounts make it difficult to draw firm conclusions. These traditions come from later church writings and cannot be verified from Scripture.
His Journey and Ministry
This map compares locations associated with his life alongside Jesus with what Scripture records or church tradition reports about his later ministry.
Green lines represent locations supported by Scripture. Gold dashed lines represent later church tradition. These routes are simplified and should not be understood as complete day-by-day itineraries.
Strengths and Struggles
Strengths
- ✓Immediate obedience — left everything at once
- ✓Generous — threw a banquet to introduce others to Jesus
- ✓Meticulous — preserved Jesus' teachings in organized form
- ✓Humble — identified himself as 'the tax collector' in his own Gospel
Struggles
- —His profession made him an outcast among his own people
- —Likely struggled with the stigma of his past
- —Little is recorded of his individual words or actions beyond his calling
What We Can Learn
Matthew's calling is a picture of grace. He was not a likely candidate for apostleship — he was a traitor in the eyes of his community, a man who had chosen money over his people. Yet Jesus walked past his booth and called him. The gospel is for people who know they need it.
Matthew also teaches us that our past does not disqualify us from God's purposes. His skills as a record-keeper, developed in a career he later left behind, became the very tools God used to preserve the teachings of Jesus for all generations. God wastes nothing.
Key Scriptures
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.
The simplest calling in the Gospels — and the most immediate response.
Matthew 9:12–13
On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'
Jesus defends His choice of Matthew — and defines the purpose of His mission.