Understand this: As a tax collector, Matthew was
a despised man. We aren’t talking about the mild antipathy that
most Americans feel toward the IRS every year at April 15th.
We’re talking about hatred. We’re talking about
abhorrence. We’re talking about the way you or I might feel toward
someone who abused an innocent child or betrayed his country. In
the eyes of most of his fellow Jews Matthew had betrayed his
country. He had sold himself to the Romans to collect money from
his countrymen, and was lining his pockets at his countrymen’s
expense. By his collaboration with the Romans he’d denied the
Jewish Faith and had made himself unwelcome in synagogue and
temple. He was seen as the worst of sinners. He was an outcast, an
object of revulsion. As far as most Jews felt, Matthew was as good
as dead.
So what was left to Matthew except to live for the money he
raked in and the luxuries money could buy? Wine, women, song, fine
clothing, rich food – these are snapshots of the self-indulgent
lifestyle Matthew probably lived if he was anything like the
typical tax collector of the day. A life of luxury certainly had
its attractions for awhile. It kept Matthew entertained – at least
at first. But even pleasure and luxury grow pale with the passage
of time. Pleasure and luxury, after all, can’t nourish the soul.
They end up choking it, shriveling it. That’s the way it is when
we make a god of luxury and pleasure or of anyone or anything
other than the one true God. We should fear, love and trust in God
above all things, the First Commandment instructs us. Exiled from
synagogue and temple, Matthew forgot the First Commandment. He
made pleasure his god.
But although Matthew had forgotten the one true God, God had
not forgotten him. One day, as Matthew was sitting at his tax
collector’s booth, Jesus passed by. The Son of God looked at
Matthew, the hated tax collector, and saw not just a sinner, but
someone in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Jesus didn’t avert
His eyes and cross over to the other side of the street, as most
people probably would. Instead, Jesus said to Matthew,
Follow Me. Two simple words, but a world of meaning is
packed into those words. Come, be My disciple, Jesus was telling
Matthew. Let Me teach you about the kingdom of heaven and your
place in that kingdom. Let Me teach you about the forgiveness of
sins which I’ll freely give to you. Come with Me and I’ll give you
a new life and a new hope and a new purpose. Take My yoke
upon you, Matthew, and learn from Me, and you will
find rest for your soul. For My yoke is easy and My burden is
light.
And impelled by the Word of Jesus, Matthew rose up and followed
Jesus and left His old life behind and stepped into a new life as
a disciple of the Lord. Things radically changed for Matthew.
Instead of keeping books and tax records, he would write a record
of the words and deeds and death and resurrection of the Son of
God. Instead of pressuring people to cough up extra money with
which he could line his pockets, Matthew would write a Gospel
about the Savior who freely gave His life as a ransom for sinners.
Instead of his former preoccupation with earthly treasure, Matthew
would write about Jesus Christ, in whom all the heavenly treasures
of God’s love and mercy and forgiveness and compassion are to be
found.
Matthew acknowledged himself as a sinner, that was true. But in
Jesus, Matthew came face to face with God’s compassion toward
sinners. This compassion was evident in the very name “Jesus” –
the name our Lord was given because He came to save His people
from their sins. God’s compassion toward sinners can also be seen
in another name the Scriptures ascribe to the incarnate Son of
God: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and
shall call His name, Emmanuel – a name which Matthew
explains means, God with us.
God with us. God with us in Jesus, the Second Person of the
Holy Trinity made Man. God with us – not averting His eyes because
of our sin, not crossing over to the other side of the street, not
turning His back on us and leaving us to the hell we each deserve.
In Jesus God took upon Himself our human nature in order to redeem
us and sanctify us and reconcile us to Himself. “God with us” is
who Jesus is, and so the Son of God shared our human nature so He
could sacrifice Himself on the Cross to forgive our sins. Because
it’s only through the forgiveness that Jesus won for us that we
can be with God both in this world and in the life of the world to
come.
Many times in the Scriptures the kingdom of God is pictured
like a big banquet, a party, some festive occasion that goes on
and on and gets better with every passing minute. Parties, after
all, are joyful occasions. They’re a time for merriment and
laughter and celebration. So it’s appropriate that after being
called by Jesus, Matthew threw a big party in Jesus’ honor and
invited all his friends and associates. A houseful of sinners
gathered in Matthew’s home, eating and drinking and having a good
time. And there was Jesus right in the middle of them.
But Jesus wasn’t there just for a good time. He was there
because the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was
lost. He was there because He had come, not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He was there
because the Son of Man had authority on earth to forgive
sins. And so where the sinners were, there Jesus also
could be found.
How appropriate for the One who on the Cross would bear
our griefs and carry our sorrows, who would be
stricken by God, smitten and afflicted as He was
wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.
How appropriate for the One who would be made sin for us
so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus is the One who takes our place. He takes our place under the
wrath of God so we can take His place and receive the blessing of
God. He dies our death so we can live His life. He takes our sin
so we can have His righteousness graciously imputed to us and be
forgiven and accepted in God’s sight for the sake of God’s beloved
Son.
Just as Jesus identified Himself with sinners in His Baptism,
He identified Himself with sinners at that banquet at Matthew’s
house. He wasn’t there just to eat and drink. He was there to
teach these tax collectors and sinners about the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven. He was there to be the embodiment of heaven’s
love and mercy and compassion as He called these sinners to
repentance and faith in Him. He was there with them because in the
not-too-distant future, He would die for them on the Cross. Our
gracious Lord does not scorn the company of those for whom He
died.
And so He is with us sinners too, to wash us in our Baptism and
place the Name of the Triune God upon us as a mark of ownership.
He’s with us to instruct us through His Word and call us to
repentance and faith, and grant us the forgiveness of all of our
sins. And for those who in humble faith submit to the yoke of His
instruction, He’s with them in the gift of His Body and Blood in
the Sacrament of the Altar. Today, in just a few minutes, we will
mark the completion of Stacey Sinnett’s course of instruction in
the teachings of our Lord confessed by our Lutheran Church. Stacey
will confess her faith in Jesus and her agreement with the
teachings of Scripture that she has learned. She will be admitted
to the Sacrament to feed on her Savior’s Body and Blood. Our
gracious Lord doesn’t scorn the company of those for whom He died.
He calls them to take the yoke of discipleship upon themselves. He
calls them to learn from Him in lowliness and humility. He calls
them to find their Sabbath rest in Him alone.
The Pharisees objected to our Lord’s companionship with tax
collectors and sinners. What kind of teacher would hang around
with riff-raff like that? they wanted to know.
Here’s the kind of Teacher that would hang around with
riff-raff and sinners. One who has compassion upon them in their
need. One who came to be both doctor and healing medicine for
those who suffer from the disease of sin. One who came to die for
them so that, forgiven and redeemed, they might live with Him
forever. To confess that you’re a sinner in need of forgiveness is
to confess that Jesus is the Savior who came for you.
Go and learn what this means, Jesus said: I
desire mercy and not sacrifice. Jesus takes care of the
Sacrifice, for by His death on the Cross He sacrificed Himself
once for all sinners of every place and time. Now, as those who
have benefited from His saving mercy, our calling is to extend His
mercy to others. As those who are being made well under the care
of “Dr. Jesus”, our calling is to direct others to this same
Doctor for treatment. As those who have tasted and seen that the
Lord Jesus Christ is good, our calling is to invite others to come
and see and experience the goodness and grace and compassion of
God in the saving Gospel of our crucified and resurrected Lord.
Jesus has compassion upon sinners. Matthew knew it. You know it
too, for that compassion is extended to you in Word and Water and
Bread and Wine. It’s the compassion we all need, every day we draw
breath into our lungs. It’s the compassion that saves us from our
sin and brings us eternal life. It’s the compassion that has made
us the people of God in Christ Jesus.
In Nomine Patris. . .
