GodReflection: A Brand-New Life And Have Everything To Live For.
Jesus continues to enroll his initial twelve apprentices under his leadership to spend three years in his classes as they grow to become his twelve apostles. The Master Teacher first called Andrew, Peter, James, and John. Now he returns with them to Nazareth where he finds a paralyzed man laying on a mat.
He heals his cripple body, forgives all his sin, and enables the man to walk home carrying his mat. Most people stand amazed at Jesus’s power; others storm at 
Jesus’s audacity to take it upon himself to forgive sin. Jesus, still on task, looks for Matthew and encounters him at his business of collecting taxes from his own people for the Roman Government.
Like blue collar fishermen who lack prestige, businessmen who collect taxes, not only lacked prestige, but because of their work, they were despised by fellow Jews for their willingness to take hard-earned money and give it to their enemy,
Matthew grew up in Capernaum, a small fishing village on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. People of different backgrounds and cultures were his playmates.
His Jewish parents gave him a strong foundation of traditions and beliefs of Judaism. He observed the Sabbath, celebrated Jewish festivals, and studied the Torah, the sacred Bible of his people. The teachings of the Torah instilled in him a deep reverence for God and a sense of moral responsibility towards others. He knew the Hebrew scriptures and the laws that governed Jewish life.
The time arrives for all young men to follow their vocation, seek their first permanent employment and grow into manhood. The Romans with their “help wanted” ads offered good pay. A smart young man knew the job not only came with a salary but also the opportunity to receive bribes on the side and that could increase significantly his income.
Years later, when Matthew sits down to write the story, here is how he remembers the day. 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.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:9-11).
Matthew, like John his fellow apostle who always refers to himself as the one who Jesus’s loves; Matthew refers to himself as the tax collector because he is a Jew who is hated by others, yet knows he too is the one who Jesus’s loves. He understands how far he has come. He now knew Jesus and came under conviction that he was God in the flesh. This former Businessman Trusts Jesus and like his fellow apostles he is among those who now have A Brand-New Life And Have Everything To Live For.
How about us? Is there a former sin deep in our memory or a point when we realized how lost we were that allows us to identify as the one who Jesus’s loved–and still does!
Stay tuned.
Gary J. Sorrells
A GodReflection: Matthew A Businessman Trusts Jesus.
God Reflection 