Faith Full Stop

Matthew 9:9

I am reading the Gospel According to Matthew right now, and I questioned something I noticed for the first time today and not in my prior readings of it. In Chapter 9, verse 9, Jesus calls Matthew to follow Him:

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

~Matthew 9:9 NKJV

I had to stop and ask myself why Matthew was called in Chapter 9 and not earlier in Chapters 1 through 8. That seemed odd to me, not to mention that Matthew is the first of the four Gospels. It stood out to me like never before, and so I pondered that for a bit.

And, well, I don’t have an explicit answer; only questions, possible explanations, and maybe some wild assumptions. That said, I do know this: that placement seems very intentional and deliberate.

Prior to Chapter 9, there are eight full chapters where Matthew recounts many stories about Jesus, starting with His lineage, His birth, then His teachings, followed by many incidents of healing and deliverance. All of this demonstrated and established who Jesus is – the fulfillment of prophecy and His power and authority.

Then in the beginning of Chapter 9, we get the very first glimpse into why Jesus came. In faith, people bring a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing. Jesus says this to the paralytic:

“Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

~ Matthew 9:2 NKJV

The man came for healing. Instead, Jesus first forgave his sins. This was to make a point. To let people know He came for the forgiveness of our sins. This ruffled the religious folks, and Jesus took the opportunity to rebuke them (Matthew 9:3-5). He then declared who He is and why He came, and demonstrated His power and authority in real-time by healing the paralyzed man:

But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” And he arose and departed to his house.

~ Matthew 9:6-7 NKJV

Now, let’s go back to the concept of intentional and deliberate. This had to be a set up because in verse 9, we see Jesus call Matthew, a tax collector, as a disciple. Tax collectors were despised and considered some of the worst people because they served the Roman government, which the people resented and also despised. Tax collectors were equated to sinners. So, for Jesus to call Matthew as a disciple is like an unconscionable double-whammy for the religious folks.

But again, this is Jesus making a point. He didn’t speak empty words. By calling Matthew as a disciple, He is putting into action and reinforcing what He just revealed earlier with the paralytic. He forgives all repented sins, and His grace and mercy are for all.

To drive the point home further, He sat down and shared a meal with sinners and tax collectors. He was once again criticized by the religious folks for associating with them. Jesus responds to them in verses 12 and 13:

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

~ Matthew 9:12-13 NKJV

This is the Good News of Jesus and the Gospel:

To realize our need for Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives.

To accept His invitation to follow Him.

To humble ourselves to know our sin and repent.

To know His great love, grace, and mercy for us.

To become His disciples and share the good news with others.

To sit with Him at His table today, tomorrow, and for all of eternity.

In closing, I share these verses from Isaiah 55:6-7:

“Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.”