The Jewish people had been conquered by the Rome Empire and were under Roman rule during the ministry of Jesus. Jewish people who worked as tax collectors for the Roman Empire were hated by their fellow Jewish ethnic group, because tax collectors were considered traitors.
In the Bible, disciples and authors Mark and Luke refer to Matthew as Levi, and neither Mark nor Luke state his occupation in their genealogies. Most think they were protecting the apostle’s reputation, and I agree. However, Matthew, in humility, disclosed his former occupation along with his primary name. Writing of how he was a tax collector even in his apostles list, he was being completely honest. I think that is cool.
I add Matthew was the son of Alphaeus, just like James the lesser, so they were probably brothers, though that is not directly mentioned in the Bible. Maybe that was concealed as the Scripture authors did not want to tarnish Matthew’s brother’s reputation.
Yet rather than shunning Matthew like most in his ethnic group surely did, Jesus did not shun Matthew, rather He invited Matthew to follow Him. And Matthew did.
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” (NIV).
The result: Matthew was the first to write a “gospel,” sacred Scripture which gives an ancient biography of the ministry of Jesus. Since Matthew was a tax collector, he was probably better educated than many, thus he was suited for writing such Scripture.
At age 24, I had only been a Christian a short time. I read the entire New Testament on the Washington D.C. subway going to work for a number of mornings in 1991. Matthew was the book that reached me the most as a new Christian.
Early Christians stated the name Matthew much, since they were addressing his Scripture book. Yet personal information about him is sparse, maybe since when they talked about him they focused on his gospel writing and the content of his book.
Tradition is strong he ministered in Ethiopia! [1] Thus we have learned that the apostles started ministering in Jerusalem, and then went out to countries in all directions from there; north, south, east, and west!
How he was martyred is in question.
Hunter Irvine
[1] William McBirnie, The Search for the Twelve Apostles
(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1973), 176.
(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1973), 176.
