LIFE LESSONS
MATTHEW
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 5:27-32
JANUARY 30, 2005
The call of Matthew is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and also the Gospel of Mark and also the Gospel of Luke. I these three synoptic gospels, the call of Matthew is recorded and it is virtually identical in each case except for the fact that in two of these gospels, Matthew is called Levi. Therefore, most Bible scholars think it is beyond a reasonable doubt that these two names Matthew and Levi were given to one disciple.
The name Levi was an old honorable Jewish name. Of course, one of the twelve sons of Jacob was named Levi, and the Tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe. The strange thing about the name Levi is that Hebrew scholars really don’t know the meaning of the name. Some Hebrew scholars believe that Levi is associated with Leah and that, etymologically, it means, “wild cow.” Other Hebrew scholars believe that the name Levi comes from the Hebrew word “Leviu” and that it means, “sworn to an oath,” “bound to a vow.” The truth is nobody knows for sure. We do know this. We do know the meaning of the name Matthew.
Matthew means, “gift of Yahweh.” Matthew means, “gift of God.” It means that in Hebrew and it means that in Aramaic. Matthew means, “gift of God.” This morning Matthew is God’s gift to us as from his life we have two life lessons. The first life lesson is this. Jesus is the source of forgiveness. Obviously this is not a new teaching but it takes new meaning in Matthew’s life. Matthew was a tax collector. He was a Galilean tax collector. Galilean tax collectors collected tolls and taxes on the great road from Damascus into Palestine, taxing the commercial trade that passed along that road. Galilean tax collectors also taxed the fishing industry in Galilee and around the Sea of Galilee. Matthew would have been involved in the taxation on the great road between Damascus and Palestine. Also he would have been involved in the taxing and fishing industry, the taxing of the family of Zebedee, James and John, Peter and Andrew. They all would have been taxed by Matthew and people like Matthew.
Tax collectors in Galilee served Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas was the ruler of Galilee and a puppet of Rome. We need to understand this about Matthew. Matthew was a thief. He was a robber. There’s no doubt about that because all Galilean tax collectors were thieves and robbers. They taxed the people into poverty. They lined their own pockets with cash. They taxed the people so extravagantly because they wanted to send money to Rome and then retain enough money for their own wealth. They were wealthy, they were thieves and they were robbers. They were also traitors. Tax collectors were traitors. They were traitors to Israel, traitors to the Jews. They had sold out to Rome. They were hated by the Jews. In the Talmudic literature, tax collectors were synonymous with “robber,” “thief,” “traitor.” In the Bible, tax collector is synonymous with the word “sinner.”
So Matthew was a Galilean tax collector. He was a robber, a thief, and a traitor. But, you see, he met Jesus Christ. It’s hard to imagine how the disciples would have responded when they heard that Jesus had chosen a tax collector to join their company of twelve. We’ve seen in the past that Jesus tended to choose people with Zealot tendencies. We’ve seen that Jesus chose as His disciple Simon the Zealot who was undoubtedly a member of the Zealot Party. Jesus chose as His disciple Simon Peter who was called Bar Jonah which might mean, “son of John,” but we have seen it could come from the Aramaic Bar Yonah and it means, “Zealot.” We know that Peter carried a sword. We have seen that Jesus chose as His disciple Judas Iscariot. We’ve seen that Iscariot may come from “sekarioi” which means, “daggerman” and refers to the radical fringe of the Zealot Party.
We’ve seen that Jesus chose Judas Thaddeus or Judas Lebbaeus and we’ve seen that that name means, “man of heart,” “man of passion,” “man of zeal.” At least in one early manuscript he is called “Judas the Zealot.” We’ve seen that Jesus chose James and John, sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them “Boanerges,” which means, “Sons of Thunder” and they may have had Zealot tendencies. There’s no denying this. Those members of the disciples would have hated people like Matthew. We know from historical records that the Zealots literally wanted to murder the tax collectors because they had sold out to Rome but they were afraid because the power of Rome was behind them. Here’s Jesus recruiting this thief, this robber, this traitor, to join the band of disciples. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand grace. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand His power, the power that was in Him to forgive. He wanted them to learn forgiveness. It would have been an incredible scene as he brought Matthew into the company of Zealots. Unbelievable.
And how about you? Are you aware of the power of Christ to forgive? Have you experienced the power of Christ in forgiveness. Some of you who are older like me might be able to look back and remember a man named Charles Watson. Charles Watson was born in 1945 in Dallas, Texas. He was called “Tex” Watson. When he was 20 years old, he came to Southern California and that was during the 1960’s. He wanted to find what he called “total freedom.” That’s what Tex Watson was looking for, total freedom. Tex Watson fell in with a demon-possessed cult leader whose name was Charles Manson. Tex Watson began to absorb vast quantities of pot and Manson philosophy. Charles Manson told Tex Watson, “Listen, do you want total freedom? Then you’ve got to become alike a wild animal because only the wild animals are totally free. They have no boundaries. They have no rules. They have no guidelines. They kill. They eat. They rape. They’re free. They’re totally free”
Of course, it was 1969 on a horrible evening, a tragic evening, that Charles Manson and his so¬ called “family,” including Tex Watson came as wild animals. We had the Tate-LaBianca murders when seven human beings were savagely butchered. Tex Watson was sentenced to life in prison. Initially he was given the death sentence and that was changed to life imprisonment. They’d never seen anyone like him. He really was a wild animal. The prison authorities said that when they put him in his cell, he began to charge the bars. He charged the bars for a half hour, for an hour, for two hours, for 10 hours, shredding his own body. He was like a wild animal. They moved him from prison to prison.
Finally one day, they put a Bible in his cell and a miracle happened. Tex Watson opened it and began to read it and encountered the power of Jesus Christ. It penetrated to his dead soul. He’d never had any remorse. He’d never felt a moment of remorse and then suddenly he began to bawl. Suddenly he began to cry. The prison authorities said he cried for three days. At the end of three days, he gave his heart to Jesus Christ. He came to the foot of the cross and asked Jesus to be his Savior and Lord. Tex Watson is alive today. It’s been 36 years. He’s alive today and he leads the chapel at the prison where he lives. He writes Bible studies today. Tex Watson has written a book that has led thousands of other prisoners to faith in Jesus Christ. When you get to heaven, if you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you’ll see Tex Watson. Maybe you don’t like that but, you see, it’s the power of Christ to forgive. Unbelievable power. Have you experienced it?
You know, traditionally speaking, the disciple Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew wrote the first book of the New Testament. Of course, the truth is the Gospel of Matthew is anonymous. The author doesn’t give his name. What’s true of the Gospel of Matthew is also true of the Gospel of Mark and true of the Gospel of Luke. Technically speaking it’s even true of the Gospel of John. The author simply identifies himself as “the beloved disciple,” not giving his name.
The author of Matthew’s Gospel does not give his name and we don’t know who wrote it, so why did the disciple Matthew come to be associated with the first book of the New Testament? The reason is there was a Christian scholar in the 1st century whose name was Patheus, and Patheus wrote that Matthew the disciple had composed a book of the sayings of Jesus Christ and the events of Christ’s life and that Matthew had called that book The Logia. Other early church fathers also mentioned Matthew’s Logia.
In the early church, many regarded the Gospel of Matthew as based on Matthew’s Logia. Many scholars believe that the Gospel of Matthew was compiled by an editor around the year 70 AD. They believe that this editor used three different sources—first of all the Gospel of Mark which was written in around 55 AD. Secondly that this editor used a source that Bible scholars call “Q” which was also used in the Gospel of Luke. Thirdly, that this editor used a source that is called “M,” a source of material about Christ that’s unique to Matthew. Many Bible scholars today believe that Matthew’s Logia was “M,” the material that today scholars call “M” and it’s in the Book of Matthew. Other Bible scholars today say that Matthew’s Logia was “Q” so that Matthew not only influenced the Gospel of Matthew but also influenced the Gospel of Luke. The truth is we don’t know. We do know this. We know that while the Gospel of Matthew may have been compiled around 70 AD, its source material is very old and very close to the time of Jesus’ life.
We know that Matthew, in some sense, is behind this book and we see something unusual when we look at the call of Matthew. We look in Mark’s Gospel and we look in Luke’s Gospel and we see that Matthew there is called Levi. There’s no doubt that Levi was originally Matthew’s name. That was his Jewish name. That was his birth name. That was the name given him by his parents—this common Jewish name, Levi. But at some point, he had been given this name Matthew. In Matthew’s Gospel where Matthew’s Logia is behind it, Matthew chooses that name, Matthew.
Many scholars believe that Jesus actually gave Levi this new name Matthew even as Jesus once gave Simon the name Peter. This name was precious to Matthew because it means, “gift of God.” Not in the sense that Matthew was a gift to God but that God had given Matthew His gift. And what was the gift of God that Matthew had received? Was it not forgiveness? Salvation? Eternal life? Everlasting life? This was the gift of God and the meaning of the name, Matthew, the name that was precious to this disciple. He had received the gift of God.
How about you? Have you received the gift of God? Have you received His forgiveness? Found His salvation? Have you received everlasting life? If you have received that gift, are you aware of the fact that you now are called to be a gift? Having received the gift of God, there is a sense in which you are now called to be the gift of God. You are to go out and tell others about the gift that Jesus is, and you’re called to go out and forgive others. Are you doing that? Are you forgiving people and are you a forgiving person? Every day do you pray, “forgive me my debt, my sins, my trespasses as I forgive those who sin against me?” Do you practice that and live it out?
This last week I read a story about a pastor who was speaking to his congregation on a Sunday morning. He said, “I want all of you who have forgiven all of your enemies to stand up. All of you who have forgiven all your enemies, stand up.” Fifty percent of the congregation stood up. The pastor said, “I’m not going to let you out of here”—of course I don’t know how he could stop them—but he said, “I’m not going to let you out of here until all of you can say you have forgiven all your enemies. So he asked them again. It was getting close to lunch. Seventy-five percent of the people stood up and said they have forgiven all of their enemies.
Finally, after a little more time had gone by, he asked them one more time and everybody stood up. Everybody said, “We have forgiven all of our enemies” except for one little elderly lady sitting just a few rows back. Her name was Esther. The pastor said to her, “Esther, what’s wrong? Haven’t you forgiven all of your enemies?” She said no. He said, “Why not?” She smiled a really sweet smile and she said, “I don’t have any enemies.” The pastor said, “Esther, how old are you?” She said, “I’m 93 years old.” The pastor said, “Well, what an example you are for the whole congregation. You’ve lived 93 years and you don’t have a single enemy. Would you come down front here and tell this congregation how you’ve done that?” She got up very slowly and walked very slowly. She came down by the pastor and he gave her the microphone. He said, “Tell the people how it is that you don’t have any enemies in 93 years.” She smiled sweetly and said, “I outlived them all.”
That’s not what Jesus is really looking for. It’s not what Christ is really looking for. He’s looking for forgiveness. While your enemies are still alive, He’s wanting you to forgive them. If you’ve received the gift of God and you’ve come to God and you’ve embraced His Lordship and His cross, you’ve received that gift of forgiveness and new life and eternal life. He wants you to go out and give the gift of God. That’s the first life lesson from Matthew. A second life lesson is this. Jesus is also the source of joy. He’s the source of forgiveness and he is the source of joy.
I know all of you have heard of Felix Mendelssohn, the famous 19th century composer and conductor, pianist. He once wrote a melody, an orchestral piece, that was meant to communicate the joy of Christ. Felix Mendelssohn was a Jewish man by blood who had a deep faith in Jesus Christ and he championed of course the music of Johann Sebastian Bach who also had a deep, deep faith in Jesus Christ. Mendelssohn wrote this melody meant to describe in song, meant to convey musically the joy of Jesus Christ. He never put any lyrics to it, never wrote any words, but he hoped that one day someone would come along and put words to this melody that would also convey the joy of Christ.
Eventually that did take place. In the old words of Charles Wesley, the 18th century hymn writer who was also an evangelist along with his brother, John, and founders of the Wesleyan or Methodist movement. Those words that Charles Wesley had written were put to this melody. They were changed just a little bit by Georgia Whitfield, the famous revivalist, so really the words of Charles Wesley and George Whitfield were put to the melody of Mendelssohn and they created this Christmas carol called “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” I think Mendelssohn would have been pleased with the words. “Joyful all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies. With angelic hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Jesus came into the world to bring joy, a message of joy for all the people. Jesus said, “I have come that you might have joy and that my joy might be in you and your joy might be full.” The Bible says that he had been anointed with the “oil of gladness.” The word is “agalliasis” which means, “exuberant joy beyond anyone else that ever lived.” He came to bring joy.
Of course, Matthew found that joy. In fact we’ve seen that the name Matthew means, “gift of God” and it comes from the Hebrew/Aramaic. In the Greek language, the word for gift is the word “chara” or “charisma.” Strange enough that word also means, “joy,” because a gift is a cause for joy. Matthew found that joy. The Bible tells us that Matthew left everything he had, arose and followed Christ. He found that forgiveness and that salvation and that eternal life. In his joy, the Bible tells us, Matthew went and threw a great feast for Jesus at Matthew’s house. He threw a party for Jesus. Isn’t that kind of cool? He throws this huge feast for Jesus Christ at his house to express his joy because he had received the gift of God. He invited all of his tax collector friends, all the other thieves and robbers, all the other traitors. They were there and he wanted them to have the gift of God. He wanted them to find forgiveness, salvation, eternal life. It must have been incredible, an incredible scene, but there were some people there who were not having any fun. They were called Pharisees and Scribes.
You’ve got to understand in that 1st century in the Jewish culture, parties were held in courtyards and the courtyards were all open. Pharisees loved to crash parties and condemn the people involved. They crashed this one. They were there with the Scribes and they began to mock the disciples. “Why are you eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” Maybe the Pharisees just didn’t like a party, but I can tell you this. They didn’t like forgiveness. They couldn’t stand forgiveness. They felt no need of it. They felt no need of forgiveness. They were righteous, self-righteousness. In point of fact, when Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but only those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” They thought He was saying, “We’re righteous.” That’s what they thought. They felt like they had no need of a physician. They didn’t understand. Of course, Jesus, at other times, made it very clear, “there are none righteous. No one. We all need a physician.
The Pharisees thought they were righteous. They had no need of forgiveness and those who did need forgiveness, they wanted them to receive their comeuppance. They wanted them to receive their due penalty. They didn’t want forgiveness for anybody. They hated forgiveness. Therefore they could never find the joy of Christ, never find the joy of Jesus Christ.
I think we can all understand on any level, forgiveness can bring joy. I remember in 1962, I got my driver’s license for the first time. I was 16 years old, got my driver’s license and my father bought me a car for 50 bucks. It was a 1948 Ford. Believe it or not, I loved that car. That first weekend with my driver’s license, that Sunday night, I went down to church in Glendale, California. I went to a youth group meeting. After the Bible Study—if you had a car, you got to take some of the other kids home—so I had six other kids that piled into my car and the seven of us took off. They were willing to trust a guy that just got his driver’s license.
We were driving up Verdugo Road in Glendale, California. Everybody in the car was laughing. Everybody was pushing each other. Every once in a while they would bump the steering wheel. Finally I looked in the rear view mirror and I saw blinking red lights. This cop pulled me over. He came up to my window and he looked in and he said, “Having a good time?” I said, “No, Sir. Not anymore.” He smiled and I thought that was a good sign. He said, “Well, can I see your license?” He saw that I had a brand new license. He said, “Well, do you know what the speed limit is on Verdugo Road?” I said, “No, Sir.” He said, “It’s 35 miles per hour.” He said, “Do you know how fast you were going?” I said, “No, Sir.” He said, “You were going 50 miles per hour.” He said, “That’s not the only problem. I also noticed that you have a hard time staying in your lane.” He said, “Have you been drinking?” I said, “No, Sir.” The police officer looked in the car. He looked around at all of our faces. We must have looked really young and really scared. Suddenly he just smiled. He said, “Well, I’ll tell you what. I’m not going to write you up. I’m not going to give you a ticket. I don’t want to spoil your first week with your license.” He said, “Just drive safely. Good night and have a good time.”
I thought of the Bible verse. “Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.” Isn’t it true? Whenever your sins are forgiven you, doesn’t that bring a little cheer? When tickets are ripped up, doesn’t that bring a little cheer? Of course, every sin you’ve ever committed is forgiven in Christ if you come to Him and make the commitment to Him as Lord and Savior. Every sin you’ve ever committed, every sin you ever will commit, it’s all gone, forgiven. Is that cause for joy? When you look back … Those of you who are Christians, can you look back and remember that moment you first believed and you made the commitment to Christ as Savior and Lord and you felt the washing by His power and the lifting of the burden of sin. Do you remember the joy? Maybe you’ve lost some of that.
I know most of you have heard of Alec Guinness. Alec Guinness was born in 1914 in London, England and he was knighted by the Queen in 1959. Sir Alec Guinness. He was a star of stage and screen. He received the Academy Award in 1957 for Best Actor in the move, “Bridge over the River Kwai.” Of course, he was also renowned and famous for supporting roles in movies such as “Dr. Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” The strange thing today is amongst boomers, Alec Guinness is perhaps most remembered for the role of Ob-Wan Kenobi in the “Star Wars” movies.
In the year 1956, on March 24, Alec Guinness was walking down the streets of London and he was in a turmoil because the burden of sin was upon him. He had always been an agnostic. He’d always ridiculed faith and he’d heard all the claims of Christ but he had rejected them and yet he was under the burden of sin. March 24, 1956. He’s walking down Kings Way in the city of London and sin is weighing heavy on his soul. As he walks, he sees a little church there and he walked in. He said, to his own amazement, he walked in. He walked into the church, and something happened in his soul. He got down on his knees before the altar and the cross and he started to cry. He just cried and he cried. In that moment in that church that day, Alec Guinness gave his heart and soul to Jesus Christ. He asked Him to be his Savior and Lord.
Alec Guinness said that when he came out of that little church in London, he started running down the street. He said his joy was so great that he couldn’t contain it. He started running down the streets of London and he was shouting. People thought he was crazy but he had exuberant joy, incredible joy. Maybe we need to recapture some of that joy. Maybe you need to recapture some of that joy. Maybe you need to remind yourself that you are a Christian, that your sin is forgiven and, “that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord,” and that you have eternal life and nobody can take it away. Maybe you need to choose joy every day.
Joy is contagious. Some of you have heard of Malcolm Muggeridge. Malcolm Muggeridge was a famous 20th century writer, editor, news correspondent. It was the Manchester Guardian that sent Malcolm Muggeridge to Moscow in 1962 as their correspondent. They wanted Muggeridge to write an article on religion. They knew Malcolm Muggeridge was an agnostic and at times an atheist. He didn’t just doubt God; he denied God. So the Manchester Guardian in 1962 sent Malcolm Muggeridge to Moscow to do an article on religion in the Soviet Union, the atheistic state. He went to the Kremlin and talked to members of the Supreme Soviet. He heard all their quotes of Marx and Engels, Stalin, Lenin and their summary message that religion was the opiate of the masses, that religion was the opiate of the people. He had heard it all before and he believed most of it. Then he walked out late in the day.
He was walking down the street in Moscow, and he realized it was Easter Sunday. He heard singing coming from a church. There were a few churches the Soviets still allowed to function. The singing sounded so joyful as he walked down the street. For the cause of joy alone, he said he went into that church. The congregation was singing with exuberant joy and so he stayed and listened to all the music. He heard the message and it was a message of joy. At the end of the sermon, the pastor shouted out, “Christ is risen,” and the whole congregation rose as one with incredible joy and they shouted, “He is risen indeed!” Malcolm Muggeridge said right there in that moment that something happened in his soul. He knew that Marx and Engels and Lenin and Stalin had all been wrong. Something happened in his soul and he gave his heart to Christ. He asked Jesus into his heart. From that point on, Malcolm Muggeridge began to write for Jesus Christ. Some of his writings were controversial but there’s no denying this. Joy is contagious.
The joy of Christ draws the world in, and the church of Jesus Christ is sick today, here and in many parts of the world. There’s not enough joy. We’ve kind of forgotten the joy. Remember joy is a choice. “Count it all joy,” the Bible says, “even in the midst of trials.” It’s a choice. It begins when you choose Christ because He’s the source of all joy, forgiveness, salvation, eternal life. It begins then but you’ve got to “in Christ” choose joy every day.
Some people seem to think joy is biochemical. It comes with a few glasses of wine. Some people seem to think joy is congenital, that it comes with birth. Some people are just born sunny side up. Some people seem to think joy is totally situational, that we can have joy if only the situation is right. I’ve had Christians says to me, “I know I’m not very happy and I know I’m miserable but I have joy.” They’ll explain to me that they don’t know what joy is but they know they have it because you’re supposed to have it. But understand. Joy has everything to do with happiness.
The word “chara,” the biblical word for joy is very much like “makarios,” the biblical word for happiness. Sure, the joy of Christ is deeper than secular happiness but if you’re not happy, you don’t have joy. Christ offers joy and you’ve got to choose it every single day. So remember if you’re in Christ, if you belong to Him, all of your sin is forgiven, past and future. You live under the promise that all things will work together for good under the hope of heaven itself, so count it all joy. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.