Matthew the Tax Collector - From Sinner to Follower
Matthew the Tax Collector – When Jesus Picks the Unlikely Saint
The smell of sweat and coins hung thick in the air as Matthew sat in his tax booth, fingers stained with ink from recording debts. Outside, fishermen mended their nets and children darted through the marketplace, but no one met his eyes. He was a ghost in his own town – present, but unseen. Unless, of course, someone owed money.
Then they saw him very clearly.
Tax collectors were the worst kind of people in Capernaum. Traitors. Thieves. Roman collaborators who squeezed extra coins from their neighbors to line their own pockets. Decent Jews crossed the street to avoid them. Rabbis warned their students against even speaking to them.
Which is why the whole marketplace froze when the Rabbi – Jesus of Nazareth – stopped at Matthew's booth that morning.
The Call That Shattered Expectations
Matthew had heard the stories about this wandering teacher. The healings. The crowds. The way he spoke about God like he actually knew Him. For weeks, Matthew had listened from the edges as Jesus taught near the shore, always staying just out of sight. A man like him didn't belong among the faithful.
Then came the day Jesus looked right at him.
Not past him.
Not through him.
At him.
"Follow me."
Two words. No preamble. No conditions.
Matthew's stylus clattered onto the wooden table. Around him, the marketplace held its breath. A rabbi calling a tax collector? It made no sense.
Yet in that moment, Matthew realized something terrifying: this was the first time in years someone had looked at him like he was more than his profession.
He stood up.
And just like that, Levi the tax collector became Matthew the disciple.
The Dinner Party That Scandalized a Town
That evening, Matthew threw the most outrageous party Capernaum had ever seen. He emptied his wine cellar. Invited every disreputable friend he had – fellow tax collectors, Roman sympathizers, the kind of people "good Jews" wouldn't be caught dead with.
And Jesus came.
The Pharisees watched from the shadows, lips curled in disgust. "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" they hissed at the disciples.
Jesus answered loud enough for everyone to hear: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
In other words: These are exactly my kind of people.
Why This Story Still Stings Today
There's something uncomfortable about Matthew's calling. It offends our sense of fairness.
We want spiritual leaders to come from seminaries, not from brothels or prison cells. We want converts to clean themselves up before they approach God. We want the kingdom to follow proper hiring procedures.
But Jesus specializes in the unlikely saint:
A hotheaded fisherman as his right-hand man
A demon-possessed woman as his first missionary
A persecutor of Christians as his greatest theologian
And a thieving tax collector as his gospel writer
Matthew's story forces us to ask: Who are we overlooking because they don't fit our idea of "holy"?
The Beautiful Irony of Matthew's Gospel
Years later, when Matthew penned his account of Jesus' life, he included details the other writers missed:
The genealogy highlighting Judah's scandalous ancestors
The story of the Magi – outsiders who recognized Messiah when Israel's leaders didn't
The parable of the unmerciful servant – a story about debt forgiveness from a former debt collector
Most strikingly, Matthew – the man who'd spent his life taking money – recorded Jesus' words: "Freely you have received; freely give."
The thief had become the most generous evangelist of all.
What This Means For Us
1. God's Call Often Comes Mid-Sin
Jesus didn't wait for Matthew to quit his job. Grace interrupted him right at his tax booth.
2. Transformation Starts With Being Seen
What broke Matthew wasn't condemnation, but the realization that Jesus saw him – really saw him – and called him anyway.
3. Your Past Becomes Your Testimony
Matthew didn't hide his shady history. He let God rewrite it into a story of redemption.
The Invitation Still Stands
That tax booth still exists today. It's the addiction we can't shake. The shame we can't outrun. The reputation we can't escape.
And Jesus still walks up to it. Still looks us in the eye. Still says:
"Follow me."
Not when you're perfect.
Not when you're religious.
Now.
Because the kingdom isn't built on the backs of the flawless, but on the redeemed.
And Matthew's story proves that sometimes, the worst sinners make the best saints.
Reflection Questions:
Where's your "tax booth" – the place Jesus is calling you from?
Who do you struggle to see as redeemable? How does Matthew's story challenge that?
How can you extend the same grace to others that Jesus extended to you?