We see in this passage the fifth person in Matthew’s Gospel that couldn’t help but obey Jesus when He said, “Follow me.” In some ways he’s similar to Peter and Andrew, James and John. He was a working man who left everything to follow Jesus. Yet, in other ways this calling is even more surprising. Matthew was a tax collector. Not simply an auditor who works for the IRS. But a local (Jew) who worked for the enemy (the Romans) to take money from this own countrymen to give to the enemy. Not only that, but tax collectors often took more than they needed and pocketed the rest. In the eyes of the religious rulers, tax collectors were the worst kind of sinners, comparable only to prostitutes.
Yet these were the people, the tax collectors and “sinners” (understand these to prostitutes), that Jesus joined at the dinner table. Read Jesus response to the Pharisees criticism once again. He came not for those who think that they don’t need him, but for those who know they are sinners, in need of a Savior.
Sometimes there are people (or groups) we see as being almost outside the reach of God. Who are some of these groups in our community or state? What would Jesus say to them or do for them? What should WE say or do?