Apostle St. Matthew – The Tax-collector Levi – Feb 24

Matthew, an Apostle and evangelist, of whom we know very little personally but in another sense we know a great deal as he was a tax-gatherer. The man designated as Matthew, sitting in the customs house (Matt. 9: 9) is the same as Levi, sitting in the receipt of custom (Mk. 2: 14; Lk. 5: 27). From these passages it seems that Levi was the original name, son of Alphaeus. He was a Galilean. It is possible that Jesus gave him the name Matthew (Heb. Mattiya – ‘gift of Yahweh’; Gk. Maththaios, Matthaios) to Levi, when He called him to the Apostolate and by this name, thenceforth he was known among his Christian brethren. The Lord saw him in Capernaum and said to him: Follow Me! Leaving everything, he followed Him (Matt. 9: 9). He is traditionally, thought to have been called, Levi before his conversion, but this may well have been a tribal designation (Matt. the Levite) rather than an alternative name.

Born in Nazareth as the son of Alphai, he was well educated, wealthy (only rich man among the disciples), and versed in Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic. He was a tax collector / publican, when Jesus called him. A class of men hated and despised, incurred most odium and ill will by the Jews. Gentiles (Matt. 18: 17), harlots (Matt. 21: 31-33) sinners (Matt. 9: 10-11; 11:19), murderers, robbers, adulterers and tax collectors were classed together. Being a tax collector or Publican, he had permission from Rome to levy taxes within his tetrarchy, and so was a social outcast among gentiles. They were debarred from being a judge or a witness, even debarred from worship. (Lk. 8: 13). The customs officers could at any time open the travelers’ baggage and strip of his cloth and take whatever he wanted. They used to levy an impossible sum as duty and then used to offer to lend the sum to the traveler at very exorbitant rate of interest. So, Matthew sat at the custom counter in Capernaum. Palestine government was divided into two. Samaria and Judea were under the Roman Procurator and Galilee was ruled by Herod Antipas. Matthew was in the service of Herod Antipas and his custom office was on the seashore, collecting tax form the traffic on the Sea of Galilee. Thus, Matthew often listened to the preaching and teaching of Christ, something of which could have gone straight to his heart, the outcast and friendless. Jesus called Matthew and he rose, left all and followed Jesus.

Matthew prepared and hosted a feast in his house, and there provided an opportunity for the Lord to voice some great truths about His coming to earth His friends who were fellow tax-gatherers and outcasts from society gathered. The Pharisees protested and Jesus rebuked them in these consoling words: “I came not to call the just, but sinners”. No more mention about Matthew is there in the N. T. accept that he was with Apostles at the time of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and afterwards in the upper room in Jerusalem.

Ancient tradition is unanimous that Matthew wrote a Gospel in Hebrew / Aramaic. His Gospel contains more of the teachings of Christ, – the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew was a tax collector, hence could use his pen, unlike the others who were fishermen. He probable carried a pen and noted the teachings of Jesus and he became the first man to present to the world an account of the teaching of Jesus. Matthew nobly used his literary skill to become the first man ever to compile and account of the teaching of Jesus. The style of the gospel is concise and quite formal especially well-suited to public reading and teaching. St. Matthew’s gospel is lucid and authoritative account to the Jews of their promised Messiah. It is believed that the gospel was written between AD 60 and AD 90. Thus, we clearly indebted to the once despised Matthew.

Gospel of St. Matthew is characterized by an emphasis on Jesus as the fulfillment of Jewish Messianic hopes, and by a special interest in his human genealogy. The theological content of the Gospel has Christological themes, as well as the teaching about the Kingdom of God and about the Church.  He describes the teachings which the Lord sets forth in parables about the inner preparation for entering into the Kingdom (Ch. 5-7), about the worthiness of servers of the Church in the world (Ch. 10-11), about the signs of the Kingdom and its growth in the souls of mankind (Ch. 13), about the humility and simplicity of the inheritors of the Kingdom (Ch 18-23), and about the eschatological revelations of the Kingdom in the Second Coming of Christ within the daily spiritual life of the Church (Ch. 24-25).

Matthew’s subsequent career can be traced in inaccurate or legendary data. St. Irenaeus says Matthew preached first in Judea. Then he was allotted Ethiopia to the south of Caspian Sea (not in Africa), followed by Persia, Macedonia, Parthia etc. It is supposed that he died a martyr. Some authorities place his martyrdom in Ethiopia or Persia. Others mention that the holy Apostle brought the Gospel of Christ to Syria, Media, Persia, Parthia, and finishing his preaching in Ethiopia with a martyr’s death. 

There is a tradition that, In Ethiopia, he consecrated as bishop one Plato, a follower of his, and himself withdrew to prayerful solitude on a mountain, where the Lord appeared to him. Matthew baptized the wife and son of the prince of that land, at which the prince was greatly enraged and sent a guard to bring Matthew before him for trial. The soldiers went off, but returned to the prince, saying that they had heard Matthew’s voice, but had been unable to set eyes on him. The prince then sent a second guard. When this guard drew near to the Apostle, he shone with a heavenly radiance so brilliant that the soldiers were unable to look at him but threw down their weapons in terror and returned home. The prince then went himself. When he approached Matthew, such radiance shone forth from the saint that the prince was blinded on the instant. But the Apostle had a kind heart: he prayed to God and the prince’s sight was restored – unfortunately, only on the physical plane, his spiritual eyes remaining closed. He seized St. Matthew and put him to harsh torture, twice lighting a fire on his chest, but the power of God kept him alive and unharmed. Then the Apostle prayed to God and gave his spirit into His hands. The prince commanded that the martyr’s body be put into a leaden coffin and cast into the sea. The saint appeared to Bishop Plato and told him where to find his body in its coffin, and the bishop went and brought them back. Seeing this new marvel, the prince was baptized and received the name Matthew. He then set aside all earthly vanity and became a priest, serving the Church in a manner pleasing to God. When Plato died, the Apostle Matthew appeared to this Matthew and counselled him-to accept the episcopate. So, he became a bishop, and was a good shepherd for many years, until God took him to His immortal Kingdom. There are others that place his martyrdom in Taruana, beyond the Persian Gulf.

St. Matthew is a popular figure in art, shown as an evangelist writing his Gospel at his desk aided by an angel, or as an apostle carrying an instrument of Martyrdom. Of this Evangelist, it is said that he never ate meat, but fed only on vegetables and fruit. St. Matthew is honored as the patron saint of Accountants, bookkeepers, tax collectors, customs officers and security guards. Matthew preached and died for Christ as a missionary of the Gospel and a hero of faith.  His feast day is observed on February 24/August 24. Some other churches observe his feast day on September 21 and November 16.