We All Need the Great Physician
Matthew’s account of his own calling by Jesus is remarkably unremarkable. He simply says, “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him.” We know there has to have been more to the story, especially since we know Matthew (also known as Levi) had a brother named James (called James the Less) who was also a disciple of Jesus (Mark 2:14 and Matthew 10:3). Still, the fact that Jesus called and Matthew followed is all Matthew felt was important. There once was a man who was lost and now, he is found. Simple. Beautiful. Uncomplicated. That is the Gospel in a neat little package.
We got to know Matthew a bit at the beginning of our study of his important book, but there are a couple of things to note here. All the disciples left something behind to follow Jesus, but Matthew’s exodus from his former life was a bit different. Peter, James, and John would have no problem returning to their lifestyle of being fishermen if following Jesus didn’t work out. In fact, John 21 tells us that seven of the disciples did just that after Jesus was crucified. Matthew; however, after being confronted with and forgiven of his former way of life, would never in good conscience be able to go back to cheating and stealing from his countrymen in the name of taxes. He truly left everything behind except his pen.
Another beautiful part of Matthew’s conversion and inclusion in Christ’s disciples is that fact that he, as a tax collector, would have been cast out and excommunicated from the synagogue. His religion forbid him from participation, but his God invited him into a relationship. Not only did Jesus invite Matthew, he invited all the ‘sinners’ Matthew knew. It appears that Matthew held a special dinner for Jesus and invited all his fellow tax collectors and friends. The Pharisees used this as an opportunity to attempt to prove that Jesus was not the worthy leader everyone thought he was. As usual, they were wrong, and Jesus wasted no time pointing it out.
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Verse 12 The Pharisees believed they were perfect. We know, neither they nor anyone else can claim such a title. Still, they didn’t see anything they did as being sinful. They rejected the idea that they needed a messiah. How can someone with such a view of their own superiority ever accept Jesus’ invitation? We know some Pharisees and scribes did, but most of them rejected him. Their rejection and their attitude towards the people who hung around Jesus, stands as a warning for us. We must never think so highly of ourselves that we forget that we are but one choice away from being just as lost as they. We must not allow our current position to give us spiritual amnesia to the corruption of our soul before salvation. Romans 3:23-24 keeps us from thinking too highly of ourselves when it says, “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” No matter how high and mighty we pretend to be, we are all sinners in need of a savior. When we forget that, we forget how much we need the Great Physician to heal our souls.
Matthew responded without hesitation. Immediately, he brought everyone he knew to hear the message of Christ. His inclusion as one of Jesus’ disciples encourages me to never judge a book by its cover. Christians come in all shapes and sizes. We come with all sorts of pasts. We come from all manner of backgrounds and bring with us every type of reputation. None of that matters. The only that means anything is that we left it all to follow the lover of our souls. None of us are spiritually whole without Jesus. We are sick and crippled until God restores us and makes us new. May we never forget that we are all on the same, level ground. None of us are better than anyone else. None of us deserve the call, but thank God we received it.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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