Jubilee Community Church
Wednesday Night

  • SESSION 7 — MATTHEW: FROM THE TAX BOOTH TO THE KINGDOM

    WHEN JESUS CALLS THE UNLIKELY
    Primary Scripture Reading
    Matthew 9:9–13 ESV
    9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
    Supporting Texts: Mark 2:13–17; Luke 5:27–32; Matthew 10:1–4; Luke 6:12–16; Acts 1:12–14

    INTRODUCTION — THE MAN NOBODY EXPECTED JESUS TO CHOOSE

    When we think about the twelve apostles, Matthew may be one of the greatest demonstrations of the transforming grace of Jesus Christ.
    Peter was a fisherman.
    Andrew was a fisherman.
    James and John were fishermen.
    Thomas was a man who wrestled honestly with what he could not understand.
    But Matthew?
    Matthew worked for the enemy.
    He was a tax collector.
    To understand how shocking Matthew 9 really is, we have to understand what those words meant in first-century Israel.
    Tax collectors were not simply government accountants. They participated in a Roman taxation system that was deeply resented by the Jewish population. They collected money on behalf of the occupying power, and the system was notorious for opportunities for exploitation and personal enrichment.
    To many Jewish people, Matthew was not simply a man with an unpopular occupation.
    He was considered a traitor.
    And yet Jesus walked directly to his booth.
    Jesus looked at the man everybody else had written off and said:
    “Follow me.”
    That is the Gospel.
    Religion saw a sinner.
    Society saw a traitor.
    The disciples may have seen a problem.
    Jesus saw an apostle.
    Matthew teaches us something powerful:
    Jesus does not merely see what you are when He finds you. He sees what His grace can make you.
    THE CALL

    1. JESUS FOUND MATTHEW AT THE TAX BOOTH

    Matthew 9:9
    “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth…”
    Notice where Jesus found him.
    Matthew was not in the synagogue praying.
    He was not at the Temple offering sacrifice.
    He was not sitting beside the Sea of Galilee listening to a sermon.
    He was sitting at the tax booth.
    Jesus encountered Matthew right in the middle of the life Matthew had been living.
    There is a tremendous Gospel truth here.
    Jesus does not wait until people get their lives cleaned up before He calls them.
    He calls them out of the life that needs changing.
    Matthew was sitting in the place that represented his old identity when Jesus called him into a new one.

    LUKE CALLS HIM LEVI

    Luke 5:27 says:
    “After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth.”
    Matthew appears to have also been known as Levi.
    Mark likewise identifies him as “Levi the son of Alphaeus” in Mark 2:14.
    Yet in the apostolic lists he is called Matthew.
    The name Matthew comes from the Hebrew name Mattityahu, carrying the idea of:
    “Gift of Yahweh” or “Gift of God.”
    Think about that transformation.
    The man society regarded as a disgrace would become known to generations of believers by a name declaring:
    Gift of God.
    That is what grace does.
    Grace does not merely forgive your past.
    Grace gives you a new future.
    THE CHARACTER

    2. MATTHEW RESPONDED IMMEDIATELY

    Jesus gives Matthew only two recorded words:
    Matthew 9:9
    “Follow me.”
    The Greek verb translated “follow” is:
    ἀκολουθέω — akoloutheō
    It means:
    to follow, accompany, join oneself to someone as a disciple.
    Jesus was not asking Matthew:
    “Would you like to attend one of My meetings?”
    He was saying:
    Leave the life you have built and become My disciple.
    Matthew's response is extraordinary.
    “And he rose and followed him.”
    Luke gives us another important detail.
    Luke 5:28
    “And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.”
    Leaving everything.
    Peter could potentially return to fishing.
    Matthew's decision was different.
    Once a tax collector abandoned his post, there was probably no easy path back into that privileged position.
    Matthew understood:
    If I get up from this table, my life is changing.
    And he stood up anyway.
    That is discipleship.
    There comes a point when following Jesus requires more than admiration.
    It requires movement.
    Matthew had to decide:
    Do I remain seated where I am comfortable, or do I rise and follow where Christ is calling?

    3. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING MATTHEW LEFT WAS NOT THE MONEY

    We often focus on Matthew leaving his occupation.
    But something deeper happened.
    Matthew left an identity.
    For years people had defined him by what he did.
    Tax collector.
    Collaborator.
    Sinner.
    Outcast.
    But Jesus gave Matthew an identity greater than his reputation.
    Matthew 10:2–3
    When Jesus names the twelve apostles, Matthew is included:
    “…Matthew the tax collector…”
    Matthew went from:
    Tax collector
    to
    Disciple
    to
    Apostle.
    This is important because Jesus did not pretend Matthew had no past.
    Grace does not require us to rewrite our history.
    Grace demonstrates that our history does not have to determine our destiny.
    Paul later expresses this principle:
    1 Corinthians 6:11
    “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified…”
    Notice the language:
    “Such WERE some of you.”
    The Gospel changes the tense.
    That was who you were.
    That does not have to be who you remain.
    THE CRISIS

    4. MATTHEW'S FIRST RESPONSE WAS TO BRING HIS OLD WORLD TO JESUS

    This may be my favorite part of Matthew's story.
    Luke 5:29 says:
    “And Levi made him a great feast in his house…”
    Matthew leaves the tax booth and then throws a banquet.
    And look who he invites.
    “…there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.”
    Matthew had just met Jesus.
    He did not know theology like Peter eventually would.
    He had not experienced Pentecost.
    He had not preached a sermon.
    He had not performed a miracle.
    But Matthew immediately understood something:
    The people I know need to meet the Man I just met.
    This is evangelism in its simplest form.
    Matthew did not begin with:
    “Come hear me preach.”
    He began with:
    “Come meet Jesus.”

    5. MATTHEW USED HIS EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS FOR THE KINGDOM

    Think about who Matthew knew.
    His social circle probably consisted largely of other tax collectors and people considered sinners.
    Religious society rejected them.
    But Matthew knew them.
    He ate with them.
    He worked around them.
    They trusted him enough to come to his house.
    When Matthew became a disciple, Jesus did not waste those relationships.
    He redeemed them.
    Matthew turned his dinner table into a mission field.
    This teaches us something important about evangelism.
    Sometimes your greatest mission field is not overseas.
    It is already in your phone.
    It is already in your family.
    It is already at your workplace.
    It is already in your neighborhood.
    It is already sitting around your table.
    The relationships you had before you came to Christ may become some of the greatest opportunities you have after coming to Christ.

    6. GRACE OFFENDED THE RELIGIOUS CROWD

    Matthew 9:11
    “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
    The Pharisees could not understand why a holy man would associate with unholy people.
    Jesus responds:
    Matthew 9:12
    “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”
    Jesus presents Himself as a physician.
    A physician does not avoid sick people because they are sick.
    Sickness is why the physician came.
    Then Jesus says:
    Matthew 9:13
    “For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
    That does not mean the Pharisees were truly righteous and did not need salvation.
    The problem was that they believed themselves righteous.
    The tax collectors knew they were sinners.
    The Pharisees could see Matthew's sin.
    They struggled to see their own.
    And sometimes the person who knows he is broken is closer to transformation than the person convinced that nothing in him needs changing.

    7. “I DESIRE MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE”

    Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6:
    “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”
    The Greek word translated mercy is:
    ἔλεος — eleos
    It carries the idea of mercy, compassion, and kindness shown toward someone in need.
    The Pharisees understood religious performance.
    Jesus wanted them to understand God's heart.
    They knew how to separate themselves from sinners.
    Jesus knew how to save sinners.
    There is an enormous difference.
    Holiness does not mean we participate in the world's sin.
    But holiness should never become an excuse to stop reaching people who desperately need Christ.
    Jesus could sit among sinners without becoming like them because He came to transform them.
    Jesus entered Matthew's world so Matthew could enter His Kingdom.
    THE COMMISSION

    8. THE TAX COLLECTOR BECAME AN APOSTLE

    Matthew 10 records something extraordinary.
    Matthew 10:1
    “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits…”
    Then Matthew's name appears among them.
    Think about this.
    The man who once carried authority from Rome now carried authority from Jesus Christ.
    The man who once collected taxes for an earthly empire became an ambassador of the Kingdom of God.
    The man whose hands once handled Roman currency would eventually carry the Gospel of Christ.
    Jesus did not merely forgive Matthew.
    Jesus commissioned Matthew.
    And that distinction matters.
    Some Christians believe salvation means:
    “Jesus forgave me, so now I am going to heaven.”
    But Jesus does more than rescue us from something.
    He calls us to something.
    Ephesians 2:10
    “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…”
    You were not only saved from your old life.
    You were saved for God's purpose.

    9. MATTHEW NEVER HID WHERE HE CAME FROM

    There is a fascinating detail in the apostolic lists.
    Matthew 10:3 identifies him as:
    “Matthew the tax collector…”
    Matthew's Gospel preserves the description.
    He does not present himself as:
    Matthew the great apostle.
    He remembers:
    Matthew the tax collector.
    Not because he was still living that life.
    But because remembering where grace found you helps you appreciate where grace brought you.
    Paul did the same thing.

    1 Timothy 1:15

    “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
    Paul never glorified his old life.
    But he never forgot the grace that rescued him from it.
    There is a difference between living in shame and remembering grace.
    Shame says:
    “Look how terrible you were.”
    Grace says:
    “Look how far Jesus brought you.”

    10. MATTHEW WATCHED JESUS FOR YEARS

    Imagine what Matthew witnessed after leaving that booth.
    He saw blind eyes opened.
    He saw lepers cleansed.
    He saw storms calmed.
    He saw demons cast out.
    He saw the dead raised.
    He heard the Sermon on the Mount.
    He watched Jesus confront religious hypocrisy.
    He watched Jesus embrace children.
    He watched Him forgive sinners.
    He witnessed the triumphal entry.
    He saw the horror surrounding the crucifixion.
    He encountered the risen Christ.
    And then Matthew stood with the disciples when Jesus gave the Great Commission.
    Matthew 28:18–20
    “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”
    Matthew had once sat at a booth collecting from people.
    Now Jesus was sending him into the world to give people the Gospel.

    11. MATTHEW WAS IN THE UPPER ROOM

    The final explicit New Testament reference to Matthew is found in Acts.
    Acts 1:13–14
    Matthew is listed among the apostles gathered together after the ascension.
    And verse 14 says:
    “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer…”
    The man who once sat at the tax booth was now sitting in a prayer meeting waiting for the promise of the Father.
    What a journey.
    Tax booth.
    Dinner table.
    Disciple.
    Apostle.
    Witness of the resurrection.
    Upper room.
    That is what Jesus can do with one surrendered life.

    HISTORICAL INSIGHT — WHAT HAPPENED TO MATTHEW?

    The New Testament does not tell us what happened to Matthew after the early chapters of Acts.
    Later Christian traditions differ concerning the location of his missionary ministry and death.
    Some traditions connect Matthew with missionary work east or south of the Roman Empire, with locations such as Ethiopia, Persia, or regions farther east appearing in later accounts.
    Because these accounts developed across different Christian traditions, we should distinguish them from the certainty of Scripture.
    What Scripture does establish is enough:
    Matthew left his former life.
    Matthew followed Jesus.
    Matthew became one of the Twelve.
    Matthew witnessed the risen Christ.
    Matthew remained with the apostles awaiting the promised Spirit.
    Everything after that should be treated as historical tradition rather than biblical certainty.

    A POWERFUL DETAIL — MATTHEW KNEW NUMBERS

    There is something beautifully appropriate about Matthew.
    His former occupation required him to understand records, transactions, values, accounts, and money.
    Then Jesus called him.
    God did not necessarily erase every ability Matthew had developed before salvation.
    He could redeem those abilities for Kingdom purposes.
    This is important.
    When God saves you, He does not necessarily discard everything you learned before you knew Him.
    He can sanctify abilities that were once used for another purpose and employ them for His glory.
    Moses knew Egypt.
    Paul knew Greek thought and Jewish Scripture.
    Peter knew boats and fishermen.
    Matthew knew records and accounts.
    God can redeem your experience without endorsing your past.

    APPLICATION — WHAT MATTHEW TEACHES US

    1. NOBODY IS TOO FAR GONE

    There are people we look at and quietly think:
    “They will never change.”
    Matthew warns us against that conclusion.
    If Jesus can turn a despised tax collector into an apostle, we should be careful about deciding whom God cannot use.
    Never write the final chapter of somebody's life while Jesus is still calling them.

    2. WHEN JESUS CALLS, GET UP

    Matthew could have remained seated.
    He could have calculated the financial consequences.
    He could have asked for more time.
    He could have told Jesus:
    “Let me think about it.”
    Instead:
    “He rose and followed him.”
    There are moments when delayed obedience becomes disobedience.
    Sometimes God has already made the next step clear.
    The issue is not revelation.
    The issue is response.

    3. YOUR PAST DOES NOT DISQUALIFY YOUR FUTURE

    Matthew's past was public.
    Everybody knew what he had been.
    Yet Jesus chose him anyway.
    Your past may explain some scars.
    It may explain some consequences.
    It may explain some struggles.
    But once surrendered to Christ, it does not possess the authority to cancel God's calling.
    2 Corinthians 5:17
    “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

    4. BRING YOUR PEOPLE TO JESUS

    Matthew's first instinct was:
    I know some people who need to meet Him.
    Who is sitting at your table?
    Who is in your contacts?
    Who works beside you?
    Who trusts you enough to listen when you say:
    “You need to meet Jesus.”
    Evangelism does not always begin behind a pulpit.
    Sometimes it begins around a dinner table.

    INSIGHT

    I believe Matthew's story speaks powerfully to the Church today because we are living in a culture that constantly labels people.
    The world labels people by their failures.
    Religion sometimes labels people by their past.
    Social media preserves people's worst moments.
    Families remember who someone used to be.
    Communities remember reputations.
    But Jesus walks past all those labels and says:
    “Follow Me.”
    Maybe somebody has called you:
    Failure.
    Addict.
    Divorced.
    Broken.
    Unworthy.
    Hypocrite.
    Troublemaker.
    Nobody.
    But Jesus has the authority to speak a name over your life greater than every label men have attached to you.
    Matthew was sitting at a table built by his old life when Jesus called him into his new one.
    And somebody needs to hear this:

    YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DIE SITTING AT THE TABLE WHERE JESUS FOUND YOU.

    Get up.
    Leave the booth.
    Follow Jesus.
    There is more to your life than what you have been.
    There is more to your calling than what people remember.
    There is more to your future than what your past predicts.
    The same Jesus who called fishermen…
    The same Jesus who restored Peter…
    The same Jesus who answered Thomas…
    walked up to Matthew and called a tax collector into the Kingdom.
    And He is still calling unlikely people today.

    CLOSING

    Matthew's entire story begins with two words:

    “FOLLOW ME.”

    And everything changed because Matthew obeyed them.
    The question tonight is not:
    “What were you?”
    The question is:
    “When Jesus calls you, will you get up?”
    Because ordinary people become extraordinary instruments in the hands of God when they surrender everything to Jesus Christ.

    THE TAX BOOTH WAS MATTHEW'S PAST. THE KINGDOM BECAME HIS FUTURE.

    And the distance between those two lives was one act of obedience:
    “He rose and followed Him.”
    CLOSING QUOTE
    “Christ does not save us because we are good, but because He is gracious.”
    — Charles Spurgeon

    NEXT SESSION

    ORDINARY MEN, EXTRAORDINARY CALLING
    Session 8 — Philip

    “COME AND SEE — THE DISCIPLE WHO KEPT LEARNING WHO JESUS REALLY WAS”

    Key Texts: John 1:43–46; John 6:5–7; John 12:20–22; John 14:8–11
    Philip will give us another powerful progression: called personally by Jesus, immediately inviting Nathanael, tested when faced with an impossible need, and finally asking Jesus, “Show us the Father.”

      • Matthew 9:9–13ESV

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