Matthew The Twelve Apostles Sermon Series Part 9 of 14

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for being with us today. We are in the middle of a great sermon series about the Twelve Apostles. Today we’re going to be talking about Matthew.

This is part nine of 14. So we’ve already gone over several of them. Do you remember them? Perhaps it’s your first time with us. If that is the case, then hit that subscribe button. Hit the follow button. Like the video. All of that great stuff, and stay tuned because we’ve got more coming, we’re on nine of 14 so we’ve got a lot to go.

In addition, you can check out a playlist on our YouTube channel or our website and be able to get caught up on the previous messages. We had an overview and introduction. We spoke about Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, and Bartholomew, Thomas, and today it’s Matthew.

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Send it on Snapchat, whatever you can do to help get the word out and bring more people to get into this sermon series to learn more about the Twelve Apostles because it is said that less than 5 percent of the world’s billions of people can name half of the apostles. Let’s change that.

Share this with them and make them know more of the names of the apostles, but not only their names, help them know exactly who they were, what they stood for, what they did, and how we can apply that in our lives.

That’s the most important part. How can we learn from what they did and apply that in our lives today? Even though they lived 2,000 years ago, what they did can still influence us today. Like I said, we’re talking about Matthew.

Matthew was a pretty popular disciple and also a pretty unpopular disciple. Why? Well, he was popular because he was educated. So he was able to write things down, document stuff. He had an educated brain, let’s say. That doesn’t mean the other guys were dumb, but they were commoners — fishermen.

Matthew was, had an elevated status. He was — let’s just say in politics, and people didn’t like that. People don’t like politicians. He wasn’t a politician though. He was a tax collector which is worse than politicians.

Nowadays people don’t like lawyers and politicians. In those days it was tax collectors. They probably did not like the other politician people either, but Matthew was a tax collector and people hated him. People just hated tax collectors. They were worse than the outcasts, and the exiled, and the unclean.

Matthew was mentioned about five times throughout the New Testament. In addition, he had another name, Levi, and that was mentioned about three times. So in total, about eight different times, Matthew is mentioned.

Now, of course, he wrote an entire book. So he’s got all of those words that he wrote, but his name alone is only mentioned about eight times in the Bible through a handful of verses.

Now Matthew was the son of a guy named Alphaeus. Where do we go for that? Remember all of these — if you have been with us — all of these sermons are going to be heavy Bible verses, so turn with me to those verses in your Bible.

If you can’t, come back later. They’ll all be in the description and you can look them up and read them to gain a little bit more understanding about who Matthew was, or who these disciples really were.

So we’re going to go to Matthew Chapter 2 — sorry, Mark Chapter 2 Verse 14. Mark 2:14 says, “As He walked along” — this is Jesus, “As Jesus walked along He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”

Pretty cool. So he was sitting at the tax collector’s booth. But more importantly, son of Alphaeus. That’s what we’re going to. There was another disciple who was also a son of Alphaeus and this was James the Lesser. We spoke about him. You can check out a card on him on this video or navigate to our YouTube channel or our website.

James. James was the son of Alphaeus. Now there is some question on okay, if Matthew was the son of Alphaeus and James is a son of Alphaeus, they must be brothers. They both have the same father. Yes and no.

There’s quite a bit of disagreement. A lot of scholars say “No, because there were multiple Alphaeuses.” Just like today, how many Johns do you know? Maybe five, you know — quite a few. So there are quite a few Alphaeuses in this day.

So it’s very possible they weren’t brothers. Some people say, “Hey, it’s the same name, they were brothers. Why would it be mentioned if they weren’t brothers?” What you choose to side with, is not a salvation issue.

That is the beauty of it. You can believe they were brothers or you can believe they were unrelated and whatever you believe in that instance does not affect you going to Heaven.

All you need to believe in order to go to Heaven is that Jesus died for your sins. That He saved you. He took your punishment. You need to believe in Jesus and ask for forgiveness and live your life for Jesus and you will be saved.

So James may be Matthew’s brother, but we don’t know. It’s pretty likely, given that all the rest of the disciples, you know, we’ve got other sets of brothers and maybe cousins and things like that.

It’s also possible that these guys were distant cousins. Maybe, maybe two cousins were both named Alphaeus and then we have Matthew and we have James being born. So it’s possible they are related at the very least.

Now remember, this is James the Lesser, not James the brother of John. James and John were also brothers, but this is a different James. We’ve spoken about both of those James’ already.

Now, Matthew was a tax collector. He lived in Capernaum and the real point about this is that people may say, “Well, why does everyone always say Matthew is a tax collector? Why do they say the other people are fishermen?”

It’s just like today when you meet someone, “Oh, what do you do?” And you start talking about what you do for a living. What’s your career? And that was a sign. It was something of status. What do you do? It’s a very common question.

In the Bible, they lived that way too. What do you do? They were fishermen. Now they’re going to be real fishers of men. The tax collector, Matthew was a tax collector, but the real point that they’re trying to make by saying that Matthew was a tax collector is because people hated tax collectors. They didn’t like them at all.

But Christ called a tax collector. Jesus called him, and the point of that is Jesus calls everyone. He’s calling you. He calls everyone, and then there is that verse, “Many are called but few are chosen.”

Oh, well, does that mean you have to be chosen? Guess what? If you choose to step into your calling, you’re part of the chosen. That’s how it works. It’s your choice.

It’s not that God specifically chooses you and if He does not choose you, you’re damned for Hell. No. God calls everyone and it’s your choice whether or not you step into that calling and become part of God’s chosen people. It’s your choice.

But tax collectors? No one would have thought that He would’ve called a tax collector. That would be like someone today saying — let’s say they are serial murderers, or a rapist, or something like that.

They’re in prison, they have five life sentences and God calls them, and everybody is like “Why on Earth would God call that person? They are the lowest of the low. They are the worst of the worst. We don’t like them.”

God called them and maybe they were a serial murderer because they ran from their calling and now they finally stepped into their calling afterward. The point is, they can choose whether or not they’re going to listen to the calling and right here in Mark 2:14, it says, “Jesus said, ‘Follow me.’”

Jesus told him. That means right there, right then and there, Matthew had a choice. And it says he got up and followed Him. He made the choice. It wasn’t like Jesus went over there, picked him up, and took him with Him. No, He went up and said, “Follow me,” and guess what?

At that minute he had a choice. He could say, “Nope. I got a lot of work to do. I gotta collect the taxes. This is my job. I take it very seriously.” Because he did, he took it very seriously.

He was super analytical. Super involved in his work. Very committed and he could’ve said “I don’t know who you are. I’m taking this very seriously.” But instead, immediately he got up and followed Jesus. He made the choice. He stepped into his calling and became part of the chosen.

And so that’s why this is so significant. Of course, in today’s world, it’s not a significant fact. People still, though, today, hate paying taxes but there’s not someone that goes around and collects the tax. I mean we just pay it all the time.

It’s, actually, probably a hundred times higher than it was in that day. We just don’t know. Every time we swipe our credit card to the store and look at the receipt. What the heck is all this?

Five percent this tax. Two percent county tax. This state tax, and by the time you’re done you’re paying like 8 percent tax on whatever you bought. Plus, then you gotta pay your 20 percent income tax and all your other taxes.

Your property tax. Your vehicle, wheel taxes. The gasoline tax. Every time you — it’s like we’re getting taxed like 50 percent of all of our income because we have to spend and pay all this tax!

It’s even worse, they are just hitting us. Killing us quietly today. It’s behind the scenes. But tax collectors then took it all at once. Certain times a year they went out and set up their booth. People had to come and, literally, hand them money to pay the tax. To settle the tax.

And if they didn’t, then they would record the assets that they had, and eventually, they’d go seize the assets and it would be the government of Rome or whomever that would seize it. I mean it was a big deal.

But then, in addition, these tax collectors of that day were also regarded as criminals and referred to as gentiles and sinners. They were outcasts. It didn’t matter, even if they followed the law.

If they were Jews, they were still regarded as gentiles and sinners. They were thrown out. No one liked them and we can see that in a number of verses.

Matthew 18:17 is one, so we’re going to read that real quick. Matthew 18:17 says “If he refuses to listen to them,” — this is Jesus talking, Matthew 18:17, “tell it to the church, and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

Wow, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. So tax collectors are lumped right into the pagans. The Jews would’ve treated the pagans like dirt because they didn’t believe. They were outcasts. They were “Get out of here! We don’t like you!” A pagan or a tax collector. So not nicely.

Matthew 21:31. Let’s read that, 21-31 says, “‘Which of the two did what his father wanted?’ ‘The first,’ they answered. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of you.’”

This is a different story, it’s in a parable, but the point that we’re making here is Jesus lumped in tax collectors and prostitutes together. Now today, even in today’s day and age, prostitutes are deemed as kind of like an outcast of society or like undesirables, let’s call them.

Now, of course, some people desire them, of course, but they pay, it’s a business. But the prostitutes are known as sinners. They’re not following the law at that time.

There, they were really outcasts and Jesus is throwing these tax collectors right in with the prostitutes and with the pagans, these, they’re being associated with them. They’re sinners.

Matthew 21:33, “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.”

This is going on and on about a story, a parable of the tenants, and how they didn’t follow. But the point is that tax collectors were thrown in right here, “but the tax collectors and prostitutes,” another time they’re not highly regarded.

Matthew 9:10, Matthew Chapter 9 Verse 10 (Matthew 9:10) says, “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples.”

Tax collectors and sinners. They threw that right in there. They had to make the point known that tax collectors were also sinners.

Mark 2:15, we’ve got all kinds of verses, I’ll put them in the description below but you can read them at your will. Mark 2:15, “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, tax collectors and sinners were eating with them.”

Luke 5:30, another one says, Luke 5:30, “A large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them, but the Pharisees and teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to His disciples. ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’”

The Jewish people despised these tax collectors. They didn’t like them. Tax collectors and sinners. Tax collectors and prostitutes. Tax collectors and pagans. They were all thrown in with the lowest of the low, with the undesirables. No one liked them.

Some of the reason, was that the tax collectors were also notoriously unjust. They would rip people off. They would do surprise visits and say “Oh, you owe an extra X number amount and if you can’t pay it all, I’m taking your donkey. All right, I’m taking this, or I’m taking this.” And then they would probably go sell it somewhere and pocket the money.

They were rip-off people. They were not just. They collected money that was not theirs, and then what they did was they took that extra money and loaned it out to other people. They were known as usurpers. You say, “What is that?”

That means I would collect some money that is not mine and then I would loan it out to you at a really high interest rate, 50 percent or some astronomical amount. They would.

They were like loan sharks, and so, they would loan this out at high rates of interest, kind of like the banks do today. They collect in money. They pay you like 0.002 percent but then they loan it out at like 9 percent or credit card companies at 30 percent. Usurpery!

They’re loaning out money that is not theirs at super high rates of interest, getting rich making tons of money and people were upset about that at the time. Today it’s normal. Back then it was criminal. But Jesus called Matthew. He called him.

Let’s go to Luke Chapter 5 again, Verses 27 and 28 (Luke 5:27-28), “After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.”

That seems to be a common theme among a lot of these disciples. They get up and leave everything behind. They gave 100 percent. They gave it all up. Fishing nets, their boats, the tax collector’s booth.

Matthew was probably making some really good money. If everybody else had one year’s wages, or whatever, in today’s day and age. Let’s say it’s 50,000 bucks.

That’s kind of poverty-level fisherman. Matthew probably was making 150,000 bucks and he gave it all up. He left it and he went and followed Jesus. They gave everything up.

Matthew was a great disciple. He followed Jesus with everything he had. He was also the first to write down the teachings of Jesus in the Hebrew language, because he was educated, he wrote it all down. He could do that.

Matthew also realized that this stuff needed to be written down. After – For so long they were just kind of, passing it by word of mouth. By telling stories, and because they thought Jesus was coming and they are like,

“Man, we’re getting to the end of our life here and Jesus isn’t back. We got to start writing this down so that it’s carried on to future generations just in case Jesus does not come in our lifetime.”

So he wrote that down. He was more educated than the other disciples. He could read and he could write. He could count. It’s interesting that Matthew, being a tax collector, a money man, was not the treasurer of the ministry.

You’ll learn later on, if you don’t know already, that it was Judas Iscariot. He was the treasurer. He was the one who took care of all the finances. Why not Matthew? Well, Matthew gave up all of that to follow Jesus.

He left it behind. He gave it all up. So he probably didn’t want to do that. Another thing is maybe the disciples did not trust him because he was a tax collector. They learned to trust him, but they didn’t like tax collectors so there was no way they were going to let him manage the money. In theory, in theory.

Matthew. He also died a martyr. There was a king in Ethiopia who did not like Matthew, for some reason. Well, we know it’s because Matthew was a Christian and Matthew was out there preaching and converting people.

King Hirtacus, and he sent out an assassin, a swordsman, and that assassin went out and stabbed Matthew in the back. And why? Because Matthew criticized or convicted the king and his morals.

The king was unjust. The king was doing things that were wrong and Matthew confronted him and criticized the morals and said, “It’s not right, it’s unjust.” And so, the king dispatched his assassin who stabbed Matthew in the back and killed him.

Matthew was the impossible situation that Jesus made possible. Matthew was, was hopelessly lost. He was a tax collector. The lowest of the low. The worst of the worst. No one liked him.

He had no friends. He had the company of no one. He ate with the dogs. He was the lowest of the low. People didn’t like him, they despised him, but Jesus called him.

Jesus called him, and Matthew got up, left everything behind, stepped into his calling, and followed Jesus. If you have doubts as to whether Jesus would call you, guess what? He’s calling. You’re just not listening. Just get up. Step into your calling.

There’s a reason that the Bible says, “They got up, left everything, and followed Him.” Rather than just saying, “And they followed Him.” No, it’s an action. You gotta do it.

It’s not like you’re just chosen and God takes you with Him. No, you gotta do it. You gotta meet God halfway. You gotta put in some effort. You need to get up, leave everything, and follow Him.

Now, does that mean you’re going to walk out on your family and your house and your mortgage and all that right now, today? No. That is not what it’s talking about.

It’s like you need to make some effort into following Jesus. What does that mean? It means reading the Bible and understanding what it means. It would, you’d know if you read the Bible, that you’re not going to just walk away from all your family and your responsibilities.

You’re going to get up and you’re going to make an effort to step into those responsibilities and fulfill them and do right by the people around you and do what you can to live like Jesus. You gotta get up. You got to follow. Jesus is calling you. He is.

You say, “No, I’m too bad of a sinner.” You say, “No, I’m a convicted felon, He couldn’t call me. No, I murdered someone. No, I had involuntary manslaughter. No, I did some really bad things in high school. No, I was a terrible kid. No, I made some wrong choices and got into the wrong crowds, drugs, gangs, violence, whatever.” Guess what? He’s calling.

Start listening. Answer. Step into your calling. Get up, and follow Jesus just like Matthew did. There was essentially no hope for him, but he got up and followed Jesus just like you can today.

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for having Matthew respond to the calling. For giving him that desire and that willingness to step into the calling that you were putting on his life.

Thank you for the great example that we know truly anyone and everyone is called. We are all being called. Lord, I pray that those watching and listening, that they would start listening to your call and that not only would they listen, but that they would respond to the call.

That they would get up — get up — and start following you. That they wouldn’t be worried about anything in this world. That they would get up and follow you.

Lord Jesus, please in your name, we pray upon these people watching and listening, and if they are reading, whatever they are doing for this text, that they would get up and follow you.

That they would start listening and responding to your call on their life and that they would become part of your chosen people. It’s all on them. They have the choice, they can choose to be chosen, they just need to respond to your call.

Lord Jesus, if they’re not responding or they are not listening, then I pray that you would be louder and more apparent. Get in their way, and be loud so that you would be heard.

Give them eyes to see and ears to hear and a thought and action to get up and respond. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I’m not lying. It’s so true. You are being called. Jesus wants you to follow Him. Respond to the calling. One great first step is to invite Him into your life. You say,

“Dear Jesus, thank you for dying for me. Thank you for calling me. I want you in my life. Forgive me for my sins. I want to respond to your calling every single day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

And if you want us to pray with you, you want us to pray for you, comment below. Contact us. We would be happy to do that. It’s time for you to get up and follow the call on your life.

I hope you join us next week. We’re going to be talking about James, this is James the Lesser. We already spoke about James the Greater. Join us next week as we talk about James. God bless.