Context No. 2397 of 4322 · Matthew

Matthew 9:7-11: in context

7He arose and departed to his house. 8But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. 9As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and followed him. 10As he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus is passing by when he sees Matthew at the tax collection booth, a man despised as a collaborator who grew rich off his own people. Two words: follow me. Matthew gets up and goes. Soon Jesus is at table in his house with a crowd of tax collectors and sinners, and the Pharisees want to know why a teacher would eat with people like that.

The speed is the thing. There is no negotiation, no request for time to settle his affairs; Matthew simply rises and leaves the booth, the source of his money and his identity, behind him. Jesus called, and something in the call was worth more than the table full of coins. Then he does not clean Matthew up first; he goes and eats with his old crowd, treating the meal itself as mercy. The call and the welcome come before any reform.

If Christ said follow me over the booth where I make my living and my name, would I get up, or ask for time?

Sources

Matthew 9:9: He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, Follow me. He got up and followed him.
Matthew 9:11: Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
Matthew 9:13: for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.