Matthew, was a tax collector. His job was to collect money from the Jews. He could tax anyone for just about anything—a bridge toll, road-money, town dues, property, income, loans—he could even invent a new tax if he wanted. Tax collectors were guarded by Roman soldiers. They could set up a booth to collect money or just walk the streets and tax someone on the spot. Where did this money go? To the Roman Empire where those in charge could do whatever they wanted with the money. The tax collectors were known to take a percentage (of any amount) of the collection as well as being paid to work for the Roman government. What could the Jews do about this? Nothing. The court system was as corrupt as the rest of the government. It’s just the way things were.
So, it is quite amazing that Jesus asked Matthew to follow him. How brash, how strange, how absurd it was of Jesus to invite such a wicked man hated by everyone to join his entourage! And how shocking it was that when Jesus asked him, Matthew dropped what he was doing, left everything and “rose and followed him.”1 Why would he do that? Surely, he knew that he would not be well-received by Jesus’ followers. Surely, he knew that he would not fit in with those Jews. At the very least, Matthew must have been intrigued and curious about Jesus. Perhaps he was tired of being a puppet of the government. Perhaps he was tired of being hated by everyone. Perhaps he was lonely or sad or dissatisfied with his life. Who knows? He just decided to follow.
The first thing Matthew did after making that decision was to invite tax buddies and Jesus, along with his disciples to dinner. Matthew writes that there were “many tax collectors and sinners”2 reclining at the table. Somehow the Pharisees found out about the party and barged in because they asked the disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”3 They could have asked Jesus—he was sitting right there! So, although the question was not directed toward him, Jesus turned around and answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means.”4
Okay. Let’s see if we can learn what it means! Let’s start by looking at the things Jesus did not do.
1) Jesus did not defend the guests. He didn’t jump up and say, “Hey! These are my friends! You can’t talk about them like that!” No, quite the opposite. He basically commended the Pharisees for noting the party consisted of disreputable people. Not only that, he said they were sick and needed help. Were Matthew and his friends insulted at this remark? Surely, some of them were offended. And what about the disciples? Were they hurt by Jesus’ comment that they were sick? Maybe. Had I been there, I probably would have begun explaining to those around me what I thought Jesus meant by his seemingly callous words.
2) Jesus did not argue with the Pharisees. Jesus did not enter into a theological debate about those who think they do not need God and those who do, those who are sick and those who are well, etc. That would have been me, had I been there. Instead, Jesus’ comment that the guests were sick and needed a physician disarmed the Pharisees. What could they say? They were ready to condemn Jesus and expose his behavior and all they could say (or mumble) was “Yeah, you’re right about the guests!” They had to agree with him!
3) Jesus did not invite the Pharisees to join them. Had I been there I would have tried to make friends at that point. “Sit down, fellas. Let’s share a meal together and chat.” But Jesus did not. I think he was waiting for them to leave. Why? The Pharisees did not want to spend time with Jesus. They were not his friends. I think there was an awkward silence and the Pharisees became uncomfortable, so they stumbled out the door realizing they were not invited to stay.
And then I think Jesus smiled and everyone laughed, and they had a great evening.
So, one thing we can learn from this little story is that Jesus never felt a need to explain or defend himself to anyone. How great would that be?
1Matthew 9:9 2Matthew 9:10 3Matthew 9:11 4Matthew 9:12