Day 18

Written by Ps. Craig Maher

Matthew Opens His Home to Jesus

Read

Matthew 9:9-11

Reflect

Jesus calls sinners. Matthew tells us this happened "as Jesus went on from there." (v.9) On from where? From healing the paralysed man, (v.1-8) where Jesus demonstrated His authority to forgive sin. And right after Jesus demonstrates His authority to forgive sin, what does He do next? He demonstrates His mission by calling sinners to follow Him.

And the first sinner He sees is none other than Matthew himself! Matthew, the writer of this gospel, is writing about himself here in the third person. He is writing about his own call to follow Jesus. And there are a couple of important things we can learn from Jesus' call to Matthew. 

1. Jesus calls you as you are

Now Matthew was an unlikely person for Jesus to call because he was a tax collector. Matthew most likely collected taxes on goods that people were bringing into town. That's why he was sitting at the tax collector's booth. Think toll booth nowadays, except there were no set fees, which meant Matthew could charge a little extra here and there and skim a nice profit for himself.

So, Matthew was a Jew working for the Romans against his own people and likely stealing from his own people to line his own pockets. Doesn't sound like the kind of person you want on your team. And yet, Jesus still called him.

Matthew didn't need to leave the tax collector's booth before Jesus called him. Jesus calls him while he is still sitting there. Jesus doesn't wait for Matthew to change first. He calls him as he is, while he is still sitting at the tax collector's booth. 

Now here's the important part for us. Jesus does the same thing for you and me. He doesn't wait for you to clean up your act or get your life together first. He calls you as you are. 

We read in Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." What an amazing, beautiful verse! How do you know God loves you? Because Jesus died for you while you were still a sinner! He doesn't wait for you to change your life first. That's the first thing we learn from verse nine. Jesus calls you as you are.

2. Jesus calls you to follow Him

The second thing is this. Jesus calls you to follow Him. That's what Jesus said to Matthew, sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me." And Matthew did. He left the tax collector's booth behind. There was no going back for Matthew. The gospel of Luke tells us he left everything (Luke 5:28). He left a cushy job that made him wealthy. He left his life of sin and stealing. He left all this and more in order to follow Jesus.

Jesus calls you as you are, but He doesn't leave you as you are. He doesn't call you to stay where you are. He calls you while you are still in your sin, but He also calls you out of your sin. He calls you to follow Him. He calls you to be His disciple, to walk as He walked, and to live as He lived. As we read in Ephesians 4:22-24 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Those two simple words, "Follow me" are a call to discipleship. They are what Christianity is all about – following Jesus. When you come to Christ, you are following a person, not simply a set of rules or a way of life. Matthew opened his heart and his house to Jesus, and everything changed.

Respond

Have you opened your heart to Jesus?  

Have you invited Jesus into your home (your life)?

Jesus says to you today, as He said to Matthew, "Follow me".