Saint Matthew

Apostle and Evangelist
(1st century)

Saint Matthew, also called Levi in the Gospels of Mark and Luke, was a tax collector in the service of Herod Antipas at Capernaum when Jesus called him to follow Him. The scene of his call, described with beautiful economy in all three synoptic Gospels, shows Jesus walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and seeing Matthew sitting at his customs post. He said simply, Follow me, and Matthew rose and followed him. This immediate response to the Lord's call, abandoning a secure and lucrative if socially despised profession, has made Matthew a model of the soul's total response to divine grace.

Tax collectors in first-century Palestine were regarded with contempt by their fellow Jews both because they collaborated with the Roman occupation and because they were notorious for dishonest practices, collecting more than the official rate and keeping the surplus for themselves. That Jesus called such a man to be one of the Twelve was itself a sign of the universal scope of His mercy and of the primacy of divine grace over human respectability. Matthew immediately celebrated with a great feast at which Jesus dined with tax collectors and sinners, scandalising the Pharisees and giving occasion for one of the Lord's most characteristic sayings: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

The Gospel that bears Matthew's name is the first in the canonical order and was long regarded as the earliest Gospel to be written, though most modern scholars consider Mark to have been written first. The Gospel of Matthew, addressed primarily to Jewish Christians, presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament and as the new Moses who gives the new Law from the mountain of the Beatitudes. It contains the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, and the Great Commission.

Matthew is said by ancient tradition to have preached in Judaea, Persia, and Ethiopia, where he suffered martyrdom, though the details are uncertain. He is the patron of bankers, tax collectors, and customs officials. His feast is celebrated on September 21st.