Book Introduction

It wasn't too long ago that we learned in the news about this lady who used to head up the IRS.  It seems she was being investigated over some allegations, and in the process of the investigation, 32,000 emails disappeared.  How does that happen?  How, in this day and age, could this even be possible?  What kind of show is the IRS running over there, and what kind of director was this lady? These and thousands of other questions come to mind.  The IRS is easy to trash and smash.  There are no heroes there.  They are the taxman (or woman); those who have been despised for ages.

Imagine this lady from the IRS showing up at your church and proclaiming Jesus Christ to you and others.  How would you receive her?  How would you view her message?  It would be difficult, wouldn't it?  This may give us insight into what Matthew's life must have been like.

Matthew had been a tax collector.  Tax collectors had no friends.  They were the most despised of men.  In the eyes of his fellow countrymen, the tax man was in the same class as thieves, traitors, and harlots.  He was spiritually unclean because of his constant association with the Gentiles.  The commentator Barclay said:

"We know that he was a taxgatherer and that he must therefore have been a bitterly hated man, for the Jews hated the members of their own race who had entered the civil service of their conquerors."

Rome contracted tax gatherers to collect the tolls and taxes; the more they collected, the more they got to keep.  They had the authority to collect taxes without oversight to keep them in line.  The job of tax collector went to the highest bidder, so the profession was rife with abuse.  Why would someone want to become a tax collector?  Maybe greed, pride, thirst for authority; we don't really know in Matthew's case.  Whatever the reason, he had to want it enough to overcome the reproach of his people.  Matthew was a Jew, but probably not welcome in most places by other Jews. 

It's not hard to imagine the loneliness of a tax collector.  He would definitely be one who could testify that there was more to life than money.  We don't know how many years Matthew had been in this profession, but it had been enough.   Matthew records the life change in simple fashion in Matthew 9:9:

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

Matthew saw something in Jesus he needed, something he desired more than all the money in the world.  When Matthew arose and followed Him, he walked away from his old life.  There was no turning back.  In fact, abandoning the position could leave him in bad standing with Rome.  That day and time were the perfect time, a God-ordained time for Matthew.  His life would never be the same.

Matthew was one of the 12 apostles who walked with Jesus in His ministry.  As a tax collector, Matthew was one of the few with education, knowing how to read, write, and keep meticulous records.  The Lord put these things to work, causing Matthew to bring us a first-hand account of the ministry of Jesus.  It has been said of Matthew that he left it all behind except his pen and paper at his calling.  It is believed that Matthew was the official recorder of the ministry and wrote this account about 50 A.D.  That was about the time Paul was right in the middle of his second missionary journey, probably in Corinth.  Claudius had expelled the Jews and Christians from Rome, so Priscilla and Aquilla moved to Corinth.  Herod Agrippa II had begun his reign in Judea, and Ananias was high priest of the temple in Jerusalem.  It was during those days that Matthew wrote this gospel account.

As a Jew, Matthew wrote his gospel account with a Jewish perspective.  He uniquely wrote of Jesus as the King of the Jews, the messiah of Israel.

• Mark wrote of Jesus being the 'humble servant'
• Luke captured Him as the Son of Man
• And, John saw Him as the Son of God.. 

There had been 400 silent years.  These were the years since the close of Malichi's prophetic words and the events of Nehemiah.  These were years when God's voice was silent, but He was still very much on the throne and active in the world.  The prophecies of Daniel regarding the kingdoms of the world were being fulfilled as the Medo-Persian empire was overtaken by the Greek empire, which later yielded to the rise of the Roman.  Matthew’s gospel leads us out of the Old Testament time, ends the silent years, and brings us to the New Testament. 

The Old Testament was a book of promise, and the New Testament is a book of fulfillment of those promises.  The Old Testament is God on Mount Sinai warning the people to stay away lest they die.  The New Testament is God on Mount Zion saying, “Come to me.”  He’s the same God, but dealing with His people in a new way.  Matthew moves the relationship of God to His people into the church age.  Matthew is the only gospel writer to speak of the church (eklesia), the called-out assembly. 

©2006 Doug Ford, Revised and Updated 2015, 2025