A Jewish tax collector living at Capernaum, Levi was not exactly popular among the Jews nor the followers of Jesus. When Jesus walked by his tax collection booth and said, “Follow me,” Levi immediately abandoned his post and became Matthew, the disciple of Christ. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, he wrote what many consider to be the most complete of the synoptic Gospels. Matthew’s Gospel was written for a Jewish audience to prove the Messiah had arrived by showing how Jesus fulfilled countless Old Testament prophecies. Though his Gospel was not the first written, it is given pride of place and ordered first in the New Testament canon.
CHALLENGE
After being called by Jesus, St. Matthew threw a party for Jesus and invited his friends. When the Pharisees complained that Jesus broke a social taboo by dining with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus said, “I did not come to call the just, but sinners.” Today, organize a “sinner’s dinner” with friends, where everyone comes prepared to share their own personal call to follow Jesus Christ.
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