Lesson for March 31, 2021
The Life of Christ
Lesson 15
Matthew Called to Be A Disciple
Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 2:15-17; Luke 5:29-32
The next chronological event in the life of Christ was the call of Matthew. Matthew’s Hebrew name was actually Levi, but it was changed after he believed in Christ to an Aramaic name. (Most theologians believe that Christ spoke Aramaic as His first language.) Matthew means gift of God.
Matthew was a Jewish tax collector. It is likely that he was a wealthy man, as were most tax collectors of his day. As a tax collector, Matthew was an outcast in Jewish society and hated by most Jews. The reason tax collectors were disliked was that they would inflate the Roman taxes in order to make extra money for themselves. The average Jew paid both Roman taxes and Jewish taxes (tithes).
The Scriptures say that when Jesus saw him by the seashore and told him to “Follow me,” Matthew did not hesitate. We are told that Matthew left everything behind and followed Christ. It is often easier for the outcast of society to believe in Christ than the famous socialite with a lot of “friends.”
Being hated by society limited Matthew’s social options. From our passages we learn that Matthew’s only friends were other tax collectors and “sinners.” We can assume that they did not socialize with the mainstream Jewish community.
The next event was a banquet for Jesus at the home of Matthew. This banquet was not attended by the elite or the religious of society. Instead, the guests were Matthew’s friends – fellow tax collectors and “sinners.” Jesus and His disciples were also in attendance eating and socializing with this group.
When the hypocritical Pharisees and their scribes saw this, they did not confront Jesus directly. Instead, they went behind His back to His disciples. Perhaps this was an attempt to make Jesus look bad or to lure the disciples away from following Christ. What they did not count on was Jesus overhearing their conversation. Jesus’ response to there accusations that He should not be eating and drinking with this class of people was that He had not come to call the “righteous” (the self-righteous do not think they need a Savior), but the sinner (those in need of a Savior). Jesus told them that those who are well don’t need a doctor, but those who are sick do.
This is also a great principle for all believers to learn. Like Christ, we should not be partial to a person from a certain social class. Everyone should have the opportunity to hear a clear Gospel message and have the right to sit under the teaching of God’s Word in the local church without prejudice. The local church, regardless of size, should never become a social club for the “rich and famous” or any other group. The purpose of the local church is to teach accurate Bible doctrine and support missionaries who do the same. All of us within the local church are to be ambassadors for Christ, which means we are to share the Gospel individually when given the opportunity.
Matthew’s recall of the words of Jesus to the Pharisees was somewhat expanded. He recalled that Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 as an answer to the self-righteous attitude of these religious leaders. Hosea 6:6 says, “I desired mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Jesus told these Pharisees to go learn what this meant.
The Hebrew word for mercy is “hesed” and refers to the individual’s mercy, not God’s. A better translation would be virtue-love. The Hebrew word for desire is “haphets” and means delight. Therefore, what God delights in is a believer who exhibits virtue-love. What God does not delight in is ritualistic sacrifices that have no meaning. This is exactly what these Pharisees had distorted the Mosaic Law into. The result was that the average Jew simply went through the motions without an understanding of the symbolism and representation.
The entire ritual system had been set up by God to teach Bible doctrine to the nation of Israel. Simply going through the motions would be nothing more than idolatry. This certainly wasn’t God’s plan. This distortion by the Pharisees and the priests were satanic in origin and designed to control their congregation through guilt and fear. The result was a nation of unbelievers that had no relationship with God and were totally ignorant of His plan, purpose and will.
The second half of Hosea 6:6 is slightly different, but with much the same meaning. The Hebrew word in this verse for knowledge is “yadha” and refers to an intimate knowledge. Therefore, God delights in intimate knowledge of Him. He does not delight in burnt offerings when the person has no relationship with God. The ritual sacrifice (burnt offering) was designed by God to teach the Jewish nation about sin, forgiveness, Christ’s payment for sin, fellowship with God and many more doctrines.
God created mankind so that we might have a relationship with Him. From the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden, God desired to have an intimate relationship with His children. This desire does not change in any dispensation. All of the great believers in the Bible were great because of the quality of their relationship with God. These believers were not perfect, but they had intimate knowledge of and a relationship with God.
This was what the Pharisees lacked – a relationship with God. This was the reason they rejected God’s Son. Their pseudo-relationship with God was based on a manmade system of human works, meaningless rituals, and religious taboos. Since they had no relationship with God, they had no understanding of God or His Word. Therefore, they condemned Jesus Christ and rejected His teaching.
Jesus then related three analogies to illustrate the principle. As we look at these analogies, keep in mind that they were in the transitional dispensation of the Hypostatic Union – from the Age of Israel (or the Law) to the Church Age (or Grace). This dispensational change was what Jesus was about to teach them. Three passages cover this discourse: Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22 and Luke 5:33-39. The question was posed to Jesus regarding fasting. Before we look at the actual reply, let’s take a look at the practice of fasting as found in the Word of God.
Once again, we must keep in mind that they were still operating under the Law of Moses. Fasting was a legitimate but non-compulsory practice in Israel. It was not commanded nor forbidden in the Law of Moses and is not mentioned in a negative light in Scripture. Fasting in the Old Testament was often associated with times of mourning, distress or national emergencies. A fast was abstinence from food for the purpose of concentration on God and His Word. (Judges 20:26; I Samuel 7:6, II Samuel 1:12,21; II Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Nehemiah 1:4; Esther 4:16; I Kings 21:27)
Often the great leaders in Israel would call the nation to fast while asking the Lord to spare the nation, lift divine discipline or to help them defeat their enemies. Fasting is also mentioned in the New
Testament, but is always a voluntary decision on the part of the believer. Fasting is not commanded anywhere in the Scriptures. (Matthew 6:16-18)
The question asked of Jesus was, “why don’t your disciples fast?” The first analogy that Jesus used to answer this question was that of the bridegroom. Mourning or fasting (Jesus uses the terms interchangeably) for the bridegroom must be equivalent to the change in relationship that a friend would experience when a person becomes married and begins a new life with his bride. Jesus said that the time for mourning was not while the bridegroom was present, but after he left to start his new life. In this analogy Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is the bridegroom and Israel is the bride. Why fast while the Messiah is with you? He will shortly be taken from you.
The next analogy was that of the new cloth put on the old garment. The new cloth was analogous to the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union and the old garment to the age of Israel. The new cloth does not fit the old garment. Trying to sew a new piece of cloth onto an old one that had been distorted or stretched would not be the best fix. The old dispensation of Israel does not fit the new dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. The Pharisees were fasting as a part of their religious rituals. John’s disciples were fasting as a part of John’s ministry. Both practices were unsuited for this transitional dispensation. Christ’s disciples, the Pharisees, John’s disciples and all believers need not fast, but were to be in a state of celebration of the fact that the Messiah was in their presence.
The last analogy in this passage was similar to the second, except this analogy was that of the new wine being poured into old wineskins. Wine in Biblical times was often put into containers made of the skin of an animal. The dispensation of the Hypostatic Union was the new wine, and the dispensation of Israel was the old wineskin. The principle was the same – why pour new wine into an old wineskin. The old wineskin will burst, and the new, good tasting wine will be lost. The new dispensation of the Hypostatic Union does not fit the old dispensation of Israel.
Jesus was telling them to let the previous dispensation of the Law with all of its rituals and sacrifices pass and to embrace the present transitional dispensation while the Savior was with them. And when the new age of the Church is introduced, embrace it as well.