|
|
 One day Jesus was
walking and saw a tax collector named Matthew sitting at a tax collection
post, and said to him, "Follow me." And Matthew stood up and followed Him,
and became one of His twelve apostles. (See M 9:9-13 = P 2:13-17 = L
5:27-32) Tax collectors in those days were social outcasts. Devout Jews
avoided them because they were usually dishonest (the job carried no salary,
and they were expected to make their profits by cheating the people from
whom they collected taxes). Patriotic and nationalistic Jews hated them
because they were agents of the Roman government, the conquerors, and hated
them with a double hatred if (like Matthew) they were Jews, because they had
gone over to the enemy, had betrayed their own people for money. Thus,
throughout the Gospels, we find tax collectors (publicans) mentioned as a
stadard type of sinful and despised outcast. Matthew brought many of his
former associates to meet Jesus, and social outcasts in general were shown
that the love of Jesus extended even to them.
(Jesus numbered among his disciples persons of widely different backgrounds.
They included not only Matthew, a former agent of the Roman government, but
Simon the Zealot (not to be confused with Simon Peter). Josephus tells us
that the Zealots were fanatical nationalists, determined to drive out the
Romans by guerrilla tactics, ambushes, assassinations, terrorist methods, or
whatever worked. Their motto was, "No king but Messiah, no tax but the
Temple, no friend but the Zealot." It is not clear that Simon was, or had
been, a member of the group that Josephus describes, but it seems clear that
he would have regarded himself as at the opposite end of the political
spectrum from Matthew.)
The name "Matthew" means "gift of the Lord." Mark and Luke, in the story of
his calling, name him "Levi." Perhaps this was his original name, and he
received a new name from Jesus when he became a disciple. (It has also been
suggested that he was simply a member of the tribe of Levi.)
Of Matthew's life after Pentecost the Scriptures tell us nothing. Later
accounts of his life vary, some reporting that he was martyred, others that
he died a natural death. The Christian community since early times has
commemorated him as a martyr.
Whether the Apostle Matthew is also the Evangelist Matthew -- that is,
whether the Apostle Matthew wrote the Gospel that bears his name -- is
disputed. The Gospel itself does not say who wrote it, but the designation
"according to Matthew" is very old.
In favor of his authorship it may be noted that (1) while Mark and Luke give
the fourth pair of Apostles as "Matthew and Thomas," the Gospel of Matthew
gives them as "Thomas and Matthew"; and (2) while Luke 5:29 explicitly
states, and Mark 2:15 suggests, that Matthew gave a banquet for Jesus,
Matthew 9:10 in describing the same banquet does not indicate who the host
was. Both of these variations would be routine touches of modesty if Matthew
was the author.
On the other hand, the gospel (1) does not have the manner of an eyewitness
(see my Library Essay John Part1), and (2) is thought by many scholars to
contain material borrowed from Mark, whereas one would not expect someone
who had been an eyewitness to borrow from someone who had not. (Note: The
view that Mark is an older Gospel than Matthew is widespread and not long
ago many scholars regarded the matter as settled. However, there is
respectable opinion holding that Matthew is the earliest Gospel after all.
See, for example, the comments in the Matthew volume of The Anchor Bible.)
Perhaps the Gospel was written by some early Christian, not an apostle,
whose name was Matthew, and about whom nothing else is known. Early
Christian readers, hearing the Gospel ascribed to "Matthew," would naturally
associate it with the Apostle of that name, and so the ascribing of the work
to the Apostle Matthew becomes common at an early date, by a perfectly
natural misunderstanding.
Papias of Hierapolis, writing in the late first or early second century,
says that Matthew compiled the sayings (Logia) of Jesus in Hebrew. Now the
material common to Matthew and Luke, but not to Mark, includes sayings of
Jesus but almost no narrative. It has therefore been conjectured that there
was once a document (usually called Q), now lost, that is basically a
collection of speeches by Jesus, and that Matthew (the evangelist) and Luke
had access to it while Mark did not. It has been suggested that Matthew (the
apostle) is the author of this document Q, which may well have been first
written in Hebrew (or Aramaic).
The Scripture readings associated with the day bear the themes of Matthew as
a Gospel-writer (hence readings that speak of the Scriptures), Matthew as an
Apostle, and Matthew as a sinner called by God's grace.
|
|
