World Renewal International
Friday, May 22, 2009
Gift of God
What a disappointment Levi must have been to his family, a long line of Jewish teachers/preachers from the tribe of Levites. He gave up the ministry profession for money. He would have had to bid to become a tax collector. How shameful. How embarrassing.
Edersheim points our that the Talmud lists two kinds of “publicans” (usually stated with “sinners” meaning immoral and pointing to prostitution) one was the general tax collector. Matthew was the second level which was a [ “douanier”] customs house officer, a higher rank and often by the ports where there was greater opportunity for more intake. Those in his position sometimes put others in the booth for collection, Matthew liked doing it himself. This was considered an act of greater greed. He had many opportunities to make much money. Here are some of the taxes he charged:
• Production tax … which was one tenth of the crop
.• Income tax … which was one percent of a man’s wage.• Poll tax … that’s a tax for being alive … one denarii a year.
• Purchase tax … basically the ancient equivalent of a good’s and services tax.
• Road use tax … even back then you had to pay a road toll.
You can see why tax-collectors were not liked. And they didn’t help their image problem by deliberately cheating the system and creating many ways to extract money from people. We think we pay a lot of tax today; but it has always been like this. The list of taxes included:-• Production tax … which was one tenth of the crop.• Income tax … which was one percent of a man’s wage.• Poll tax … that’s a tax for being alive … one denarii a year.• Purchase tax … basically the ancient equivalent of a good’s and services tax.• Road use tax … even back then you had to pay a road toll.
Then there were the under-the-table expenses such as extortion money and bribes. These were the taxes which were imposed by the tax-collector. You can see why they were hated, and some of that frustration was justified.
However, this well educated man who spoke several languages was in a great position to hear the teachings of Jesus. His rabbinic background would have prepared him to understand the Messianic implications from Jesus life and teachings. He was able to hear the stories of his ministry and probably saw the power of the Christ. His custom house may have been close to where Jesus taught by the sea side.
Therefore it was most likely after several encounters with Jesus’ teaching and life that he experienced the scene recorded by himself, Mark and Luke where Jesus came to his toll booth and the simple invitation, “Follow Me.” Luke states the Levi got up and left everything and followed Jesus.
In his own recounting he calls himself “Matthew” which scholars believe was given to him by Jesus after this day, it meant “Gift of God.” God has always liked giving people new names. What is that about? While I enjoy the detail of Luke’s Gospel and Marks brevity and to the point version, and the passion of John, Matthew gives us the longest description of Christ’s life.
The publicans and sinners were not allowed in the synagogue nor were they allowed to offer sacrifice for their sin. When Jesus attended the banquet where Matthew made him the guest of honor, Luke described a “large banquet” with a great or large crowd. The crowd was made up of “publicans and sinners”. Jesus walked into the banquet offering forgiveness to those
who had run out of options! It was probably on a Monday or Thursday when the Pharisees and John’s disciples were fasting as was tradition thus the question, “Why are you guys eating and we are fasting?”
While the gospel was written by Matthew to encourage the Jewish readers or hearers to understand that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies and Kingdom he is the only one of the four writers to include the “Great Commision” to all nations. He really understood, he got what Jesus was about. I have no way of knowing if his family still found this “Christ Follower” disappointing or embarrassing. However, to those of us “sinners” his description of a Messiah offering forgiveness to all seekers is what we hope for.
Thanks for stopping by.
Edersheim points our that the Talmud lists two kinds of “publicans” (usually stated with “sinners” meaning immoral and pointing to prostitution) one was the general tax collector. Matthew was the second level which was a [ “douanier”] customs house officer, a higher rank and often by the ports where there was greater opportunity for more intake. Those in his position sometimes put others in the booth for collection, Matthew liked doing it himself. This was considered an act of greater greed. He had many opportunities to make much money. Here are some of the taxes he charged:
• Production tax … which was one tenth of the crop
.• Income tax … which was one percent of a man’s wage.• Poll tax … that’s a tax for being alive … one denarii a year.
• Purchase tax … basically the ancient equivalent of a good’s and services tax.
• Road use tax … even back then you had to pay a road toll.
You can see why tax-collectors were not liked. And they didn’t help their image problem by deliberately cheating the system and creating many ways to extract money from people. We think we pay a lot of tax today; but it has always been like this. The list of taxes included:-• Production tax … which was one tenth of the crop.• Income tax … which was one percent of a man’s wage.• Poll tax … that’s a tax for being alive … one denarii a year.• Purchase tax … basically the ancient equivalent of a good’s and services tax.• Road use tax … even back then you had to pay a road toll.
Then there were the under-the-table expenses such as extortion money and bribes. These were the taxes which were imposed by the tax-collector. You can see why they were hated, and some of that frustration was justified.
However, this well educated man who spoke several languages was in a great position to hear the teachings of Jesus. His rabbinic background would have prepared him to understand the Messianic implications from Jesus life and teachings. He was able to hear the stories of his ministry and probably saw the power of the Christ. His custom house may have been close to where Jesus taught by the sea side.
Therefore it was most likely after several encounters with Jesus’ teaching and life that he experienced the scene recorded by himself, Mark and Luke where Jesus came to his toll booth and the simple invitation, “Follow Me.” Luke states the Levi got up and left everything and followed Jesus.
In his own recounting he calls himself “Matthew” which scholars believe was given to him by Jesus after this day, it meant “Gift of God.” God has always liked giving people new names. What is that about? While I enjoy the detail of Luke’s Gospel and Marks brevity and to the point version, and the passion of John, Matthew gives us the longest description of Christ’s life.
The publicans and sinners were not allowed in the synagogue nor were they allowed to offer sacrifice for their sin. When Jesus attended the banquet where Matthew made him the guest of honor, Luke described a “large banquet” with a great or large crowd. The crowd was made up of “publicans and sinners”. Jesus walked into the banquet offering forgiveness to those
who had run out of options! It was probably on a Monday or Thursday when the Pharisees and John’s disciples were fasting as was tradition thus the question, “Why are you guys eating and we are fasting?”
While the gospel was written by Matthew to encourage the Jewish readers or hearers to understand that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies and Kingdom he is the only one of the four writers to include the “Great Commision” to all nations. He really understood, he got what Jesus was about. I have no way of knowing if his family still found this “Christ Follower” disappointing or embarrassing. However, to those of us “sinners” his description of a Messiah offering forgiveness to all seekers is what we hope for.
Thanks for stopping by.
:: posted by Gary Wright, 3:30 PM
