Matthew 9:9 And as Jesus passed forth from there, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said to him, Follow me… And he arose, and followed him. It is necessary to examine the customs of the East in order to estimate fairly the nature of the surrender that Matthew made. We need not set before our minds a call to a man in a modern counting-house or tax-collector's office. Probably the special duty of Matthew (or Levi) was to collect tolls from the fisheries on the lake, and from the merchants travelling southward from Damascus. Very possibly he was one of the higher officials, and his subordinates did the actual work, and would continue to do it when he went away. Compare the grades of officials in a modern customhouse. If Matthew was alone, we have only to think of an open shed, which shaded him from the sun. He would have his money upon his person, and he would not be likely to leave it in the shed. Van Lennep tells us that "some articles of produce are taxed as they are brought into the town. A booth of branches, or a more substantial hut, is erected at every entrance into the city or village, and there, both day and night, sits a man at the 'receipt of custom.' He taxes all the produce, piercing with a long, sharp iron rod the large camel-bags of wheat or cotton, in order to discover concealed copper wire or other contraband." This leaving the custom-house should be compared with leaving the fishing, by the sons of Jona and Zebedee. How far it involved a surrender of his means of living we are not told. I. MAKING SURRENDER AS CHRIST MAY REQUIRE. Here Christ called for an immediate following, which involved leaving at once Matthew's ordinary occupation. Compare the cases of would-be disciples given in Matthew 8:19-22. Those men could not surrender just as Christ required. Matthew could, and did. We are sure that Christ requires (1) the surrender of everything that is positively evil; (2) the surrender of everything that would hinder full service; (3) the surrender of everything that cannot be carried over and used in Christ's kingdom. It is not to be thought representative that our Lord required some disciples to leave their avocations. He may still do so, but the usual rule is, "Let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God." II. MAKING SURRENDER AS OUR OWN HEARTS MAY IMPEL US. This is illustrated in the feast which Levi made of his own free will. Christ made no demand for that surrender. If a man be true-hearted, the limitations under which he will put himself may be more severe and searching than any under which Christ puts him. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. |
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