St. Matthew

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John heard good news and passed it on. Look and listen, listen and see – the Good News is for you and me! These four Apostles - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote down what Jesus said and did. The writings are called “Gospels”. “Gospel” comes from a Greek word “euangelion”, which means “good tidings”.

Matthew’s Gospel comes first in the Bible. Matthew was the brother of James the Less. (The first James – James the Great - was the brother of John.) Matthew and James’s father was Alpheus, who was the brother of Saint Joseph - the husband of Mary. So, Matthew and Jesus were cousins!

Matthew was a Jew. His work of being a tax collector was considered an insult to Jews, however. The Jewish people were under the control of the Roman government, who made the Jews pay taxes. They Jews did not want to pay money to the Romans who were controlling them. Matthew was working for the Romans and making lots of money off his fellow Jewish people. So, Matthew was looked down upon.

Also, it was difficult to follow the strict Jewish Laws. The Jews believed a man would have to purify himself from the contamination of being with pagan Romans. (A pagan believes in many gods, not the One True God). So, Matthew was seen as disrespecting the Jewish Law by not purifying himself from Roman contamination.

Also, Matthew named himself “Levi”, which was a pagan Greek name, not a Jewish name.

Matthew must have been well educated to be able to be hired to do the work of collecting taxes, as well as write, which goes along with his work.

Yet, this despised Jew was called to follow Jesus by none other than Jesus Christ Himself! Matthew describes his call by Jesus in the 9th Chapter of his Gospel. Also, Matthew shows how his friends were sinners, yet Jesus sat and talked with them all. Jesus was criticized by the Jewish leaders for associating with sinners and tax collectors, but Jesus told these gossiping leaders, “Those who are well did not need a physician, but the sick do.” Jesus considered the sinners as “sick”, who needed Him - the “physician”. This is why Jesus came to talk to Matthew’s friends and tell them about His Kingdom.

Matthew left his work of tax collecting and followed Jesus closely. He wrote about what Jesus said and did. Matthew wrote in Aramaic, the language of the Jews. Matthew wanted his Jewish people to know that Jesus was the Messiah, the One they had been waiting for! Jesus was the Messiah who came with a message of peace and mercy, not a fighting sword.

Matthew began writing around 41 A.D. in Jerusalem. He tied the Old Testament of the Scriptures of Israel to his fresh writings about Jesus, which became the New Testament. For example, the Jews would be able to understand that Jesus was the prophet “…like me”, whom Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18, where God told Moses, “A prophet like me will the Lord your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall listen”. Moses was given the Ten Commandments from God to show His people how to live as “His people”. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew writes that Jesus tells His disciples (Jesus’s “people”) how to live as His disciples. Matthew writes many, many ways which Jesus spoke of, on how to live like Him on Earth.

It is thought that Matthew left Jerusalem in 42 A.D. and went to Persia and Ethiopia, but his locations are not definitely known. It is believed he died as a martyr. Matthew’s Gospel had much influence on the men called the “Early Church Fathers” who wrote about the Kingdom Jesus laid down for the world.

Saint Matthew’s Feast Day is September 21st.

He is the patron saint of bankers.

Saint Matthew, pray for us!