Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

How many of you this morning have ever met or went to see someone who was famous?

Now, they could be famous for a number of reasons…i.e.

maybe they were rich or maybe they were just well known, but for whatever reason they were famous and you either met them or went to see them in person.

I’ve heard some of you here say that you’d been to Billy Graham crusades in the past and I’d dare say that Billy Graham was a famous person for the Lord Jesus, Amen!

Ciara and I and the kids have been to the Chris Tomlin concert a couple times now and I’ve got to see one of my favorite authors and Pastor Max Lucado a couple times now.

I’d say many of us at different times in our lives have either seen a famous person in person or crossed paths with one at some point.

Well, the story we are going to look at today is about a divine encounter between two famous people in their own rights.

One was known for doing right and the other known for doing wrong.

The title I’ve given to today’s message is The Day that Jesus Passed By and I hope this message is as much a blessing to you as it has been to me while studying it!

Today we will be looking at Matthew 9:9-13.

The Call of Matthew — (Vs.

9)

A. It was a Deliberate Call

The first thing I want us to look at this morning is the fact that Jesus call of Matthew was a deliberate call.

Now, in order to understand where I’m going with this it would do us well to have a little history lesson on how things worked in this day and time.

John MacArthur — Matthew was a publicani (whence the title publican in some translations), a man who served occupying Rome against his own people as a collector of taxes.

By the nature of his position, his first loyalty had to be to Rome.

Nationals of a country or province occupied by Rome could buy franchises that entitled them to levy certain taxes on the populace and on travelers.

A franchise required collecting a specified amount of taxes for Rome and allowed anything collected beyond that figure to be kept as personal profit.

Because his power of taxation was virtually unlimited and was enforced by the Roman military, the owner of a tax franchise in effect had a license for extortion.

For those reasons the publicani were understandably considered traitors by their own people and were usually even more despised than Roman officials or soldiers.

The noted Jewish scholar Alfred Edersheim reports that a Jewish publicani was barred from the synagogue and was forbidden to have any religious or social contact with his fellow Jews.

He was ranked with the unclean animals, which a devout Jew would not so much as touch.

He was in the class of swine, and because he was held to be a traitor and a congenital liar, he was ranked with robbers and murderers and was forbidden to give testimony in any Jewish court.

Edersheim goes on to state that there were two categories of publicani.

The first, whom the Jews called gabbai, collected general taxes, which included those on land and other property, those on income, and those referred to as poll, or registration, taxes.

The basic land tax (the amount paid to Rome) was a tenth of one’s grain and a fifth of one’s fruit and wine.

Income tax amounted to one percent of one’s earnings, and the amount of the poll tax varied.

The second type of tax collector was called a mokhes, who collected a wide variety of use taxes—taxes similar to our import duties, tollway fees, boat docking fees, business license fees, and the like.

The mokhes had almost unlimited latitude in their taxing powers and could attach a tax to virtually any article or activity.

They could, for instance, levy a tax on a person’s boat, on the fish he caught with it, and on the dock where he unloaded it.

They could tax a traveler’s donkey, his slaves and servants, and his goods.

They had authority to open private letters to see if a taxable business of some sort might be related to the correspondence.

There were two kinds of mokhes.

One kind, called the great mokhes, hired other men to collect taxes for them and, by virtue of partial anonymity, protected at least some of their reputation among their fellow countrymen.

The other kind, called small mokhes, did their own assessing and collecting and therefore were in constant contact with members of the community as well as with all travelers who passed their way.

The gabbai were despised, the great mokhes were more despised, and the small mokhes were despised most.

Matthew was obviously a small mokhes, because he himself was sitting in the tax office as Jesus passed through the outskirts of Capernaum.

John MacArthur — (Matthew Commentary)

Now, the reason I wanted to give you that little lesson in Jewish tax collecting during Jesus time is because of what takes place here next and I don’t want you to miss it.

Here sat a man who was hated by his own people…does that sound familiar?

Here was a man who was despised and rejected by his own people…does that sound familiar?

Here was a man who had it all but at the same time was empty inside!

Everything his lifestyle afforded him wasn’t fulfilling him and then, on this glorious day, as he sets at his table collecting his taxes, Jesus walks by and what the Bible says next I don’t want you to miss because it’s so wonderful!

The Bible says “as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom.”

Now, that may not seem like much but I want you to stop and think about this for a second.

Here sits a man and every Jew that passes by turns their face from him, trying with everything that’s within them not to make eye contact for fear that they may have to pay him something in taxes.

Everyone that passes by Matthew turns from him in disdain but this day, the day that Jesus passed by, all that changed because the Bible says that Jesus saw Matthew!

Now, that may not seem like much but when you do a little studying on that word “saw” what you’re going to find is that here in Matthew it simply means to see but when you look in Luke’s gospel, Luke uses the more descriptive Greek word theaomai which means "to view attentively, to see with admiration, to desire or regard."

It stresses more especially the action of the person doing the beholding.

Here’s Matthew doing his job, probably hating every minute of it, and everyone and their brother avoids him like the plague and no doubt he longs for the day when someone, anyone would just see him for who he really is!

Well guess what Matthew, Jesus sees you!

Jesus not only seen Matthew, but admired him for qualities that only He could see!

Not only did Jesus admire him, but he desired him hence the next action on Jesus part…which is His call of Matthew.

“Matthew, Follow me.”

Do you know what the name Matthew means?

The name Matthew means “gift of Jehovah” and oh what a gift Matthew would be to the Lord Jesus Christ!

The world seen a wretched man, but Jesus seen a gift of God!

The world had nothing for Matthew but Jesus had everything for Matthew!

The world had written Matthew off, but Jesus seen a diamond in the rough new what a wonderful gem lie inside!

Listen to me this morning, Jesus finds you and calls you where you are.

No one has come to know the Lord Jesus by accident!

He found Peter, Andrew, James and John fishing, He found Philip in Galilee, He found Nathanael under the fig tree and He found Matthew sitting at his tax table.

He finds you and He sees you and He calls you…and I wonder who He’s calling this morning?

Who has Jesus found here at NHMBC and He’s calling you?

Who has He found right where you are in that pew?

Who is He speaking to right here, right now at this very moment and saying “Follow Me?”

Listen friend, I don’t know who you are but Jesus does.

Those disciples had no idea Jesus was about to call Matthew but Jesus knew.

Jesus found Matthew, He looked at Matthew and He said, “follow me”!

When Jesus says to Matthew here “follow me” he says it in the present imperative sense and what that means is this…it wasn’t a suggestion but rather a command.

And it wasn’t a temporary command but an ongoing command to last a lifetime!

Matthew, if you’re tired of being looked over, follow me.

If you’re tired of living this mundane life you’ve been living, if you want something more, if you can feel deep down in your bones that there has to be more to this life than what you have right now, then follow me.

If you want to be noticed for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones, follow me.

Matthew, if you’re tired of being down in dumps, if you want joy, peace and happiness, then follow me!

Is Jesus calling you this morning?

If so, won’t you heed that call just as Matthew did?

Won’t you come, even now if He’s calling?

You don’t have to wait until the invitation, come right now and decide that you are going to follow Jesus with everything that you are just as Matthew did!

Be obedient to the call of Christ this morning!

Not only was it a Deliberate Call, but it was also a Desired call!

B. It was a Desired Call

Matthew was too humble a fellow to ever pen these words, but he could have very easily written, “He saw me!

Jesus saw me and He called me!”

In Matthew 10:3, as Matthew lists out the twelve disciples, he even refers to himself as “Matthew the publican.”

I think Matthew refers to himself as such so that everyone who reads his account down through the ages would remember the shape that Jesus found him in and so that it would be a testament to Jesus.

“He found me, a man despised and rejected of men, he looked at me with eyes of love, seeing me for who I really was.

He seen the deepest part of me, who I could be, and then, seeing something no one else could see, seeing who I could be and not what I was, seeing something He could take and mold and use, He called me!

And oh when He called, I could not help but to heed!

When He called, something inside of me said go!

So I went!

I got up from that tax table and I left it all behind!

I left my old life behind to follow this man named Jesus and let me say this, it was the greatest decision I have ever made in my entire life!!!

My old life brought problems and pain, my new life brings joy and happiness!

My old life brought anguish, stress and strife.

My new life brings a sense of belonging, a desire to grow, a desire to do good for my Lord!”

Not only did Jesus deliberately call Matthew but deep down inside, that mustard seed of faith desired to follow Jesus!

And if you’re here and feel Him calling you, then answer that call today!

I believe you will find just as Matthew did that it will be the best decision of your life!