Introduction to Matthew (Matthew 9:9-13)

Sermon

Key Passage

Matthew 9:9–13 NIV

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Introduction

Today, we are embarking upon a journey that will take us around a year. We are beginning a sermon series through the book of Matthew.

I love to preach verse-by-verse through the Bible. It does a number of things for us:

First, it familiarizes us with the larger picture of what is in the Bible

We know what came first, what happens next, and so on.

Second, it forces us to cover and discuss parts of Scripture we would rather avoid

There are parts of Scripture that stomp on our toes. As we go through the book of Matthew, we will not skip anything. We will cover every verse, every sentence, and every word of the book. God’s Word must be communicated fully.

Third, it will bring context to our understanding of the Gospels.

Most of us know key points in the Bible, and commonly used verses. However, in our world, we have an enemy who desires to distort the truth. Walking through a book of the Bible eliminates picking and choosing and defining words and verses according to our preference. It forces us to grasp the context of a passage before we seek to apply it to our lives.

All of this builds so that we can model and build on a Biblical Foundation as a church.

We know a Biblical Foundation is necessary for a disciple to grow to maturity. It is a constant in how we communicate the message of our King Jesus.

Let’s Find the Book of Matthew

Find a Bible

You may have come to church today and hear me say that we are preaching from the Bible

You may not have a Bible and you may not know where you can find a Bible.

If you need a Bible, please leave something on your connection card and we would like to give a Bible to you so you can follow along in our services.

Or, if you are a tech person, you can find a Bible app on your phone.

I RECOMMEND THE BIBLE APP THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS

It provides audio versions of the Bible and also our notes each week are loaded into the app so you can better follow along.

The Bible is divided into two sections, the OT and the NT

The OT is the first 2/3 of the Bible and the NT is the last 1/3 of the Bible.

The NT begins with the life of Jesus and for that purpose we spend most of our time there.

That doesn’t mean that the OT is not valuable. It is equally the inspired Word of God, but Jesus is the centerpoint of all human history and for that purpose, we keep our focus on Him.

As you flip through the end of the OT, you will find a series of very short books called Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Matthew is immediately following those books.

If you get to Mark, Luke or John, you have gone too far.

Why Study Matthew?

We covered this verse a few weeks ago when we were talking about the importance of a Biblical Foundation as a disciple of Jesus.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NIV

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The Book of Matthew is:

Inspired by God

Useful for TEACHING

Useful for REBUKING

The Book of Matthew is:

Useful for CORRECTING

Useful for TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS

Equips us for GOOD WORK

As sinful human beings, we need this from a Holy God.

Here is a little preaching tip. This is the effect of all Scripture, so it really makes preaching pretty simple.

Is this teaching? Rebuking? Correcting?, etc.

The Word of God will do His work through His church.

Discipleship

Also, Matthew has become something of a manual for discipleship in the NT.

We will uncover this reality as we tell the story of the Matthew this morning, but they were presented with the Gospel and they acted as disciples

Have you heard us give our definition of a disciple?

The Definition of a Disciple

Matthew 4:19 ESV

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 4:19 Definition of Disciple

A disciple follows Jesus (Head)

A disciple is being changed by Jesus (Heart)

A disciple is on mission with Jesus (Hands)

The Mission of a Disciple

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

These are both found in Matthew

We will further uncover what the big overall themes of the book are in a few moments.

Genre

I’ll be very brief here, because we are going to get into the genre as we explain the introduction to this book.

Although this is called a “book” of the Bible, it actually has three functions in its style or genre.

Genre:

Selective Biography

Theological Narrative

Proclamation

Selective Biography

The book of Matthew is not an exhaustive biography of the life of Jesus. It is a selected biography that highlights key points and teachings of the life of Jesus to build a case for the next point.

Theological Narrative

The book of Matthew is not simply an ancient text intended to inform the reader of historical events. It is intended to proclaim that Jesus is the promised Messiah, King, Savior and Lord.

The Selective narrative is crafted to teach theological truth, particularly about the Kingdom of Heaven, discipleship, and the fulfillment of OT prophecy that is fulfilled in Jesus.

Proclamation

This book is intended to be a Royal Proclamation. The ancient Greek word for that is “Gospel” or “Evangelion”

It is intended to communicate Jesus, His purpose and His identity so the reader would respond to the message by following Jesus.

Gospel-

The book of Matthew is not a Gospel

There is only one Gospel. Matthew tells of the Gospel. Mark, Luke and John also all tall of the Gospel.

It is the Gospel according to Matthew. Not Matthew’s Gospel.

Author, Audience & Date

Author: Matthew

As you flip through the book of Matthew, you will find that no one takes credit for writing this book.

When Paul writes, he begins by saying, “He y’all, this is Paul and I’m writing you a letter.”

Matthew didn’t do that.

How we conclude that Matthew was the author is from a couple of different sources.

First of all, the transcribed Gospel according to Matthew was titled as early as 100 AD:

“kata Maththaion”

— According to Matthew

Also, very early church fathers would identify Matthew as the author of the Gospel according to Matthew.

There are modern critics of Matthew’s authorship, but it is evident that they are trying to sound smart without looking at any archeological evidence and disregarding other accounts.

They come in with their own opinions of things and try to force all evidence into their own opinions.

Audience: Jewish Disciples

As we read through this book, we will find that there are more OT references than any other Gospel account.

The Jewish audience would have been familiar with those texts.

Also, Matthew connects the life of Jesus to the Jewish heritage by opening up with the genealogy of Jesus, connecting Him to Abraham.

Jesus is seen through the Jewish lens throughout the book.

Date: 55-80 AD

The writing of the book of Matthew is difficult to pin down.

We have to look at archeological evidence, “When did the first few transcripts start to show up?”

Also, we have to look at clues within the text.

Most scholars believe that Matthew was written by Matthew after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and its purpose was to provide hope to the Jewish people that Jesus was the King they were seeking, not a physical king or kingdom.

There is a stark contrast between the Jewish governmental systems, and the Roman governmental systems and the Kingdom of Heaven.

These contrasts point to the reader being personally impacted by the political upheaval of the day and pointing them to the Kingdom of Heaven, not the Kingdom of Israel or the Kingdom of Rome.

Some point to accounts of Matthew’s death at 60 AD. If this is the case, then clearly he wrote this gospel account before his death.

Outline of Matthew

We are going to break the book of Matthew down into a few manageable chunks so we can continually grasp the direction Matthew takes us.

Outline of Matthew:

Matthew 1-7- The King Has Come

Matthew 8-13- The Authority of the King

Matthew 14-20- Kingdom Living

Matthew 21-28- The King and His Crown

Matthew 1-7- The King has come

In the first quarter of this book, we find the genealogy of Jesus leading up to His birth.

From His birth, we find the opening of His Kingdom. His message is that the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived.

It concludes with the Sermon on the Mount, which we preached over the summer, that outlines how life in this new Kingdom is upside down from the world we see out our front windows.

It is an introduction to a new King and a new Kingdom.

Matthew 8-13- The Authority of the King

As we move on into the middle of this book, we find accounts of Jesus’ authority

Authority over nature

Authority over sickness

Authority over religion

Authority over Satan

Jesus establishes His authority as King.

Matthew 14-20- Kingdom Living

Jesus then steps into the cost of discipleship and we find some extended interactions with Jesus about what it means to follow Him.

The disciples are challenged in their worldview in this difficult section of Scripture.

Matthew 21-28- The King and His Crown

We will walk with Jesus through His last days, His crucifixion, His resurrection, and His ascension into Heaven to the right hand of the Father to reign as King of Kings.

Sermon

With that introduction, I wanted to take a few moments and talk about the author, Matthew.

Who is Matthew?

It is interesting that Matthew went by the name Matthew. I can speculate as to why and it is an amazing thing to think about.

In the book of Matthew, Matthew is known as Matthew. Easy enough.

In the book of Mark and Luke, Matthew is referred to as Levi.

The name Levi was likely his given name from birth

The name Matthew is a name that he is known as later, including in the book of Acts and subsequent early church writings.

The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus gave him a new name like He did for Simon Peter.

But the name Matthew means “Gift of God”

His new identity in Jesus was a treasure and it is a very neat thing to see that this is what he held onto for the rest of his life.

Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples.

Even though he was one of Jesus 12 disciples, he only shows up in the Bible 6 times. Four of the times were in the lists of the 12 disciples. The other two times show up in our passage for today.

Even though Matthew was something of a quiet character in the Bible, it is interesting that Matthew includes Jesus calling of himself as one of the disciples.

To set the context, Early in Jesus’ ministry the crowds started to gather quickly.

Jesus got into a boat to go to the other side of the lake, but a storm hits.

As a result of the storm, they land at a place called Gadarenes where two demon possessed men who lived among the tombs came to Jesus.

Jesus cast out the demons and sent them into a herd of Greek pigs nearby.

After this, they got back into the boat and went back to Jesus hometown of Capernaum.

Matthew 9:9 NIV

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

Tax Collector

Hired by the Roman Empire

Disowned by Jewish family

Prevented from worship at temple

Unforgivable sin

The choice for a young man to become a tax collector was likely a very difficult one.

To be a tax collector meant that you were now free from the Jewish law, rules, and everything else.

You would have money, prostitutes, great food, and all of the benefits of the Roman empire.

But it would mean turning your back on God, family and your nation.

You would be hated and rejected by everyone you interacted with.

Think about this, there is only so much of that life you could live before you realize there is no depth in that life.

But once you choose that path, there is never any leaving it.

Because of this, tax collectors were often dishonest in their collection. They would collect more than required as a benefit to themselves.

The people of that time felt it was holy, righteous and honoring to God to reject the tax collectors from their society.

They had rejected God, so the religious people felt it was their right to reject them back.

All of this brings our story of Matthew to a new light.

Jesus is walking along the beach and sees Matthew in the tax collector’s booth and says, “Come follow me”.

Not only did Jesus not condemn him, he invited him to join him.

Again, this was scandalous!!!

The people in the crowd had to feel uncomfortable with this. It was pushing all they had been taught.

Matthew left the booth and began following Jesus. But not just Matthew...

Matthew 9:10 NIV

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.

It wasn’t just Matthew, it says that there were many who followed Jesus.

These people were tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners that had been rejected by the religious society.

Jesus went to their house to eat. The disciples followed Jesus to the meal.

Jesus joined them because they had chosen to leave their life and follow Him.

Matthew 9:11 NIV

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

The Pharisees were likely following Jesus, listening to his teaching, but not to learn or grow. They were listening to investigate.

If they were seekers of the truth, they would have approached this situation differently. But their response to this shows their hearts.

Not only is Jesus not following our customs with these people, He is eating with them and validating them.

Eating with sinners and tax collectors

We can look at this and apply this to our lives and say, “When I go to my unsaved friend’s house, is that wrong?”

We can look at this as justification for our sin, or we can look at this as evangelism.

When Jesus was eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners, was he being drawn into their life of sin?

Was he approving of their life of sin? No.

He was there to be a light in the darkness.

He did not dim his light to make those in the darkness more comfortable.

He let his light shine and those who wanted to be around it stayed.

It takes maturity and understanding of who we are in Christ to be able to be a light in a dark place.

Jesus knew that the one thing these guys needed was a savior. He came to them because they needed Him.

He didn’t minimize Himself and present himself as anything other than the need they had.

Matthew 9:12–13 NIV

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The Pharisees cowardly asked the disciples why Jesus was doing this, not Jesus.

Jesus heard their question and responded to them.

Jesus’ response is one of the foundational tenets of His ministry.

In fact, Jesus’ response is one that is still the most simple truth of the Gospel.

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. He did not come to call the righteous, He came for sinners.

Let’s look at the sick/healthy metaphor briefly

Let’s say you are sick. You’ve tried everything to cure your illness, but it remains. There is no other solution. You are sick and this sickness will lead to death.

You would go to the doctor, not because you want to. Rather, because you recognize the absolute helplessness in your circumstance. You DESPERATELY NEED the doctor.

Only when you recognize your desperation because you see the reality of your situation, you reach out for a doctor.

In this situation, you don’t set an appointment and wait for your day and go in for a checkup.

You dial 9-1-1 and get the ambulance there so you can get in front of a doctor immediately.

Now, let’s take a look at the righteous/sinner metaphor.

Actually, this is no metaphor. This is reality.

John 3:14–15 NIV

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

In Numbers 21:4-9, the Israelites were in the wilderness and they had sinned against God.

God allowed venomous snakes to invade the camp.

These snakes began biting people and many were killed.

The people cried out to Moses and said, “Pray to God for us so He will take the snakes away.”

God instructed Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole and raise it up so the people could see it

Anyone who looked at the serpent on the pole would live.

This is an obscure story in the OT. Very few people likely thought it would ever be a Messianic story, until Jesus used it with Nicodemus.

In the story, all of the people had sinned

There was a consequence to their sin. That consequence was death.

The wages of their sin was death. All of them had sinned.

Some had already died. But everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before the wages of sin had caught up to the rest of them.

Jesus said that he would be lifted up, similar to the serpent in the story.

The similarity is that we live in a world where everyone is a sinner. There are wages to sin and those wages are death.

As people had to look upon the serpent, we are called to look upon the cross and place our faith in Jesus Christ.

In the OT, the serpent was the symbol of what they were being delivered from

In the NT, Jesus became sin on the cross. He bore the shame and penalty of sin on the cross.

This is not a glamorous scene. It is the results of my sin that raised Jesus up on the cross.

The very next verse after this is John 3:16.

We often simply present the solution without allowing the truth of the Gospel to reveal the true condition of our hearts.

THE GOSPEL REQUIRES US TO HUMBLY RECOGNIZE OUR NEED FOR JESUS.

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice”

Jesus goes back to the OT prophets and brings up a simple and profound point.

It is no wonder that this stuck in the mind of Matthew.

What was sacrifice?

Sacrifice was the religious system that was in place. Sacrifice was what the Pharisees did on a regular basis to justify themselves before God.

But here was God standing before them looking at people they hated, judged, and condemned.

Jesus said, “What value is your religious motion if you do not show the mercy of God to those who need mercy?”

Conclusion

This was the calling of Matthew. This is where it began.

This outcast who had made choices for his own life that would define him forever.

He experienced mercy, not religion

He experienced love, not rejection

Maybe this is why he embraced the name “Matthew”

Gift of God

His life, his identity, his future, his hope were all a gift of God.

He was lost, and now he is found

He was blind, and now he could see

He was hopeless, now he had eternal life

Matthew went on to follow Jesus. Matthew saw Jesus arrested and crucified

Here was a man who showed grace and mercy to Matthew.

But Jesus received no grace, nor mercy when He was brutally killed.

But Matthew then saw the resurrected Jesus and was present at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit arrived in the church.

Foxe’s book of Martyrs says that Matthew was killed in Ethiopia by a halberd (a pole weapon with an axe blade and a spear point), in the city of Nadabah, Ethiopia.

He was preaching the Gospel and was killed as a result.

Who is your Matthew?

I want you to consider this question. Who is it that has done something so wrong, been so evil, hurt others so badly that you justify not showing mercy and grace?

Recognize that you are Matthew

We cannot become the Pharisees in this story. There are those that we reject, and at one time we were sinners worthy of rejection as well.

Jesus died for you AND Jesus died for them.

When we recognize our salvation is from the stain of evil and death and that we are equally separated from God by sin like everyone else, it takes away our haughty attitude.

It was the sick who needed a doctor and we were sick...and so are they.

Love and be loved by the Savior

Matthew called himself “Gift of God”.

Every day that he woke up, every person that called him Matthew he remembered the love, mercy and grace of his savior.

He never let himself leave that moment in his life.

But Matthew devoted himself to reach the other Matthews in his life from the moment Jesus called his name.

To his final breath, he lived his life as a bridge of reconciliation of the love of God and a world that had rejected Him.

Gospel Presentation

Directed Prayer/Communion