The call of Levi

Luke 5:27-32
Mathew 9:9-13
I notice one difference between these two accounts.  In lukes Gospel the disciple is called Levi and in Mathews Gospel he is called Mathew. 
Both Luke and Mathew were great detailers in their accounts  Luke, because he was a doctor and Mathew because he was a tax collector.
I have said in the past that we need to be careful about what sort of influence we have, for it will be for good or ill.  Mathew has proved to be an influence for good for centuries because we now have the blessing of his gospel to read and apply to our lives.
We do not know who gave Mathew his new name. it is a shortening of the name Mattathias, which means "the gift of God."

Despite his sinful past, Matthew was uniquely qualified to be a disciple. He was an accurate record keeper and keen observer of people. He captured the smallest details. Those traits served him well when he wrote the Gospel of Matthew some 20 years later.
By surface appearances, it was scandalous and offensive for Jesus to pick a tax collector as one of his closest followers, since they were widely hated by the Jews. Yet of the four Gospel writers, Matthew presented Jesus to the Jews as their hoped-for Messiah, tailoring his account to answer their questions.
Matthew displayed one of the most radically changed lives in the Bible in response to an invitation from Jesus. He did not hesitate, he did not look back. He left behind a life of wealth and security for poverty and uncertainty. He abandoned the pleasures of this world for the promise of eternal life.
We are told that when Mathew was called, he left everything.  He gave up his security as a tax collector. 
He gave up his greedy sinful life
He had a party in his own house and invited other Tax collector and sinners to hear Jesus.
The Pharisees were not pleased. They thought ill of Jesus that he ate with Tax gatherers and sinners.  However Jesus tells them something that is self-evident.  He tells them that it is the sick who need a doctor.  The Pharisees failed to recognise their sinful condition.  These people however were all too aware that they were sinners.  I think that is why they came.  They knew Mathew to be a man just like themselves and could see that Christ had made a difference to him and they wanted to meet him.
I have a lot of respect for Mathew, for as a tax gatherer, working for the Romans, he would have been hated by his fellow Jews, yet it was for them that he wrote his gospel.  The very people who would despise him.  He loved them and wanted to see them turn from sin to Jesus just as he had.

Notice Jesus remark, it is only the sick who require a doctor.  The Pharisees no longer saw themselves as sinners, but they saw the tax gatherers that way and as GOOD JEWS, they would have nothing to do with them.  Jesus openly met with them.  It was a way of saying to the Pharisees, this man and his friends know they are sinners. The recognise their need of me, but you also have a need of me, but refuse to recognise it.

As a tax Gatherer, Mathew would have been hated by his fellow Jews for working for the romans.  The hatred was so bad that a Jew would not accept change from a tax collector and where possible would rather borrow the right amount from a trusted friend than to accept filthy money in change.

It is likely that as Mathew collected money in his booth, he would have taxed the fishermen, and cheated them as tax payers did and when Christ called him and he obeyed, he would have found himself in the company of 12, some of whom may not have liked him for he may have taxed and cheated them in the past. 

Never the less, ( the motley Crew) they got on with it.

Matthew alone reports the visit of the tribute collectors for the tax. His telling of the story includes Jesus' lesson to Peter. Matthew 17:24-27

Matthew is the only Gospel writer to include this quote from Jesus, "Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I think that as a tax collector he recorded this for he identified with it due to his former profession.  He had put a great yoke upon others by extorting them.

The turnaround in Mathew’s life was remarkable.

I think that Mathew became a modest man for he has recorded very little about himself in his Gospel and refers to himself in the third person. 

He has been a blessing to millions of people down through the centuries for his Gospel that God has preserved for us to read in our day.

I appreciate his skill as a detailer.