Matthew—From Tax Collector to Jesus’ Disciple

In the first book of the New Testament, the Bible gives us the Gospel story from the perspective of Matthew. He was a Jewish tax collector from Capernaum in the first century AD., and he was likely despised by fellow Jews for choosing that profession.

So why would Jesus Christ ask such a man to be His disciple?

Despite his beginnings, Matthew had an important role to play. To begin with, he was a converted tax collector—that alone was rare. And he served as Jesus’ disciple, wrote one of the four gospel accounts, continued to serve as an apostle after Jesus returned to heaven, and likely died a martyr’s death.

Matthew was able to see beyond his sin and realize Jesus could save him and forgive him—just as Jesus can for any of us.

So let’s get into the details of Matthew’s story:

• Life before discipleship
• Life as Jesus’ disciple
• Life after Jesus’ ascension
• Lessons from Matthew’s life

We’ll start by examining what his life was like before he encountered Jesus Christ.

Matthew’s life before discipleship

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There isn’t a detailed biographical record of what Matthew’s early life was like. And in the book he wrote about the Gospel story, he certainly wasn’t focused on what happened in his own life before meeting Jesus.

But since we know he was a tax collector, that has sparked a lot of interest and speculation in religious media. For example, The Chosen series about all the disciples has taken a few creative liberties with his character.

As far as what the Bible actually says, we know that he was called the son of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). We also know that he was a tax collector, or “publican” (Matthew 10:3), which meant:

• He worked for the Roman government, which ruled over the Jewish nation of Israel at that time
• He was probably wealthy, at least compared to most other Jews
• He was detested by his own people

Here’s why.

The Roman Empire was large and powerful, and it ruled with a heavy hand over the nations it conquered. One of the “features” of this Roman authority was that Jews had to pay hefty taxes to the Roman government.

But unlike the taxation systems we’re used to today, which are supposed to pay for a country’s infrastructure, government programs, education, etc., Roman taxes benefited none but Rome, making them even more powerful and rich.¹ Today we’d call it taxation without representation.

And to make matters worse, the Roman government contracted with locals to do their dirty work of tax collecting—one of the jobs available for Jews to sign up for.

So when a Jew found a way to make a living by working as a tax collector for Rome, you can see how that wouldn’t go over well with their fellow Hebrews.

That made tax collectors and taxes the object of bitter loathing for the Jewish nation. They were regarded as traitors, getting their livelihood from the very government that was oppressing their own people.²

Perhaps living with the disdain of their own people made it easier for tax collectors to justify the other reason they were despised. They often took advantage of their position and lined their own pockets by collecting more than was necessary, or arbitrarily charging taxes for things like crossing a certain bridge or using a busy road.³

And while we don’t have any kind of exact record of how or if Matthew also cheated his fellow Jews like other tax collectors did, there’s a strong likelihood that he would have taken advantage of taxpayers at some point.

Then how did a man in such a despised and dishonest profession become one of Jesus Christ’s closest companions?

Matthew’s calling

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The books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke⁴ all describe the pivotal day. Like any other day, Matthew was sitting in his tax booth in Galilee. Jesus, who had just drawn the attention of many by healing a paralyzed man, passed by Matthew’s post.

All Jesus said was, “Follow Me” (Matthew 9:9, NKJV).

But those words must have captivated Matthew. He could have easily thought, “Why me?”

Without hesitation, Matthew rose and left everything—the money, the job, the security, the favor of the Romans. He gave it all up to become Jesus’ disciple.

He also threw a party for Jesus, inviting Him and His disciples and other tax collectors to be among his guests (Luke 5:29).

And at this party comes another pivotal moment in Matthew’s life.

The Pharisees, in line with their character, complained that Jesus would associate with these types of people. They said to Jesus,

“‘Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’” (Luke 5:30, NKJV).

They had identified Matthew as a sinner of sinners, as all tax collectors were. But notice Jesus’ response:

“‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance’” (Luke 5:31-32, NKJV).

Jesus threw the Pharisees’ grumblings right back in their faces. He wanted to be with these sinners, these people who wanted to follow Him. These were the people who could be saved, because they humbled themselves and looked to Jesus for direction.

The fact that Matthew recognized his shortcomings and was willing to move beyond them reveals his strength.

It was the Pharisees who were farthest away from salvation at that point, if they continued to believe they were too good for what Jesus had to say.

Sometimes a redemption story can be the most powerful kind.

Life as Jesus’ disciple

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While Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples and undoubtedly got involved with important tasks during Jesus’ ministry, his calling is actually the only story about him in the Bible. Any other times he resurfaces in the New Testament are merely in listings of the disciples:

• Matthew 10:3
• Mark 3:18
• Luke 6:15
• Acts 1:13

But that doesn’t diminish his importance. As we’ll see in a bit, his talents helped preserve Jesus’ time on earth forever.

If you read the verses before Luke’s account of Matthew’s party following his calling, you might have noticed something strange: Jesus called a man named Levi, and this Levi hosted the party (Luke 5:27, 29).

Isn’t his name Matthew?

Levi may well have been his Hebrew name, while Matthew was his Greek name. But in any case, one person having multiple names was not uncommon in those days. For example, Peter was also known as Simon, and Bartholomew was also called Nathanael.

And considering how identical the conversion stories are in the first three Gospel accounts, it’s unlikely that “Levi” would have referred to a separate person altogether. Luke even calls Matthew “Levi,” but a few verses later, when listing all the disciples, calls him Matthew.

Throughout most of what we can read about Jesus’ earthly ministry, Matthew silently accompanies Jesus and isn’t often mentioned specifically. But that doesn’t mean his role wasn’t important. He was likely a captivated narrator, focusing more on what was happening around him and having little need to mention his own name in his documentation.

Life after Jesus’ ascension

Matthew the apostle continued to work with the other apostles to share Christianity with others after Jesus returned to heaven. But when it comes to this part of his life, not much is recorded in the Bible itself.

Other sources from the early centuries suggest that his travels took him to Persia, Macedonia, Syria, or a region below the Caspian Sea then called Ethiopia.⁵ But we don’t know exactly what he did.

We also don’t know how he died. Many different accounts have emerged from different early Christian writers, ranging from natural death to various types of martyrdom. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, written in the 1500s by a Protestant historian, offers this fate for Matthew:

“He afterwards traveled to Parthia, where he met his death, being slain with the sword, about the year 60.”⁶

He would have been an older man by this time. From the abundance of stories about his martyrdom, we can see Matthew remained faithful to Jesus up until his last breath.

Not only was Matthew a faithful disciple, but he also wrote a book about Jesus, bringing believers together for ages to come: the Gospel of Matthew.

Writing the book of Matthew

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There are some scholars who debate whether the disciple Matthew truly authored the Gospel of Matthew, which was believed to be written somewhere in the 50s-60s AD.⁷ Early church writers like Papias and Eusebius generally ascribed the book to him, but he also seems to share a lot of material from Mark, who was not an eyewitness.⁸

However, most of the evidence points to Matthew as the author of the gospel.

First, the church of the first few centuries AD. believed he authored it. Though we’ve seen from Matthew’s numerous death accounts that they don’t always get it right, there’s something to be said for the people of his time believing in his authorship.

Second, the gospel of Matthew itself presents numerous clues. Compare these portions of the Lord’s prayer from Luke and Matthew:

“And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4, NKJV).

 

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12, NKJV).

Matthew heard the words through the lens of his financial background, so that’s likely why he expressed them this way.

Also, Matthew’s gospel is the only one to include Jesus’ parable about the talents (Matthew 18:23-35). A story about money and investment would have special appeal to someone who regularly handled money as a career.

And Matthew tailored his gospel account to be read and accepted by the Jews. He begins with a genealogy of Jesus, connecting him to King David and Adam, and quotes numerous Messianic prophecies in his gospel, all designed to help the Jews believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

Lessons from Matthew’s life

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While we don’t have a detailed life sketch of Matthew, there’s still a lot we can learn from His time as a disciple.

A big takeaway from Matthew’s life is that no sin is too great to turn from. A tax collector like Matthew was like the scum of the earth in the eyes of his fellow Jews. He probably had many material possessions, but few friends. Perhaps one part of him felt guilty for the life he led, but the other part was too deeply mired in it to stop.

But he gave up all that to become a follower of Jesus, and one of Jesus’ closest companions.

Jesus doesn’t care how badly we’ve messed up. He loves us, sees our potential, and wants to be our closest friend.

We can also see from Matthew’s story that you don’t have to travel to a foreign country as part of a big effort to bring others to Christ. There’s nothing wrong with that, and Matthew certainly did his share of it. But His telling of the Gospel story was written for his own people. We, too, can help our neighbors and friends come to know Christ in a way they’ll understand.

Matthew, an example for us all

Matthew was an outcast of society. The Jews hated him because he took their money, and he was unforgivable in the Pharisees’ eyes. And for the Romans, he was just a pawn.

Yet Jesus called Matthew. He willingly and gladly forgave Matthew’s sins.

We don’t have to be popular. We don’t have to be smart. We don’t have to be liked by anyone. And we all have our sins we struggle with. But that doesn’t make us unusable to God. Often, it can glorify Him even more.

And when we do accept that call, we can allow ourselves to grow and be changed. Matthew’s life was transformed by this event, and he eventually became a powerful witness for Jesus. We too, can become a great witness for Jesus, if we let Him lead us.

Matthew was not the only disciple whose life was changed. The experience with Jesus permanently affected most of the disciples for good.

1. Edersheim, Alfred. Sketches of Jewish social life in the days of Christ, Internet Archive. P55. [↵]
2. Ibid. [↵]
3. Ibid. [↵]
4. Matthew 9:9, Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27. [↵]
5. Foxe, John, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Charles Foster Publishing, 1897 [↵]
6. Nelson, Ryan, “Who Was Matthew the Apostle? The Beginner’s Guide,” Overview Bible, April 1, 2019. [↵]
7. Chilton, Brian, “Who Wrote the Gospel of Matthew?”, CrossExamined.org, June 11, 2017. [↵]
8. Ibid. [↵]

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