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MIRACLES AND VOCATION
After the discourse on the mountain, the Gospel according to Matthew resumes narratingepisodes about Jesus. The first Gospel is organized around five great discourses, each preceded by a narrative section.
Chapters 3 and 4 present Jesus’s public ministry, which begins solemnly with the programmatic discourse occupying chapters 5, 6, and 7: the discourse on the mountain, where we find the great texts of the beatitudes and the Our Father.
The evangelist marks the passage at the beginning of chapter 8, and in the closing verse he says, “When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.” In chapters 8 and 9, which separate the mountain discourse from the missionary discourse in chapter 10, we find an anthology of miracles.
It is another example of how the evangelist Matthew proceeds editorially; he compiles apostolic traditions according to his own criteria: forms of the stories and the ‘loguia.’ As he gathered a series of details to form a great programmatic discourse, he collected a series of stories and organized them into this section, where ten miracles are narrated, one after another; however, there are nine stories because the last one is a single story that includes two miraculous episodes. The series then unfolds as three plus three plus three tales of miracles. There are short episodes or sayings of vocation between one series and another.
This collection system is interesting. We do not usually notice it because, as we are accustomed to the liturgy, we read separate texts, one narrative at a time, without noticing the connections. It is rare to read all the gospels in succession; therefore, by not doing so, we lose the narrative as a whole. However, they were composed precisely to form an organic fabric, and the relationship between one story and the other is significant.
“When he came down from the mountain, a large crowd followed him.” And these wonders began. Jesus is powerful in words and mighty in deeds. Jesus demonstrates with facts that his word heals. He heals a leper, heals a centurion’s servant, and heals Peter’s mother-in-law. Episode break. A call to some data related to the needs of the apostolic vocation. Then he resumes: Jesus calms the storm, heals the demoniacs of Gadara, and heals a paralytic. Pause. Vocation scenes: the call of Matthew and the meal with sinners and tax collectors. Then he resumes.
He heals a woman with a hemorrhage, raises the chief’s daughter, heals two men, and heals a mute possessed by demons. At the end, a synthesis formula presents the typical actions of Jesus, with a summary. This insistence on the prodigious actions with which Jesus heals humanity affected by various problems is marked by vocational breaks.
We can wonder why the editor, amid miracles and episodes of vocation, including verse 9 of chapter 9, inserted the account of his own vocation. Matthew’s Gospel tells of this calling: “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” A story reduced to minimal words. There are almost only verbs, with no particular adjectives or descriptions, nor adverbs. Jesus sees a man named Matthew, the evangelist’s name. It should be an autobiographical story, but it is reduced to the bare minimum. “He saw a man sitting at the customs post.”Therefore, in a firm position, lying in a sinful condition as a tax collector.
Matthew was a collaborator with the Roman Empire; he was on the side of the Romans’enemies and collected taxes in their name. Of course, he did it to make money. The fact that these people were despised tells us that their attitudes were corrupt. The Romans set a certain amount of taxes for a specific area and gave the contract to someone from the place who, knowing his people well, could make them pay. Matthew then had a contract with the Roman treasury and would have to pay a fixed sum each year; anything he raised in excess was his. Naturally, it was a position protected by Roman soldiers but, logically, hated by the country’s inhabitants.
For the people, those who chose to become tax collectors had compromised their esteem and solidarity. They were people who wanted to earn money and were willing to make themselves hateful to their fellow citizens just to make money. Jesus saw a man sitting at the customs post. He said: Follow me. A word. It is not a simple, chronological account of the event but a theological synthesis. One word is enough to change that man’s life. “He got up and followed him.” He was sitting, and upon hearing the word, he got up and followed him.
This essential choice of words has a catechetical intention; it summarizes a life change. After meeting Jesus, Matthew’s life changed. He didn’t just change jobs; he changed his mindset. Someone like him, who lived to earn money, left that world, began preaching a free evangelical service, and became someone else.
Let’s ask ourselves why the editor, Matthew, placed this episode in the middle of the miracle narratives. As soon as I ask the question, the answer is evident. The problem is asking the question. If I read this episode on its own, without considering the context, I fail to grasp the issue. If, instead, I can see the complete picture of chapters 8 and 9 in their structure, I notice this detail. Matthew’s vocation is a true miracle, and the narrator, the implicit author of the Gospel, says that someone like me has left the customs post, got up, and followed Jesus; it’s a miracle.
That word did a wonder. He had healed a paralytic immediately before and raised a dead person immediately afterward… and in the middle, there is a sinner who becomes an evangelist. It’s another miracle, maybe even more significant. Humanly, he was paralyzed; morally, because of his attitude, he was dead, and the word “Follow me” is a creative word that creates life, making him get up. Let’s not forget that ‘get up’ is the verb used to describe the resurrection.
To a Greek ear, the fact that Matthew “got up” sounds as if he were said to have risen; he has risen to a new life, he has changed to a new life, and he has become someone else. To confirm this idea of vocation as a miracle, let’s compare this verse with another concisemiracle story found in chapter 8, verses 14 and 15. It is the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. The miraculous episode about a sick person is formulated in precisely the same way.
First, there is a verb of movement: Jesus moves; he enters Peter’s house. This corresponds to chapter 9, the expression ‘getting out of there.’ The subject is Jesus, who takes the initiative, beginning with his vision. “Jesus saw Peter’s mother-in-law.”—”Jesus saw a man named Matthew.” Jesus sees a person and understands the situation. The person seen by Jesus is in a dejected state; she is depressed. The woman was in bed with a fever; the man was sitting at the customs table: ‘lying down’—’sitting’; ‘sick’— ‘sinner.’ There is a condition of sadness; Jesus sees humanity in this state and does not need anyone to tell him; no one explains or asks. It is his initiative; he sees the person in need and intervenes, showing mercy. “He touched her hand”—”He says: Follow me.” An almost sacramental gesture: the touch of the hand; a nearly sacramental word, like an imperative: ‘follow me.’ He achieves the following result: “The fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.” Matthew gets up and follows him. The word, the gesture of Jesus, and the intervention of mercy change the situation. The sick woman gets up; the sinful man stands up. They get up. She begins to serve him; he begins to follow him.
There are two synonymous verbs: to serve and to follow; these are the disciples’ verbs. Serving Jesus means putting one’s life at his service and following him; that’s what Matthew did. He followed Jesus, but he didn’t just follow with his feet; he followed with his mind and heart. He put his life in the hands of Jesus, and the rest of his life was spent talking about Jesus, letting others know the prodigious power Jesus imparted to humanity.
Therefore, the evangelist Matthew presents vocations and miracles in this section. Becoming a Christian and accepting Jesus’s word is a prodigious intervention, the fruit of an act of grace; God’s mercy helps people stand up.
Chapter 9 again ends with a vocational clue: “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he told his disciples, “The harvest is ready—the grain is ripe; grain waiting to be harvested—ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” “Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.”
In chapter 10, we find the second discourse in the Gospel of Matthew, the missionary discourse. Jesus calls the 12 disciples and gives them his power to drive out evil and cure all diseases. As usual, the speech ends with an editorial verse in 11:1: “When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.” This serves as the editorial hint at the end of the second part.
It is the editorial clue at the end of the second part, which, like the first, is made up of narrative episodes and discourse, an anthology of ‘logia.’ It contains episodes eight and nine on vocations and miracles. Chapter 10 is the missionary discourse; then, in chapter 11, a series of narrative episodes begins again, with the tension arising as the people of Israel reject this teaching; tension also arises within the cities of Galilee, where the wonders performed by Jesus were seen, yet his word was not taken. Some accepted them, but others were closed and rejected them.
In this context, the evangelist places a hymn of joy in which the Lord praises the Father for revealing his plans to the little ones. Only Jesus the Son can know God, the Father; only Jesus can make God known to humanity; only by passing through Jesus can God be reached. And this revealing discourse ends with an invitation: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble, and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
This is the novelty of Jesus. Carrying the yoke of the law was a common expression used by the rabbis to describe becoming disciples: committing to observe the law. The condition of Jesus is to assimilate his person and welcome him into our lives. This condition becomes easy and light because Jesus will make the effort. People are oppressed and crushed by a law they cannot keep because they are alone. You just can’t do it. ‘Come to me,’ ‘come,’ ‘join me,and life will be easy.’ It is a resounding announcement: being a Christian is easy, sweet, and light, united with Jesus. It is easier to live; you can face it better. You find the possibility of fulfilling the law that the Lord proposes. He came to liberate, give relief, and give skill and strength. He did not come to abolish but to bring relief and strength. ‘Come to me, and I will restore you.’
Matthew also made a very important statement about his experience: ‘I was downtrodden, tired and weary, and taking Jesus’ burden, I got up. I followed him. My life became sweet and light.’