Matthew 9:9-13
Chapter 9
9
He Calls Matthew and Shares the Table With Sinners
As Jesus continued on his way, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his booth in the customs house, and he said to him: “Follow me!” And Matthew got up and followed him.10
Now, it happened while Jesus was at the table at Matthew’s house that many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and his disciples.
11
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples:
“Why is it, that your master eats with sinners and tax collectors?”
12
When Jesus heard this, he said:
“Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do.
13
Go and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Commentaries
He Calls Matthew and Shares the Table With Sinners.
Matthew’s calling is very important: Jesus chooses a tax collector, a publican working for Rome, the occupying power. Like all tax collectors, he has a very bad reputation among the people. Jesus shows him trust without asking for public confessions of conversion. Jesus’s sovereign call frees him from the slavery of money and leads him to discipleship.
On the other hand, Jesus, a regular guest at the tables of the poor and sinners, made sharing food with everyone, regardless of who they were, one of the most powerful symbols of the newness of the kingdom of God that he proclaimed. This is why his practice of inviting or allowing himself to be invited by tax collectors and sinners caused such scandal. Before God, we are all equal: sinners in need of his mercy and his bread of life.