Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ (Ro 1:7). Amen.
I don’t know if you ever thought about writing your autobiography—the story of your life.
Maybe you would come up with some objections to that plan:
I was/am not a big fan of English. That sounds too much like school. Besides it is summer vacation. Students shouldn’t have to think for a few months.
I am not famous (or notorious). It might not make for interesting reading for someone’s free time at the pool or at the cabin. It definitely wouldn’t make a best seller list—online or in store.
I haven’t done anything significant. It might be more of a one-page essay rather than a 649-page book. (That would save on publishing costs.)
Those may be true. But the Holy Spirit allowed Matthew to scratch his down in Scripture. At least one day of it. It is not intensive—5 verses, but instructive.
But our focus is not on Matthew, but Jesus. We see how he operates in his ministry. The Savior’s concern for souls is similar to a doctor’s care for bodies. Watch the Doctor work as he calls and as he cures. We read from …
Matthew 9:9-13
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, the Good Physician,
It was a dumb question. I know that. But at least I didn’t start with: “You are probably going to say “no,” but …” That would have allowed him to come back with “no.” I was having surgery on the pinky finger of my right hand. When the surgeon came in the room, I asked, “Can I watch?” You can probably guess: “No.” So up went a blue sheet conveniently between me and him and my arm was put to sleep quickly. (He may have hoped for the same of me.) Perhaps he didn’t want me to see the hack job. That was his name: Dr. Hacker. I don’t make these things up.
Jesus doesn’t mind if we observe him on the job. It is not to be gruesome, but grateful. Because as we do, we can appreciate his skill.
Watch the Doctor Work
1. As he calls (9,13)
2. As he cures (10-13)
1. As he calls (9,13)
I don’t know many doctors, if any, who pull you up on their contact list and push “call” to find out if you are under the weather. Usually it is the other way around. Not Jesus. Watch the Doctor work as he calls.
Matthew was at the office when Jesus stopped by. He was “sitting at the tax collector’s booth” (Mt 9:9). I don’t know if it is still the same. I remember growing up and going through Chicago. There would be toll booths. Dad would chuck a quarter or a dime or both in a basket. If you didn’t have the correct change, there would be an individual there to help you with your dilemma and your dollar so that the arm could go up and you could go on to the next one a mile away (or so it seemed). It is probably automated by now. But that was Matthew. He was there along the road. He would make sure that the people coming into Capernaum to peddle their goods paid their cash. It was kind of a reverse sales tax—the right to sell in the city; for the vendor, not the buyer.
Recall that these kinds of men were not really anyone’s favorite. Moms didn’t dream about their sons growing up to be tax collectors. That is because they worked for the enemy—the Romans, who had conquered the Jews and now controlled them. And with a heavy hand. They would sell off sections of Israel to the highest Roman bidder to bring in a certain fixed amount of revenue for the government. That one, in turn, would hire others, publicans, to do the actual work for them. And if it came about that they brought in a bit more than necessary because everyone needed their cut, they might happen to line their own tunics in the process. It was not too hard to imagine that the profession attracted men of questionable character who might cheat more often than not. So on the local level, these were not slimy foreigners, but fellow citizens who participated in this legalized extortion. There was no love lost for the greedy traitors, even keeping them out of the synagogue.
Jesus does what is shocking, if not surprising. Note that it was Jesus’ idea and initiative. Jesus approached Matthew, not the other way around. It is as if we are standing right there eavesdropping: “‘Follow me,’ he told him” (Mt 9:9). That was an offer to go along with Jesus as his disciple, listening to him and learning from him.
And that is what Matthew did. “Matthew got up and followed him” (Mt 9:9), leaving everything immediately—his profession and profits (Lk 5:28). And his life changed from then on—walking with Jesus, witnessing all that he did and said. He later became one of the 12 apostles, specifically and specially chosen to go out with the gospel (Mt 10:3). And then the Holy Spirit used him to author the first Gospel. The name “Matthew” means “gift of God.” He had been busy taking, not he would be giving—forgiveness of sins and hope of heaven, in spoken and written word.
It might not just be an unlikely choice, but an unbelievable one. Matthew? A tax collector? Really? Or how about some others. Moses who was a murderer to lead the God’s people out of Egypt. Paul who was the persecutor to preach the gospel all over Asia Minor and Europe and pen 13 epistles in the New Testament. Unlikely at best.
But why would we stop there? We could add some more to the list. You. Me. Why us? Our potential? Our promise? No. None of that. Our résumé, like Matthew and company, reads “sinner”—as if that were our profession. And at times, we are quite good at it, echoing the hymn writer, “chief of sinners” (CW 385; 1 Ti 1:15).
And yet Jesus comes to us, “Follow me.” Why? We have Jesus’ own summary of his mission: “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mt 9:13). We had missed the mark, now we are in line with Jesus. Righteous, right with God, not because of what we do or bring, but because Jesus carried our sin to the cross and came out of the grave (Ro 4:25). Just like Abraham, God credits righteousness to us, Jesus’ righteousness (Ro 4:24). He came to save sinners and that is exactly what he did (1 Ti 1;15). In a sense, Jesus rips up that résumé and writes “saint” (Ro 1:7)—free from sin. Watch the doctor work as he calls. He called us to be his own.
2. As he cures (10-13)
No one wants to go to the doctor and come home feeling worse. We look for a remedy along with relief. That is the result with Jesus. Watch the Doctor work as he cures.
When is the last time you heard of a doctor making a house call? I am not referring to home health care. I am talking about a person in a white coat with a black bag. Jesus made a house call. Matthew invited Jesus to his house for a supper. But there were others on the guest list. “Many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples” (Mt 9:12). Matthew wanted to share Jesus with his friends and show Jesus to them. This was not a small little gathering.
And it brought a lot of attention. And an accusation. The Pharisees inquired, not of Jesus, but of his followers: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” (Mt 9:11). In that culture, as well as ours, eating a meal with someone meant a close association. You don’t pull up to the table of a complete stranger. In their minds Jesus’ action was sad and his activity was shameful. Those tax collectors and sinners were to be avoided and excluded, not accepted and embraced. Who does Jesus think that he is? There was disgust and there was disapproval.
The disciples didn’t respond. Jesus did. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Mt 9:12). When you go to a waiting room, what do you see? The strong, sweating from a workout at the gym, or the weak, struggling from a virus in their chest? It is obvious.
And so is Jesus’ point. A doctor has to get close to his patients, not to get the disease, but to give the diagnosis. It would be strange to state: “It would be great being a doctor if it weren’t for all the sick people.” That is their occupation. And that is what Jesus was doing. He is not endorsing their wrong, but encouraging their repentance—turning from their sin and turning to him.
Jesus was not implying that the Pharisees were healthy. They assumed so. After all they were so much better than others, living up to their name, “the separated ones.” In their estimation, they were in good shape …
exercising by doing so many good works,
sleeping well because their consciences congratulated them, not condemned them,
and eating right because they dined with the right people, their own kind.
They had no use for Jesus. Why? They were hearty enough all by themselves. Or so they supposed.
But Jesus wants them to examine their attitudes carefully. “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Mt 9:13; Ho 6:6). God didn’t want just the right actions on the outside—a simple going through of the motions like a child who washes the dishes with a scowl on his face. He wants the correct emotions on the inside. They were not extending mercy to those who needed it—“tax collectors and sinners.” Jesus was. He saw their need and was moved to help. That is why he came—to cure the sick of their sin.
Are we healthy? Or sick? Not physically, but spiritually. Do we need mercy from the Doctor? Yes. We don’t want to be like the person who recognizes that he has a terrible cold but refuses to see a physician. The hope is this: “Maybe it will just go away.” Our sin won’t. Sin is fatal.
Unlike the Israelites in Hosea’s day, we are sincere. We admit our guilt (Ho 5:15). And we acknowledge God (Ho 6:6), knowing that he is merciful to us as he sends his Son, loving to us as he sends our sins away. He makes that known to us in his Word. And so we join the psalmist in saying: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps 119:103). And that mercy that cures us is the mercy that comes from us to others. That is why we are here—to get mercy and to give mercy. That drives our ministry and directs our mission. Watch the Doctor work as he cures. He cures us to be his own.
Would you entitle your autobiography “Me: The Uncut Version Volume 1.” (You are anticipating a sequel I guess.) But that could only be if you haven’t had any surgeries. Matthew described how he went from collector of taxes to follower of Jesus, the good Physician. Jesus functions the same way with us. Watch the Doctor as he calls. “Follow me.” And watch him as he cures. “You are forgiven.” There is no reason to complain about that healthcare. Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you (Ro 16:20). Amen.
June 25, 2017
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