Daily Scripture:
Matthew 9:9 As Yeshua passed on from there he spotted a tax-collector named Mattityahu sitting in his collection booth. He said to him, “Follow me!” and he got up and followed him.
10 While Yeshua was in the house eating, many tax-collectors and sinners came and joined him and his talmidim at the meal. (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions:
Most Jews in Jesus' day expected God to send a political and military king, the Messiah, to free them violently from Roman occupation. Jesus’ kind of ministry simply didn’t fit. Jesus didn’t see Matthew as a traitor and outcast—he saw one of his “sheep” in need of his inclusive love (cf. Luke 15:1-7). He called Matthew, and Matthew left behind his predatory, profitable tax collecting to follow Jesus. Jesus transformed Matthew from a taker into a giver of salvation who changed many lives, particularly by writing the Gospel of Matthew.
- With whom do you identify in this passage? The outcast Matthew? The judgmental Pharisees? The merciful, kind Jesus? Maybe all three at different times? How can you grow in your ability to see people not through the filters of judgment, prejudice or fear, but through Jesus’ kind, loving, and merciful eyes?
- At first, this story might look out of place. It falls in a whole section of stories about healing miracles. For Matthew, Jesus' readiness to accept him and his friends must have been one of the most healing moments of his life. Have there been times when, in big or small ways, you felt despised or rejected? How can Jesus' pattern of extending love and kindness to everyone bring healing to those hurting parts of your life?
Lord God, you come to me when I’m busy at my daily tasks, as you came to Matthew. I pray that I may always be as ready to respond as he was when your eternal love and compassion break into my daily routine. Amen.
Ginger is a graduate of Saint Paul School of Theology. She and her husband Rob have a son, a daughter, and a high energy dog. She loves writing, conversations over coffee, and teaching spiritual classes.
It is interesting that Matthew places a tax collector story in the middle of miraculous stories of Jesus healing disease. When I think a story is in a strange place in the Bible, I have learned to slow down and think a little more deeply about why it is where it is.
Maybe because greed and desperation can be like a disease that takes over our souls. A dis-ease in our souls, for which we need miraculous healing.
Jesus gives us two words as the miracle cure: “Follow me.”
This phrase appears over 20 times in the gospels. Jesus says, “Follow me” to fishermen, to the wealthy, to the disciples, to tax collectors, and through those stories, to us today. And, in the Greek, the word Jesus used that's translated as “follow” means to join, partner with, walk alongside, accompany on a journey.
Greed and desperation have been part of the human experience since the beginning of time. Today it may look like pressure from earnings expectations at work, or finding ourselves in a corporate corruption situation, or getting upside down on a car purchase, or taking on a too large house payment, or credit card debt that exceeds our income. All of these scenarios can result in moments of desperation, greed, and fear.
Profound healing can occur when we surrender and see ourselves joining God in a partnership. Here are words we might say: “God, I am yours. I want to be free of the career, situation, circumstances, or choices that have placed me into a life of greed and desperation. Free me by letting me join you in a new way of living. I want to surrender and follow you. Please give me the courage today and every day to follow you. Please show me the way.”
Matthew walked away from the tax collector table. If we need to, we can too.
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You might also like:
- The life-changing results of Jesus' kindness
- Jesus, “the guest of a sinner”
- The parable of the good tax collector
- “Even tax collectors”
- Prayer Tip: Rich, Lost & Searching
- Or download this week's printable GPS.
Daily Scripture:
Luke 19:8 But Zakkai stood there and said to the Lord, “Here, Lord, I am giving half of all I own to the poor; and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.” 9 Yeshua said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, inasmuch as this man too is a son of Avraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.” (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions:
Jesus did many admirable things during his ministry on earth. He healed the sick, broke down barriers of prejudice and exclusion, and taught people how to live better lives by accepting God as their true king. He told the grumbling crowd (many of whom Zacchaeus had probably cheated) that he “came to seek and save the lost.” That was his central, guiding mission—to restore and set right all the brokenness created by evil.
- Was Zacchaeus more of a “success,” a wealthier man, at the start of this story, or at its end? You know the answer you’re “supposed” to give. But honestly, how do you define your own “wealth” and “success”? Would you ever even consider giving up as much as Zacchaeus did if you sensed that the Lord Jesus was asking you to do that?
- In Luke 19:10, Jesus said he “came to seek and save the lost." Scholar William Barclay wrote, "In the New Testament 'lost' does not mean damned or doomed. It just means in the wrong place…. A man is lost when he has wandered away from God; and he is found when once again he takes his rightful place as an obedient child in the… family of his Father."* Were you ever "lost"? If so, in what ways did God help you be "found"? How can you join God in helping others who are lost find their way home?
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming "to seek and save the lost," including me. Help me to join you in doing that. Amen.
* William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke (Revised Edition). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975, page 257.
Chris Abel is the Pastor of Students and Young Adults at Resurrection, and he describes himself as a "Pastor/Creative-type/Adventurer." A former atheist turned passionate follower of Christ, he completed his seminary education in Washington, DC. Before coming to Resurrection, Chris was a campus pastor near St. Louis, MO.
Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.” Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this household because he too is a son of Abraham. The Human One [or Son of Man] came to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:8-10)
A few years ago I was backpacking on a mountain trail when the trail suddenly ended. It was just gone. I remember looking around perplexed and unsure of what to do. I pushed through the trees to see if it continued on the other side. No trail. I backtracked a few feet. No trail. I got out my GPS, but the signal told me I was near the trail! But THERE WAS NO TRAIL. The word “lost” is a funny one. You can be lost in the woods, lost while driving, but rarely do we ever hear someone use this word to describe, well, their lives.
I’ve seen men and women recently come through divorce still reeling and trying to find which way is up.
I’ve seen friends and family wrestle with illness and disease and try to find their way forward.
I’ve encountered teenagers and young adults who try to find their identities in a world that often tries to force them into a mold.
People don’t just get lost places. They get lost in life, too.
J.R.R. Tolkien popularized the phrase, “Not all those who wander are lost,” (which I LOVE, by the way), but the opposite is true, too. “Not all who are on track know where they are going.”
In our passage today, Jesus speaks to a chief tax collector. This is a guy who is successful. Wealthy. He has everything he wants.
Except direction.
When Jesus talks about saving the “lost,” he’s not talking about religion. He’s talking about people who from all outward appearances seem to have it together, but who have no direction.
You can be successful, athletic, gorgeous, wealthy, charismatic, and completely lost.
Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She wrote a book called “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.” Spoiler alert, here’s the five biggest regrets. (Sorry, Bronnie).
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
- I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish that I had let myself be happier.
When you don’t know where you or going or why you exist, it’s easy to get lost. And Jesus knew this. He knew this about people 2000 years ago and he knew this about us today. Jesus gives us direction and purpose. He helps people like Zacchaeus and he helps people like you and me. I’d love to think Zacchaeus, decades later, left this life surrounded by friends and family, able to say “I have no regrets.”
And I’d like to think each of us will be able to say the same thing too.
We live in a world that distracts us from what truly matters. We always have and we always will. But we have a compass - a rabbi who has come to help steer us to the things that really matter.
Like this post? Share it!
You might also like:
- Jesus, “the guest of a sinner”
- The parable of the good tax collector
- “Even tax collectors”
- Prayer Tip: Rich, Lost & Searching
- Jesus' legacy: the gift of peace
- Or download this week's printable GPS.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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