St. Matthew

This past week we celebrated the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and evangelist. St. Matthew is perhaps most famous for being called from a life as a tax collector to become instead one of the Twelve and an evangelist. 

However, if you read the parallel accounts to this story in Mark and Luke, you may notice something odd. Mark and Luke identify the tax collector at the booth as a man named “Levi,” while Matthew identifies him as “Matthew.” There is some debate amongst commentators about this, whether this is the same person or two different people. Some argue that many Israelites would have multiple names; others argue that it is just manuscript or translation issues. 

One rather interesting interpretation, though, takes into consideration who Mark and Luke are themselves compared to Matthew. Mark and Luke are not of the Twelve, like Matthew is; they are students and helpers of Peter and Paul. Therefore, they likely would want to show some degree of respect and deference to Matthew. They would likely be hesitant to bring up the past of someone on the level of the Twelve, especially if that past was as disreputable as having been a tax collector. Matthew, on the other hand, is unafraid of his past and is willing to share it openly, knowing how the story ends. He uses his own story to share the radicalness of Jesus’ mercy: that even someone as far gone as a tax collector can not only be forgiven but raised to such great heights as Jesus’ Twelve Apostles.

We ourselves can take a lesson from Matthew’s openness: our past can sometimes hurt to think about, but it can also be a powerful tool of displaying God’s great love and mercy. We should be unafraid of sharing our story if it can become a means of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus to others. May our testimony, our stories, be a means of proclaiming the Gospel always, even using words when necessary.