Matthew 9:9
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him. And Matthew got up and followed him.
Reflection
The wisdom of the world would say that when Jesus was selecting his inner circle of disciples that he should only choose those who were of the highest character. His disciples should possess integrity of the highest degree. That would be conventional thinking. However, in Jesus time people who were tax collectors were considered some of the greatest sinners because they often cheated people to their own gain and they, as a group, were very dishonest.
Who did Jesus call to be one of his twelve closest disciples? Matthew the tax collector. Why did Jesus do this? Jesus was obviously acutely aware that he needed to take his message of salvation to those who needed it and the people who needed Jesus’ love and forgiveness were sinners.
Take some time to reflect on how Jesus’ concern to reach out to sinners is good news for each of us.
