Friday in the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time, July 7, 2023 

Matthew 9, 9-13

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

“As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.”  Saints Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story of Matthew’s call by the Lord Jesus to follow him, but it is only in the first Gospel that the tax collector  is named as Matthew.  Like most of the Apostles, the tax collector used two names: his Jewish name (Levi) and his professional name for use in dealing with Greek-speaking Gentiles (Matthew).  It is interesting to note that although this is true of the Apostles and many who dealt in Galilee, Jesus was known only by his proper Jewish name.  This may reflect that the inhabitants of Nazareth had little to do with Greek-speakers since their town was located in a fairly remote part of the territory.  Most importantly, however, the Lord’s identity was carried in the name which the Angel Gabriel told both Mary and Joseph to give him: Jesus, from the Hebrew Yeshua, meaning “God saves”.  Now, Matthew, the author of the Gospel, uses his professional name in speaking about himself as the tax collector.  He does this in his list of the Apostles and also here as if to distance himself from his past yet at the same time acknowledging it: I was Matthew, but I am Levi.  This would explain why Luke, who did not know him as a tax collector, only refers to him as “Levi the son of Alphaeus”.  

It is also Luke who tells us that, “Levi made him a great feast in his own house: And there was a great company of publicans and of others that were at table with them” (Luke 5, 29).  Matthew makes a more casual mention of the meal: “while he was at table in his house” and he comes right out and identifies the “others” as “sinners”.  This “great feast” would have taken place at midday, when the biggest meal of the day was taken in that time and place.  If the great feast occurred the very day that Jesus called Matthew to follow him, the call would have taken place in the morning.  But it is not clear from the text whether it was the same day or a following day.  Much depends on how much time it took to prepare a banquet of this kind.  The Gospel indicates that Matthew’s house had some size to it because of the size of the feast and the reference to the great company of the tax collectors “and others” present.  Now, that the posture taken at banquets was that of reclining on a couch also tells us of the space available in his house.

“The Pharisees saw this.”  A really big feast would have attracted notice in Capernaum, a town of about 1,500 people at the time.  We might wonder how the Pharisees, who detested the tax collectors, would have entered the house to see who was invited.  Perhaps they only walked about the dining hall and did not join in the eating, or they milled around before the food was served.  “And said to his disciples.”  The Pharisees do not dare to accost Jesus but seek to peel away the confidence of his Apostles.  “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  They are not actually interested in their answer.  Their words also act as a taunt.  It brings to mind the serpent saying to Eve, “Why has God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?” (Genesis 3, 1).  

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”  The Pharisees May have spoken loud enough purposely so that Jesus would have heard them.  If so, their question would have disturbed and silence the gathering.  The Pharisees would have felt safe and entitled to do so because of their status in society.  The Lord answers them directly, defending himself, outlining his mission, and dismissing them.  This brings to mind the Lord’s final answer and dismissal of Satan when the devil tempted him: “Begone, Satan: for it is written: The Lord your God shall you adore, and him only shall you serve.”  Here too, the Lord speaks shortly and sharply and employs the Scriptures: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6, 6).  

“I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”  The Greek word translated here as “call” means “to invite”.  The Lord has a double-meaning here.  First, the “sinners” were the ones invited to Matthew’s feast.  The invitations Matthew sent out would have been made on the Lord’s behalf so it is as though Jesus had invited each personally as the guest of honor, and he could certainly have not received anyone who did not appeal to him.  The Pharisees were uninvited and so were not welcome at the feast.  Jesus calls attention to this fact.  But the Lord has a deeper message for them.  He has come into the world in order to invite all to the Kingdom of God.  Not all, of course, would respond.  Those who knew themselves to be sinners would respond with repentance and so accept the invitation.  Those who considered themselves righteous would do no penance.  But we are all sinners: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3, 23).  Those who do not repent and do penance will not be received into the eternal feast in heaven.