September 21 + Saint Matthew

Matthew the Evangelist, who wrote the Gospel that appears first in the New Testament, was different from the other Apostles. He was not a popular man and many people felt that he was unworthy to be a chosen follower of Jesus.

Matthew was a Jew who worked for the Romans as a tax collector. The Romans ruled Palestine and the Jewish people at that time and they forced the Jewish people to pay taxes to them. Many of the tax collectors cheated the people by charging more taxes than required and keeping the extra money for themselves. The Jews considered the tax collectors traitors.

In his Gospel, Matthew tells a story about how Jesus called him to follow Him and how the Jewish people felt about tax collectors. In this story, the Pharisees, a group of Jews who followed all the laws of their religion, call tax collectors “sinners.“ Jesus knew that Matthew was not a sinner nor a cheat.

Matthew wrote his gospel in Aramaic with the hope that his account would convince his fellow people that Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised to send. Matthew’s Gospel makes clear that Jesus is the fulfillment of everything said by the prophets in the Old Testament. It was an important message at a time when almost everyone was expecting the return of a militant messiah brandishing a sword.

Matthew is also the only Evangelist who shares the eight Beatitudes with his readers. His Gospel faithfully reports how Jesus described who will be truly blessed by God in the Kingdom and the attitudes and actions that are required for those who follow the new Law Jesus came to bring.

After Jesus’ Ascension, Matthew preached the Gospel, as Jesus asked His disciples to do. It is believed that he established Christian communities in Ethiopia and other sections of the continent of Africa. Tradition tells us that he died as a martyr.

Matthew wrote about Jesus’ Incarnation and his Gospel makes clear that Jesus was true God and true man. Matthew is the patron saint of bankers, because he dealt with money as a tax collector. But anyone who reads Matthew’s Gospel knows that money was not important to him. What was important was believing in and living as a follower of Christ. Matthew helps us to remember that it is our faith in Jesus that makes us truly rich.