Jesus calls Matthew, a man of unacceptable status, and he gets up and follows after him. Implied in Matthew’s following of Jesus is the leaving of his desk, the symbol of his profession and the root of his sinfulness.
God never calls us to something, without first calling us away from something. Some people will never fully come into discipleship because they find themselves unable to let go of commitments in which they are oftentimes legitimately engaged before the call of God comes into their lives.
The call of God is a far ranging, far reaching call. Jesus calling a tax-collector is a controversial call. In far too many churches there are still those who tell us, and apparently also God, who can and cannot be called. Tax-collectors were despised for they were often believed to cheat the people whose taxes they were instructed to collect. They were considered to be no better than swindlers and murderers; they were believed to be guilty of flagrant moral offenses. It is likely that Matthew was indeed a customs official, counted among those of such ill repute. Yet Jesus extends the call to him. It is not so much what Jesus sees in us that makes us worthy, but rather what he puts in us when we obey his command to follow Him.
