Mark: Matthew Follows Jesus

1. Additional Scriptural readings suggested: Mark 3:31-39; 31-35

2. A short reading:

"Spiritual knowledge comes through prayer, deep stillness, and complete detachment, while wisdom comes through humble meditation on Holy Scripture and, above all, through grace given by God." (St. Diadochos of Damascus, Orthodox writer in the 5th century AD, The Philokalia, vol. 1, 255)

3. Text for meditation (in Italics):

¹ When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. ³ Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ "Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" ⁸ At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, "Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he said to the paralytic ¹¹ "I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home." ¹² And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" ¹³ Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. ¹⁴ As he was walking along, he saw Levi son ofAlphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me. "And he got up and followed him.

4. Reflections: Today we read of the fifth disciple chosen in Mark's Gospel. Our Lord is probably still in Capernaum. He sees Levi, which is probably another name for Matthew (see Matthew 9:9-13), sitting at the tollbooth, collecting tolls or taxes from those, likely farmers, who were moving goods to or from Capernaum. These tolls would have been collected on behalf of the Roman state, thus, as you know, Matthew, a Jew, would have been despised by other Jews because he worked for Rome. One of my sources contains a quote from the middle of the 2nd century AD that says Jesus was notorious for making disciples of infamous people, including publicans (tax and toll collectors) and "wicked sailors." Quite a reputation, making disciples of bad people, and in the process making them good people.

There is no indication that Matthew was a bad man, although he may have skimmed a little off the top once in a while, but we do not even know that. What did Jesus see in Matthew that made Him want to choose this man as one of the Twelve? That is difficult to say. It is easy to speculate a little. What do you think Jesus saw in Matthew? Would he have been industrious, responsible (to the "right people"), and willing to live "on the edge," so to speak? Maybe Jesus touched Matthew at a very deep and sensitive place in His heart. Surely Matthew had heard of Jesus, perhaps even listened to Him before. Perhaps Jesus saw Matthew in another place and sensed that he would be a good disciple. After all, we know now that Jesus had uncanny insight into what people were thinking.

When Matthew heard Jesus call, "Follow me," he "got up" (as the paralyzed man had gotten up), that is, he "rose up," and followed Jesus. It will not hurt us to be reminded that to follow Jesus means to follow Him in faithful discipleship. Who took over Matthew's tollbooth? Matthew didn't need it anymore. Matthew had a new life now, one totally unlike anything he had done before. Next week we are going to read the story of a man who asked to travel as Jesus' disciple, but the Lord told him to stay where he was. Matthew, on the other hand, was to leave all and follow Jesus. Whether we are called to stay where we are or go wandering with Jesus is up to God. What is really important is that our lives be given totally over to the Lord as His possession. To call Jesus "Lord" says that we recognize His will as best for our lives and that we are at his disposal all the time, 24/7.

5. Questions raised today for personal reflection:

Does God like rock and roll? That's what my eight year old grandson asked recently. We could put it this way, are we prepared to recognize people totally different from us as legitimate disciples of Jesus? Most of us are comfortable with "our own kind." It is tough to look at some people and think they are truly Christian. If they were, wouldn't they look like us and act like us? I think God likes rock and roll as much as Bach and Beethoven. Its not the "form" but the "content" (the lyrics, so to speak) that is important. God help us to be like Jesus, who loves all kinds of people. If we are like Him then we can like rock and roll.

How can we follow Jesus today? What do you think? You probably have been following Him for many years. How does Jesus effect your life? How did He -- and how does He -- change you so you can be more like Him? I'm sure you can find things in your ife you would like to change. Why not ask Jesus to help you change in ways that will make you a better person and easier to get along with.

It seems like America will be at war with Iraq very soon, unless there is something of a miraculous change in Saddam Hussein. All of this is very troubling to Christians because we do not like violence. How can we pray to be more like Christ with this impending conflict at our nation's door?

5. Suggestions for prayer: Let us pray for our enemies, just as Jesus told us to do in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12). A truly converted enemy is no enemy at all, as the early Church found out with the Apostle Paul, who was once the church's enemy. Matthew was considered to be an enemy by some, and yet he became a witness for the Prince of Peace. It may be unlikely that Saddam Hussein or Usama bin Laden will become friends rather than enemies of America. Yet we are to pray for them. They need to repent, turn to the Lord, and quit their meanness. They will have to be responsible for their crimes, of course, but God could help them face that. If we find we cannot pray for our enemies, then that means we still have something to do if we want to remain friends of Christ.