提要
我們都知道馬太是耶穌的門徒之一。事實上，他就是這本福音書的作者。但馬太也是猶太人社群中最不受歡迎的人物。沒錯，他是猶太人，但他的職業是為羅馬人當稅吏。憑他稅吏的身分，他可以隨自己的估計要求一個人要納多少稅，給羅馬人他們要的稅率，然後將剩下的據為己有。
稅吏被認為是藉著壓榨同胞來使自己致富的人。說他被人瞧不起還算言輕了，他根本被視為與妓女、酒鬼、罪犯同列，是社會中的賤民。耶穌竟然呼召一個稅吏作祂主要的十二門徒之一，你可能會想那真是自毀形像的不智之舉。不過，耶穌正是這麼做了。耶穌呼召一個被輕視的人來跟隨祂。祂甚至到馬太家裡與他一同吃飯來證實他們的關係；馬太的許多朋友──稅吏和罪人──也在那裡與耶穌和他的門徒一同吃飯。這當然是文士和法利賽人樂於見到的事，他們好拿住把柄進一步攻擊這個來自加利利的教師。所以他們問耶穌的門徒：「你們的先生為什麼和稅吏並罪人一同吃飯呢？」耶穌回答說：「健康的人用不著醫生，有病的人才用得著。」
耶穌的話使我們回想起登山寶訓中的「虛心的人有福了，因為天國是他們的。」耶穌親近那些承認自己心裡貧窮的人。自義和驕傲永遠是天國駐進我們心靈的最大阻礙。
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Overview
Matthew, as we all know, was one of Jesus’ disciples. In fact, he is the writer of the book we’re now studying. But Matthew was one of the undesirables in Israelite society. He was a Jew, yes, but he was a tax collector for the Romans. In this position, he could demand whatever he thought a person was capable of paying, give the Romans whatever percentage they wanted, and keep the rest for himself.
A tax collector was seen as getting rich from the sorrow and oppression of his own people. To say he was despised was an understatement. He was down there with the prostitutes, drunks and criminals, the down-and-outers. So you would think it a bit of a public relations disaster that Jesus would call a tax collector to be one of His key followers, one of the twelve disciples. Yet that’s exactly what He did. Jesus called this despised person to be one of His men. He goes to his house to have dinner to seal the bargain, and many of Matthew’s friends are there – tax collectors and sinners – eating with Him and His disciples. Of course this was the stuff the teachers of the law and Pharisees loved to see to further emphasize their hatred of this teacher from Galilee. So they asked a question of His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus’ response was, “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.”
It’s reminiscent of the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for there is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus came to those who recognized their spiritual poverty. Self-righteousness and pride are always the effective blocks in any work of the kingdom of heaven in our lives.
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