Author Archive
Who Is Matthew?
One thing I find interesting is who is Matthew? I have done a little research and found something to be very insightful and thought provoking…
Matthew was of course the author of the first Gospel. But what strikes me is the fact he was a “Publican” also known as a tax collector. I may be jumping a little bit ahead here but this all reflects on the who & why of Matthew. If we look at Matthew 10:2-4 we find two Simon’s: Simon Peter and Simon the Zealot or Cananite or Cananaen. A term for the party Zealots, a group determined to overthrow Roman Domination in Palestine. Simon was most likely a member of this party. The word “Zealot” came from the Aramaic which means to be zealous, and was used for those who were zealous for the law.
One thing I uncovered, about the group called Zealots was they were revolutionaries who hoped to free their country from the Romans even by the means of violence. They were Jews who had a strong dislike or hatred for Romans even more then there fellow country men did. Many Zealots were brutally murdered by the Roman Army, one method of execution was crucifixion. Which must have raised the dislike factor much higher! And not found much favor or harmony with tax collectors working for Caesar!
By all means these guys were enemies! Tax collector’s were Jews collecting money from the Jewish people to give to the Roman Empire! And Zealots were Rebel Jews! Simon and Matthew were two of the least likely men to be together, working for the same cause! Following a long haired preacher from the desert!
Wow! I just found this small but huge! Christ chose both of these men for reason and love. Knowing the strong difference between them!
There is great hope found in the love of Christ! This reminds me of a old boss I had whom I didn’t get along with until both of us put Christ at the fore front of our selfish lives!
Praise be to God
Blessings DJay
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Different theological backgrounds means different views on scripture. We can differ on secondary issues and still have fellowship. So keep theological debates centered on the text in our reading plan (unless needed to cross reference of course) so as not to veer off to far & be a one issue blog. But Truth is important to dialog about, so communicate effectively.