Matthew the Apostle
Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
| |
| Ecclesial status | Saint |
|---|---|
| Titles | Apostle; Evangelist; Martyr according to tradition |
| Occupation | Tax collector before his call |
| Associated Gospel | Gospel according to Matthew |
| Commemoration | Feast, 21 September |
| Symbol | Winged man or angel |
Matthew the Apostle was a tax collector called directly by Jesus Christ, one of the Twelve, and the evangelist traditionally associated with the first canonical Gospel. His conversion displays the authority of mercy and the apostolic mission to teach all nations.[1]
Call from the tax office
Matthew's Gospel recounts that Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post and said, Follow me. Matthew rose and followed him. Tax collectors served the fiscal system associated with Roman rule and were commonly suspected of extortion and ritual compromise. Christ's choice therefore overturns social expectation without pretending that injustice is harmless. The call creates a new life: Matthew leaves an occupation ordered to revenue and enters the apostolic company ordered to the Kingdom.
A meal follows in the house, with many tax collectors and sinners at table with Jesus and his disciples. When Pharisees object, Christ answers that the healthy do not need a physician but the sick and commands them to learn the meaning of mercy rather than sacrifice. He has come to call sinners. The episode does not bless sin or abolish conversion. The divine Physician draws near precisely to heal, and Matthew's rising from the customs post shows the concrete response mercy requires.[2]
Matthew and Levi
Mark and Luke call the tax collector Levi, while Matthew's account uses Matthew. Christian tradition ordinarily identifies them as the same disciple, possibly known by two names, because the call narratives occupy the same place and share distinctive details. Scripture does not explain the variation. The identification is reasonable and received, but elaborate attempts to reconstruct a name change should not be stated as revealed fact. The central truth remains Christ's sovereign call of a public sinner into apostolic service.
One of the Twelve
Matthew appears in all four New Testament lists of the Twelve. His own Gospel's list uniquely calls him the tax collector, preserving the memory of the condition from which grace called him. The title is not self-contempt; it magnifies mercy and prevents apostolic office from being mistaken for a reward earned by an immaculate past. Like the others, Matthew receives authority to preach, heal, cast out demons, and represent the renewed Israel gathered by the Messiah.
The Twelve are formed by hearing Jesus, witnessing his works, misunderstanding, receiving correction, abandoning him during the Passion, and encountering him risen. Their authority is Christ's gift before it is personal achievement. At the end of Matthew's Gospel, the risen Lord sends them to make disciples of all nations, baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach obedience to everything he commanded, with his abiding presence until the end of the age.[3][4]
Apostolic mission
Later traditions send Matthew to Judea and then to regions variously identified as Ethiopia, Persia, Parthia, or lands near the Caspian Sea. Accounts of his death also differ, although Western tradition commonly venerates him as a martyr. These traditions preserve the Church's memory of apostolic mission beyond the New Testament record but do not support a single certain itinerary. His liturgical title Apostle and Evangelist rests securely on received ecclesial tradition and the canonical Gospel.[5]
The Gospel according to Matthew
The Church receives Matthew as a canonical Gospel of apostolic origin and traditionally associates it with the Apostle. Early testimony, especially Papias as preserved by Eusebius, connects Matthew with a collection of the Lord's sayings in a Hebrew manner of speech. The canonical work is Greek and shows literary relationships that Catholic scholars may investigate. Such study concerns the human composition and transmission of an inspired book; it does not negate its apostolic foundation, truth, or ecclesial authorship.[6]
Matthew presents Jesus as Messiah, Son of David, new Moses, authoritative teacher, Emmanuel, and Son of the living God. Five large discourses organize much of the Gospel: the Sermon on the Mount, missionary discourse, parables of the Kingdom, teaching on ecclesial life, and eschatological discourse. Fulfillment formulas join Christ to Israel's Scriptures, while the visit of the Magi and final commission reveal the universal scope of salvation.
Church, sacraments, and moral life
Matthew alone among the evangelists uses the word Church explicitly. Christ builds his Church on Peter, gives the keys of the Kingdom, and teaches fraternal correction and binding and loosing within the community. The Gospel joins high Christology to demanding moral conversion: reconciliation, chastity of heart, truthfulness, love of enemies, prayer, almsgiving, forgiveness, care for the little ones, and judgment according to works of mercy. Catholic reading refuses to separate doctrine, sacrament, ecclesial authority, and lived obedience.[7]
Cult, symbol, and feast
Relics honored as Matthew's have been venerated at Salerno since the medieval period, and the cathedral there is dedicated to him. His customary symbol is the winged man or angel from the four living creatures, because his Gospel opens with Christ's human genealogy. Art also depicts the call at the customs table, an angel assisting the evangelist, a book, money, or an instrument of martyrdom. The symbols serve his Gospel identity and should not replace the scriptural portrait.
The Roman Rite celebrates Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, on 21 September as a Feast with red vestments in honor of his traditional martyrdom. He is named in the Roman Canon and commemorated in the Roman Martyrology. The Church venerates him as a saint in heaven and patron of accountants, customs officers, and others who handle money, asking especially for integrity, detachment, and readiness to leave a sinful way of life at Christ's word.
Mercy and mission
Matthew's enduring witness is not a sentimental contrast between a harsh religion and an indulgent Jesus. The Lord who eats with sinners also commands repentance, righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees, the narrow way, and obedience to all he has taught. Mercy restores the sinner for holiness and mission. The former tax collector becomes a herald of the Kingdom because Christ's call is powerful enough to forgive, detach, form, and send.
References
- Back to citation Benedict XVI on Matthew the Apostle — General audience on Matthew the tax collector, the identity with Levi, conversion, humility, discipleship, apostolic vocation, and the Gospel traditionally bearing his name.
- Back to citation Matthew 9 — Matthew's call from the customs post, his immediate following of Jesus, the meal with tax collectors and sinners, and Christ's teaching on mercy and the divine Physician.
- Back to citation Matthew 10 — Matthew named among the Twelve and the apostolic authority and missionary instructions Christ gives them for proclamation, healing, witness, endurance, and confession.
- Back to citation Matthew 28 — The bodily Resurrection, appearance of Christ, universal mission to make disciples, Trinitarian baptism, comprehensive teaching, and the Lord's enduring presence.
- Back to citation Mysterii Paschalis and the General Roman Calendar — Saint Paul VI's promulgation of the revised Roman liturgical year and universal calendar, governing the rank and date of the celebrations described in these biographies.
- Back to citation Dei Verbum, 18–19 — Vatican II on the preeminence, apostolic origin, inspired formation, truth, and historical character of the four canonical Gospels.
- Back to citation Matthew 16 and 18 — Matthew's distinctive teaching on Christ building his Church, Peter and the keys, binding and loosing, discipleship under the cross, and ecclesial correction.