NEW TESTAMENT CHARACTERS.
Matthew/Levi and Thomas

MATTHEW LEVI - Apostle, former tax collector.
Collecting tax is never a popular occupation, but the occupying Roman power employed Jewish tax collectors; and collaborators are always hated more than the oppressors with whom they collaborate. The Jewish people could accept that a Roman soldier was only doing his duty to his own country, but the renegade Jew who collected Roman tax was another matter.

Fishermen had an additional reason for antagonism towards the local tax collector. Tax on fish was not only exorbitant in amount but troublesome in administration. The last thing one wants to do after coming in from a hard night’s fishing is make a tax return. When Zebedee and his sons James and John and their partners Peter and Andrew brought in their catch, Matthew Levi was there on the shore waiting to pounce.

And tax collectors were rich. Even if they did not take more than their allowed commission, they were still rich - richer than the hardworking fishermen. It did not make for a comfortable relationship. John the Baptist was easier on tax collectors than most - he simply told them to do their job honestly, but it is doubtful whether Matthew found himself any more acceptable to the fishermen.

Then John the Baptist introduced his disciples to the new Galilean preacher, Jesus of Nazareth. Still Matthew looked on, a mere spectator. He knew when four of his taxpayers went off on a trip to Judea with the new leader. He saw them return, heard Jesus preach from a seat in their boats to crowds on the shore.

Then Jesus called his four fishermen friends to leave their fishing and follow him permanently, telling them that, “From now on you will catch people.”

Jesus at that moment was at the height of His popularity. This was before the opposition had hardened. The fishermen were leaving their profession to join in with a well-known celebrity who by calling them had demonstrated His confidence in them. Of course, Matthew may have reflected, He knew the fishermen well. He had worked with them before. It was only natural that if Jesus was recruiting a team He would choose them, but no leader would compromise his position or his popularity by recruiting a hated collaborator.

That was when Jesus called Matthew to, “Follow Me.” The remarkable feature of this call was not Matthew’s commitment to Christ but Christ’s commitment to Matthew - in public.

Afterwards Matthew invited Jesus and His friends to a meal in his house, and gathered his own friends to hear the new teacher. Opponents sneered that the new Rabbi was hobnobbing with social outcasts, providing the occasion for one of Christ’s most well known statements - “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, I have not come to call good people but sinners.”

There is not much more said about Matthew in the Gospels. He was later selected as one of the twelve Apostles. He did not become treasurer in spite of his experience with money. When the apostles were sent out in twos he was paired with Thomas - and Thomas was called “the twin” so there has been speculation that he might have been Matthew’s twin - but only speculation. There is no evidence for or against it.

Another speculation, almost certainly inaccurate, is that Matthew’s father Alphaeus was the same as the father of two other disciples, James & Joses, sons of Alphaeus. It was a common name.

Did Matthew really write the first Gospel?
None of the Gospel writers signed his work, but there is a piece of internal evidence and there is also an ancient tradition.

Tradition is not proof, but it can be evidence, pointing to what is probable if not certain. What we usually mean by proof is a build up of a number of pieces of evidence, pointing in the same direction, or sometimes there is one item of evidence which is conclusive.

The internal evidence comes from the account of the feast given for Jesus after the tax collector’s conversion. The other Gospels make it clear that this took place in Matthew’s own house. Matthew himself, however, just calls it “at home.”

This is not absolute proof, but together with the early tradition it makes it likely.

Even if the writer was not the apostle, he was none the less a compiler working from the early church’s library of Jesus’ teachings, using much the same order of events as Mark and eventually putting it all into Greek which was the international language of the day. And like the other Gospels it was undoubtedly finished before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 and was in wide circulation by AD 100.

References to Matthew
His call Matthew 9:9-13 Mark 2:14-17 Luke 5:27-32
Apostles listed Matthew 10:1-4 Mark 3:13-19 Luke 6:12-16 Acts 1:13-14


DARING THOMAS - Apostle.
Why do people insist on calling him doubting Thomas?

He was one of the twelve, paired with Matthew, and the first time we hear anything about him personally was after Jesus had nearly been stoned to death in Jerusalem. The band was now in a safe country retreat where they heard the news of their friend Lazarus’ death.

Jesus said they would go to the bereaved family in Bethany just outside Jerusalem. This raised a discussion - the capital had become too hot for them, life was in danger. And it was Thomas - daring Thomas - who insisted they put their lives on the line with their leader.

Thomas knew the meaning of loyalty and dedication. If Jesus intended to risk his life, it was for His followers to risk theirs with Him, (John 11:16).

The next time we meet Thomas is at the last supper when it was in response to a question by him (John 14:5) that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

Daring Thomas in Doubt.
Thomas was not there on Easter Sunday. He heard second hand the news that Jesus had risen from the dead, and refused to believe it.

The problem was not a rational one. He had well substantiated evidence from ten colleagues whom he knew and had good reason to believe trustworthy. His doubts were based on feelings rather than rational argument.

What he wanted was emotional evidence, something that would feel satisfying. When he met Jesus a week later he was satisfied.

When Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing,” He was not saying, “Blessed are those who believe without evidence.” Faith is not gullibility.

Daring Thomas in a Cattle Boat.
We should be cautious about believing the traditional stories of what happened later to the apostles. Some are authentic, others fanciful. It is certain that a first century Christian named Thomas reached south India and planted the Mar Thoma church which is still alive and well today. It is less likely that he travelled overland, or he would have reached north India. An Arab cattle boat could deliver him to what is now Kerala.

If he took that route he made a journey of great risk and exceptional discomfort, especially if he was a landsman not a sailor. Presumably he was in the boat when Jesus stilled the storm and then told the disciples they should have had enough faith to leave Him asleep and go on rowing. Maybe Thomas remembered that storm - tossing night after night on the Indian Ocean, cooped up in an enclosed wooden structure smelling strongly of cattle, far less comfortable than Peter’s fishing boat, its passengers utterly helpless should the ship founder.

We are not dealing with certainties here, only probability. It could have been another Thomas. If so he was equally daring; so it hardly matters.


References to Thomas
Apostles listed Matthew 10:1-4 Mark 3:13-19 Luke 6:12-16 Acts 1:13-14
Daring John 11:16
Questioning John 14:5
Doubting John 20:24-29
After resurrection by lake John 21:2