From: Mark 2:13-17
The Calling of Matthew
[15] And as he sat at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were
sitting with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many who followed Him. [16]
And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with sinners
and tax collectors, said to His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors
and sinners?” [17] And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are
well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners.”
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Commentary:
14. St. Mark and St. Luke (5:27-32) both call him “Levi”; the First Gospel, on the
other hand, calls him “Matthew” (Matthew 9:9-13); but they are all referring to the
same person. All three accounts describe the same event. Later on, St Mark and
St Luke, when giving the list of Apostles (Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16), include
Matthew, not Levi. The Fathers identify Matthew with Levi. Besides it was quite
common for Jews to have two names: Jacob-Israel, Simon-Peter, Saul-Paul, Jo-
seph-Caiaphas, John-Mark... Frequently, the name and surname were connected
with some significant change in the life and mission of the person concerned.
Did Jesus’ saving intervention in this Apostle’s life lead to a change of name?
The Gospel does not tell us.
Levi-Matthew, as a publican or tax collector (Matthew 9:9-13), was sitting at the
‘tax office’, a special place where one went to pay tribute. Publicans were tax
collectors appointed by the Romans. It was, therefore, an occupation hated and
despised by the people; but it was also a much-coveted position because it was
an easy way to become prosperous. Matthew leaves everything behind when Je-
sus calls him. He immediately responds to his vocation, because Jesus gives
him the grace to accept his calling.
Jesus is the basis of our confidence in being able to change, provided we co-
operate with His grace, no matter how unworthy our previous conduct may have
been. And He is also the source of the confidence we need in order to be apos-
tolic—helping others to be converted and seek holiness of life. Because He is
the Son of God He is able to raise up children of God even from stones (cf.
Matthew 3:9). Cf. note on Matthew 9:9.
17. The scribes and Pharisees reproach the disciples, and Jesus replies with
a popular proverb: ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those
who are sick.’ He is the doctor of souls, come to cure sinners of their spiritual
ailments.
Our Lord calls everyone, His redemptive mission extends to everyone; He af-
firms this on other occasions, using parables such as that of the marriage feast
(Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 14:16-24). How, then, can we explain the restriction
He seems to place here by saying that He has not come to call the righteous?
It is not really a restriction. Jesus uses the opportunity to reproach the scribes
and Pharisees for their pride: they consider themselves just, and their reliance
on their apparent virtue prevents them from hearing the call to conversion; they
think they can be saved by their own efforts (cf. John 9:41). This explains the
proverb Jesus quotes; certainly His preaching makes it quite clear that ‘no one
is good but God alone’ (Mark 10:18) and that everyone must have recourse to
the mercy and forgiveness of God in order to be saved. In other words, man-
kind is not divided into two—the just and the unjust. We are all sinners, as St.
Paul confirms: ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23).
Precisely because of this, Christ came to call all of us; He justifies those who
respond to His call.
Our Lord’s words should also move us to pray humbly and confidently for peo-
ple who seem to want to continue living in sin. As St. Teresa beseeched God:
“Ah, how hard a thing am I asking of Thee, my true God! I ask Thee to love one
who loves Thee not, to open to one who has not called upon Thee, to give health
to one who prefers to be sick and who even goes about in search of sickness.
Thou sayest, my Lord, that Thou comest to seek sinners; these, Lord, are the
true sinners. Look not upon our blindness, my God, but upon all the blood that
was shed for us by Thy Son. Let Thy mercy shine out amid such tremendous
wickedness. Behold, Lord, we are the works of Thy hands” (”Exclamations of
the Soul to God”, n. 8).
The Fathers of the Church see this calling by Jesus as an invitation to repen-
tance and penance. St. John Chrysostom (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 30:3), for
example, explains the phrase by putting these words in Jesus’ mouth: “I am
not come that they should continue sinners but that they should change and
become better.”
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading
Hebrews 4:12-16 ©
Let us be confident in approaching the throne of grace
The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts. No created thing can hide from him; everything is uncovered and open to the eyes of the one to whom we must give account of ourselves.
Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed. For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin. Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 18(19):8-10,15 ©
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and all of them just.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
May the spoken words of my mouth,
the thoughts of my heart,
win favour in your sight, O Lord,
my rescuer, my rock!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
Gospel Acclamation
Ps118:36,29
Alleluia, alleluia!
Bend my heart to your will, O Lord,
and teach me your law.
Alleluia!
Or:
Lk4:17
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Mark 2:13-17 ©
Your light must shine in the sight of men
Jesus went out to the shore of the lake; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he was walking on he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus, sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
When Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers. When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’