St. Matthew. The Word Creates Faith

Tomorrow is St. Matthew's Day. The Scriptures don't say a whole lot about St. Matthew, but I find one particular text about him to be very interesting.

St. Matthew 9:9: As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

This looks innocent enough. It's a short verse that talks about Jesus calling St. Matthew to follow Him. But look at this little verse more closely. It actually gives us some interesting insight.

Jesus said: “Follow me.”

And St. Matthew got up and followed Him.

Just like that.

Here is this man, Jesus, whom St. Matthew may or may not have known about. It was near the beginning of Christ's public ministry, so he probably didn't know a lot about Jesus. And this verse doesn't say much or give us many details.

But what it does say is astounding. Jesus spoke, and St. Matthew got up and followed Him.

Isaiah, in the 53rd chapter of his book in the Old Testament, says that Jesus didn't look like a King, didn't look like anything special, and was nothing striking.

Isaiah 53:2: For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

And here is St. Matthew, a tax collector, just getting on up and following Christ. He left his post and followed Christ.

Most people like to give St. Matthew the credit for having the insight to get up and follow Jesus. What faith St. Matthew conjured up! Jesus came by and St. Matthew was smart enough to get up right away and listen!

                           Nonsense. That is complete and utter nonsense.
 

St. Matthew really had no reason to follow Christ, at least from what the text says about him. This was a divine appointment. Jesus' timing was -and always is- perfect. The creative Word of God was spoken to St. Matthew, and St. Matthew got up and followed.

Get it? The creative Word of God, spoken directly by the Word - created faith in St. Matthew. If you think St. Matthew just had the foresight and the smarts to get up and follow this guy Jesus with little or no reason to, you're fooling yourself. If you're going to give credit where credit is due, and harmonize this with the rest of everything the New Teastament says about the origin and nature of faith, the credit, all of it, must lie with the creative Word of Jesus Christ.

The Christ gave St. Matthew His very Word; his own personal promise, invitation, and calling to come and follow Him as one of the chosen 12.

 

Jesus gives this to other people too. He gave it to the other apostles. He gave one to the thief on the cross, dying next to Him at Calvary. He still does it, in fact. Jesus promised the apostles that He would be with us always, even unto the end of the age. Yeah, He said that. It's in the Great Commission that St. Matthew records for us at the end of his Gospel.

 

St. Matthew 28:19-20: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

Jesus is with us always, to the end of the age. He gives us our own Word of promise too. He tells this to the apostles in the Great Commission. How is the risen Christ to give us our very own Word of promise that we are His?

                                                                  In our baptism.

 

In our baptism, Jesus unites us to Him. He washes us clean. He claims us. He says "you are mine." I wash you, I cleanse you, I claim you, I unite you to Me, I save you, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Your baptism is not works, it's grace. It's regeneration, it's washing, it's being united to Christ, it's one of the means God uses to save you.

 

The Apostles who were inspired to pen Scripture clearly understood this. The epistles divinely interpret much of what Jesus' said for us. And when they talk about baptism, they are clear: it's God's work. He baptises us, and through this washing of water with the Word, He buries us with Christ, raises us in faith, and saves us.

Baptism, being a means of grace, creates faith in the recipient. We are indeed saved by grace through faith, as St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9. That's what grace does. It saves us by creating faith in us. Baptism is grace; grace is mediated. Grace gives us the Word and works faith.

 

When Christ told the Apostles to make disciples by baptising and teaching, this is what He meant. Your baptism now saves you. Baptism is to be accompanied by teaching of the Word.

 

The Word creates faith. Baptism gives us the Word (Eph 5:26). So does teaching. So does preaching. So does the Eucharist.

 

You see, St. Matthew received His own divine Word from Christ in the flesh. Christ's Word created faith and St. Matthew got up and followed Him.

 

Jesus Christ is still giving us that divine Word today, through His means of grace.

 

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you. (1 Peter 3:21)