Mathews Chair and the Table at Tax booth

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

*Ordinary Season : Twenty Fifth Week:  Monday*

*Gospel :  Mt 9:9-13*

*First Reading : Ephesians 4: 1-7; 11-13*

*Responsorial Psalm : 19: 2-5*

*Mathews Chair and the Table at Tax booth*

*1) The Chair – “I am settled here”*

Matthew was sitting at the tax booth. Sitting can symbolize being settled.

He had a position, an income and a routine. He knew what he was doing every day.

Then Jesus said: “Follow me.”

Jesus did not say, “Continue sitting there and follow me from your chair.” Matthew had to get up.

Sometimes Jesus calls us while we are comfortably seated in our familiar places. We may be seated in our habits, comfort zones, prejudices, possessions, positions or past failures.

The first step of discipleship is sometimes simply: GET UP.

*2) The Table – “I have built my life around this”*

The tax booth can also be imagined as a table of accounts—money coming in, money going out, calculations, profits and collections. Matthew's life was organized around numbers.

But Jesus offered him something that could not be calculated in money: a new purpose.

Matthew moved from: 

calculating money → discovering meaning

collecting taxes → collecting people for God's Kingdom

serving an empire → serving Christ

This is a beautiful transformation.

*3) What did Matthew leave behind?*

The striking words are: “And he rose and followed him.” (Mt 9:9)

Matthew did not first ask: 

“What will I earn?”

“Where will I stay?”

“What position will I get?”

“What will happen to my business?”

He rose and followed.

The Gospel does not give us a long explanation of his resignation. Matthew's response is presented very simply.

That simplicity itself is powerful. Jesus called. Matthew got up. Matthew followed.

*4) Why was this possible for Matthew?*

Because Jesus saw something in Matthew that others probably did not see.

Others may have seen: “Tax collector.” Jesus saw: “Disciple.”

Others may have seen Matthew's past. Jesus saw his future.

Others may have seen a person sitting at a tax booth. Jesus saw a person who could one day sit with Jesus and announce the Gospel.

This is one of the great mysteries of vocation: Jesus does not call us because our past is perfect. He calls us because His grace can transform our future.

*5) Matthew did not need to become perfect before getting up*

Jesus did not say: “Matthew, first change your life completely; then I will call you.”

Jesus called him while he was sitting at the tax booth.

The call came first. The transformation followed.

Sometimes we think: “When I become better, I will come to Jesus.”

The Gospel reverses this: “Come to Jesus, and He will begin changing you.”

*6) Leaving the chair means leaving our comfort zone*

Matthew's chair can represent: comfort, security, routine, attachment, fear of change, a familiar lifestyle, the identity we have created for ourselves

Jesus' call can disturb our comfortable chair.

A chair gives us a place to sit. A vocation gives us a reason to stand.

This can be applied to family life, priesthood, religious life, parish ministry, professional life and ordinary Christian discipleship.

*7) Leaving the table means changing what we value*

Matthew's table could symbolize the things around which we organize our lives.

For one person it may be money. For another, status. For another, power. For another, comfort. For another, reputation. For another, even personal convenience.

Jesus asks: “What is sitting at the centre of your table?”

If everything on our table revolves around ourselves, there is little room for Christ.

*8) Matthew exchanged one table for another*

There is an interesting continuation in Matthew's story.

After leaving the tax booth, Matthew later hosts Jesus at a meal in his house (Mt 9:10).

So Matthew moves from one kind of table to another:

Tax table → Fellowship table 

Table of collection → Table of communion

Table where he was separated from people → Table where people gathered around Jesus

This is a beautiful image of conversion. Jesus does not merely take Matthew away from something.

Jesus takes him towards something greater.

*9) The greatest thing Matthew left was not the chair—it was his old identity*

Matthew did not merely leave a workplace. He left the identity that had defined him.

He was no longer simply: “Matthew the tax collector.”

He became: “Matthew the disciple of Jesus.”

And eventually, according to Christian tradition, he became an Evangelist.

So we can ask ourselves: “What name has my past given me, and what new identity is Jesus giving me?”

People may remember our mistakes. Jesus remembers our vocation.

*10) “Don't die sitting”*

A chair is useful for sitting—but not for remaining there when Jesus calls us.

Sometimes we are not sinful because we are doing something terribly wrong.

We are simply sitting too long.

Sitting in:

“I have always been like this.”

“I cannot change.”

“This is my nature.”

“Others will never accept me.”

“I am too old.”

“I have already failed.”

“Let someone else do it.”

Matthew teaches us: You may be sitting in your past, but Jesus is calling you into your future.

*11) The chair and the cross*

There is also a beautiful contrast:

Matthew's chair says: “Sit.” Jesus' call says: “Rise.”

The Christian journey says: “Follow.” The Cross says: “Carry.”

Christian discipleship is a movement: SIT → RISE → FOLLOW → CARRY → SERVE

Matthew left the chair before he knew the destination.

He left the table before he knew the next meal.

He left his old identity before he knew the greatness of his new identity.

Sometimes Jesus is not asking us to find a better chair.

He is asking us to get out of the chair.

*Think about it*

*God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones*

*Fr Maxim DSouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*