“And when Jesus passed on from thence, he saw a man sitting in the custom house, named Matthew; and he saith to him: ‘Follow me.’ And he arose up and followed him. And it came to pass as he was sitting at meat in the house, behold many publicans and sinners came, and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And the Pharisees seeing it, said to his disciples: ‘Why doth your master eat with publicans and sinners?’ But Jesus hearing it, said: ‘They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill. Go then and learn what this meaneth, ‘I will have mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I am not come to call the just, but sinners.”
Jesus leaves the potential confrontation with the scribes, knowing they would come for an argument, so too if someone loves their folly and detests your love, is it better to provide love for those that need it rather than waste time in pointless bickering: “Deliver them that are led to death: and those that are drawn to death forebear not to deliver” (Proverbs 24:11). He then goes to Matthew, in the middle of spiritually dangerous duties, and calls him to Himself: “As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters” (Canticle 2:2), for Jesus will go into any place to draw His beloved out of spiritual danger, as long as you heed His call. From a near occasion of sin, Jesus says, “Follow me,” so too can you notice yourself drifting away from love and realize He is always calling you to follow Him in the way of I Love You, and a prompt obedience to this is here highlighted: Matthew does not refuse, delay, or make excuses, but binds himself to Jesus. Love wastes no time, and Matthew leaves his earthly gain and shameful work for the sake of God’s calling to love. It also can be said that Matthew had not seen any of Jesus’ miracles, but at the radiance of His love was pulled like metal to a magnet: “Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments” (Canticle 1:3); “My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands” (Canticle 5:10). Jesus also knew the perfect time to call Matthew, not doing so when He called the others, but Jesus knew his heart and when it would be softened to receive His words: “But he that received the seed upon good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth, and beareth fruit, and yieldeth the one an hundred-fold, and another sixty, and another thirty” (Matthew 13:23). So too does the Lord know the hearts of those you encounter, and will let you encounter whom you need to encounter. If you refuse your heart to no one, but do all that you are bid with love, then God will move people into your life that need your love at that moment in time: “And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he also took him in his arms, and blessed God” (Luke 2:27-28). St. Matthew then calls Jesus into his house to lavish a feast on Him, gathering others of the same station in which he was, drawing others in a sinful profession to the Lord. To turn from great sin, even a profession as disreputable as tax collection, to a better way catches attention, and others that stayed out of public affairs due to this reputation found acceptance, not despairing of salvation from Jesus: “All you that thirst, come to the waters” (Isaias 55:1). All of this shows that miracles and extraordinary wisdom isn’t strictly necessary; they are certainly beneficial, but eyes that say, “I love you” can have a greater impact than many works of charity: “and his eyes were as a flame of fire” (Apocalypse 1:14). Simply sharing a meal with others is a place of great love, a beautiful place for many to come together, and you don’t know the work that the Lord can do in such places. Such simplicity is outrageous to the Pharisees, who thought themselves righteous, but did not love, and sought to poison the waters of love by wriggling into the ears of the disciples. Jesus overhears their accusation and defends the lowly: “Being of one mind one towards another. Not minding high things, but consenting to the humble” (Romans 12:16). O how those who sin need the healing balm of love! “Who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their bruises” (Psalm 146:3). There is no greater illness than sin, and the one who is in poor health yet in love with the Lord is less to be pitied than the one filled with diseases of the soul: “Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity… the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad” (Isaias 1:4-5), and the Divine Physician longs to let the wounds of the heart be healed through the love He has planted in your heart: “For all healing is from God” (Ecclesiasticus 38:2). The Pharisees sought to stand on their own merits: “For they, not knowing the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own, haven not submitted themselves to the justice of God” (Romans 10:3); “The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: ‘O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men… I fast twice in a week: I give tithes of all that I possess’” (Luke 18:11-12), rather than letting themselves be loved and loving in turn, which is the heart of the Law: “Dearly beloved, I write not a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning” (1 John 2:7). Jesus highlights that a merciful love, a heart that always reaches out with love, is what He wants, for though many pious things can wear the mask of holiness, it is the living flame of love that truly defines a saint: “If we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). St. Paul, however, says: “All have sinned, and do need the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) meaning that He calls all to repentance, but the one that esteems themselves righteous does not realize they are sick: “Be not wise in thy own conceit: fear God, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7). Life is a continual turning to Jesus, a constant growing in love, and it is a great danger to think that you have reached the end, for in this place you stop leaning upon your Beloved. Love is always the same yet always new, there is always a new shape which love can take, and to settle on one’s laurels is to miss the next place that the love of Jesus can take you: “Thou knowest not whence he cometh, and whither he goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).