Jesus Calls Matthew: Welcome, Mercy, and Transformation

Devotional

Day 1: Jesus Chooses the Unlikely Tattooed Saints

The Messiah’s call often surprises us. A tattooed couple in Hot Springs, Arkansas—overlooked by religious gatekeepers—became catalysts for reaching those deemed “too broken” for church. Jesus specializes in calling misfits: a tax collector named Matthew, artists with ink-stained skin, and ordinary people dismissed as unqualified. His kingdom advances through those who know their need, not those polishing their resumes. When we assume someone’s unusability, we forget God’s habit of drafting rebels, outcasts, and recovering hypocrites. True discipleship begins when we stop curating our image and start following. [32:33]

“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.” (Matthew 9:9, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life seems “unlikely” to lead others toward Jesus? How might God be inviting you to see them—or yourself—through His calling rather than human expectations?

Day 2: The Scandal of a Shared Meal

Reclining at a tax collector’s table, Jesus didn’t just tolerate sinners—He celebrated with them. First-century religious leaders avoided contamination; Christ prioritized connection. Sharing a meal meant kinship, a declaration: “You belong here.” Matthew’s guests—prostitutes, traitors, the publicly shamed—tasted grace before sermons. Jesus’ hospitality wasn’t approval of sin but an invitation to transformation. The table becomes a throne room where brokenness meets healing. [38:26]

“And as he reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.” (Matthew 9:10, ESV)

Reflection: When have you hesitated to extend fellowship to someone “messy”? How might your table become a doorway for God’s grace this week?

Day 3: Calling Out Sin Without Casting Out Sinners

Jesus confronted the Pharisees’ hypocrisy publicly, yet His harshness aimed to rescue. He named sin not to shame but to diagnose: “You’re sick; I’m your cure.” The same voice that welcomed Matthew declared, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Truth without love breeds pride; love without truth enables destruction. Christ’s boldness flows from His cross—He dies for the sin He exposes. [42:14]

“Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you struggle to balance truth and mercy? Is there an area in your life where Jesus might be saying, “Let’s heal this together”?

Day 4: Seventy-Year-Olds and New Beginnings

Marilyn spent decades in Bible studies but never shared her faith until Jesus called her to a church plant. Discipleship isn’t reserved for the young or energetic. A retired woman joined a library book club to reach neighbors, proving that obedience trumps age. Matthew left his lucrative tax booth; Marilyn left her comfort zone. Both discovered purpose when they stopped counting years and started counting on Christ. [49:02]

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…’” (Matthew 28:18-19, ESV)

Reflection: What “late-in-life” mission might God be stirring in you? How could your current season become a launchpad for unexpected discipleship?

Day 5: Grace Fuels the Response

Matthew followed before he understood. Marilyn served before she felt qualified. Jesus’ call always precedes our readiness—He doesn’t recruit the worthy; He creates worthiness. The disciples grumbled about dinner guests, yet Christ still used them. Our faltering “yes” matters less than His unwavering “I choose you.” Transformation begins not with our effort but His embrace. [44:50]

“And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19-20, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you relying on your own readiness instead of His call? What might it look like to take one step toward obedience today, even if you feel unprepared?

Sermon Summary

Matthew writes his own call in the third person, and the scene stays simple on purpose. Jesus walks up to a tax booth, says, Follow me, and Matthew gets up. The text lets that bare command and quick obedience do the heavy lifting. Matthew is not the guy anyone would have picked. He is a Jewish collaborator in a Roman tax machine, a man everybody hates, and Jesus targets him on purpose.

The table does the next bit of preaching. Jesus reclines in Matthew’s house with tax collectors and sinners, signaling real welcome and full presence. First century table fellowship says, I am with you. But Jesus is not afraid of contamination. He is about transformation. The Pharisees grumble from the edges, talking to the disciples, not to Jesus, and Jesus steps toward them uninvited a second time. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. He quotes Hosea to reset the diagnostic: the room is full of the sick, and the Physician has made a house call.

That diagnosis does two things at once. It dignifies the outcasts because the Physician is in their house. And it names the truth without flinching: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Jesus welcomes persons, not their sin. He accepts them into his life to introduce them to his Father and then calls them to turn. The rest of Matthew’s Gospel becomes Exhibit A. Matthew does not go back to the booth. He follows. He writes. He suffers and dies for Jesus. Grace comes first, then obedience grows out of it.

That rhythm sits behind a church’s life too. Genuine hospitality says there is a seat at the table. God’s truth says that seat is where the Spirit confronts lying, cheating, hypocrisy, and sexual sin, calling people into the created good of a man and a woman in marriage. Baptism names sons and daughters before any performance, then the Word re-trains desire and practice. The Physician keeps calling, sometimes for the first time, sometimes deeper into mission at seventy plus. The question hanging over the room sounds the same as at the booth: Follow me.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus calls the unlikely and unwanted Jesus targets those others overlook, because his mission is not to curate respectability but to heal the sick. Matthew’s booth and a tattoo studio can both become outposts of grace when Jesus says, Follow me. The church should expect kingdom fruit to spring up in surprising soil. The call goes where the need is thick. [33:26]
2. Mercy moves toward sinners to transform Table fellowship is not moral compromise, it is the Physician entering the triage tent. Jesus is not skittish about proximity, because holiness is not fragile. Mercy closes distance and then applies truth like medicine to the wound. His presence names sin and remakes real lives. [40:10]
3. Grace comes first, change follows Jesus gives identity before he demands activity. Baptism names a child of God, then the Word trains the child to walk in new patterns. Matthew’s obedience grows out of being welcomed, not out of fear of being cast off. Love insists on repentance because love refuses to abandon a soul to death. [46:35]
4. Self righteousness keeps ears closed The Pharisees stand outside the party and miss the Physician standing in front of them. Their confidence in their own wellness blinds them to the diagnosis. The difference is not innocence, but honesty about need. Those who admit they are sick hear the call and rise. [41:42]
5. The call keeps coming into mission Jesus does not stop at conversion; he keeps pulling saints into deeper water. A seventy something follower can hear the same Follow me and reorient habits, friendships, even weekly calendars for gospel good. Vocation becomes the place where grace meets neighbors. Mission is just love with a plan. [49:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[31:21] - Late night video greeting
[32:33] - Unlikely kingdom influencers
[34:32] - Calling of Matthew set up
[35:20] - Why tax collectors were hated
[37:37] - Matthew rises and follows
[38:02] - Table fellowship signals welcome
[40:10] - Not contamination but transformation
[41:22] - Jesus confronts the Pharisees
[42:14] - Mercy not sacrifice
[43:10] - Welcome without blessing sin
[44:50] - Cross and resurrection for sinners
[45:14] - Hospitality and Gods truth
[49:02] - Marilyn hears the call
[49:57] - What is Jesus calling you to

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 9:9-13 (ESV)
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. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Observation Questions

Why were tax collectors like Matthew especially hated by the Jewish community? [35:20]
What does Jesus’ act of reclining at the table with tax collectors and sinners signal about His mission? [38:26]
How does Jesus respond to the Pharisees’ criticism, and what Old Testament passage does He quote to challenge them? [42:14]
What specific example from the sermon illustrates how Jesus’ call can redirect someone’s life even later in adulthood? [49:02]

Interpretation Questions

Why does Jesus compare Himself to a physician in this passage, and how does this analogy challenge the Pharisees’ assumptions about holiness? [40:10]
What does the phrase “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6) reveal about God’s priorities versus religious performance?
How does Matthew’s lifelong transformation (leaving tax collecting, writing the Gospel, martyrdom) demonstrate the relationship between grace and obedience? [44:50]
In the sermon, Marilyn’s story shows Jesus calling a 70-year-old into mission. What does this suggest about the timing and purpose of God’s call? [49:26]

Application Questions

Where do you feel “unlikely” or unqualified to be used by God, and how might Jesus’ choice of Matthew challenge that perspective? [33:26]
Jesus’ table fellowship with sinners involved proximity without compromise. Who in your life needs to experience this kind of intentional, truth-filled hospitality?
The sermon emphasizes that grace comes first, then change. What area of your life have you tried to “fix” through effort alone, rather than resting in your identity as a loved child of God? [46:35]
The Pharisees’ self-righteousness kept them from seeing their need for Jesus. What attitudes or habits might be blinding you to your own spiritual “sickness” today?
Marilyn responded to Jesus’ call by joining a book club to meet non-believers. What ordinary space or relationship could become your “mission field” this week? [49:57]
How can you discern the difference between avoiding sin (like the Pharisees) and engaging sinners (like Jesus) in your daily interactions?
Jesus’ call to Matthew was simple: “Follow me.” What practical step—big or small—is He inviting you to take right now to follow Him more closely?

Sermon Clips

Jesus isn't cool with their sin. By welcoming them into his life, he's not saying I'm welcoming in your sin. He's not saying I accept you just the way you are. Stay that way. No. He says, I bring you into my life because I want you to know my father, because my father sent me for you. That's why I have come. But I want you to then turn from your sin and change. [00:43:10] (27 seconds) #WelcomedToChange

Is he calling you into a discipling relationship or to disciple someone else? Is he calling you to be more focused on discipling your own kids or your grandchildren? Is he calling you to invest in your marriage in a new way? Is he calling you? Are you willing to respond in faith? I gotta tell you, he's calling. He's calling me too. [00:50:22] (25 seconds) #CalledToDisciple

Jesus is always calling. He's always calling. What's he calling you to today? Is he calling you out of sin? Is he saying to you, I have grace here for you. I went I went to the cross to suffer and die to save you, and I'm calling you out of that sin and giving you this grace and strengthening you, or you've been in the family of God for a long time, and is he calling you into a deeper journey? [00:49:55] (27 seconds) #AlwaysCalling

Again, notice the whole rest of the book of Matthew. You don't see Matthew doing any tax collecting anymore. No. He's following Jesus. He's following Jesus. He's eventually writing this gospel that we're reading. He he eventually goes to be martyred for Jesus, to be killed for his love for this Jesus. He he changed completely because Jesus welcomed him in. [00:44:26] (24 seconds) #TransformedByJesus

Jesus goes to him and says, follow me. And what does Matthew do? He gets up and follows. He doesn't give a whole lot. Now the interesting thing here is this is Matthew writing about his call. He just does it in third person. It's Matthew writing, and Matthew said and he doesn't go into depth here, but what he wants it to make very clear to us is he was called, and he answered the call. [00:37:32] (32 seconds) #HeAnsweredTheCall

I was just blown away by them. And the thing about them is they were reaching a lot of people that most of us in the church just don't reach. We we have someone like that in our church who's a tattoo artist who has the opportunity to reach out to some people that many of us can't get to. And I I I wonder if that's some of what Jesus is doing when he's selecting Matthew to be one of his disciples. [00:34:00] (28 seconds) #ReachTheUnreached

And when we talk about Matthew, one of the things that really grabs me with him is how he's not the guy that most people would have picked. Matter of fact, I don't think anyone would have selected him, and that got me thinking about people that I have met in this Christian world who are people that you you might not have have chosen first to be people who just make major impacts for the kingdom of god. [00:32:17] (29 seconds) #UnexpectedDisciples

But then they hear him saying, and Matthew would hear him saying, look. I have come for those who need a physician, the sick. What's he saying about Matthew, the other tax collectors, the sinners? They're the sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. He's saying they're the sinners. [00:42:50] (20 seconds) #CalledForTheSick

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