. The majority of the disciples were already learning their crafts, as was the case with James and John, who were both apprentices. Back Create an account to get started with this course right away. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. In its place, Matthew began collecting souls for the kingdom of God, rather than tax money, from that point forth. For a short time after healing the paralytic, Jesus remains in the area of Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee. He is also listed among the twelve, but without identification of his background, in Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church, Saint Matthew the Apostle, patron saint archive, "Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington, D.C", "Introduction to New Testament History and Literature", "Pleasurable Perplexity: Reflecting the Holy City", "Visions of kingdoms: From Pompey to the first Jewish revolt", "Introduction to the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles", "The Synoptic Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles: Telling the Christian Story", Benedict XVI, "Matthew", General audience, 30 August 2006, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matthew_the_Apostle&oldid=1142212172, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 03:25. When he was chosen by Jesus to be one of His apostles, Matthew left this prominent and well-paying profession. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. The other disciples were present (as evidenced by the preceding passages), but it does not appear that they paid the tax. Mostly older teenagers, young Jewish bachelors, and not blue-chip Harvard stars either. Those appointed to be tax collectors had a job for life. Simeon was a patient man. If Peter had children, it would have been wise for the gospel authors not to mention them for their safety. Claims to fame: Matthew works as a tax collector before meeting Jesus. The children had a forceful mother called Salome, who insisted on arranging where they would sit at the dinner table with Jesus. In most cases, a young mans discipleship instruction under the supervision of a rabbi begins between the ages of 13 and 15. Matthew is mentioned in Matthew 9:9 and Matthew 10:3 as a tax collector who, while sitting at the "receipt of custom" in Capernaum, was called to follow Jesus. The gospel of Matthew reveals that Jesus was about two years of age when the wise men or magi visited Him. Over 30,000 video lesson and teaching resources are available in one convenient location. His message was not polished, but blunt and to the point. However, Jesus accepted and loved this tax collector for who he was, regardless of his background. Although born in Bethlehem, according to Matthew and Luke, Jesus was a Galilean from Nazareth, a village near Sepphoris, one of the two major cities of Galilee ( Tiberias was the other). Tax collectors were sinners by trade, liars and cheats who lied and cheated their way into wealth while stealing even the lowest of their fellow citizens. Matthew is considered one of the Four Evangelists. This is a title reserved for Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Johnthe traditional authors of the four gospels. Verse Concepts. To some extent, this proof of His foresight speaks volumes about His divinity, and Matthew is surely conveying this point for his audience with this storyline. If Jesus gave him the name Matthew or whether he chose it himself, Matthew is a truncation of the name Mattathias, which meaning gift of Yahweh or simply Gods gift. Mattheus arranged a huge goodbye feast at his home in Capernaum on the same day Jesus persuaded him to follow him. Youd have to be completely convinced that Jesus is who He claims to be, that His is the only path to genuine life, and that its definitely worth it to push through the muck and gloom in order to see the beauty. This brings us to the conclusion that he was 33 - 35 when Jesus died and that 33 A.D is the most probable year of his death. Matthew was living in the area of Capernaum, a city on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, when Jesus called him. There are just seven mentions to him in the entire Bible, if you count parallel verses and quotations. Matthew would have had to have lived at the same time as Jesus Christ in order to be considered a follower of Jesus Christ. Both Daniel and Zechariah Ch 9-14 are the product of the Hellenistic era and have no messianic prophecies. Read An Excerpt . In it, Jesus appears to Matthew as a boy and tells him to go to the city of Myrna (an unknown location), which is inhabited by man eaters. Upon arriving there, Matthew performs miracles and casts out demons. Do you wish you had a greater understanding of the Bible? You are the Christ, the Son of God, Peter responded when Jesus went further and asked who the disciples believed He was (Matthew 16:16 ESV). His message was revolutionary. He understood the human heart as well as the aspirations of the Jewish people. Dislikes the New Guy: Initially does not get along with Matthew, who he remembers from the latter's previous line of work. No other disciples wives are ever mentioned. But this really doesn't settle his age at all. Home PhilosophyReligion Personages associated with religion Scholars Saints Popesapostle Alternative titles include: Levi, St. Matthew the Apostle, and St. Matthew the Evangelist are all names for the same person. Including parallel passages, there are just seven mentions of him in the entire Bible. It seems that the author paid particular attention to Jesus statements about money, had a greater understanding of financial matters, and saw finance as a helpful lens to understand the gospel. For many years in the 1980s and 1990s, I worked as a movie executive, always seeking for methods to make tales younger. Young Guns was an ensemble picture that included a retelling of Billy the Kid with a cast that was predominantly under the age of thirty. At the time of his call as an Apostle, Peter was living with his wife and his wife's mother. This does seem to imply that John was almost certainly less than thirty when he began to follow Jesus. The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Lexham, England). Become a member today. The Gospels are the four books that make up this collection. You . Ultimately, we wont be able to affirm or deny who wrote the Gospel of Matthew until we have a byline. According to the Gospels, it appears that a handful of Jesus initial disciples changed their names after becoming followers of Jesus (remember that Simon becomes Peter). Its difficult to pinpoint exactly how Matthew died, as it is with the majority of the apostles. Matthew 9:36. Third and last point: Jesus prophecies about His own death and resurrection add to the dramatic tension of this most ultimate of redemption stories. The Apostle Matthew, also known as Saint Matthew and Levi, was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. It seems in the Luke passage that Jesus was entering the home of someone he know. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. In Mark, gold and silver are only referenced once, whereas in Luke, they are mentioned four times. 'He should be growing old like me!' . Jesus twelve disciples were virtually all under the age of eighteen, with some as young as fifteen, which suggests that they were in their early teens. Topic:When it comes to the disciples, the question of how they could have written their letters 30 or more years after the crucifixion of the Christ tends to come up frequently. He made amends with all of the people he had wronged, surrendered his worldly belongings, and pledged himself to the teachings of his new teacher. (Matthew 20:20-24; Mark 10:20-24). Then Jesus lumps Matthew in with the sinners: On hearing this, Jesus said, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Except for one, all of them were most likely bachelors. The richer they were, the worse they were assumed to be. So really, Jesus begins at the very moment it was possible to begin when it was culturally appropriate to assume authority and take on disciples. Most scholars believe Jesus lived from sometime around 4 BC to around 30 or 33 AD. But thats all there is to it. Assuming that the identification of Matthew with Levi is correct, Matthew (probably meaning "Yahweh's Gift") would appear. He traveled with Saint Barnabas and Saint Paul on many . 4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. However, there are a few observations that may be made about their ages. Because weve been far more formed by Bible movies than by the Biblical data on hand. Matthews gospel appears to rely heavily on Marks (which is why there are so many parallel passages), but the Gospel of Mark is believed to have been written by a man named John Mark, who was not an eyewitness. In the end, this is speculation, and we simply cannot know how old the apostles were. Follow me, he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9, As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collectors booth. According to Matthews Gospel, which was written 3040 years after Jesus resurrection, he was in his 20s when he followed Jesus on earth, implying that Matthew was in his 20s when following Jesus on earth. Matthew 4:18-22 relates that Andrew and Peter were fishing, plying their trade when called, and James and John were mending nets with their father. As we approach the first of three instances on which Jesus prophesied both His death and resurrection to His followers, Id like to take a minute to look forward to these three occurrences in particular. With the disciples, its possible that we had a Young Guns-style cast. Especially since hes talking about a text that was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic, and the Gospel of Matthew appears to have been originally written in Greek, not translated into it. Others have speculated that Matthew was a bit older than the others because he had a fairly important position as a tax collector. 10. 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