AKA: Levi

Did you know? Matthew was a tax collector who took money from his fellow countrymen and gave it to the Roman government. He wasn’t well liked. (You probably wouldn’t like it if someone took money from you either.) In fact, when Jesus said He’d like to go to Matthew’s place to eat, quite a few people put up a fuss. Jesus replied: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”¹

Coolest trait: When Jesus passed Matthew’s tax-collecting booth, He said to Matthew, “Follow Me.” Without stopping to pack his bags, Matthew dropped what he was doing and followed Jesus. Matthew obeyed and became one of Jesus’ twelve apostles.²

You can too: Follow Jesus! There might be an awesome adventure in store for you if you do!

Footnotes:
¹ Mark 2:17
² See Matthew 9:9.