St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
On September 21, the feast of St. Matthew, the great apostle and
evangelist, will be celebrated.
St. Matthew, originally called Levi, was probably born in Galilee - the
son of Alphaeus. He became a publican tax collector - a social status
that was considered low by Jewish religious society and is associated
with sinners. When he was in his post as tax collector one day, Jesus
called him and he immediately responded and soon became one of the
apostles of Jesus (Mt 9:9-13; 10:3).
Matthew is the author of the first gospel, which was written at about
the same time as the gospel of Luke was written - ca. 70-80 A.D. The
gospel was originally in Aramaic, a Hebrew tongue which is also known
to be the native language of Jesus of Nazareth. Although what we have
now is the Greek translation of the gospel, many passages in the gospel
reveal without question that the author is a Jewish Christian of
Palestinian origin who was writing to Jewish Christians.
According to tradition, St. Matthew preached in Judea first and then
went to the East where he suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia. This is what
is recorded in the Roman martyrology. A legend tells that he may also
have been martyred in Persia.
Art often represents the gospel of Matthew with a human face. This is
because Matthew starts his gospel with the human genealogy of Jesus.
Mark is represented by a lion [since the gospel starts with John the
Baptist in the wilderness]; Luke is represented by an ox [signifying
an animal of sacrifice]; and John is represented by an eagle [signifying
the high and lofty beginning of the gospel through the prologue].
The gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as a “new Moses” who often
preaches and teaches from a mountain [cf. Sermon on the Mount]. Bible
scholars teach us that just as Moses went up the mountain of Sinai
to help seal the covenant of God with His people Israel, so does
Jesus who seals the new covenant, not with the blood of animals,
as was the tradition of the Jews in the Old Testament, but with
His own blood on the cross at Calvary.
