Matthew

Matthew, also called Levi, was one of the 12 disciples and the author of the first Gospel. When Jesus called him, Matthew was sitting in the tax collector’s booth collecting taxes for Rome. Other Jews probably considered him a traitor, since collecting taxes meant cooperation with the Roman occupiers of Palestine. Because tax collectors were free to take as much personal profit from people as they liked, they were widely regarded as the worst of sinners, often categorized along with prostitutes (see 21:32). In his Gospel account, Matthew pre­sents Jesus as the Davidic King who has come to fulfill the OT, especially its promises of everlasting salvation. (Matthew 9:9)