St Matthew

Matthew was one of Jesus’ twelve apostles and he wrote the first Gospel.  Before Jesus called him to be His follower, Matthew was a Jewish tax collector.  He worked for the Roman Emperor and collected money from other Jews to give to the Roman ruler.  For this reason, he was not liked by his fellow Jews.  He was considered to be a traitor and sinner.  Most other Jewish people did not want to be seen with him and no one wanted to be his friend.  Jesus was different.  He knew Matthew had not made good choices in his past but he also knew that he was sorry for the wrong he did.  Jesus did not come to save good people, he came to save all people.  Matthew understood this and followed Jesus with all his heart.