If you had retired from a career with the IRS, how eager would you be to admit that? In Matthew 9:9–13 the human author of this Gospel, a tax collector, recounts Jesus call to him to be his disciple.
Listen to the good news. This is the good news about Jesus Christ. In the opening verse of the book Matthew tells you what, or better, whom, he is writing about. He is writing about Jesus, the Greek form of the Hebrew name, Joshua, Jehovah saves. He concludes the birth narrative with the Baby being given that name. Christ in Matthew is usually a title. It means Messiah, or Anointed. Early in the life of the church, including in other Scriptures, the title became part of the name. The heart of the good news, which is what “gospel” means, is that God has sent his own Son into the world to save his people from their sins. As Matthew describes his own call by Jesus he will explain what that means.
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