Matthew was a tax collector.  He was probably stationed in Capernaum, an excellent spot for collecting excise from travelers and merchants, on the trade route between Ptolemais and Damascus.  Now, tax collectors are not on the list of anyone’s favorite people at best, but in ancient Israel it was even worse.  Tax collectors had little or no social standing.  Their word was not accepted in a Jewish court of law.  Their money was considered tainted and would not be accepted by the synagogue.  In fact, in Jesus’ day the title “tax collector” was a swear word. 

I.  WHY ALL THIS HATRED OF TAX COLLECTORS? 

In those days the only people who had to pay taxes were conquered people, living under the heel of foreign domination.  Taxes infuriated the Jews especially because it reminded them that the…