Seeker

People struggling with poverty and debt might well point accusing fingers at people like Matthew the tax collector.  Tax collectors in 1st Century Palestine had ample opportunity to profit by cheating and charging extortionate commission. In this 17th century painting of the Calling of St Matthew by Hendrick ter Brugghen accusing fingers seem absent, although fingers do point from 5 different hands. Matthew's left hand points to his accounts. His right hand points towards himself. The young man at Matthew's  left points to a pile of money.  The seated older man points to another pile of money. On the left is Jesus, partly in shadow, pointing directly to Matthew as he and Matthew make eye contact. Matthew is the only person in the picture looking at Jesus. There seems to be a struggle going on - a tension between the focus on money and accounts and a conflicting priority emerging within Matthew as a result of his encounter with Jesus. It's a pivot...

P eople struggling with poverty and debt might well point accusing fingers at people like Matthew the tax collector.  Tax collectors in 1st Century Palestine had ample opportunity to profit by cheating and charging extortionate commission . In this  17th century painting of the Calling of St Matthew by Hendrick ter Brugghen accusing fingers seem absent, although there fingers do point from 5 different hands. Matthew's left hand points to his accounts. His right hand points towards himself. The young man at his left points to a pile of money. The seated older man points to another pile of money. On the left is Jesus, partly in shadow pointing directly to Matthew as he and Matthew make eye contact. Matthew is the only person in the picture looking at Jesus. There seems to be a struggle going on - a tension between the focus on money and accounts and a conflicting priority emerging within Matthew as a result of his encounter with Jesus. It's a pivotal decision moment - to ca...

Who me? You want me to follow you? You must have got it wrong. I can see you're a good person, - not like some hypocrites.  You need someone better than me.  Who me? Don't you know who I am? I'm a traitor. I work for the enemy occupiers. I handle their dirty money. You need someone better than me. Who me? You know I steal from our people. I call it commission but I cheat. I make people poorer by extortion. I'm a despised tax-collector. You need someone better than me. Who me? I'm a sinner - the lowest of the low. You can't want me to be your disciple. What me? Really? You are calling me? You need someone just like me? **************************** The detail from Caravaggio's painting of the calling of St Matthew says it all - the unexpectedness of the call, the sense of unworthiness, of the reaching of a pivotal moment, the dawning realization as the light shines on Matthew, a hand beckons and a voice invites, "Fol...

Matthew, apostle and evangelist, was one of those who left everything, including his ill-gotten wealth, to become a disciple of Jesus.  You can read part of his story in Matthew 9: 9 - 13. Last year in Dropping Everything  I used an image of a painting by Len Peralto to reflect on Matthew's life-changing decision to leave his way of life and follow Jesus.  'Calling'  is about how Jesus came to meet Levi (aka Matthew) at his usual place of work, how Jesus saw something better in Matthew than others saw and how Jesus then enjoyed a banquet with Matthew and his disreputable friends. When criticized for this, Jesus said he had come for sinners not for those who thought they were OK. Jesus was not as choosy about the company he kept as we are. The collect prayer for today asks for "...grace to forsake the selfish pursuit of gain  and the possessive love of riches" to follow in the way of Jesus Christ.  I chose an image of jewels for today's post b...

I love this painting by Len Peralto . It shows the tax-collector Matthew dropping everything to follow Jesus. It captures that instant when, at the call of Jesus, Matthew gets up from his tax desk. He's about to abandon the place where he makes a lot of money on commission, collecting taxes for a puppet king on behalf of an occupying power. Hated by those oppressed by the system and shunned by respectable religious people, what comfort does he have except the extortionate profit he makes?  Even as he lets the coins fall to the ground his eyes can't yet let go of them. He's made a sudden life-changing decision and the body-language in this image seems to say "What have I done?" Will he pick up the coins and count them? But the light is shining directly on him. And behind his head is a shape that could be a halo - for the Saint Matthew, one of the 12 apostles he is becoming. The 'halo' could be a symbol of the world. It reminds me that Matthew's...