It probably wasn't a job that won him many friends, but it was a lucrative one. There were local farmers and craftsmen bringing their products to market, along with caravans carrying goods between Egypt and the Orient. And Matthew (sometimes called Levi), who sat at the tax office that lay near Capernaum on this road from Damascus to the Mediterranean, had the right to collect from everyone who traveled his way.
But one day, someone different passed by. A man whose "goods" were exempt from taxation. Neither merchant nor craftsman, farmer not trader, this traveler was a healer. His name was Jesus of Nazareth.
No grudging hello did Jesus give to this tax collector. Instead he said, "Follow me." Matt. 9:9. And Matthew, in spite of his position of prominence—and the wealth he would undoubtedly sacrifice—did follow, becoming one of Jesus' 12 disciples.
