Bartholomew and Matthew

17. September 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Hello: 

We are still studying our disciples.  We have learned a little about Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Philip.  Today we will learn about Bartholomew and Matthew.   Below is our text listing all twelve.

Matthew 10:1 “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

Though Bartholomew is listed among the twelve disciples of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the New Testament does not record any information about him.  He is always named in the company of Philip.   So let’s begin our study on Matthew. 

The first mention of Matthew occurs in the following verse and his profession is identified as a tax collector.  If you have been following our study on the book of Matthew, we talked about earlier how tax collectors were among the most hated because they overcharged the people for their own gain.  Jesus calls Matthew in the middle of him doing business and goes to his house for dinner as other tax collectors joined them.  This was a major problem for the religious leaders who felt that Jesus should not be hanging out with sinners.  Let’s look at the story. 

Matthew 9:9 “ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

The text does not give us any more personal accounts about Matthew except to state in the following that he was among the group of people that were waiting in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.  Here is the text.

Acts :  “When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.”

Matthew is traditionally credited as the author of the Gospel of Matthew.  He is referred to in the book of Mark and Luke as “Levi” the tax collector and he is identified as the son of Alphaeus.  Let’s look at one of those texts.

Mark 2:13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

Okay, enough for today.  Make sure you’re taking notes.  Test is coming soon. (lol)

Stay encouraged!!!!!!!! 

God Bless!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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