Stop Waiting for Tomorrow: The Urgency of Grace

I'm Michael Link and welcome to The Depositum where we explore the depths of Christian theology
 through AI. Please note the voices ahead are AI generated. We vet each episode but ask that you
 listen with both faith and reason. Let's dive in. Welcome back to our continuing series,
 12 Men Who Changed the World. The purpose of this series is simple,
 to know the apostles intimately and through their humanity, to know the divine person of
 Jesus Christ. So today we are doing a deep dive into the calling of Matthew.
 Right, which is just, you know, a completely fascinating story.
 It really is. We've got our Deuteronomy Bible, some brilliant insights from the
 Hadot commentary, and we're looking at first century Judea. Our mission here is to figure
 out why this specific, deeply controversial calling just turned the religious world upside
 down. Yeah, and to really get why it was controversial, you have to understand the
 stakes. Exactly. So for you listening, I want you to imagine the most despised person in
 your community. Someone who literally sold out their own neighbors to a hostile occupying army
 just to, you know, line their own pockets. Because that is exactly who you're looking at.
 Yeah. If you live in first century Judea, a public ended tax collector was the ultimate
 triad. Right. I mean, they were agents of the Roman Empire actively extorting their
 own people. Yeah. The hatred for them was just, well, it was visceral. Which from a
 strategic standpoint makes zero sense. I mean, if I'm launching a global religious movement,
 I'm hiring a skilled orator or like a respected philosopher. Oh, definitely a total PR
 nightmare otherwise. Right. Choosing a guy who is actively extorting his neighbors seems like
 public relations suicide. So I mean, what is the strategy there? Well, the Hadot commentary
 gives us the answer. Says it was the wisdom of God to choose the weak things of this
 to confound the strong. Oh, wow. Yeah. By bypassing the religious elites and choosing a hated
 public and, you know, simple fishermen, Christ proved this religion was heavenly.
 It did not rely on human prestige or eloquence to spread across the earth.
 That makes so much sense. And that brings us directly to the custom house,
 which it wasn't just an office, right? It was the epicenter of betrayal. It was the literal
 booth where Matthew took money from his own people. Exactly. And Jesus walks right up to
 listen to the exact words from the gospel of Matthew, chapter nine, verse nine. And when Jesus
 passed on from hence, he saw a man sitting in the custom house named Matthew and he saith to
 him, follow me. And he rose up and followed him. It's just staggering when you think about the
 humility in those words. I mean, Matthew is the one writing this account. Wait, right.
 Imagine writing a permanent memoir and you deliberately introduce yourself to the reader
 by highlighting your absolute worst, most shameful phase of life.
 Exactly. And the commentary notes something really fascinating about that. The other gospel
 writers, Mark and Luke, clearly try to protect his reputation. Oh, really?
 Yeah. They respectfully refer to him by his lesser known name, Levi. But Matthew,
 I mean, in his own gospel, he actively brands himself Matthew the publican.
 Wow. So he leans right into it. He does. He intentionally exposes
 his shameful past for one reason, to magnify the immense goodness and mercy of God,
 who stood down to save him. That is incredible. But you know,
 you would think a guy with that much baggage would want to keep a low profile after being
 chosen, but he does the exact opposite. Oh yeah. He throws a massive feast.
 Right. And the guest list is packed with other publicans and outcasts,
 which means the Pharisees are watching and they are utterly outraged that Jesus would mingle
 with known sinners and traitors, which provokes one of the most brilliant responses
 in the text. This is from the gospel of Matthew chapter nine, verses 12 through 13.
 But Jesus hearing it said, they that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill,
 go then. And long with this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice.
 For I am not come to call the just, but sinners.
 I love that. Here Christ reveals himself as the spiritual physician.
 It's profound theology, but delivered with this really sharp irony.
 Irony directed at the Pharisees, right?
 Exactly. He is speaking directly to the proud scribes and Pharisees who falsely believe they're
 in perfect spiritual health by telling them the healthy do not need a doctor.
 He demonstrates that he comes only to heal those who humbly acknowledge their sickness.
 That shifts the whole perspective. And you know, if you are listening to this and thinking,
 well, I would drop everything too. If Jesus walked by my desk,
 let's look closely at the mechanics of what Matthew actually did.
 Right. Because he left a lucrative, highly secure career, the exact second he was called.
 Exactly. He did not ask for a few days to get his affairs in order or finish his ledger.
 He just went. And there is a severe
 warning from St. Basil found in the commentary that addresses that exact dynamic of hesitation.
 He points out that the devil rarely tries to convince us to reject God entirely.
 Because that tactic is far too obvious. Right. If the devil says to reject God
 completely, you'll say no. So the devil simply advises us to put off our conversion until tomorrow.
 Wow. Just wait a day.
 Yeah. He gives us the illusion of time. St. Basil warns that by convincing us to
 constantly delay, the devil steals our present time. And eventually, you know,
 he robs us of our whole life. That is terrifying, but so true.
 Do not delay grace. You are presented with a choice today, not tomorrow.
 So think about your own life. What vital calling or conversion are you putting off until