LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Accepting the One God Accepts
Matt. 9:9-13, John 21:20-23.
The Lord often surprises his disciples with the arrival of a new disciple. For it is not always the one they expect. This must have been the case with Matthew, the tax collector. The previous disciples belonged to a hard-working social class, artisan workers, people "of the common people", but honest. But, suddenly, the Lord calls Matthew, a rich and wealthy man -but of bad reputation-, and that must have caused them astonishment. Surely they had the same objections that the Pharisees had about the Lord: "Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and sinners?".
If we are to believe some biblical scholars, Matthew was of the worst type of publicans, a customs collector, for whom -it was believed- repentance was almost impossible. These were more rapacious than the other collectors. They were a race of criminals, to whom Leviticus 20:5 could well be applied: "Then I will set my face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off from among his people, with all those who played the harlot after him, playing the harlot with Molech".
However, the choice of those who follow Jesus is not made by the disciples, but by the Lord. It is up to the disciples alone to welcome the newcomer (Rom. 15:7). God's choice does not always follow our standards. He has his own reasons, and many times those reasons are very different from ours. The characters of the elect are not always what we would like them to be. Many times those characters, when put in contact, produce sparks (Matt. 20:24). This is also part of the Lord's sovereignty, and of the discipline of the disciples. Only God knows the true potential of each disciple.
But it is not only the entrance of a new disciple that is the Lord's private affair, but also his future destiny. When Peter asks the Lord about John, in that conversation by the sea at the end of John's Gospel, the Lord answers him: "If I want him to remain until I come, what about you?".
Peter was jealous of John, that is why the Lord corrects him. The place that each disciple occupies in the Lord's heart, and also in the context of the work, are matters that the Lord decides. The same can be said of the end they will have. Peter would be taken where he would not want to go; John could stay until the Lord came, if the Lord so willed. All this is decided by the Lord; it is not decided by the disciples.
So the Lord brings those whom he wills, places them where he wills, and chooses for them the end he wills. For he is the Lord. It behooves each individual disciple to bow before this sovereignty. The more willing he is to accept it, the sooner he will be promoted.