Matthew: From tax man to ax man

Saint Matthew
Painting by Peter Paul Rubens

We might all be better off chopping some non-essentials from our lives.  Who knows...  One day we might be sitting at an office desk, or at the kitchen table, and Jesus might walk by saying, "Follow me!"

Will we ask for just a little more time to settle our worldly affairs?  Matthew did not.

He immediately forgot about the juicy benefits that accrued from being a Roman tax collector.  He immediately forgot about the fancy dinners, the luxurious surroundings, and the so-called friends.  He even forgot about being shunned by his own people for these greedy choices.

He simply dropped it all and went.

Two other disciples were called upon to chop and drop their own non-essentials.  One was Saul, whose pride was worldly knowledge and whose passion was persecuting followers of The Way.  While charging off to Damascus on yet another heinous mission, Saul was divinely diverted.  The resurrected Christ literally blinded him to his former habits.  Saul became Paul, the disciple who eventually dropped his own body as a Christian martyr.

Peter, as well.

To balance Peter's threefold forsaking of Jesus, the resurrected Christ gave him a threefold opportunity to strengthen his faith.  Christ asked Peter: "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?"  This was not because Jesus felt insecure!  This was because His love is great enough to account for repeated human failings.  Peter then answered, "Yes, yes, yes!!!"  His faith did not falter when he too was later martyred.

Resources

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/whatever-happened-to-the-twelve-apostles-11629558.html