We thank you, heavenly Father, for the witness of your apostle and evangelist Matthew to the Gospel of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The name “Matthew” means “gift of the LORD.”

Mark and Luke, in the story of his calling, name him “Levi.” Perhaps this was his original name, and he received a new name from Jesus when he became a disciple. (It has also been suggested that he was simply a member of the tribe of Levi.)

Of Matthew’s life after Pentecost the Scriptures tell us nothing.

Later accounts of his life vary, some reporting that he was martyred, others that he died a natural death. The Christian community since early times has commemorated him as a martyr.

Whether the Apostle Matthew is also the Evangelist Matthew — that is, whether the Apostle Matthew wrote the Gospel that bears his name — is disputed. The Gospel itself does not say who wrote it, but the designation “according to Matthew” is very old.

In favor of his authorship it may be noted that (1) while Mark and Luke give the fourth pair of Apostles as “Matthew and Thomas,” the Gospel of Matthew gives them as “Thomas and Matthew”; and (2) while Luke 5:29 explicitly states, and Mark 2:15 suggests, that Matthew gave a banquet for Jesus, Matthew 9:10 in describing the same banquet does not indicate who the host was. Both of these variations would be routine touches of modesty if Matthew was the author.

Read it all.

When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape [the destruction of the Jews that Haman had duped the king into ordering]. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.” “If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.” “Bring Haman at once,” the king said, “so that we may do what Esther asks.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared. As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, “Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.” Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this: If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.” Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. “And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.” His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.” This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.

–Esther 4:12-5:14 (TNIV)

If you have never read the book of Esther, I wholeheartedly commend it to you. It tells a gripping story of the destructive effects of human pride and how God works to overcome it. Nowhere in the book of Esther is God mentioned explicitly. The closest thing we have is Mordecai’s response above to Esther that, “deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place [God]” and that, “who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:12-14). No, the writer shows how God works in and through the ordinary events, circumstances, and people of our daily lives to accomplish he will.

In the passage above, we see the main villain, Haman, in all his ugly and destructive pride. He has previously duped King Xerxes into unknowingly ordering the destruction of the Jews and now he is gloating about it and receiving encouragement from his wife and friends. He has done all this because he was snubbed, at least in his own mind, by the Jew Mordecai earlier in the narrative. The irony in all this, of course, is that Xerxes’ new queen Esther is a Jew herself, albeit unknown to either Haman or Xerxes at this point in the narrative.

And so we see Haman gloating over his apparent success and being all puffed up by it. Little does he know that his undoing is just around the corner, for you see, God is never mocked and his will is never thwarted. God called the Jews to be his people and he is not about to let the likes of Haman destroy his inheritance!

We can appropriately draw two lessons from today’s passage. First let us draw comfort that God works in and through the ordinary events and people of our lives. Sometimes we want or expect God to work only through the dramatic. But here we are reminded that while God can certainly do that, he chooses more often than not to work through the ordinary. Can anything therefore ever be considered ordinary in our lives? At this point in the narrative, things look very bleak for Esther and her people–until we remember that God is actively at work in the ordinary events, people, and circumstances of her life. God is doing likewise with us, even when things appear to be terribly dark in our lives.

Second, let us be on guard against the onslaught of pride. Like Haman, when things are rocking along for us in our lives and we are enjoying success after success, we tend to delude ourselves into thinking that we are responsible for our success, that we are somehow special or better than others when in fact we are nothing of the kind. God uses our success (and failures) for his purposes and to accomplish his will, not ours. Remembering this provides us with a healthy antidote against human pride.

And while we are on the topic of human pride, if you choose to continue to read the story of Esther (and I hope you do), pay attention to your reaction to Haman’s fate later in the narrative. Do you experience primarily glee or sorrow? How you react toward Haman will give you keen insight into your the degree that human pride is bedeviling you.

Power is a genuine paradox to believers. We love it and we hate it.We despise its evil and appreciate its good. We would like to do without it, but we know it is part and parcel of human life. Our ambivalence about power is resolved in the vow of service. Jesus picked up a basin and a towel and, in doing so, redefined the meaning and function of power. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:14-15). In the everlasting kingdom of Christ, low is high, down is up, weak is strong, service is power. Do you sincerely want to engage in the ministry of power? Do you honestly want to be used of God to heal human hurts? Then learn to become a servant to all. “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). The ministry of power functions through the ministry of the towel.

—Money, Sex, and Power

At the end of the day, review your conversation during the day, and ask yourself some pertinent questions about it. “Did I say exactly what I meant? Did I seek to create any false impressions? Did I color my language any for effect? Did I make any claim for myself, my knowledge, my skill, my actions, my intentions, my attitudes, my relations which went beyond the reality?” Examine yourself as relentlessly as if it were someone else you were examining. Repent of your failure [and give thanks to God for your successes]. Resolve, by the grace of Christ, not to fail in the same way tomorrow. On the morrow, “set a watch at the door of your lips.”

–Albert Edward Day, Discipline and Discovery

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I am impressed by my own spiritual insights. I probably know more about prayer, meditation, and contemplation than most Christians do. I have read many books about the Christian life. Still, as impressed as I am, I am more impressed by the enormous abyss between my insights and my life. It seems as if I am standing on one side of a huge canyon and see how I should grow toward you, live in your presence and serve you, but cannot reach the other side of the canyon where you are. I can speak and write, preach and argue about the beauty and goodness of the fife I see on the other side, but how, O Lord, can I get there? Sometimes I even have the painful feeling that the clearer the vision, the more aware I am of the depth of the canyon. Am I doomed to die on the wrong side of the abyss? Am I destined to excite others to reach the promised land while remaining unable to enter there myself? Sometimes I feel imprisoned by my own insights and “spiritual competence.” You alone, Lord, can reach out to me and save me. You alone. I can only keep trying to be faithful, even though I feel faithless most of the time. What else can I do but keep praying to you, even when I feel dark, to keep writing about you, even when I feel numb; to keep speaking in your name, even when I feet alone. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen.

–Henri Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy

I think Nouwen’s prayer represents well the plight of the human condition. Obviously as a priest this appeals directly to what I do but let us not miss the underlying predicament and hope here. Even in the midst of hopelessness we have hope, even if we must cling to it by our fingernails.

Remember the compassion of God, how he heals. Do not despair of salvation. Recall the memory of what has been written, how he that falls rises again, and he that is turned away turns again, he that has been smitten is healed, he that is caught by wild beasts escapes, and he that confesses is not rejected. The Lord does not want the death of the sinner, but that he return and live. Do not be contemptuous like one who has fallen in the depths of sin.

–Basil the Great, Letter 44

Basil is onto something very important here. One of the things Satan uses to keep us in despair is distractions. We get so distracted in our daily lives that we forget the promises of God. We forget to recollect ourselves before him. We forget his mighty acts in history so that we can live our days in hope and expectation. That is why remembering is a consistent theme of the Bible. Remember the goodness and mercy of God. Remember the Good News of Jesus Christ. Be intentional about it, especially in the midst of your distractions so that you do not fall into despair.

Why are you dying? Do not go into the trap. These are reminders [to repent] given to believers, that by walking in them and striving in the commandments they will do the works [produced by a saving faith] worthy of eternal salvation.

–Pachomius, Letters 3.9

The mind must not fail to believe in the promised blessings [of the Gospel] and give way to despair; and that the soul once marked out for perdition must not refuse to apply remedies [of repentance] on the ground that its wounds are past curing.

–Jerome, Letter 122.1

I call upon you, my God, my mercy. You made me and, when I forgot you, you did not forget me. I call you into my soul which you are preparing to receive you through the longing which you have inspired in it. Do not desert me now that I am calling on you. Before I called to you, you were there before me. With mounting frequency by voices of many kinds you put pressure on me, so that from far off I heard and was converted and called upon you as you were calling to me. Moreover, Lord, you wiped out all the evils which merited punishment, so as not to bring the due reward upon my hands, by which I fell away from you. Before I existed you were, and I had not being to which you could grant existence. Nevertheless here I am as a result of your goodness, which goes before all that you made me to be and all out of which you made me. You had no need of me. I do not possess such goodness as to give you help, my Lord and my God. But I serve and worship you so that from you good may come to me. To you I owe my being and the goodness of my being.

–13.1.1

One of the clearest evidences of a Spirit-filled Christian is his hunger for Scripture and his humble submissiveness to the authority of Scripture as God’s written Word. But show me a person who claims to be a Christian yet is not devoting himself to the apostles’ teaching, who rather neglects and even disregards it, and you give me cause to question whether he has received the Holy Spirit at all. For the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (as Jesus called him). He is given us to be our teacher, and those who are filled with him have a keen appetite for his instruction.

–Dr. John R.W. Stott, The Biblical Basis for Declaring God’s Glory