LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Some of Matthew's Secrets
A man of few words. In fact, we never hear him talk about himself. Sometimes in the Bible it says: "The disciples said...". Perhaps Matthew is one of them; however, the Bible never mentions him clearly saying anything. So, the impression is evident: this man has no words, it is as if he had never spoken anything. However, when he opens his mouth, he speaks the word of God. This is his gospel. By himself, Matthew has nothing to say; however, when he records the words of the Lord, his gospel is the longest of the four.
Sometimes, your computer becomes very slow. Why? Because there is a lot of junk that needs to be removed. If you want your computer to be more efficient, you must remove a lot of things. In the same way, we don't attend to the Word, because we talk too much. There is a lot of garbage in us; then the Holy Spirit has to remove that. This is the secret of Matthew.
He knew the gift of God. His original name was not Matthew; this is the name our Lord gave him. Matthew means "The gift of God. What is the gift of God? A gift is not acquired for money; it is something given freely.
No one knew more about the power of money than Matthew. With his money, he was able to buy the whole world. Sometimes we are rich because we work hard; and after much labor we make a profit. Matthew worked hard. He wanted to gain the whole world, and to do so he would use any method. However, the Lord taught him to know the gift of God.
Matthew put the whole word of God in order. Why? Because he emptied himself. Only the gift of God, every day, will go through the eraser in our memory and eliminate the garbage. Matthew learned his lesson. Only by recognizing the gift of God will we allow the work of the cross to eliminate all that is useless, and we will have all the space for the Lord.
The man of the Word. In Matthew's heart is always the Word in the first place. That is his ministry; his emphasis is on teaching and on the word of the Lord. In reviewing his gospel, it is evident that this was his burden. Three out of every five words, that is, 60%, are the direct words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Undoubtedly, the whole book of Matthew is the word of God, but if we wish to know the direct words of Christ, in 60% of the 28 chapters we see that the emphasis in Matthew is the Word.
We also discover a very interesting thing when he describes the same fact as another evangelist. For example, where Mark uses three words, Matthew uses only one. He saves two words. He saves room for the word of Christ. Matthew allows the Holy Spirit to remove all that pertains to himself. He is a man without words, but when he speaks, even when he tells of Christ's work, the Holy Spirit makes him prioritize the Word.
We thank God for Matthew. He gives us a wonderful lesson that we can learn.
Christian Chen, "Entering into the Riches of the Word".