Rewards for Servants of Christ

Matthew was a tax collector who was called by Jesus to be one of the twelvel disciples.  Jesus had more than 12 disciples, but these were the ones closest to him.  At that time, Jews disliked the tax collectors because most of them paid the Roman government for the right to collect taxes and then turned around and collected as much as they could from the taxpayers; sound familiar?  Our tax laws have been set up to fund the government and is unfair, for the most part.  Tax collectors were considered swindlers at the time of Jesus, so it was not a popular thing for him to associate himself with one.  

However, Matthew was a good businessman and bookkeeper whose records appeared to be accurate.  Matthew's gospel tells the story of the life of Jesus and treats the story of redemption by going back to the OT to demonstrate that Jesus is the promised Messiah and the OT prophesies his coming.  Today, we will focus on Chapter 10 about the mission of the 12 disciples and their importance in suffering for Christ.  Please go back and read the whole book of Matthew, but especially Chapter 10.  I am starting with vs. 16.

Stephanie Hill Williams