And,
1st, of MATTHEW, by whom the _first_ gospel was composed. He was
called, also, Levi. He was a Jew, born in the province of Galilee. We
suppose that from his youth he was familiar with the worship of the
synagogue and temple, and educated strictly in the religion of Moses. He
filled the office of a publican, was a collector of taxes from the Jews,
to which place he was appointed by the Romans, who, in his day, ruled
over Judea. While engaged in these duties, he became acquainted with the
preaching, miracles, and character of Jesus, the despised Nazarene, and
left all,--his business, friends, home,--to follow him. He journeyed
with Jesus in his ministry, and, after his Master went up to heaven, he
left his own land to preach the gospel among the Gentiles. Some people
suppose that he was a martyr, but this is not well established. Matthew
wrote his gospel either in Hebrew or Greek, (some say both,) about 1800
years since,--very soon after his Master had finished the labors of his
mission, and returned unto his Father. I said, I think, that this man
left all; made many sacrifices to become Jesus' disciple. But we do not
find this in _his_ book. With other virtues, he was an _humble_ man,
quite too modest to praise himself. Luke, in his narrative, mentions
this fact concerning Matthew.
Pages:
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120