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Saint Matthew the Evangelist
Apostle called from the tax office
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Life and witness
Matthew 9:9–13 describes Jesus calling Matthew from the tax office and sharing a meal with tax collectors and sinners. Matthew 10:3 lists him among the Twelve as the tax collector. Church tradition identifies him with Levi in the parallel accounts of Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27.
Historical setting
Matthew 9:9–13 describes Jesus calling Matthew from the tax office and sharing a meal with tax collectors and sinners. Matthew 10:3 lists him among the Twelve as the tax collector. Church tradition identifies him with Levi in the parallel accounts of Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27.
Legacy and remembrance
The Church receives the first Gospel under Matthew’s name; this attribution belongs to its received tradition. Later missionary and martyrdom accounts go beyond the Gospel’s narrative and should not be combined into an invented, certain chronology. His selected fixed feast is November 16.
More about the life
The individual church biography begins with the tax office and the meal shared with Jesus, then follows the Church’s tradition of Matthew’s later preaching. It also draws attention to the Gospel’s extended teaching about the Kingdom, including the Sermon on the Mount and the parables. This connects his remembrance as an evangelist with the formation of Christian life, not simply the recording of events. Later claims about a lost original-language Gospel and distant missionary journeys remain traditional claims, rather than a surviving manuscript history or a certain travel record.
Quotes
A sourced selection, not a popularity ranking. Quote wording stays in the cited language; context notes are editorial.
No quotations have been approved for this collection yet. This does not mean that no authentic words survive. See the readings and sources below.
Readings
Selected reading
Matthew 9:9-13 (the calling of Matthew)
And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
English: cited historical translation. Modern Greek, Russian and Macedonian: LogosPharos translations through English, not direct translations from ancient Greek.
Editorial context
Jesus passes the tax booth, calls the man named Matthew, and then eats with publicans and sinners, answering the Pharisees that the sick are the ones who need a physician. The words spoken in the passage are those of Jesus.
View source text
Source text and edition
And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
King James Version, the English translation cited here. Modern Greek, Russian and Macedonian below are relay translations through this English text, not direct translations from the Greek.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%209&version=KJV
Words recorded in the sources
No words are reliably recorded for this saint in the sources used here, so only the selected reading is published.
Translations and context are AI-assisted and editorially reviewed, not independently certified by a scholar. Compare the displayed source text; short selections are not complete works.
Writings and works
Checked against Eastern Orthodox sources. Written works, recorded teaching, and works about the saint are distinguished.
These books are received under the named apostle in Orthodox Church tradition. This records ecclesial attribution, not a claim to settle every historical authorship question.
Gospel according to Matthew
Canonical Scripture
Attribution source: Azbyka Vera Orthodox library
Church life and commemoration
Work about the saint
Attribution source: Eastern Orthodox Church account
External sources may be in another language. Modern editions and translations can be copyrighted; full books are not copied here.
Miracles and testimony
These summaries distinguish Scripture, hagiographical accounts and later testimony. A source establishes that an event was reported, not independent proof of its supernatural cause. Miracles are attributed to God, not autonomous powers of saints. Reports of healing are not medical advice or a promise of recovery.
Scriptural account
Acts 5:12–16
Acts reports signs and healings through the apostles collectively. This passage does not identify which individual apostle performed each event; it is not evidence for a separate personal miracle attributed to this apostle.
Read the sourceResearch and reading notes
These are original editorial biographies, not copied source translations. Scripture, historical writing, and hagiographical tradition are distinguished in the text. This page is a study introduction, not an exhaustive critical edition or a personal spiritual rule.
The saints listed here are commemorated by Eastern Orthodox churches. These summaries and translations are independent editorial work, not official Church publications or Church-approved translations.
Church sources
https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/06/30/101711-synaxis-of-the-holy-glorious-and-all-praised-twelve-apostles
https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/11/16/103313-apostle-and-evangelist-matthew