Metaphysical meaning of Matthew (mbd)
Matthew, mat'-thew (Heb.)--gift of Jehovah; gratuity of Jah; given wholly unto Jehovah.
A tax collector, who became one of the disciples of Jesus, and writer of the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 9:9, 10:3). He is called Levi the son of Alphaeus, in Mark 2:14.
Meta. Matthew is the disciple of Jesus Christ who represents the will faculty in man. In the body this faculty is located in the forehead.
In the regeneration, man controls, directs, teaches, and disciplines the faculties of his mind. To do this he must in a measure withdraw from the mercenary occupations and the material ambitions that have absorbed his time and attention. Levi, afterward called Matthew, willingly gave up his money-getting and followed Jesus.
The disciples of Jesus "left all and followed him" (given wholly unto Jehovah). Peter was afraid that they had made a mistake, and he received this assurance from Jesus: "Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for my sake, and for the gospel's sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands." This is a promise that is always fulfilled where there is a whole-hearted surrender of the old life and a full absorption into the new. No one ever hears a devoted Christian worker express disappointment or regret over anything that he has forsaken in the worldly life. On the contrary there is rejoicing as each human link is severed, because the new relation in Christ is deeper and stronger than the human relation and because love is increased and real possessions are multiplied.
The will always enters into man's decisions. The will makes the final choice to give up all and follow Jesus. This lesson on the surrendering of the old ideas and conditions, that the greater increase of good may come into one's life, is based on Matthew because Matthew represents the will. The will has been given over to the thought of accumulation by imposition on external resources (taxgatherer). In the regeneration the will is converted, and is taught by prayer and meditation how to stabilize the universal substance. Under the spiritual law the will becomes a producer instead of a parasite. When the individual will has become a disciple of the Christ, spiritual I AM, the schooling of the man begins.
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Preceding Entry: Matthat
Following Entry: Matthias
