10. 'Ev <rr\ olxicf,, in the house) Cf. ver. 28 ; or, if you take it of Matthew's house, Mark ii. 15 ; Luke v. 29. Matthew ap pears in this feast to have bid adieu to his former companions,1
self, ch. v. 46, made the deepest impression on his mind. He did not, however, on that very day commence following the Lord daily, but had still some occupation in levying taxes, therein without doubt being observant of that righteousness which is commanded in Luke iii. 13. There was, on the part of the Jews, a great abhorrence of publicans, even though they were themselves Jews ; and it is to this abhorrence that the Saviour adapted His language, Matt, xviii. 17. However, the publicans were not altogether ex cluded from the temple, whether they had the same degree of access to it open to them as the Pharisees had, or an access more remote : Luke xviii. 13. John admitted the publicans to baptism, on condition that, in the dis charge of their office, they would allow themselves to be stirred up to the duty of justice : nay more, not even did the Saviour command them altogether to leave their employment, but to " make to themselves friends of the Mam mon of unrighteousness," Luke xv. 1, xvi. 1, 9. Neither Christ nor His fore runner were bound by the Jewish traditions, which excluded publicans from church-communion. And besides, it is probable that the Jews, from malice against Christ, subsequently established more severe enactments as to pub licans. Accordingly Matthew, being called to the apostle^hip, and not as yet at that time ordered to leave the receipt of customs, may have discharged this duty up to the time that he was called to follow Jesus. But if Matthew did the same as Zaccheus, before his conversion, he was in duty bound to make amends to those whom he had defrauded on the same principle as Zaccheus, or even to compare and make up all accounts whatever with the other publicans. Jesus, therefore, when he, saw him sitting at the receipt of custom, saith, Follow Me. And he arose and followed Him. Independently of the general crowd of hearers and disciples, coming to Him and going away from time to time, Jesus admitted certain followers to daily intimacy (Luke ix. 59, xviii. 22 ; Acts i. 21), and twelve apostles, i.e. extraordinary messen gers of the kingdom of heaven. Peter and Andrew, James also, with John, were made followers before that they were made apostles : Matthew was called to the apostolic dignity sooner than he was admitted to the intimacy of daily following the Lord, although not even this could have been put off for long, and in matter of fact was not delayed for more than a few days. At all events, he was not present in the journey to the country of the Ger- gesenes, who perhaps knew him well as a publican ; but he may have been a spectator of the other acts of the Lord at Capernaum previous and subse quent to that journey. Even though he were ever so much behind the other apostles in following Christ : yet he followed soon enough for attaining tlie object proposed, as an apostle, Acts i. 21. — Harm. 281, etc.
1 He seems also hereby to have afforded them an opportunity of going to the Lord, such as would hardly have been given to so great a number of such characters at any other time. Shortly after, Matthew came to know the