Who was the tax collector that followed Jesus?

Answer 1

Matthew 9:9 - As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him.

Matthew 10:2-4 - Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.[NKJV]

Answer 2

Tax collectors in The Bible were hated very much. They would charge the people twice what the government wanted so they could keep the extra. Jesus spent time with the tax collectors and other immoral or "unclean" people to show unconditional love and no judgment.

Answer 3

well there is no disciple named Levi but there is one named Mathew and he was a tax collecter, also known as a publican.

Answer:Matthew and Levi are the same person.

Matthew 9:9 - As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him.

Mark 2:14 - As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. [NKJV]

Answer 4

A perennial challenge for young students of the Bible is the apparent contradiction in which there seem to be two disciples who were tax collectors. One was Levi and the other Matthew, but it has become accepted by Christians that Matthew and Levi were one and the same person.

The original New Testament gospel, now known as Mark's Gospel, refers to Levi, son of Alphaeus, as a tax collector. However, for some reason, Mark never again refers to Levi, but introduces Matthew and James, son of Alphaeus, as disciples in the list of the twelve disciples (verses 3:14-19). There is no reason here to believe that the author of Mark was portraying Matthew as either the tax collector or as the brother of James, son of Alphaeus. Luke's Gospel follows this more or less faithfully when copying from Mark.

Because disciples are not supposed to just disappear, the author of the book now known as Matthew's Gospel resolved this problem by not referring to Levi, but instead saying in the corresponding place in the text that the tax collector Jesus called was Matthew. Thus we have two essentially similar references to Jesus calling a tax collector to follow him, with names Levi and Matthew. Naturally the two were later thought to be exactly the same person.

Answer 5

Among the 12 disciples, Matthew was the lone tax collector.

Answer 6

The tax collector who followed Jesus was named Levi, also known as Matthew. He was called by Jesus to be one of His disciples and later became one of the twelve apostles.

Answer 7

Zacchaeus.