Matthew, also known as Matthew, was a Galilean. His father was Alephus, who had been the chief tax collector of the Jewish provinces of the Roman Empire before following Jesus. He is the author of the Gospel of Matthew, the first of the New Testament.
Matthew (Peter Paul Rubens)
Matthew was a tax collector, because he had to collect taxes on behalf of the Roman government, a profession that was despised by ordinary people, not to mention that as a tax collector, it was usually inevitable to squeeze and deceive, Matthew confessed his sins and repented, and later followed Jesus, after Jesus' death he wrote one of the four gospels for the ministry Matthew, preaching the gospel to the Jewish compatriots. In his later years, he traveled all over the Middle East and Ethiopia, Africa, to establish a church.
In the New Testament, there are few records of Matthew. Matthew 9:9-13 records:
Jesus went forward from there and saw a man named Matthew sitting on the tax gate, and he said to him, "Follow me." So he got up and followed Jesus.
When Jesus was seated in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus' disciples, "Why did your gentleman eat with the tax collectors and sinners?" ”
When Jesus heard this, he said, "The healthy don't need a doctor, but the sick need it."
Scripture says, 'I love mercy, not sacrifice.' And you shall ponder the meaning of this sentence. I have not come to call the righteous, but to sinners. ”
As a disciple of Jesus, Matthew witnessed the resurrection and ascension of Christ. Later, Matthew, along with Mary, Jacob, and the other followers of the Lord, withdrew to Jerusalem. It was around this time that James succeeded Jesus as the leader of the church in Jerusalem. They continued to remain near Jerusalem and declared Jesus to be the son of Joseph and prophesied as the Messiah. These early Judeo-Christians were known as the "Nazarenes," a sect to which Matthew allegedly belonged.
For 15 consecutive years, Matthew preached the gospel to the Jewish community in the Jewish provinces. In the later period of his ministry, probably following jesus' Great Commission, he traveled to a number of pagan countries and preached in the upper Nile, Macedonia, Persia, and Parthia. The place of martyrdom is said to be Persian, to Hierapolis in Etiubia, and there is also the ethiopian version.
Martyrdom of the Apostle Matthew (Caravaggio)
His remains are preserved in the Salerno Cathedral in Salerno, southeast of the italian city of Naples. Salerno Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St. Matteo Apostolic Cathedral of Salerno, was built by the Normans in the 11th century in honor of St. Matthew, whose remains are still buried under the main altar in the vaulted cellar. In the semicircular niche on the right-hand side is a Crusader chapel that houses weapons used by crusaders.