Transformation

One of my favorite stops during our recent Italy trip was at the San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John Lateran) Church in Rome.  The church is dedicated to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist and is the first among the four major basilicas of Rome.  Beautiful on the outside, the inside is breathtaking.  Huge sculptures of the apostles stand beneath reliefs from the life of Jesus and oval paintings of Old Testament prophets.  Each of the apostles have some symbol that speaks of their role or death – Peter and his keys, Simon the Zealot and the saw by which he was martyred, the Apostle Paul and the sword symbolizing his execution as a Roman citizen.  All of these were impressive, but I found myself going back over and over to the sculpture I have pictured here, that of Matthew (Levi) the tax collector.

Matthew’s story is told simply in Matthew 9:9-13.  He is sitting at his tax collectors booth, likely charging the exorbitant  taxes for which such collectors were notorious.  Though viewed as traitors for working with the occupying Romans, they were often very rich as they filled their own money bags with whatever amounts they could get above that promised to Rome.  We read that Jesus simply came up to Matthew and said, “Follow me,” and Matthew got up and followed.  Of course, that was not the end of it – Matthew later in the day had a party, a dinner in honor of Jesus who loved those known as outcasts and sinners.  Already Matthew is seen collecting something more important than money – he is collecting followers for Jesus.  Some of the religious legalists of the day did not like it and complained about Jesus associating with such sinners.  Our Lord’s response was direct – “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’  For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Whether Matthew previously viewed himself as unhealthy I do not know, but obviously there was something about Jesus’ message that changed his life and altered his eternity.  The mercy extended through Jesus began its transforming process, first evidenced by his attempt to introduce his friends and co-workers to Jesus, and then his dedication to following Jesus as one of the twelve apostles.  The statue pictured here shows Matthew standing with his foot on a money bag – certainly a symbol of the bags of coins that had possessed him in the past.  Because of Christ, the coins had lost their value.  In his hands is a Bible, a symbol of his determination to tell others about Jesus, most evidenced by the Gospel of Matthew.  What began as a simple calling changed his life, his career, his treatment of others, his life message.  Surely this is what transformation looks like.

There were other tax collectors who manifest great transformations, the most famous being Zacchaeus in Luke 19.  Once living only for himself, Zacchaeus was transformed into a generous man, suddenly aware of the injuries he had caused and determined to do something about it.  The change in his life was apparent to all.

Of course, Matthew challenges us to reflect on our own lives and the priority shifts that come as a result of our relationship with Christ.  Surely Jesus wants to be more than just an added dimension to our lives – He wants to be life itself.  When that happens transformation takes place and it becomes increasingly evidenced as we who are sick become increasingly healthy, as we who tend to think only of ourselves and cling to our bags of coins (or whatever else we value greatly) respond to such mercy by the dedication of our lives to Jesus and our compassionate outreach to others.

I wonder, if a sculpture was made of you, what would your foot be on?  What would be in your hands?  Would transformation be evident?

I ask the same of myself.