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Question 10
When discussing Matthew the tax collector, Bercot rejects the “Roman collaborator” explanation and instead paints tax collectors as brutal extortioners using Philo’s description (insults, violence, torture, even holding a corpse hostage); what does it reveal about Jesus—and about God’s intentions in the kingdom—that He called a man with that reputation, and what does that imply about the kind of “before-and-after” transformation we should expect in ourselves rather than settling for a softer, respectable conversion story?
Another way to ask: What does it show about Jesus and God’s kingdom that He called a tax collector with a terrible reputation? What does that say about the kind of real life change we should expect in ourselves, not just a “nice” conversion story?

Direct Answer Bercot’s teaching suggests Jesus intentionally called someone widely seen as vile to display the transforming power of the kingdom: Matthew “immediately dropped everything” and became an “upright, godly man.” That implies Christian conversion should involve real, visible change—not just a respectable religious upgrade.

Support from Transcript:

  • Matthew had “a tax collecting business” and was called while in his “tax office,” and he “immediately dropped everything… and followed Jesus, and never turned back.”
  • Bercot emphasizes Matthew’s humility: he labels himself “Matthew the tax collector,” a term like a “black mark,” showing “the power of Jesus Christ to transform people.”
  • He rejects the common myth that tax collectors were hated mainly as Roman collaborators, noting early Christians, Josephus, and Philo don’t say that.
  • He explains the system: tax collectors often worked for themselves after buying the right to collect, then squeezed people for profit.
  • He quotes Philo: tax collectors are “most pitiless… full of… inhumanity,” using “insults, violence… tortures,” even seizing a corpse as leverage—showing how despicable the reputation was.
Discussion Follow-ups If Jesus can make a man like that into a faithful disciple, what sins or patterns are you tempted to excuse as “just who I am”? What would “immediately dropped everything” look like in your context?

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