Saint Matthew the Apostle

Matthew the Apostle was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. According to Christian traditions, he was also one of the four Evangelists as author of the Gospel of Matthew, and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist. The New Testament records that as an Apostle, he followed Jesus. Church Fathers, such as Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria, relate that Matthew preached the gospel in Judea before going to other countries. Matthew is mentioned in Matthew 9:9 and Matthew 10:3 as a tax collector (in the New International Version and other translations of the Bible) who, while sitting at the "receipt of custom" in Capernaum, was called to follow Jesus. He is also listed among the Twelve Disciples, but without identification of his background, in Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13. In passages parallel to Matthew 9:9, both Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 describe Jesus's calling of the tax collector Levi, the son of Alphaeus. They do not associate it with the name Matthew, but all three passages are remarkably similar. Since the father of both Matthew(known as Levi) and James, son of Alphaeus is named Alphaeus, according to the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church the two apostles were brothers. The New Testament records that as a disciple, Matthew followed Jesus. After Jesus' ascension, the disciples withdrew to an upper room (Acts 1:10–14) (traditionally the Cenacle) in Jerusalem. The disciples remained in and about Jerusalem and proclaimed that Jesus was the promised Messiah. In the Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 43a), "Mattai" is one of five disciples of "Jeshu". Early Church Fathers such as Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.1.1) and Clement of Alexandria say that Matthew preached the gospel to the Jewish community in Judea, before going to other countries. Ancient writers are not in agreement as to which other countries these are, but almost all sources mention Ethiopia.