The Calling of Matthew is an episode in the life of Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 that appears in all three Synoptic Gospels, , and and relates the initial encounter between Jesus and St. Matthew.

According to the Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

:

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

In all three Gospels, this episode takes place shortly after the miracle of Healing the paralytic at Capernaum

Healing the paralytic at Capernaum

Healing the paralytic at Capernaum is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels in Matthew , Mark and Luke .According to the Gospels, when Jesus entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door,...

 and is followed by Lord of the Sabbath

Lord of the Sabbath

The Lord of the Sabbath is an episode in the life of Jesus that appears in all three Synoptic Gospels, , and . It relates an encounter between Jesus, his Apostles and the Pharisees and is the first of the "four Sabbath controversies"....

. In the Gospels of Mark and Luke the person called is called Levi and the son of Alpheus.

In all three Gospel accounts Jesus is then invited to a banquet, with a crowd of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees then complain:

"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

In art

The calling of Matthew has also been the subject of works of art by several painters including:

• Caravaggio
  The Calling of St Matthew (Caravaggio)
  The Calling of Saint Matthew is a masterpiece by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, depicting the Calling of Matthew. It was completed in 1599-1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of the French congregation, San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome...
  
   (1599-1600) at Contarelli Chapel
  Contarelli Chapel
  The Contarelli Chapel, within the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, is famous for housing three paintings on the theme of Saint Matthew the Evangelist by the Baroque master Caravaggio....
  
   in San Luigi dei Francesi
  San Luigi dei Francesi
  The Church of St. Louis of the French is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church in Rome, not far from Piazza Navona. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to St. Denis the Areopagite and St. Louis IX, king of France...
  
  
• Hendrick ter Brugghen
  Hendrick ter Brugghen
  Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen was a Dutch painter, and a leading member of the Dutch followers of Caravaggio — the so-called Dutch Caravaggisti.- Biography :...
  
   (1621)
• Juan de Pareja
  Juan de Pareja
  Juan de Pareja was a Spanish painter, born in Antequera, near Malaga, Spain. He is primarily known as a member of the household and workshop of painter Diego Velázquez. His 1661 work The Calling of St. Matthew is currently on display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain...
  
   (1661)

See also

• Gospel harmony
  Gospel harmony
  A Gospel harmony is an attempt to merge or harmonize the canonical gospels of the Four Evangelists into a single gospel account, the earliest known example being the Diatesseron by Tatian in the 2nd century. A gospel harmony may also establish a chronology for the events of the life of Jesus...
  
  
• First disciples of Jesus
  First disciples of Jesus
  The call of the First disciples of Jesus is a key episode in the life of Jesus in the New Testament. It appears in , and on the Sea of Galilee. reports the first encounter with two of the disciples a little earlier in the presence of John the Baptist...
  
  
• Commissioning the twelve Apostles
  Commissioning the twelve Apostles
  Commissioning the twelve Apostles is an episode in the life of Jesus that appears in all three Synoptic Gospels: , and but not in the Canonical Gospel of John. It relates the initial selection of the twelve Apostles among the disciples of Jesus....
  
  
• The Calling of St Matthew (Caravaggio)
  The Calling of St Matthew (Caravaggio)
  The Calling of Saint Matthew is a masterpiece by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, depicting the Calling of Matthew. It was completed in 1599-1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of the French congregation, San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome...