\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe truth is, we don\u2019t know much about Matthew\u2019s life before he met Jesus. But from the little that Scripture tells us, we can imagine a lot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMatthew was a tax collector.<\/strong> And in his time and place, tax collectors were not very popular. In fact, people hated them. You see, Matthew was a Jew, and in his day, his homeland was occupied by the Roman Empire. As you can imagine, working for a foreign empire who have taken over your country would not look good in the eyes of your fellow countrymen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-08-23-matthew.jpg” title_text=”2023-08-23-matthew” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” width=”72%” width_tablet=”78%” width_phone=”100%” width_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
As we\u2019ve portrayed him in this manga, Matthew may have been unhappy in this role. Sure, he made a decent living. But to his fellow Jews he was a traitor, and to the Romans just a pawn. Caught in the middle, pulled in two directions, feeling trapped. If he\u00a0 <\/span>quit his job, the Romans might not let him go so easily. But even if they did, his own people would not trust or accept him. And despite what people wanted, the Romans were there to stay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo what else could he do?<\/strong><\/p>\nJesus offered a better way.<\/strong><\/p>\nMany people today feel pulled in different directions, too. They\u2019re torn between responsibilities to different groups whose expectations aren\u2019t always compatible \u2014 workplace, family, friends, community\u2026 Many people feel trapped, unable to live up to the pressures of society.<\/p>\n
What else could they do?<\/strong><\/p>\nJesus offers a better way.<\/strong><\/p>\nJesus offered Matthew an acceptance that society wouldn\u2019t give him. Jesus offered him an alternative to both the brutal oppression of Rome and the hopeless violence of those who might oppose them. Jesus gave Matthew not only a new job, but a whole new way of looking at the world. In fact, he gave him a new life \u2014 one of purpose and meaning and love.<\/p>\n
Jesus offers a better way to us, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nJesus loves and accepts you as you are. He offers an alternative to both the empty pursuit of success and the shame of failure. If you get to know him, he will give you a whole new way of looking at the world. In fact, he will give you new life \u2014 one of purpose and meaning and love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-08-23-matthew2.jpg” title_text=”2023-08-23-matthew2″ align=”center” _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” width=”50%” width_tablet=”60%” width_phone=”100%” width_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Matthew kept saying, \u201cWhat else could I do?\u201d<\/strong> as a statement of resignation, an expression of giving up on any hope of change. But when he met Jesus, those words \u2014\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat else could I do?\u201d<\/strong> \u2014 took on a whole new meaning.<\/p>\nAnd like Matthew, if you really get to know Jesus, you too may find his offer hard to resist.<\/p>\n
How will you respond to Jesus\u2019 invitation?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider divider_position=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”21px” custom_margin=”||-6px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_post_nav prev_text=”Previous Post” next_text=”Next Post” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_post_nav][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you ever find yourself saying, \u201cWhat else could I do?\u201d Do you ever feel like there\u2019s no other way? That there\u2019s no hope for change? Do you ever feel like giving up? Then perhaps you can relate to Matthew, the main character in the Waypoints manga titled \u201cWhat Else Could I Do?\u201d This manga […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waypoints.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}