my name is matthew | stephen adly guirgis | the last days of judas iscariot

My name is Matthew. I was a Jewish tax collector for the Empire. My job was to take the food out of your mouth and see it shipped off to Rome. Roman tax was exorbitant and non-negotiable. If you had six geese, I took three. If you had a flock of sheep, I took fifty percent. If you had only one sheep, I cut that sheep in half. If you had no sheep, I took a child -- your child -- and had him or her sold into slavery to settle your debt to the Emperor. This is not a made up story. This is history. This is fact. We were a conquered nation and I was a traitor to my people. I was a Jew stealing from Jews. According to our laws, I was a sinner and a traitor, I was unclean -- unfit to be gazed upon. That's who I was.

I was a scumbag, and it was against the law to look me in the eye. Jesus, he looked me in my eye. That's all he did. He looked me in my eye and he said; "Follow me". And before I knew it, I had. And before we broke bread that night, I was clean again.