Which apostle was the tax collector?

Answer 1

The original New Testament gospel, now known as Mark's Gospel, refers to Levi, son of Alphaeus, as a tax collector. However, for some reason, Mark never again refers to Levi, but introduces Matthew and James, son of Alphaeus, as disciples in the list of the twelve disciples (verse 3:14-19). Luke's Gospel follows this more or less faithfully when copying from Mark.

Because disciples are not supposed to just disappear, the author of the book now known as Matthew's Gospel resolved this problem by not referring to Levi, but instead saying in the corresponding place in the text that the tax collector Jesus called was Matthew.

Because of the change of name in Matthew, it has become accepted by Christians that Matthew and Levi were one and the same person, although Mark's Gospel makes this seem unlikely.

A:

Matthew, also called Levi.

A:

(Matthew 10:3) Matthew was a tax collector (Matthew 9:9; Mark 2:14).