Surprise of the Day 

Tax Collectors were barred from worshiping in synagogues or the temple.  The apostle Matthew was a tax collector.

Matthew 9:9 

Fact of the Day

In the Talmud Nedarim 3:4, it declares rabbis are to excommunicate anyone who becomes a tax collector.  Matthew sacrificed his religion for money.  But Jesus saw great potential in Matthew.  In fact, Matthew wrote the first book in the New Testament of the Bible. And he knew the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus better than most, for he quoted them all through his book.  The Talmud was a Jewish commentary of the Law of Moses.  It contained hundreds of new laws which Jesus called “the traditions of the elders” and which the Jewish leaders honored above the Law of Moses.