Jesus Calls Matthew to Follow Him

Matthew 9:9-10

Our story comes from the Bible. It is found in the book, or part, of the Bible called Matthew. Matthew was one of the special helpers of Jesus.

Jesus lived in Capernaum, a fishing town by a lake called the Sea of Galilee. When Jesus began calling people to follow Him, He began by calling some fishermen by the Sea of Galilee. He called the brothers Peter and Andrew. He also called the brothers James and John. He called them all to leave their nets and follow Him. They followed Jesus. That means fishermen can follow Jesus.


Another time, Jesus was walking through town and He passed a man named Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector for his job. Tax collectors would go to people and take money from them to help pay for things in the city. Most of the time, the tax collectors took too much money and kept it for themselves. That’s why no one liked tax collectors.


But Jesus loves everyone. Jesus went up to Matthew, just like He did with the fishermen, and He said, "Follow Me."


Jesus wanted Matthew to follow Him just like He did the fishermen! Jesus and His friends had dinner at Matthew’s house. Many of Matthew’ s friends, who were tax collectors and “sinners,” came to eat, too. Matthew wanted them to meet Jesus.


So now we know fishermen can follow Jesus. And tax collectors can follow Jesus. Anyone can follow Jesus! Doctors can follow Jesus. Grandmas can follow Jesus. Firefighters can follow Jesus. Teachers can follow Jesus.


Tall people can follow Jesus. Short people can follow Jesus. Sick people, silly people, all the people can follow Jesus! Every person in the whole world can follow Jesus! That means you and me too!


Bible Paraphrase: "Come and follow me," Jesus said. (“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Matthew 4:19 NIV)

Text Truth: Anyone can follow Jesus.


Activities You Can Do at Home

Important People and Things

  • Name things that are important to you. 
  • Help your child name people who are important to him, such as a teacher or grandparent. 
  • Talk about how everyone is important to Jesus. 
  • Encourage your child to say with you the Bible paraphrase: “He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

Follow the Leader

  • Play the game “Follow The Leader” with your child.
  • Have your child pretend to be Matthew collecting money. 
  • Come up to your child and say, “Follow me.” 
  • Lead your child through the house walking, crawling, tiptoeing, etc. 
  • When you find someone else in the house, tell them, “Follow me.” 
  • Remind your child that Jesus wants us to follow Him.

Edible Money Bag 

You’ll Need: slices of cheese, circle cookie cutters, pita pockets 

  • Remind your child that before Matthew followed Jesus, he was a tax collector. 
  • Make coins using slices of cheese and various circle cookie cutters. 
  • Let your child count the coins as she places them in a pita pocket money bag before enjoying a tasty snack. 
  • Encourage your child to say with you the Bible paraphrase: “He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)


Money Bag / Story Bag

You’ll Need: Bible, paper, crayons or washable markers, tape, scissors, round container lids, grocery bag or tote bag

  • Pre-cut the sheets of paper to the size and shape of the container lids.
  • With your child, make simple drawings of several events in the story (Matthew collecting money, Jesus talking with Matthew, Matthew following Jesus, Jesus eating at Matthew’s house).
  • Tape the drawings onto the lids and place in the bag.
  • Open the Bible to Matthew 9.
  • Have your child take the “money” (lids) out of the money bag and place them in order while retelling the story. 
  • Encourage your child to say with you the Bible paraphrase: “He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

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    Story illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported licence. 
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