Friend of Sinners (F9)

ByJim Stephens

Scripture:  Matthew 9:9-13

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. 10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” 12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Matthew 9:9–13 NLT)

We looked at Jesus’ encounter with Matthew in the “What Jesus Saw” series (02-13-24 WJS7). Matthew was considered a traitor by many Jews for becoming a contract tax collector for Rome. The job tilted toward dishonesty and abuse. But Jesus saw something in Matthew no one else saw. And Jesus called him to be his disciple.

Matthew quickly arranged a “Dinner with Sinners” and invited Jesus to his home for dinner with his friends and business associates from the shady world of tax collection! Jesus was hated and opposed by people who think they are righteous, but he was a friend of people who know they are sinners.

I hope you’ll notice two important things with me:

  1. Jesus was seldom opposed by the secular Jews, the foreign Samaritans, and the occupying Romans, but often opposed by the Jewish religious leaders who were in charge of “Temple, Inc!”
  2. “Disreputable sinners” seem to have been among Jesus’ favorites! Jesus hasn’t changed at all in his love for “disreputable sinners”, and performance-based religion hasn’t changed in its tendency to exclude and condemn those who don’t believe or behave in an acceptable manner.

Will you pray with me about how we can better represent Jesus, the “Friend of Sinners” to the poor, the marginalized, the outsiders, and the disreputable sinners?

Prayer:

Father, I need to have more “Dinners with Sinners”, the same folks Jesus came to call into the Kingdom of Heaven! I confess that I’m often too busy doing “Christian Stuff” to get out of my bubble and do “Jesus Stuff”! Please forgive me and help me get my priorities straight on this. For Jesus’ Sake! Amen.