20150922 A PARTY FOR SINNERS

A PARTY FOR SINNERS

Matthew 9:12-13 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."

In this passage Jesus attends a party that Matthew has thrown for all his old tax collector buddies and some other cronies. I believe Matthew was introducing his old friends to his new friends and to his new life. Have you introduced your old friends to Jesus?

By this time Jesus’ activities have caught the attention of the “religious” crowd and they are watching him closely. He is gaining notoriety and a following and He doesn’t do things the way they do things. In their eyes he is dangerous and so, they are looking to catch Him doing something, anything for which they can criticize Him and for which they can keep others from following Him. And now they have it. He goes to a party with a bunch of sinners, and not just sinners, but people from the other political party. You see the tax collectors actually worked for the Roman government and collected taxes from their own people, the Israelites. They often cheated and took more than they should. Their companions were often other disreputable characters. So the religious, the Pharisees now have Him. He eats with sinners.

Jesus response is to tell them what their job was all along. It’s the sinner who needs a Savior. It’s the sick who need the doctor. It’s the dirty who need a bath. It’s the hungry who need fed, the thirsty who need water. Those who have it all together and don’t sin don’t need Jesus. They are the self-righteous, in their own eyes. In Jesus eyes, they only “think” they are righteous. They are blind to their own sin. They see others (specifically sinners) as beneath their time and effort. But Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost… the sinner, the tax collector, the liar, the cheat, the sexually immoral, the thief, the critic, the judgmental, and the list goes on.

I am so glad He came for the sinner because that means He came seeking me and you. Now let us begin to see others as Jesus does, not as those lost without hope, but as those who can be saved, redeemed by His blood.

Father in heaven, forgive us for falling into the mindset of Pharisees. Any good in us is because of Your Amazing Grace. Open our eyes to see others as You see them. In Jesus Name, AMEN!!!