Matthew 9:9-13
9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. 10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
In these verses we find the fact that Jesus saw a man. Jesus Christ did not see a publican or a tax collector nor did He see the color of skin or this man’s class standing. Today, we all too often see a tax collector, a race, a plumber, a minister, a teacher, or a trash collector, not people. We see only occupations or color or class. We do not see others as God sees them. Let me say it again, because it is important that we understand this, Jesus saw a man. Even though this man was, what was referred to as, a sinner and a tax collector who was hated by all, Jesus saw this man as he truly was and proceeded to call this man to follow Him.
Then Jesus and the disciples sat down to eat. Many publicans and sinners sat down to eat with them. Upon seeing Jesus eating with sinners and publicans, the Pharisees began to question the disciples about it. They wondered why Jesus would eat with sinners and publicans. Why, if He is Jesus the Son of God, would He allow Himself to be in the company of these types of people? Why would Jesus wish to eat and fellowship with known sinners and outcasts from society?
Jesus, upon hearing the questions from the Pharisees, gave them an answer. What He said, of course, is pretty easy to understand. Most people only go to see the doctor when they are sick and not when they are healthy. So in the same manner it is the lost that would need to seek out Jesus. Again, why, if you are healthy, would you go see a doctor? We do see a doctor for physicals and follow up appointments however, for the most part we do not see our doctor unless we are sick. So, as Christians, we need to look very closely at what Jesus was saying. He was saying that He was eating with the sinners and publicans because they needed Him. God did not send Jesus to the saved, He sent Him to the lost (Matt 18:11,Luke 19:10). Jesus did not come to call the righteous, He came to call sinners.
What a powerful message we are receiving here in these verses! Jesus went and sat, not just in the house, but at the table with sinners and publicans that were hated by all. Here our Lord and Saviour is doing more than most Christians today are willing to do. I hear it over and over again. "I can’t socialize with this one or that one, they are sinners! I would not welcome them into my home and I would not go to their home." Come on, people we better wake up and start truly understanding the Gospel. Right here in these verses the powerful teaching we receive is from Christ Himself. It is a message that He shows us by example. We Christians go to church and fellowship on Sunday and then we are out about our weekly routines. How many of you go and visit the lost? How many of you go visit prisoners? How many go to visit the next door neighbor who is lost? How many of you visit the homeless shelters to seek out the lost?
Just as Jesus was sent to seek the lost and to call them to repentance, we must do the same. Here is a reality check, how many truly lost people do you think visit your church on Sunday? Christians seem to get this idea that they will come to us. This attitude is demonstrated way to often. It is time, as Jesus did, to go to them. We have to be teachers through example, just as Jesus did when He went into the house and ate with them. We need to seek out the lost where they live, work, and play. If they are truly lost, do you really think they are going to seek you out? Just two or three verses here have such a powerful message for us to hear and to understand. It is time for us to begin to practice what we preach and stop being lazy Christians.
It is now that we need to begin to go and seek the lost. We have to stop sitting around in our comfy little church building and start fulfilling the great commission. It is time that we as Christians stop looking at our status and begin to seek what Jesus wants us to do. It is time to stop believing this illusion that the lost will come to us. They are not going to come to us. Why would they, just as the healthy person would not seek out to see a doctor? Why do you think that a lost soul would seek out Jesus? When you were a lost soul did you know you needed Jesus? Did you realize you were lost(sick)? I know some of the Christians today are fortunate. They grew up with Christian parents, attended church and Christian schools so they always knew of Jesus. They even went to church and went about appearing to worship Him. Although they were just as lost as anyone else they probably knew that they were lost. So maybe those Christians do not understand the real feeling of being lost. I am here to tell you that when one is lost they do not know what they are seeking, they do not know what is missing, and most of the time they probably will not come into your comfy little church to seek the answers.
I am bringing it to you right now and I am bringing it to you hard. I do not care what you think about me, I am delivering God’s Word and it is time we stop this unchristian life style that seems to be prevalent in churches of today. It is time that we take down the walls and realize that Christ is the church, not our comfy little building. It is time to start crossing the lines we are afraid to cross. It is time to start visiting the inmates, the sick in the hospital, the lost where they live and stay. We have to start learning to seek them out for they will not seek us out.
Jesus sat with the sinners, he ate with them. Does this sound like Jesus didn’t want us to go where sinners go? Was He saying, "You can’t eat with them, you can’t go into their homes"? Too many Christians today have this impression that they can not go some place because it would be filled with sinners. Yet here, Jesus not only went where it was filled with sinners, He ate with them. He did not sit at a table by Himself away from them, He ate with them at the same table. How can we as Christians sit here and say, "I can’t go in because it is a house of sinners"? The "publicans" live there I can not go inside. It is time that we start to go where no Christian has gone before. It is time to begin to go into the clubs and bars, time to go into prisons, hospitals, social clubs, ETC. It is time to begin allowing a door that leads to the sinners to be opened. It is time that we begin to do as Christ commanded us to do. Go to the nations and preach the gospel. He sent the disciples out, not to the righteous, but to the lost. How many of the lost do you think they found in the churches? How many lost do you think they found in the priests homes? I am sure they had to go into places they would not have chosen to go. I am sure they had to visit the taverns, the prisons, the social gatherings of the heathens and the lost.
So, now I am going to say it and whether you like it or not here it is. Get out of the church pew and seek after the lost! Seek out the lost where they would be and do not expect them to come to you. They are not going to come and seek you. This is the reason why Jesus did not sit around and wait for them to come to Him. He went out to them and He taught them.
Pastor David Azbell
09/01/04
