Jesus, Friend of Sinners
Matthew 9:9-13
October 23, 2005
Introduction
What we’re going to look at today is a great example of one of the things I love most about Jesus and what I try to exemplify most about him.
I’m not perfect in this, and I blow it sometimes, but I hope someday that someone will complain about me the way the complained about Jesus in this area.
Here we see Jesus daring to be seen associating with sinners. And he gets called on the carpet for it. But the great thing is that he’s okay with that. Why? Because it gives him yet another opportunity to teach people about the love of God and to show it in a way that everyone could relate to.
It’s easy to say that God loves everybody. It’s another thing to hang out around people that you’re not always comfortable around simply because God loves them.
Let’s look at how Jesus handles this by looking at Matthew, chapter 9, verses 9-13. If you’re using the Bibles in the seats in front of you, you can find this passage on page 687.
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?"
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Let’s pray.
In this passage, I think we can find four habits of Jesus that are actually exhibited throughout the gospels. These habits excited some and bugged others. But they all served to glorify the Father and expand the kingdom of God.
And my intention here today is to give you something you can not only file away in your brain about the way Jesus operated while on earth, but that you’ll find something you can use in your efforts to reflect Jesus while you’re on earth.
Let’s get started, shall we? Here’s the first habit we find:
Jesus called all kinds of people.
The "Matthew" here is the author of the gospel of Matthew, who, as we see from our passage today, was a tax collector.
Tax collectors were despised because they worked for the Romans. They worked on commission by collecting taxes plus a profit for their efforts.
I wonder what kind of reaction Jesus got from the other disciples when Jesus walked up to Matthew?
I wonder if they were thinking, "This’ll be good - Jesus’ll give him the old ’what for!’" And then, to their shock, amazement, and maybe even horror, they hear Jesus utter the words of invitation.
"Follow me."
Jesus called fisherman, tax collectors, and even a Zealot - a person who was dedicated to the violent overthrow of Rome. Can you imaging HIS reaction when he first met Matthew?
There is no place in Scripture where Jesus asked for a guy’s spiritual or career credentials before becoming his follower. He didn’t call spiritual giants to be his followers.
I don’t know about you, but I’m awful glad about that. That not only gives me hope for myself, it gives me hope for some of you, too! He called all kinds of people.
Here’s another habit we find in our passage...
Jesus "hung around" all kinds of people.
I’m going to camp here a bit, so hang on, okay?
Jesus could hang out with the rich and the poor, the religious leaders and, as we see in this passage today, those who weren’t particularly religious.
Verse 10 -
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples.
And this caused no end of scandal. It got him into trouble more than once, as we see from these verses in Luke 15 -
Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
What attracted all these "sinful" people to the holiest man of all time, Jesus? It was his willingness to be seen with them!
There is a mind-set among some Christians that says we should insulate ourselves from sinners so we don’t get polluted by their sin.
The grain of truth there is that if we’re not careful, we can be the "influencee" rather than the "influencer."
After all, the Bible does say, in 1 Corinthians 15:33 -
"Bad company corrupts good character."
I think it’s important to grasp the fact that Jesus did all the influencing - he never allowed the world to influence him.
We are called to be separate from the world, not allowing it to tear us away from love and allegiance to Christ.
But what does that really mean? Does it mean that we should shun all contact with people who aren’t yet believers in Christ? No! A thousand times, no! (to quote D.L. Moody!)
Unless you’re ready to move into a cave somewhere to avoid contact with people, you will be in situations where you will have the opportunity to influence people. And by the way, there is nothing in Scripture that supports a lifestyle of avoidance of people who need Jesus.
In fact, the overarching teaching of Jesus is that rather than shrink from society, we’re to invade and impact it.
Look at our example of Jesus in our passage here, and I think we can find a very important principle:
* Presence does not necessarily mean participation.
If we aren’t willing to be around people who need Jesus, then how will they hear the good news of forgiveness, a home in heaven, and a changed life? As an example of this principle, let me read a portion by Joseph Aldrich, from a message he gave once.
[Education in the Red-Light District, Citation: Joseph Aldrich, "How to Be a Redemptive Person," Preaching Today, Tape No. 113.]
When my wife and I went to Dallas Seminary, we decided we wouldn’t live in the "cemetery" housing.
Instead, we lived in the high-class, red-light district.
If you want to get an introduction to life itself, that’s the place to be.
We made a commitment to take one non-Christian person, couple or individual, out to dinner once a week.
Did we ever get a liberal education.
But what fun; we had people coming to know the Lord right and left in that place, because we simply loved them.
We opened our home to them. (SermonCentral.com - Contributed by: A. Todd Coget)
By and large, these types of people won’t be coming to church, because they see the church as out of date, irrelevant, and uncaring. So we have to be the church to them. In other words, we need to display the love of Christ to them.
Where do we do this? In the workplace, in your natural relationships, in your bowling teams, in your interactions with other parents of your kids’ sports teams, in how you interact with the sales clerks, and even how you drive. Don’t get me started about how I see some people drive - especially those with little fish stickers on their car...
But folks, let me just say this as we get ready to move on to the third habit of Jesus. Jesus was a friend of sinners.
What about you? Can anybody accuse you of that? Can anyone who is not yet a believer in Jesus point to you as someone who genuinely cares for them?
Boy, I hope so. And so does Jesus. Because he’s counting on us to represent him to those who still need him.
Jesus had the habit of being around all kinds of people. Let’s look now at the third habit we see exhibited in this passage, and that is that...
Jesus saved all kinds of people.
Verses 11 & 13 -
The Pharisees asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?"
"I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
He saved tax collectors, prostitutes, fishermen, and even religious leaders who thought they had it all together.
And here’s something to make note of: he saved them right where they were. He didn’t ever say to anybody, "Okay, I’ll tell you what. You get your life all cleaned up and quit sinning, and I’ll see what I can do, alright?"
Nope - the instant someone recognized their need for forgiveness and put their faith in him, that was the end - they were forgiven.
And it was at that point, that he started doing the cleaning up of the person’s lifestyle.
He didn’t just save white-collar professionals. He didn’t just save fishermen. He didn’t just save women caught in adultery. He didn’t just save Palestinian Jews.
He saved whoever came to him to be saved. It didn’t matter. There was only one qualification for Jesus to save someone: they were a sinner who came to him for salvation.
2 Peter 3:9 (Phillips)-
He has no wish that any man should be destroyed. He wishes that all men should come to repent.
Keep that in mind, because it’s very important that you remember that as we get into the last habit we’ll examine today, but let me just very quickly run through these first habits again very quickly:
* Jesus called all kinds of people.
* Jesus hung around all kinds of people, and...
* Jesus saved all kinds of people.
Here’s the fourth habit I want us to look at today, and it’s really the point of the whole message:
Jesus still does all these things.
Hebrews 13:8 -
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Folks, Jesus still calls all kinds of people.
Jesus still "hangs out" with all kinds of people. I mean, he hangs out with you, doesn’t he?
And Jesus still saves all kinds of people. No in this room is outside that. And no one out there is outside that.
You cannot point out anybody and tell me that Jesus wouldn’t want to save that person. I don’t care if he’s a mass-murderer. Jesus can still save him. And just as importantly, Jesus wants to save him.
And if you’re here today, and you haven’t come to the point of personally putting your faith in him, then you fit the category of "all kinds of people" that Jesus wants to save.
Folks, Jesus wasn’t just a flash in the pan who came, did his thing, then died and went away.
He’s still here today, and he’s still moving, and he’s still working in the lives of his people - first to save them and then to mold them for his use and the Father’s glory.
Don’t ever get the idea that Jesus was finished when he went to be with the Father. He’s working today, through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
Conclusion
As we start to wind down here, I’d like us to take a look at two main lessons we can learn from the example of Jesus:
1. If you are already a follower of Jesus,
reach out to others on his behalf.
2 Corinthians 5:20 -
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
I was telling the CLASS 101 gang yesterday that there is no Plan B - we are Plan A - we’re to tell people about Jesus.
Angels won’t do it, the plants and animals won’t do it. We need to do it. Jesus is counting on us, and people need us to do it. Tell them about Jesus or bring them to someone who will.
But if you are a follower of Jesus, reach out on his behalf.
The second less is this:
2. If you are not already a follower of Christ, accept his invitation:
Matthew 11:28-30 -
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
The invitation is just as valid today as it was when he first gave it.
He’s saying that in spite of everything life throws at you, you can find rest - rest in knowing that he is there to give you strength to live for him while on earth, and rest for eternity in heaven.
He’s not saying that life will be perfect, he’s saying that you can count on him both now and forevermore.
Your job can’t give you that. Your relationships can’t give you that. Your money can’t give you that. Your baptism can’t give you that. Your family can’t give you that.
Only Jesus can give you that.
But Jesus, being the gentleman he is, will never force himself on you. He just tells you what you need and then it’s up to you to take or put it aside.
But my genuine hope is that you’re done putting it aside and that you’re ready to take that free gift of forgiveness and a home in heaven.
And if that’s you, then I’d like to lead you in a prayer, and I’d like all of us to say this together. The prayer is not a magic formula for heaven, because there’s no such thing.
All this prayer is doing is vocalizing your desire to be forgiven and have the assurance of heaven through Jesus.
So I’d like to lead you in a prayer - just repeat after me, and afterwards, I’d like everyone to keep their eyes closed for a moment, okay?
Let’s pray.
