"9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He *said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him.
10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?" 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
In my natural curiosity, I have wondered just how many times that Jesus might have passed by Matthew's tax collector's booth before calling him to follow Him. Had Matthew ever heard Jesus teach?
Scripture doesn't tell us that information only that when He passed by, He saw Matthew and said "Follow Me,"and that he immediately did so. Perhaps it was because He knew having saw what happened with Simon Peter's miraculous catch, Jesus has been on a healing spree, maybe he had witnessed Jesus healing the sick. We don't know, just that his heart was ready to believe and follow Jesus. We're only told that Matthew was a tax collector. In fact, it's the same in all four of the Synoptic Gospels.
A tax collector in the day was considered to be the lowest of the low, it was a very lucrative job, with ample opportunity to get ahead, at the expense of the Jewish people. Matthew was considered to a traitor. Later, in Matthew 18, we see that Jesus said "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."
Yet today, churches are not filled with perfect people. We are flawed, imperfect, broken people. Furthermore, I believe that we of all people, must be willing to admit that. I have often heard people say, "I don't go to church because it filled with nothing but hypocrites!" Well, you should join us, we've always got room for one more. Many in the church today represent the church as being an exclusive club for good people. "If you are ___, you don't belong here!" You can fill in the blank. The real truth is, church is for imperfect people who recognize just how flawed they are. It is amazing how much that message has been misconstrued. I believe that one of the most momentous statements ever recorded in Scripture is found here in chapter 9, at the end of verse 13 "for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." That is the essence of the Gospel message.
Before we begin, allow me to point out that Matthew’s abrupt career change is not done with great reluctance. There's no gritting of the teeth, or complaining about what he has given up, as we often hear today. It is as it should be, simply an occasion of great joy.
Jesus came into this world to call those who are desperate, who are hurting, who are broken, those whose lives have been shattered. Those who are weak and weary, hungry and are thirsty. He came to call sinners. This greatly irritates some just as much today as it did two thousand years ago. For Matthew, it is a time for rejoicing and celebration, for the Pharisees, a time of objection. They were bothered by the fact that Jesus was associating with tax collectors and sinner, rather than them, the religious elite.
I invite you to follow along with me as I read to you verses nine through thirteen. Matthew chapter 9, verses 9-13. Let us prepare our hearts for the Spirit of God has to say to each of us. Matthew chapter 9:9-13.
"As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He *said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him.
Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?" But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
It’s not unlike Jesus to handle this situation the way He does, to confront those who think they’re righteous, above the Law. That’s the reason why the Gospel has to be negative, because unless people recognize they have a problem, they'll not come to Christ for a solution. The Pharisees were right to conclude that those seated at the table with Jesus were sinners. I thank God that Christ did not come into the world only for the righteous.In Romans 3, the Apostle Paul tells us "it is written, There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." "Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving," "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness"; "Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." "Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving," "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness"; "Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
And, in Romans 8, he says "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
By the way, the miracles that Matthew has been presenting are not random miracles; they've been categorically selected to illustrate the range of Christ’s credentials. He wants to prove how they fulfill all the Old Testament expectations. The first three miracles demonstrated His power over the infirmities of the flesh. The fourth miracle He performed, demonstrated His power over the elements of nature, the wind and the sea. The fifth miracle was to demonstrate His power over demons, and the sixth was show His is power and authority over sin.That's brings us here to chapter 9, verses 9 through 13.
Let's look at verse 9, the call of Matthew. "As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He *said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him." When Jesus called him, Matthew responded positively, he got up and followed Him. What a tremendous response. Luke adds the statement, "He forsook all." Matthew, being humble, doesn't say that. The he price that Matthew paid was far greater than much of the others paid. I believe he was longing for what Jesus was offering him. When someone seriously wants to follow Jesus, there's no grumbling or complaining about what he must give up, he willingly walks away and never looks back.
What a contrast from the numbers of other that turned and walked away, rejecting Christ's offer. Many people think of themselves as "basically good" and do not realize that
they are wretched sinners who cannot come to God on their own
terms. In John 14, Jesus said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
I believe it's important to note that in verses 1 through 8, Jesus has just forgiven the sin of the paralytic. Immediately afterward, we see the full dimension of His forgiveness, how far does His forgiveness go and whose sin can He forgive, even a tax collector. If you were a tax collector, you were against everything the Jews believed, that God was the only one who should receive anything they had. Therefore, Matthew would have been considered the vilest person in Capernaum. A traitor to the cause of Israel, he was oppressive, hated by the Jews. Then we see the required response. Matthew immediately got up and followed Him, leaving everything behind. What a tremendous passage!
Verse 10, "Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples." Here we see Jesus having a banquet attended by the most vile sinners. Matthew doesn’t really give us any of the details. In Mark's account he adds "for there were many of them, and they were following Him." They also say it was at Matthew's house. Matthew was believed to be the worst of the worst, yet he's been forgiven. The point here is there’s not one sinner who couldn't be forgiven. Christ's mercy is extended to all who are willing to forsake everything, submit in obedience to His Lordship and follow Him. They're not attempting to drag with them all the garbage of their past. I want to add there is a right way to fellowship with sinners.
This must have been devastating to the Pharisees because verse 11 says,"When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?" I imagine they thought "Why isn’t He having a dinner for us? We are righteous men and He eats with tax collectors and sinners?" What a rebuke to these self-righteous, pious men! You know, I see many people in the church today who act like that, they think they're too "good" to be around "lesser" people. They shun them. They don't need your judgement, your self-righteousness, they need your help. We're called to reach out to them. Think about that! Jesus came to save sinners who are willing to admit they need His mercy and forgiveness. The Pharisees would never admit such a thing. Let me tell you this, if you’re not willing to admit that, Jesus has nothing but rebuke for you.
Look at verse 12, "But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick." In other words, if you’re so perceptive as to see them as sinners, if they're so spiritually sick, where is your compassion for them? Jesus came to make well the people who knew they had the deepest need. It's like saying "Take that you self-righteous, condemning pious critics." What a serious indictment.
And He really drives it home in verse 13, "But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
"Go and learn," is from the rabbinic writings. It was a rebuke to those who didn't know what they should have known. He's saying "God back to your books and learn what it says." It's not your sacrifice I want, I want your compassion, I want you to show mercy for these people. But you don't have a merciful heart."
Remember back in chapter 5, the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." They made their religious sacrifices, but their heart wasn’t right. So their offerings were an abomination to God.
Some Christians are like that, their lousy doctors. They make their diagnosis, they label people as sinners, they condemn them and say to themselves "I can cure you, but because I might get your sickness, I can't be bothered to come near you." But they will certainly give them a diagnosis and they stop right there! They show no mercy, no compassion. And in doing so, they've already condemned themselves. Jesus right right down in the middle of them, He got as close to them as He could get and He ate with them. Jesus didn't condemn sinners, He ate with them. He did however, repeatedly condemn the religious leaders who should've know the truth.
In Closing..
Without an inward change, a change of heart, there lacks a deep sense of sin, God is not pleased, no matter how religious we may appear to others. God knows our hearts. The Church exists in the world for the purpose of evangelism, to make disciples of all nations. In order to effectively evangelize the world, we must achieve spiritual maturity ourselves, pursing righteousness, holiness and living in obedience to God's Word. In other words, if we're going to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, our lives must be able to back up our testimony. Bringing others to Christ is ultimate end for which we remain in the world, generation after generation, until the Lord comes.
May it be so..
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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