The account of the meal shared between Jesus and known sinners at Matthew’s house gains a lot of attention. Much of this attention comes from those who try to use this scripture to say Jesus hung out with sinners regularly. Which is, of course, true to an extent but is often taken far out of context. Recently I reread this scripture and came to see it in a new light. Jesus is not acting as an example for us in this passage as much as Matthew is.
You see Matthew was the kind of new follower of Jesus that everyone should strive to be. At the time of the dinner, he had only recently come to know Jesus. Previously he had been just tax collector. That is until a man unlike any other happened to walk past his booth one day.
Matthew 9:9 (ESV)
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
That was the moment when Matthew’s entire life changed forever. At that moment he left the tax booth and even his past life to follow after the Son of God. Sometime after this took place, the Bible is not really clear on when. Matthew decided to invite a group of people to his home to enjoy a meal together. Interestingly enough the guest list included many people who were known sinners, those who were still tax collectors, and of course Jesus and the other disciples.
Matthew 9:10 (ESV)
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
Normally we simply brush past that simple verse and move on to the juicy bits. In which the Jews complain about the actions of Jesus and he comes back with a powerful response. Explaining that His whole purpose was to save sinners not the self-righteous.
Matthew 9:11–13 (ESV)
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
While that passage of scripture is extremely meaningful. It often takes away from the lesson that we can learn from verse ten. The new Christian Matthew has just encountered the messiah and experienced a radical life change. One that has no doubt lead to questions from friends and coworkers. A life change that has also lead him, just as it does many other Christians, to want to share this Gospel with everyone he knows.
So what does someone who just met the savior of the world, came to truly understand repentance and salvation, and that is being questioned on all sides about this new life do? He finds a way to bring his friends, coworkers, and loved ones into the presence of the one that changed his life. In the hopes that they would come to know and place their hope and trust in Him.
The moral of this story is not that Jesus put himself in the middle of a group of sinners. But that one saved man who cared deeply for others brought a group of lost people to Jesus. Matthew gives us one of the best examples for new Christians and really just Christians in general. To do what we can to share our faith with others.
For Matthew that meant introducing those, he cared for to the messiah himself. Today we do not have the ability to host a dinner where Jesus shows up in the flesh. But we can still share our faith and follow Matthew’s example. Through inventing people to church, sharing scripture, or just living a true Christians life. However we chose to do it we need to follow Matthew’s lead and try to reach our lost family, friends, and coworkers by introducing them to the savior of the World.
1 John 4:14 (ESV)
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
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