Jesus Sees A Sinner

Matthew 9:9–13 (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.

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.

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.”

In verse 9, Jesus finds Matthew sitting at the tax booth. The tax collectors were a hated group in Matthew’s time, even more so than today. You see, the Jewish people thought of them as traitors and rightly so.

The tax collectors worked for the Roman government, and therefore had the force of the Roman army behind them.

The tax collectors, like Matthew, were the most visible of Jewish collaborators with Rome.

The Jewish people considered them extortioners because the tax collectors were allowed to collect more in taxes than what the government required, and they keep the excess.

The job of tax collector was one that was put out for bids. Whoever bid the highest was awarded the tax-collecting contract. For example, many tax collectors might want to have the tax contract for a city like Capernaum. The Romans awarded the contract to the highest bidder. The man collected taxes, paid the Romans what he promised, and kept the remainder. Therefore, there was a lot of incentive for tax collectors to over-charge and cheat any way they could. It was pure profit for them.

Charles Spurgeon said of Matthew, “He was at this time busy taking, but he was called to a work that was essentially giving.”

Matthew was a customs official. Capernaum was one of those cities where they had established a customs station in order to tax those people who were bringing their goods to Capernaum to sell at the market. The Custom official would catch them as they came into town and levy a tax on the goods they intended to sell.

When a Jew entered the customs service as a tax collector, he was regarded as an outcast from society. He was disqualified as a judge, he was not allowed to be a witness in a court proceeding, he was excommunicated from the synagogue, and in the eyes of the community his disgrace also extended to his family.

The King James Version uses the word publican for a tax-collector. “The publicans were tax-gatherers and were so called because they dealt with public money and with public funds.

A faithful publican was so rare that Titus Flavius Sabinus, a first century publican who served in the province of Asia, had statues erected in his honor with the inscription "To an Honest Tax-gatherer.”

And we see here Jesus calling this tax collector to follow Him.

An equivalent today would be if you had a ministry position open in your church and you elected to fill that position with a known thief, or a drug dealer, or a prostitute from your community.

In scripture we see Jesus often ignoring those established dividing lines in society because Jesus looked not at the outside appearance of a person but at their heart.

In First Samuel chapter 16, Samuel is looking for the person who would be anointed as the King. Samuel is thinking that he knows who God is going to pick, but the Lord surprises him:

1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Jesus sees Matthew

When Jesus looks at Matthew, He does not see a reviled tax collector, He looks at Matthew’s heart. Jesus sees someone who is broken, someone who is miserable, someone who is seeking some way out of the terrible circumstances he finds himself in. And so, Jesus says come and follow me.

Matthew does not hesitate. He is ready to follow Jesus and at that moment he gives his life to serving the kingdom of God.

Jesus sees Us

Jesus met many of us in a similar circumstance in our lives. Many of us came to the realization that our lives were empty and unfulfilled. Many of us, like Matthew, reached a point where we realized that our life was not going in the direction that we had intended and found ourselves living a life of quiet desperation.

It was at that point that we were finally ready to start following Jesus. Many of us have reached that point in our lives. The point when we were finally ready to start following Him.

Not everyone that you meet has reached that point. Often times you will witness to someone about your relationship with the Lord. You can tell that they are seeking something more for their lives. Maybe you get the impression that they are convicted in their heart and know that they need to make a decision for Christ, but they say they are just not ready.

It is frustrating, but you cannot make that decision for them. All you can do is present the gospel and answer their questions. The important thing is you have provided them another step in their path toward Jesus Christ.

Others may be witnessing to them, others may be praying for them, and each of those factors is another step on their journey to their ultimate destiny.

One day, God willing, they reach that point where they are ready, and they make that decision, and they yield their life to the Savior, they give it all over the Jesus Christ just as Matthew did.

1 Corinthians 3:6 (ESV)

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

Paul is teaching here that we each have our part to play, but it is God who gives the growth.

In the next verse we see Jesus having a meal with tax collectors and sinners.

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.

In that culture the act of sharing a meal with someone was extremely significant. They believed that to have a meal with someone is to become on with that person.

You see, I take a loaf of bread and hold it out to you, and you take a piece of that bread and eat it, and I take a piece of that same loaf and eat it. Now since that same loaf of bread is becoming part of my body and also becoming part of your body, in a mystical way we are becoming a part of each other.

We don’t see things in quite that way today, but that was their culture. Because of this, you would never eat with anyone unless you wanted to be identified with that person and becoming one with them.

That's why they were shocked that Jesus would eat with sinners and with publicans. Jesus would be identified with sinners? Jesus would become one with a sinner? Yes, he was identified with the sinners in order that they might identify with Him and receive his power and his forgiveness.

11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

I take it the Pharisees did know about Sutton's Law. Sutton’s Law states, “that when diagnosing, one should first consider the obvious.” It goes back to a colorful bank robber named Willie Sutton who was active back in the 1920’s and 30’s. When asked by a reported why he robbed banks, Sutton replied “Because that’s where the money is.”

Why is Jesus hanging out with publicans; because that’s where the sinners are.

Of course, this would not have occurred to the Pharisees. The Pharisees liked to play this “gotcha” game. They watched Jesus just waiting for the opportunity to find some fault in Him that they might use against Him.

We find Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees in verse 12:

Jesus gets to Work

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.”

Jesus’ answer (quoted from Hosea 6:6) was designed to derail the criticism of the Pharisees, who considered themselves to be quite pious, but the fact is, Jesus is there to minister not to just publicans and those seen by society as sinners, but to all people.

Romans 3:10 (ESV)

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

Hosea 6:6 (ESV)

6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Here we see Jesus is hard at work, sitting and eating and talking with sinners. He’s with those who society considers the worst of the worst.

Jesus puts Us to Work

We can learn a lesson here, that should be our philosophy as well as Christians. We should be connecting with and befriending those that society has turned their back on. We should make it a habit of ministering to people who are unable to give us anything in return. We should make it a priority to be engaging with people who society considers to be less than important.

Mostly, we are reluctant to do that. We are careful about putting ourselves in situations that are outside of our comfort zones. We always have our guard up lest we fall into sin ourselves. But Jesus made a habit of engaging with people who were broken, who were down and out, who were lost in sin.

He found them where they were. He changed them and they followed Him. We should follow that example. If we do, we could see people’s lives change as a result.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

If we tell people about Jesus, if we bring people to church with us, if we read the Bible with them, we help them along in their journey with Christ.

If they aren’t ready yet, we still have made the offer. Some will go the other direction and that’s okay. Saving people is not our job, that’s Jesus’ job. We did our part. We keep spreading the message to new people. Some will come around later when they’re ready, some will not, but we have been true to our calling to promote the gospel message.

We are living in a time of tremendous change. The year 2020 taught us how fragile our society is. We saw uncertainty, fear, mis-information, panic, shortages. This was followed by a systematic attack on the meaning of marriage, the meaning of gender. Dearly held Christian beliefs are now painted as intolerant and bigoted.

Isaiah 5:20 (ESV)

20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

I believe a new day has dawned, a rapid change is taking place in the world, and it seems more and more clear that the end times may be nearing.

This should give us a renewed spirit to spread the gospel. Time is short and millions still live in darkness. Which of us, seeing a blind man walking toward the edge of a cliff, would not stop him before he takes that fatal plunge?

Yet today, millions are walking in darkness, blind to the fate that awaits them, while we hold the key to redemption and life.

Now is the time to us to get busy. If you feel the Holy Spirit convicting you to go tell someone Jesus loves you, then go do it now. Now, not later. You know when the Spirit is leading you to talk to a neighbor or co-worker or a casual acquaintance.

If you ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit, then you are entering into sin.

James 4:17 (ESV)

17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Fear God, take a deep breath, and go share the gospel with that person who is on your mind. Now is the time.

Seek God in your prayers and ask Him to equip you with every spiritual gift and all the spiritual power you need for this new season we find ourselves in.

We are called now to serve a King who has authority over us. Total authority. And He’s given us all we need for life and godliness from His riches of power and authority. God has gifted us with everything we need to live the Christian life successfully. He is Lord. Over everything. And we’re His.

That means we just need to be bold, faithful, and loving, and God will grant us the victory. Our goal is a harvest of righteousness, bringing as many people as possible into a relationship with the Lord.

Jesus is at work in Mathew 9, and as He works, people are getting saved, people are changing, lives are changing, and He is asserting total authority in His teaching. People either come into alignment with the authority of Christ, or they reject Him. Let's be people today who come into total alignment with the purposes of God.

There is no in-between. There is no straddling the fence. My prayer for us is that we strive for total commitment, total submission, total alignment.

Make that your goal in life. Total submission, complete love, on fire for Christ. Let us be all in, as we near the end. Imagine what you can accomplish in Jesus name.