Tax Collectors and Sinners

If we are not careful, there comes a time in our desire to live Christ-honoring lives when we establish rules to live by that may be helpful, but are not scriptural mandates. What happens from time to time is churches might take an application of a biblical principle and make it the biblical principle. If we are not careful, traditionally held beliefs rise to the level of biblical principle and we value our traditional belief over what the Bible actually says about that topic. This breeds legalism. The Pharisees did this all the time and that was the main point of conflict between them and Jesus.

Last week we saw the healing of a paralytic. Four of this man’s friends lowered him through the roof of Jesus’ home in Capernaum because there were too many people to get in through the door. The scribes and Pharisees were disgusted not at the miracle that had taken place, but at the fact that Jesus would dare say to a man his sins are forgiven. Only God can forgive sins. These men were missing the point. Jesus performed the miracle as an act of compassion toward the paralytic, but also as evidence of his deity for the scribes and Pharisees.

Well, Jesus is not done with the Pharisees. As we turn to the next part in our journey, Jesus makes another move that is controversial to both his followers and the Pharisees. We will begin in Matthew chapter 9.

Matthew 9:9–13 NASB95

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.”

Jesus is still around Galilee. This story is told in every gospel but John. Matthew is called Matthew here, but he is called Levi in Mark and Luke. Jesus is walking along, sees Matthew in the tax collector’s booth, call him to follow him, and then there is this party where Jesus is eating with several tax collectors and sinners (according to the Pharisees). The Pharisees cannot stand it. How could Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, eat with such people?

In the Pharisees’ eyes, people like tax collectors were especially wicked. They refused to associate themselves with “sinners.” Israel was under Roman occupation, a reality the Jews despised. They hated the Romans and tax collectors worked for them. Matthew is Jewish, making this a doubly bad position. For a Jewish man to willingly work for the enemy is seen as traitorous. How dare he? On top of that, tax collectors were known for collecting more than what was necessary. As long as the Romans got what was theirs, the tax collector could keep the rest. This led to a lot of dishonest practices that ended up making guys like Matthew rich.

You can be assured that Jesus’ invitation for Matthew to come follow him would have caused some friction among the rest of his disciples. What we see here is that Matthew was receptive and threw a party for Jesus at his house where he invited friends to meet Jesus. So the Pharisees catch wind of this, call his disciples over, and say, “How can you guys eat with these people?” You can almost hear the contempt in their voices.

Jesus turns to respond. It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But then, only Matthew reports Jesus saying what we see in verse 13. “I desire compassion, and not sacrifice.” This is a quote from Hosea 6:6. In the time period Hosea lived, the nation of Israel was crumbling. They abandoned their loyalty to God. Sacrifices were still offered, but obedience was not seen. They stuck to the rituals, but nothing else. Jesus is exposing the Pharisees for similar practices.

It is through this we are reminded:

Worship without obedience is of no value.

The Pharisees were proud of how religious they were. The problem was they placed more value on the external evidences of their practices, but ignored the greater commandments of the law. In their zeal to do right in God’s eyes, they neglected the way they treated their brothers. They made their religion about a bunch of rule following, which had its place. The problem was their commitment to the rules they created overrode their understanding of God’s law.

Eating with tax collectors and sinners was not a biblical prohibition. They made it as such because they thought associating themselves with them would compromise their cleanness. God did desire sacrifices, but not at the expense of showing mercy or compassion. The law of God did not distance the Pharisees from tax collectors. The Pharisees’ own self-righteousness distanced themselves from the tax collectors. They were more pious and looked down their noses on those who did not meet their standards. Jesus was different.

You can come to church, join a Bible study group, serve on a ministry team, go on a mission trip, and do all sorts of religious duties and still miss the point of all of this. If you become so pious in your walk with Jesus that you begin looking down on others, you have become like the Pharisees. I have been told by more than one person that the perception of this church by outsiders is that this place is for the rich white folks, the snobs. If that is true, then it is on us to change that perception.

Worship without obedience is of no value. If we set up church to be self-serving instead of in service to others, we have committed a serious offense. We must continually seek opportunities to be close to those who need the gospel the most.

The goal of the Christian life is to conform you to the image of Jesus. The apostle Paul says in Romans 8:29

Romans 8:29 NASB95

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

The Christian life is a gradual transformation of the old self into the new self who is to look like Jesus. This process is accomplished through obedience. God did not call us to just come to church; he called us to be the church. It is through our obedience to his commands that our lives are transformed, leading to greater opportunity to impact our community for Christ.

To be like Jesus, we must pursue those who are sick.

Healthy people do not usually go to the doctor. I try to stay away from the doctor as long as possible. Jesus’ point is that healthy people don’t need a doctor. Only sick people do. The Pharisees had it in their own minds that they were not sinners because of how pious they had become. They were righteous in their own eyes. But Matthew and his friends were not. Jesus understood better than anybody what the real human condition is. Matthew and his friends were sinners in need of a Savior. They were celebrating that he had come.

Take an inventory of the people you know. How many of them are Christians? How many of them are non-Christians? How often do you associate yourself with non-Christians? I do not mean those you interact with in passing. We do that every day. Take a look at what Jesus did. He intentionally called Matthew to follow him. He showed up at Matthew’s house when he threw a party. Why did he do that? Because lost people would be there. Do you intentionally show up where you know lost people will be for the purposes of building relationships with them?

Do we see those who are lost the way Jesus sees them? Do we see them as sick people in need of a physician? You have heard it before, but if you knew somebody was sick and you had the cure, wouldn’t you do whatever you had to do to give it to them?

Last week I asked you what barriers you needed to break through to get your friends and family to Jesus. Do you know one person living in Three Rivers or Live Oak county that needs to hear there is a cure for their sickness? The hard part is convincing them that they are sick and need the medicine. But is there a plan for reaching them?

I want you to think of one person living in town who you know does not know Christ. I want you to write that name down and commit to praying for them regularly. I want you to begin thinking about ways you can involve yourself in their lives for the purposes of sharing the gospel with them. There are some resources that are headed my way that will help us with this, but I want to begin now. Do you think God knows of people who are ready to respond to the gospel in this community? Do you think he wants to use you to be his messenger?

We need to be Jesus’ representatives in our community. We need to be intentional in placing ourselves where lost people are and get courageous about ministering to them. Who is your one? Who do you need to begin with?