KING | PART 30 | Follow Me

At the core of every individuals existence is the need to be accepted. To be loved..

Matthew 9:9–13 NKJV

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

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Introduction:

I. Being Accepted

Matthew knew he was lost. He knew he was sick.He had been ostracized. By the religious community.   

He abandoned everything to follow Jesus

Power principle: The very people the religious community will look over are the ones God is looking for.

You can’t help a sick person that denies their sickness. 

I A. He Saw Me

Matthew 9:9 NKJV

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

Most people want to Belong.

They are looking for that connection that gives approval and community. They are reaching for a connection that says “You are important to my world”

But that’s not the case for Matthew. He is affluent and educated. The things that every culture would tell you to be gain acceptance and approval from society. How many times have we heard the phrases:

A. Go to school

B. Get good Grades

C. Get a good job and save

Those are the things people seek but not for the reasons that many suspect. At the end of the day many have convinced themselves that they work for compensation. But they actually work for affirmation.

They long for the corner office and the Shingle on the wall, the fancy truck, the nice car, the prestigious neighborhood the coveted title.

But unfortunately like Matthew, they remain largely UNSEEN. Invisible and sometimes even reviled. For Matthew is a tax collecter. He is seen as a thief and a traitor to his people. Tax Collectors work for Rome and skim money off the top to enrich themselves. He has plenty of foot traffic but not necessarily the kind he would desire.

And all of a sudden, in walks this Jewish rabbi and the bible says something phenominal. He SAW Matthew.

While everyone looked past

While others avoided or even cursed.

Jesus SAW Him

Aren’t you glad when you didn’t look like much to others that Jesus saw you? When society had counted you out, Jesus looked you up and came to find you.

We see Jesus reaching for the rejected

II. Follow Me

II. He Compelled Me

Jesus issues two life altering words. FOLLOW ME…

What does that even mean?….

What does it mean to follow Jesus? It is human nature to look at the outward things as proof.  But reality lies in the inward reality.

A. Have you realized your brokenness?

To realize you are broken, you must abandon societies standards of healed. Society rewards outward appearance and general moral compliance that does not accost its neighbors. But we must look past just the superficial need to be a good citizen of our worldly kingdom and ask ourselves “am I a citizen of Heaven?” To be a citizen of Heaven has none to do with your ability to perform and everything to do with your realization your performance, knowledge and skill cannot and will not secure you a seat in Gods kingdom.

B. Have you recognized Jesus’ ability to heal your brokeness?

Psalm 51:16–17 “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”

Are you broken over your sin? Jesus desires to show mercy to the genuinely repentant.

C. Have you completely submitted to following his way and abandoning yours?

FOLLOW ME…….

No Doubt many of us have heard those words echo in our hearts and have struggled with the implications of the phrase.

For Matthew, following Jesus meant he would mean abandoning his livelihood and all the things he had worked for.

It would mean unemployment among a people group that despises you. But what it ultimately means are words that we must still have today to follow Jesus.

Total Surrender

Uncompromised Resolve

Matthew understood that there would be no going back when he decided to follow Jesus

But yet without hesitation, Matthew left everything and followed him……Matthew and his crew were receiving of Jesus because they knew they were sinners. The religious leaders were not because they thought knowing scripture and being religious was enough. They were in worse spiritual shape than Matthew and his friends. 

III. Love even in rebuke. 

Matthew invites Jesus in and the religious leaders have a problem with it…

III a. Relational Evangelism

Matthew 9:10 NKJV

Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.

Eating with someone indicated covenant and acceptance. He immediately introduced his friends to Jesus.

When Christ finds us, we may open up our table to those who need to be found.

Matthew 9:10–11 NKJV

Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Not only had the Pharisees thought to lowly of Matthew’s crowd. They had thought too highly of who they were themselves. They did not think they needed Jesus. They thought they were worthy for him to eat at their table.

But all are welcome at Christ’s table

Isaiah 25:6 “And in this mountain The Lord of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees.”

Isaiah 25:7 “And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations.”

Isaiah 25:8 “He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.”

Matthew 9:13 NKJV

But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

This is a rabbinical correction. They have learned the letter of the law but missed the spirit.

He was not just rebuking. He was. Reaching. Even in our ignorance Christ reaches for us. 

Mercy Eleos - Compassion and active Kindness.

Power Principle: Christ is seeking REDEEMED hearts not just REFORMED Behavior

Jesus is looking for the

Misfit - the rejected.

Morally misaligned

Those who are keenly aware of their need for spritual transformation