Journey Through Matthew: Sinners and Wineskins

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning we will be continuing our Journey Through Matthew looking at the subject of Sinners and Wineskins on the backdrop of if you would like to start finding that in your Bibles.

We will cover verses 9-13 this morning and then return tonight to look at 14-17.

Last week we witnessed another great miracle performed by Jesus as he healed the paralytic both spiritually and physically.

And in the process of this healing he left the townspeople in awe but also angered the Jews a great deal.

And we talked last week how these last few passages give us some good insight into the minds and motivation behind the plot that eventually led to the death of Jesus.

And this morning’s passage is really no different.

We are going to see yet another instance in which Jesus has a confrontation with the Jews and calls them out on their hypocrisy and their own sinfulness.

Also, just like the other passages, this one is also outlined in and and the narratives almost mirror one another.

So, this morning we are going to primarily be in .

So, if you have found in your Bible, I’d invite you to stand with me as I read verses 9-17.

Matthew writes . . .

Scripture Focus

Matthew 9:9–17 NIV - Anglicised

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 16 “No-one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Eating with the Tax Man!

So, we start out here immediately after the incident with Jesus healing the paralytic and his confronting the Jews for harboring evil in their hearts, or rather sin in their hearts.

And if you recall the thing about this harboring of evil or sin was that it kept the Jews from seeing the truth about Jesus.

Their own pride and selfishness got in the way of them seeing Jesus for who Jesus really was.

They were unwilling to give up their sin and unwilling to turn their lives over to God and the result was this growing resentment and hatred toward Jesus.

And the reality is, even though we may not realize it, sometimes we do the same thing.

The Holy Spirit is with us, convicting us of our sin and the areas in which God wants access and instead of allowing God the needed access to our lives we shut God out.

We become resistant and bitter toward God.

Its almost if we are being “pestered” by God and want Him to just leave us alone.

To just go away and let us live our lives!

If we are like that this morning, then I have to tell you, you are harboring sin in your heart and if you do not allow God to deal with it, it will ruin you and destroy your soul and your eternity.

reminds us that . . .

Proverbs 16:18 NIV - Anglicised

18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

And I bring that up because it is pride that causes us to reject God and make the determination in our mind that we do not need God.

Also, James teaches us that . . .

James 1:14–15 NIV - Anglicised

14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James 1:

Do you see the progression there?

First, we harbor this sin in our heart, then enters temptation.

If Jesus is not in our heart we give in to that temptation and are dragged away from God and wind up in sin.

And the end result of sin, as we know is death.

Not physical death but spiritual death.

Eternal separation of the soul from God.

Hell.

That’s the result of continuing to harbor sin in our hearts.

So, make no mistakes, we had better be examining ourselves today as to what is really in our heart.

And Jesus in our narrative here, almost adds insult to injury for these Jews.

The passage again starts out . . .

Matthew 9:9

Matthew 9:9 NIV - Anglicised

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

Now, Mark and Luke call him Levi, but Matthew and Levi are the same person.

But as Jesus is leaving the paralytic and the Jews, he sees Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth.

Now, let’s just put it in perspective, does anybody like paying taxes?

Does anybody like the “IRS?”

Tax collecting in Jesus’ day was 100 times worse than it is today.

In the Jews eyes, the tax collector was just a few steps away from Satan himself.

The Jews hated them.

And the reason they hated them is because they viewed the tax collector as a traitor to their own people.

Tax collectors were Jews who contracted with the Romans to collect the taxes for the government.

So #1, these are Jews conspiring with the Roman government, who remember were an occupying force who had taken the Jews land and people.

#2, these guys were as crooked as the river is long.

They would collect taxes from the Jews, but instead of collecting the amount the Romans had determined they would take a little extra and keep for themselves.

For instance, instead of 6% they would take 10% and pocket the other 4%.

And the Jewish people couldn’t do anything about it because if they did, the tax collector would keep it all and tell the Romans the person didn’t pay their taxes.

And, #3, since these tax collectors were hated by their own people and viewed as traitors and sinners anyway, they figured if the shoe fit wear it, so they were usually vulgar, sneaky, sinful people.

So, in the Jews mind, Jesus didn’t have any business even talking to Matthew unless he was going to condemn him for his sin.

But that’s not what Jesus did is it?

No, instead Jesus comes up to Matthew and simply tells him follow me.

And the amazing thing about this is that Matthew knew in his heart who Jesus was because, he didn’t argue, he didn’t refuse, he didn’t tell Jesus he was crazy and to quit “pestering him.”

No, the Bible tells us that Matthew simply got up and followed him.

No questions, no argument, nothing. He simply obeyed Christ.

And the sticking point was, here this guy was, dismissed as a dirty sinner by all the religious people, was the only one who knew who Jesus was and was willing to obey him.

Which also brings up a couple of points.

#1-Don’t let anyone tell you you are not good enough

The devil will try to tell you that you are not “good enough” or that you have done “too much wrong” or that “God doesn’t want you.

Lie after lie after lie, to try and draw you away from Christ.

The reality is God wants you.

God wants us all.

If we really believe that God casts our sins as far as east is from the west.

That when we accept Christ, we are new creations,

Then we must understand that God can use anybody, and does so long as they are willing.

God takes us as we are, who we are and transforms us, if we allow Him.

Which is exactly what is going to happen here.

God is going to take one willing, dirty old, sinner and turn him into one of the greatest disciples to ever live.

And God can do the exact same thing with each and every one of us, if we are willing.

If, when he says follow me, we get up and follow.

So, don’t believe the lies, believe God.

#2-Religion isn’t going to get you anywhere. What matters is whether you know Jesus or not.

We have a lot of people in this world that think if they belong to a certain denomination they are going to get to heaven.

Or, if they take membership in a church.

Or, if they get baptized.

Or, if they follow the Manual.

Or, if they do this or do that.

All of those things are great, but all of those things are things that will come as part of a changed heart after a person accepts Jesus.

When you accept Jesus, you will want to be baptized because the Bible says we should.

You will want to join a church because it gives you a sense of family, a place to belong.

You may want to be attached to a certain denomination because you like their doctrine, but I will caution you not to get too caught up or too legalistic in doctrines.

Because doctrines are man’s interpretation of God’s Word.

Some are good some are not.

And you may find yourself wanting to

Just be sure you are following the Bible first and doctrine second.

#3-Just knowing who Jesus is, isn’t enough either, you had better be willing to obey Him as well.

And this is a very big sticking point as well.

There are a lot of people in the world who know who Jesus is.

There are a lot of Atheists who know who Jesus is.

There are also a lot of people sitting in church pews who know who Jesus is.

You can know all there is to know about Jesus, the question remains, do you actually know Jesus?

Have you met Him?

Has he touched you?

That’s what really matters.

And that was really the difference between Matthew and the Jews.

He got to the place where he knew Jesus, not just knew about him.

Eating With The Sinners

So, now Matthew has a new friend and he decides to take him home.

And keep in mind, as a tax collector, Matthew probably had some money.

If he was a very good tax collector he did.

And just my guess was that he was good at what he did, because most of the time when we are good at what we are passionate about, it means we work hard at it.

And if he was as passionate about collecting taxes as he was about following Jesus, he was probably a pretty wealthy man.

But anyway . . .

Matthew 9:10 NIV - Anglicised

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.

Matthew 9:

What is this?

Jesus, the Son of God eating with sinners!

Sitting down at a table and having a conversation with people the Jews thought were beneath them.

Is this any way for the King of the Jews to act?

They thought it was horrible.

And we think it is horrible that they thought that way.

But are we any different?

When was the last time any one of us had a conversation with any of the guys at the homeless shelter?

When was the last time we invited that addicted relative to church?

We don’t do it a lot of times because we are afraid of what others might think or what they may say.

Or, heavens forbid they show up and embarrass us!

Matthew 9:11 NIV - Anglicised

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

Why in the world would he do this?

Why would he put himself out like that?

Expose himself to that?

And here is why . . .

Matthew 9:12–13 NIV - Anglicised

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

If you know Jesus this morning, you don’t need the gospel presented to you.

You need discipleship, but you do not need salvation.

Your soul has been healed.

Our world is sin sick and full of people who have diseased souls.

Jesus is the Great Physician and his mission was to save that which was lost.

His mission was to heal souls.

Once they were healed he turned them over to others to disciple.

But the Jews were so tied up in the Law and their sacrifices and rules that they could not even see what was really important.

Jesus came to redeem the whole world, not just the “good Jews.”

And if we are a Christian, then our mission is the same.

We are to carry the Gospel to everyone, not just those we are comfortable around.

That’s the mission that God has given us.

Are we fulfilling it?

Altar Call

So, really there are several things that we need to look at this morning.

First, do we have a relationship with Jesus?

If the answer is “no”, then why not?

What are you waiting on?

What’s holding you back?

Second, are you following Jesus the way he has called you to follow?

Are you obedient or argumentative?

Third, are we fulfilling the mission God has given us?

Are we carrying the Gospel to where God tells us to go?

Are we willing to eat with sinners or are we stuck worrying about what others might think?

Right now the Holy Spirit is answering those questions within you.

The last question is will you respond this morning?

Is the Holy Spirit telling you to come?

If so, will you?

Will you take that first step of obedience?

It’s up to you, what will you do right now, in this moment?

The altar is open, will you come?