Friend or Foe

We are in week 2 of our series, “Who is Jesus?”

Last week we talked about if he is God or myth.

Many people believe that Jesus wasn’t a real person.

That he was just a made up character.

But when you do the research and study the writings of early Jewish historians you will see that the evidence is overwhelming for not only his existence but his crucifixion as well.

We can have confidence that Jesus was a very real person.

The question you have to ask yourself is the same question Jesus asked his disciples.

He asked, “Who do you say I am?”

That is the question we all need to ask ourselves.

It’s not about is he real.

It’s about is he who he said he was.

Do we believe he is the Messiah, the son of the living God?

This week we are going to look at Jesus’ life and see how he views us.

Is he a friend or is he a foe.

Many people aren’t really sure of the answer to that question.

So many people think to themselves, does Jesus even see me?

Does he care about me?

Is he mad at me?

Is he for me or against me?

Today we are going to find out just how Jesus views you.

Because the good news is we can answer these questions by just looking at the scriptures and seeing how Jesus responded and treated people.

Let’s first look at a story found in Luke

Luke 19:1-7 “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.

Remember tax collectors were very hated people.

They were in charge of collecting people's money for Rome and they would cheat people and be dishonest so that they could make more money for themselves.

And here is this man Zacchaeus who is the CHIEF tax collector.

He’s one of the top dogs in this area.

3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.

So Zacchaeus is asking the question, “who is Jesus?”

Who is this guy that everyone is talking about?

I’ve got to see who this man is.

4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.”

So Jesus is walking and he sees this man up in this tree.

He stops and says, hey Zacchaeus. (He knew his name)

I’m staying at your house if that’s alright?

And Zacchaeus welcomes Jesus into his home.

This is when the story gets interesting.

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

You see Jesus had a big crowd following him, and when he stopped to talk to Zacchaeus EVERYONE could see.

And everyone knew who Zacchaeus was.

So they started to mutter.

This religious guy is going to the house of this sinner, this tax collector?

So when I read this story in the context of our message today, and we ask ourselves if he is a friend or foe, I think we get a pretty good answer here.

You see Jesus is a friend of sinners.

Jesus is naturally drawn to those people who don’t know him or aren’t quite living the way they are supposed to live.

A couple verses later Jesus even says this…

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Jesus is saying I came to seek out people like Zacchaeus.

To befriend them so ultimately I can save them.

And that’s good news for all of us because we are ALL sinners.

You might say but I’ve been saved for 20 years.

I’m forgiven and free.

I’m not a sinner, I'm a saint!

Yeah but are you telling me you didn’t sin one time this past week?

We’re not perfect.

In Philippians 2 Paul tells us to “work out our salvation”.

Continue to grow.

Continue to be sanctified.

Sanctification is the process of us becoming more and more like Jesus.

You didn’t become as spiritually mature as you are now overnight.

It has been a process of learning and growing in Christ.

It’s amazing how we can be so grateful for what Jesus has done in our lives and how far he’s brought us.

But yet how quickly we condemn those who aren’t at OUR level yet.

And that’s what’s happening here with Jesus.

The “religious folks” are appalled that Jesus would spend time with this sinner.

How dare he spend time with someone who is not at his spiritual maturity level!

And this isn’t the only time this happened to Jesus.

Remember when Jesus called Matthew to follow him?

Matthew was also a tax collector.

And in Luke 5 when Jesus calls Matthew, or some of your versions may say Levi, look at what happens.

Luke 5:29 “Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.”

Matthew threw a party for Jesus.

But what’s so bad about this is he invited all his tax collector buddies with him.

Now Jesus isn’t just hanging out with one sinner, he’s hanging with a whole group of sinners.

Needless to say that did not sit well with the Pharisees

Luke 5:30 “​​ But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

They don’t even have the guts to say something to Jesus so they go to his disciples and ask them why they would be hanging out with these terrible people.

And of course Jesus being Jesus hears them and has an answer.

Luke 5:31-32 NIV “Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus is saying I didn’t come for the believers.

I came for the sick, I came for the sinners.

Jesus had another encounter with a blind beggar in Luke 18.

Luke 18:35-38 NIV “As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

This blind man hears this commotion of all these people going by so he asks what's happening.

They tell him Jesus is coming by.

Obviously, he’s heard about Jesus and some of the miracles he’s done because he starts SCREAMING for Jesus to have mercy on him.

Then these people who were leading the way for Jesus were such a big help to this man.

Luke 18:39 “Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

The people didn’t care about this man.

They just told him to pipe down.

But he wouldn’t and he started shouting even more.

Luke 18:40-43 “Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.”

Everyone ignored this man or was annoyed by him.

But Jesus takes the time to talk to him.

You see there’s a couple reasons why the people wanted nothing to do with this man.

The first was because he was blind.

Many people thought if someone had a physical ailment like this it was a punishment from God.

There was a different time when Jesus was walking with his disciples and they came across another blind man and the disciples asked Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents?”

So when people saw a blind person they basically thought they blew it. They’re a screw up.

And on top of that he was a beggar.

He was this poor man with nothing, pleading with people to give him something.

He was a reject in society.

NOBODY wanted to be his friend.

But Jesus said, I’ll be your friend.

I’ll talk to you.

Not only that, I’ll heal you!

You see when society looks down on people, when Christians turn their noses up to people, Jesus is seeking AFTER those people.

And he’s setting the example of what you and I should be doing.

That’s why it drives me nuts when I hear people throwing a stink when they see certain Pastors or Christians hanging around a certain person.

For example a couple years ago Lauren Daigle performed on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

I remember reading all these comments about how Lauren Daigle isn’t a real Christian.

How dare she go on the show of someone who’s gay.

I just remember thinking, is this real? Do people read their bibles?

Because if they did they would realize that those are the people that Jesus was searching for.

Because Jesus called us all to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

How can you go preach the gospel and tell people about Jesus if you avoid the people you’re supposed to reach?

Louie Giglio who is the Pastor at Passion City Church in Atlanta told the story of a couple years ago he was preaching at a conference in Miami.

During one of the sessions that he wasn’t speaking at he looked down his row and a couple seats over he saw a man who he recognized.

This man had recently given his heart to the Lord.

After the conference they were in a room where the speakers and certain guests could hang out and talk.

The Pastor that was hosting the conference wanted to introduce Louie to some of his guests and he introduced him to this man and someone took a picture of them together.

Later on Louie wanted to thank the Pastor and for having him and he posted that picture on Instagram thanking those that were in the picture for being light in a dark world.

Next thing you know his Instagram started blowing up.

A lot of people were saying kind things.

But then he started seeing comments like, “I’m so disappointed.”

“I don’t know what to think about Louie Giglio anymore.”

“How could you be in a picture with Kanye West?”

And Louie was just shocked.

He said I’ve preached thousands of messages, written many books.

My theology has been on public record for decades.

And because I took a picture with one person that goes all out the window?

REALLY?

The truth is those people who commented that way have a religious spirit.

They are modern day Pharisees.

Who don’t understand the whole reason why Jesus came.

If you think that when you become a Christian you are supposed to stay in a Christian bubble and avoid the world at all cost you are misinterpreting scripture.

Now that doesn’t mean that you spend all your time with the world and do what the world does.

Yes we need to be careful.

I’ve seen Pastors in recent years stumble and fall and I think it’s because they spent too much time with non-believers and ended up falling into sin.

Galatians 6:1, NIV "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted."

You are called to reach the lost.

But yes we need to be careful not to fall into temptation.

But avoiding people who aren’t followers of Jesus is not the life God called you to live.

So if you’re here and you wondered what Jesus thought of you.

If you wondered if Jesus really loves you or could ever forgive you for what you’ve done.

You can know that Jesus is a friend of sinners.

That YOU are the person he came for.

He’s a foe of the self righteous.

Just look up Jesus’ conversations with the Pharisees.

It’s not pretty most of the time.

He’s a foe of those people who think they are better than other people.

But he’s a friend of sinners.

And that today, right now, he is seeking after you.

He’s just waiting for you to stop hiding, stop running, and receive him.

And if you let him, your life can be completely changed just like the people in the bible that encountered him.

Church, let's stop worrying about what people think about us and let’s do what Jesus called us to do, and that’s to go out and reach a lost and dying world.

Altar Call