June
14, 2003
JESUS,
A FRIEND OF SINNERS
"The
Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look,
a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and
sinners!' " (Matthew 11:19, NKJV).
The charges
of being a glutton and a winebibber were exaggerated and twisted
so as to imply something far different from what the facts
would justify. Christ's friendliness toward men who were reputed
to be gluttons and drunkards His critics took as an excuse
for charging Christ with being like them. On one occasion
Jesus was dining in Levi's house (Levi, a tax collector, was
called by Jesus to be one of His disciples), and many tax
collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His
disciples. "And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him
eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His
disciples, 'How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors
and sinners?' When Jesus heard it, He said to them, 'Those
who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are
sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to
repentance' " (Mark 2:16, 17). The attempt of
the Jews to force the reputation of being a glutton and winebibber
on Jesus was a complete failure.
However,
their charge of Jesus being a friend of tax collectors and
sinners was true. Jesus befriended the very men and women
that the Jews despised and ostracized. He sought the company
of publicans and sinners in order to persuade them to accept
Him and His teachings. It was Christ's purpose to open their
minds to see eternal realities, to share a better way of living,
to let men and women know that God loves them and to reconcile
them to their Creator.
The religious
leaders of Christ's day were blinded to the mission of Christ.
They did not understand Him or comprehend His purpose. They
were jealous of His influence with the people and sought every
opportunity to discredit Him. The Pharisees and scribes complained
of Jesus saying, "This man receives sinners and eats
with them" (Luke 15:2). Jesus said of them, "Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up
the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves,
nor do you allow those who are entering to go in"
(Matthew 23:13). Might this be true of many religious leaders
today?
Jesus
is the friend of sinners! And His purpose is to bring all
of us into unity with God, 'My Father
and your Father, and My God and your God' (see Ephesians
1:9, 10, and John 20:17).
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