Food For Your Soul
by Reverend Hubermann Larose
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The Friend Of Sinners and Tax Collectors
“I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (v. 13, NKJV) – (Matt 9: 9-13)
We have here what we can consider as the “Mission Statement” of Jesus coming into the world. The occasion of the statement of this mission is a meal Jesus was invited to with his disciples. Verse 10 says that Jesus was eating in a certain house. Though the Greek text remains vague about the host (since it only reads: ἀνακειμένου ἑν τἦ οίκίᾀ, sitting at the table in the house), we suppose that it was the house of Matthew (also called Levi), as confirmed by 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.”
We see right away in what intention Matthew (Levi) held this banquet for Jesus: he wanted to give his friends, tax collectors like him, the opportunity to meet this beloved Savior who has welcomed and even called him to follow him, while everyone else rejected and despised him. Matthew had found in Jesus what all the gold in the world could not provide him: the forgiveness for his sins. For this reason he invited the tax collectors ―these people who thirst for forgiveness and love― to come and hear this man who was unlike the others, though he was infinitely holier than they.
Matthew, therefore, in order to facilitate the meeting of Jesus with the tax collectors and other sinners, did not choose a synagogue as the venue of the meeting ―they would never set foot there! But he had a great idea: he held a feast to which he invited Jesus and his former comrades. What a creative man!
Jesus accepted the invitation. Verse 10 says, “While Jesus was having dinner at the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.” Having dinner with someone is a sign of agreement, of amity, of camaraderie, of friendship with him. Therefore, by accepting to sit at the table in the company of tax collectors and sinners, Jesus wanted to tell everybody that he is the friend of these people; that he welcomes them; that he does not reject them. He wanted to say that he loves the sinner, though he hates sin.
This is something we, humans, do not do. We don’t separate the sin from the sinner. We throw out the baby with the bathwater. We hate both the sin and the sinner. But God loves the sinner. He says in Ezekiel 33:11, “…I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” This is why the Bible calls God the God of love. “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
But God’s love and patience toward sinners very often irritate us, instead of rejoicing us. This was the case with Jonas in connection with the Ninevites. It was also the case for the Pharisees who were there, observing. They seriously took issue at the fact by Jesus to sit at the table with the crowd of tax collectors and sinners. So, they began to criticize Jesus indirectly, through his disciples: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (verse 10). On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick (…) For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (vv. 12-13)
Does that mean that the Pharisees had no need of a doctor? No! But, in their blindness, they thought they were correct; that they did not need Jesus. There are many people like this today who think they don’t need Jesus, because they’re all right without him. I saw a bumper sticker on a car that reads: “Born once, and O.K. with it!” This person denies the need for repentance, conversion, the new birth; in short, for Jesus Christ and His atoning death on the cross.
For people like this, the Gospel is not good news. If you say to a man in good health that a cure has been found for AIDS, this news is very likely to leave him stone-cold. But, if you break the same news to someone infected by the virus, and who is already contemplating his imminent death, this person will jump for joy. It is the same for the Gospel. Those who are doing well —in reality, those who are deluding themselves into thinking that they are doing well— have no need for Jesus Christ.
But I would like to say to you who recognize yourself as morally and spiritually sick that you’re not a lost case, because the great doctor of the soul invites you to throw yourself into his arms. And ―what is even more wonderful― he still saves today as he used to long ago. The Bible says that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:7) he is still welcoming today thieves, prostitutes, homosexuals, drug-addicts, sex offenders, etc.
My friend, come to this doctor who has done what no rehabilitation program has been able to accomplish! Do your sins cause you to loathe yourself in your own sight? Do not make the mistake of listening to the voice of Satan pushing you to suicide. Come to Jesus just as you are, bruised, disfigured by sin. You will be amazed at what he will do to you. He is the greatest repairer of lives ever! Tell him: “Jesus, I cannot take it anymore! I have suffered enough the consequences of my sins. I am sick morally and spiritually! Heal me, save me!” And he will surely do that. Come without delay to the Savior who loves you!
Hubermann Larose
Associate Pastor
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