"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. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and 'sinners' came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?' On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:9-13).
As I read this passage this morning, a few things hit me:
One, notice how Matthew gets up and follows Jesus? There must have been something so amazing, so captivating about Jesus that Matthew couldn't resist but follow.
Two, notice that Jesus didn't tell Matthew to get his act together first and then follow him. Matthew was a tax collector...someone known to cheat people out of money...tax collectors were very corrupt. And, Jesus makes a choice to call Matthew. Imagine the shocked look on the Pharisee's face.
Three, notice that Jesus spends time (eating, drinking, laughing, etc) with "sinners." He came to save the "sinners."
As I was reading, I was reminded of my time to spend time with "sinners." Now, if you're like me, you would say, "Well, I guess that means I can still just hang with my Christian friends because we're all sinners." And, that's true! We are all sinners and we do need to spend time together. But, we need to take on this characteristic of Jesus and start looking for opportunities to befriend those that don't know Him.
And, that totally justifies me spending time eating pizza and having a pint at the Heorot! Hahaha!
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