Eats with Sinners

BIG IDEA:

Jesus didn’t invite perfect people to follow Him…  

He invited sinners who recognized their desperate need for a Savior.

1.  The call of a social outcast.

(Journal) Verses 13-14

Luke 18:11, The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

• Jesus saw an outcast who was deeply distressed by the weight of his guilt and ready to repent.

Philippians 3:7-8, But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ...

2.  The community of sinners.

(Journal) Verse 15

Colossians 1:13-14, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

• Matthew’s friends knew they were sinners and they were the very kinds of people that Jesus came to seek and save.

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

3.  The contempt of the self-righteous.

(Journal) Verse 16

Luke 5:30, And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

• The scribes’ righteousness was external and hypocritical, and consisted of rule keeping, judgmentalism, and outward show.

2nd Corinthians 5:21, For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

4.  The condemnation of the Savior.

(Journal) Verse 17

Matthew 9:13, Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

• The scribes were so far from God that, although they could identify other people as sinners, they were unable to recognize their own desperate condition.

1st Corinthians 6:9-11, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

NEXT STEP:

Jesus “eating with sinners” symbolized acceptance, welcome, and friendship...  

Pray, meditate, and discuss how we as a church can more effectively eat with sinners.