1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3Then Jesus told the this parable
Welcome back. We will study several parables in the coming weeks: A man who had one hundred sheep, A woman who had 10 coins and a man who had two sons. Simply a parable is a story. Today we will look at why Jesus told these stories. Let's pray that we can focus on Jesus this morning.
The scene
Look at verse 1. 1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him.
In this passage, there are two groups of people who came to Jesus. Verse 1 tells that the tax collectors and sinners came to Jesus. Verse 2 tells us that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law came as well.
Let's look at these two groups briefly.
First, the tax collectors and "sinners". There is no question that the tax collectors are sinners. These are bad people. At that time Israel was under Roman occupation. Imagine a system where you can set your own tax rate and set your own salary. How will you behave? These are officially bad people like drug dealers and child molesters of our time. They oppressed their own people. They had no conscience.
Second, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law are very 'good' people. They attended church faithfully. They give their offerings, pray early in the morning and read the Bible devoutly. These are modern day morally upright church going people.
We expect that the religious people would gather around Jesus, not the tax collectors. But surprisingly the bad people gathered around Jesus to hear him.
All gathered around Jesus
The tax collectors and sinners gathered around Jesus. This morning I want to meditate on what it means to gather around Jesus. Someone describes a church like this: "A hospital room full of sick people, not a museum of the saints." Our motto must be, "No perfect people allowed". If you are perfect, we do not need to gather around Jesus.
Sinners and tax collectors are not attracted to the teachers of the law. Instead they were attracted to Jesus. Jesus always attracts these kinds of people. Those who know that they are not quite right seek to be around Jesus. The sick and broken people are always seeking Jesus.
Where do you gather around? Who is at the center of your heart? What is placed at the center of your house tells much about who you are.
For example, I visited one recent newly wed. Their wedding pictures are everywhere. In the kitchen, in the living room, in the bedroom and I saw one in the bathroom.
Look at the scene again. These people were so focused on Jesus that they forgot that they were with other sinners. A room full of sinners can create so much havoc. A marriage of only two sinners cannot last long. Let's pray like this, "When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you—forgive us. Help us to focus on you."
A room full of sinners focused on Jesus is the most joyful place you can be. What did the sinners do? First, they gathered around Jesus. Second, they listened to him.
They focused on Jesus and listened to him. I realized that I can go through the whole day without listening to Jesus at all. My cellphone sets off an alarm in the morning. I look at the news and I hurry off to work. While I am working, I am bombarded by all kinds of noises. I cannot stop and listen to Jesus.
Listening is not easy. We need to tune our ears to Jesus like musicians tune their instruments. It is not easy on Sundays to come and gather around Jesus. Our hearts are all over the place. Sometimes we go through motions.
As a chief sinner here, I have this propensity to put everything at the center of my heart but not Jesus. I am easily distracted. I need the quiet waters of God's word (Psalm 23). I need to see myself honestly before God. I am a sinner. There is no question about this. 1 Tim 1:15 says, "Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst." Not just a sinner but a chief sinner before God.
Personally I need Jesus desperately in my life; to put him at the center. We all need Jesus at the center. We are a community of forgiven sinners who gather around Jesus and listen to Jesus.
John Stott said of the Christian community in his book, The Cross of Christ: "The community of Christ would be nothing less than a renewed and reunited humanity, of which he as the second Adam would be head. It would incorporate Jews and Gentiles on equal terms. In fact, it would include representatives from every nation. Christ died in abject loneliness, rejected by his own nation and deserted by his own disciples, but lifted up on the cross he would draw all people to himself."
We learn to gather together under the cross of Jesus. Those who do not gather around Jesus and stay outside and looking inside will be always unhappy and criticize the work of God. Instead of seeing Jesus, they see bad people. They miss the whole point.
The Pharisees and the tax collectors had nothing to be proud of. They were living in a third world nation. Rome ruled the world. They had nothing to boast about in their nation or their economic situation but they found something to boast about. Perhaps they could count dills and mints. They could boast to their 'good' friends.
But look at Jesus. Jesus welcomed the tax collectors and sinners. Jesus spent his time intentionally with those who are lost and in their sins. Gary Poole said that as we become Christians we spend most of our time with fellow Christians. That's very good. In our time with believers, we must treasure. But we must learn from our Lord Jesus who welcomed sinners and who intentionally spent his time with non believing people.
It is important to recognize who we spend our time with. Jesus spent his time with those who needed to hear his life giving message. The tax collectors knew they were sinners so they valued Jesus and his teaching. The Pharisees and teachers of the law did not know they were sinners so they did not value Jesus' teaching.
The character of Jesus' ministry
(1. Welcoming them, 2. Eating with them, 3. Telling the stories.)
The Bible says that Jesus welcomed the tax collectors and sinners and ate with them.(v.3) Here we see the character of Jesus' ministry.
First, Jesus welcomed them. Jesus was very clear why he came. He came to seek what was lost. We separate ourselves from "bad people" so that we remain 'pure' and 'holy'. Home school is very popular in America. But Jesus did not separate himself. Instead he associated with the bad people. Jesus' ministry is characterized by welcoming people. Jesus welcomed annoying children. He welcomed Levi who was the tax collector. Jesus welcomes you and me.
He associated himself with the bad people. Jesus did this in public. At that time, no rabbi or teacher of the law would dare to do so. This was unthinkable. This is Jesus' intentional display of his ministry.
Second, Jesus ate with them. Nowadays we have so many restaurants like Chilis and Steak and Shake. We treat eating together casually and do not give much thought. But the Bible treats eating together very seriously. For example, after giving the Ten Commandments, Moses and the elders ate with God (Ex 20). God's intention of giving the Law was that the Holy God might dwell with his people. His giving of the law was not to restrain his people but to have an intimate relationship eating with and restoring them. While eating we develop relationships. Friends eat with friends. Eating together is one of the most effective ways to make friends. Eating together makes relationships and heals people.
We think that we gather around Jesus and eat with him by our own initiative. But it is not true. It is purely God's grace that we gather around Jesus.
Philip Yancey illustrates Jesus' initiative like this:
There was one girl who was engaged to a man. She loved him and planned to be with him and live happily ever after. She was looking forward to her wedding day and her reception. She worked hard for one year planning and inviting all her friends.
But her wedding was called off. She was absolutely devastated. She was heart broken. One week before the wedding date, the reception place called her and asked her to give them a final payment. She already paid 80%. They asked her to pay the rest.
If she calls it off, she will lose her 80%. What will you do if you are in that situation? Call off the reception and bite the bullet? All of her friends knew that the wedding was called off.
Her man would not come but she did not call off her reception. She invited anyone who wants to come. All the street people came and she served them at a fancy restaurant, with gourmet steaks and drinks.
Her heart was broken but everyone who came to the reception was so happy. This was their first time that they had a real steak and a real formal dinner.
We are all like street bums who are invited to a fancy reception for the first time. We have this propensity to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. We do not deserve to be invited but here we are by God's grace.
We eat with Jesus because of Jesus' intentional initiative. Revelation 3:20 says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Eating is one of the most intimate and personal things you can do. When you invite someone to your house, you are opening up your heart. Jesus is opening his heart to those people. He knew God's broken heart for everyone. Jesus knew God's love for us.
So eating is very important for Jesus. Jesus ate the last supper with his disciples. When he broke the bread and drank the wine, Jesus is restoring and making us new. This symbolizes his love for us. While Jesus was eating with the tax collectors and sinners, actually he was breaking his body and pouring out his blood for them. (Luke 22)
The reason why the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were so upset was because Jesus was welcoming the bad people and accepting them, healing them and making them friends.
Third, we tell the stories of Jesus. Jesus welcomed those who criticized him and muttered about him. He welcome the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who previously wanted to kill him. (Luke 11:54)
Jesus welcomed them both -tax collectors and Pharisees. Jesus welcomed the irreligious and the religious. How did Jesus welcome them? Look at verse 3. "Then Jesus told them this parable". He told three parables, not just one parable: A man who had one hundred sheep; A woman who had 10 coins; A man who had two sons.
What do we do to those who are hostile to Jesus? Jesus told them stories. So we must learn how to work with two kinds of people. We follow Jesus' way of working with people. For those who are sinners, we welcome them and eat with them. We spend time intentionally and share the love of God with them by sharing the word of God. We meet them placing Jesus at the center of our fellowship. In this way, we can lead them to Jesus.
To those who are hostile and upright, we tell the old, old story of Jesus. We tell them of God's love for them. We intentionally share the gospel of Jesus with them. We believe that the word of God has power to change them.
Summary
We will listen to several parables of Jesus in the coming weeks. The parables are addressed to two different kinds of people at the same time: tax collectors and the Pharisees. The religious and the irreligious.
It is our prayer that we learn to gather around Jesus as a community of sinners and listen to Jesus. We want to build a relationship with Jesus, an authentic, real and joyful one. Jesus accepts us and welcomes us in hope that we have real joy and grow in the character of Jesus. Jesus wants to transform us with his life giving and life changing stories. Jesus had many examples of people changed both from the religious and non religious. Timothy grew up in a good Christian family. His mother and grandmother prayed for him. Paul took him under his wings and transformed him from a sick, shy Bible student to a servant of God's word. Levi the tax collector is a good example who sought wealth instead of the kingdom of God. But when he listened to Jesus, he was changed and dedicated his life to seek God's kingdom and his righteousness. God's word works in both the religious and the irreligious. This is our hope so we gather around Jesus.
Jesus' welcoming of us and eating with us and sharing his stories will transform us. The first step is to gather around Jesus. Let's gather around Jesus and listen to him.
Let's meditate on our text:
1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3Then Jesus told them this parable
Let's commit one word into our hearts: All gathering around him to hear him.
References:
Prodigal God, Tim Keller
A tale of two sons, John MacArthur
Comments by prof. Jerram Barrs, Acts 29 Networks
The Cross of Christ, John Stott
Seeker Small Group, Gary Poole
What's so amazing about grace, Philip Yancey
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