Introduction
A. There is an old, old story about a pilgrim standing outside heaven, longing to enter in, watching as others were welcomed through the gates of pearl, onto the streets of gold. As he stood there, he saw a group clothed in white robes and waving banners approaching the gates. He turned to the gatekeeper and asked, "Who are they?" The gatekeeper answered, "Those are the prophets who prepared the way for the Christ who told of His coming and of the great joy that would be experienced at His birth." The man said, "Well, I'm not a prophet, so I cannot enter with them." Soon he saw another procession coming. It was a smaller group, but a glorious one nevertheless. They, too, were clothed in white robes. Again he asked, "Who are they?" "Why, they're the apostles who walked with Jesus - Peter and James and John and Andrew and Bartholomew and all the others. They're the ones who preached the Gospel, and established the church." The man said, "Well, I'm not an apostle, so I cannot enter with them, either." But as he continued to watch there came yet another procession much larger than the first two. They, too, were clothed in white and carrying banners of victory. Once again he asked, "Who are they?" "Why," said the gatekeeper, "Those are the missionaries and ministers who went into all the world with the gospel, inviting the lost and dying to come to Jesus." The man bowed his head and said, "I’m not one of them, either.” But then he heard the sound of many footsteps in the distance, and when he looked up he saw a vast throng of people, more than any could possibly number. And what a motley mixture they appeared to be. He didn't understand exactly how he knew, but these were obviously the rejects of the earth, the refuse of mankind, publicans and sinners and harlots. He thought to himself, "Surely, the gates of heaven will not open for them." But to his amazement the gates swung wide open - and he heard the heavenly choir singing songs of joyous welcome. Dumfounded, he asked, "Who are they?" The gatekeeper responded, "These are those who have sinned greatly, but who have been forgiven and saved through the grace of Almighty God." The man leaped for joy and said, "I’m one of them. I can enter with them." And he, too, walked through the gates of pearl and received the welcome of the heavenly choir.
B. John Haddington of Scotland said, "I have been comforted for more than 20 years by the thought that Jesus welcomes, not only sensible sinners, but stupid ones as well."
1. Lets turn to Matthew 9:9
II. Body
A. The call of Matthew
Matthew 9:9 NKJV
As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him.
1. The old King James called Matthew a publican
a. A publican was a Jew who worked for the Romans as a tax collector
b. They were generally hated by the Jews for several reasons
(1) They were collaborators with the Roman occupying force
(2) Many were thieves
(a) The Romans demanded a certain amount of taxes to be collected and some tax collectors would demand more from those from who he collected taxes and there was nothing the tax payer could do about it because the publican had the power of the Roman army behind him
(3) Most Jewish people hated these tax collectors
c. Matthew was a man whose name was Levi and he was a publican, a tax collector
(1) When people had dealings with Levi or when they just passed him in the streets they saw not a man, they saw a tax collector
(2) But what did Jesus see? What did Jesus see?
(a) Jesus saw a sinner
(b) Jesus saw a man
(c) Jesus saw potential
(3) Jesus gave Levi a new name to indicate that he was a new creature
(a) Levi means attached
i) Perhaps Levi had been attached to the Romans
ii) Perhaps Levi had been attached to money
(b) But, Matthew means a gift from God
i) Jesus considered Matthew a gift from God
a) Lets turn to Matthew 9:10
B. Matthews dinner party with Christ
Matthew 9:10 NKJV
Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.
1. Look at what happened
a. Matthew opened his home to many of his former friends and acquaintances
(1) Sinners possibly prostitutes, drunks, and thieves
(2) Then Matthew mentions specifically tax collectors
b. From time to time we hear statistics about how people first came into church membership. These figures trace back to the Institute for American Church Growth, which asked 10,000 people about their pilgrimage. What led them in? Answers were: Special need, 2 percent; Walk-in, 3 percent; Pastor, 6 percent; Visitation, 1 percent; Sunday school, 5 percent; Evangelistic crusade, 5 percent; Program, 3 percent; Friend/relative, 79 percent.
(1) That is just to show you that friendship evangelization is the most effective even today
(2) How else could a sinner, tax collector, or one of us have ever come to know Christ as Savior
(a) Turn to Luke 19:10
2. Jesus had no problem sitting down and dining with the lower class of people
Luke 19:10 NKJV
"for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
a. These sinners and tax collectors were the lost of the lost
(1) The biggest difference between publicans and sinners and Scribes and Pharisees is that the publicans and sinners knew their spiritual condition
(2) The Scribes and Pharisees were blinded by their sanctimonious religion
(3) Now lets read Matthew 9:10 - 13
C. The prejudice of the Pharisees
Matthew 9:10-13 NKJV
Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. {11} And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" {12} When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. {13} "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
1. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
2. “When Jesus heard that, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
3. The Pharisees were quick to look at others and call them “sinners” and judge them to be unworthy.
a. Their picture of God was of one who is harsh and unfeeling, concerned only about the strict observance of rules and regulations as taught by the Pharisees
(1) A God who was eager to punish any disobedience.
b. But when Jesus came, he presented a God of love who is anxious to forgive and to lift the sinner up out of his sin
(1) A God who welcomes to His banquet table the lame, the blind, and the outcasts of society, the prostitute, drunkard, thief, and tax collector
(2) Please don't get me wrong.
(a) I am not trying to paint a picture of Christ as one so soft-hearted that He never condemned sin.
(b) He saw sin as it really is with all its terribleness, its heartache and filthiness.
(c) Time and time again Jesus stood before sinners and said, “Go and sin no more!"
(3) But at the same time He always had great love and compassion for them, especially those who knew that they were sinners.
(a) He was never so blinded by their sin that He did not see whatever good that there was in them qualities that were worth saving and redeeming.
4. Again, what did the Pharisees ask the disciples? “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners'?
a. Jesus knew what the Pharisees were asking, and He also knew their motive for asking it
(1) Look again at Matthew 9:12 - 13
(2) They were looking for any opportunity to condemn Him in the eyes of the people who were eagerly coming to hear Him.
(3) But Jesus turned the tables on them, and at the same time exposed their sanctimonious hypocrisy and pettiness.
Matthew 9:12-13 NKJV
When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. {13} "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
(4) So this morning I want us to see Jesus His attitude toward sin, and then His attitude toward sinners.
D. And in order to do that, let's look at 3 people and their encounters with Jesus.
1. Lets start with the Samaritan woman found in the 4th chapter of the Gospel of John.
a. Rather than read a long passage, lets just remember the incident
b. Jesus had broken all tradition by traveling through the province of Samaria.
(1) You see, for over 600 years the Jews had despised the Samaritans as “half-breeds” and avoided any contact with them.
(2) As a result, the Samaritans hated the Jews, and didn’t welcome Jewish travelers into their villages and marketplaces.
(3) Often they would even refuse to sell them food or provide them a shelter for the night.
(4) And the few Samaritans who would do so raised their prices so high that it was obvious that their hatred was showing.
c. Therefore very few self-respecting Jews would try to go through Samaria as they traveled back and forth between Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem.
d. But this time Jesus deliberately decided to go through Samaria.
(1) Certainly Jesus knew that the village of Samaria which is called Sychar had an appointment with destiny, an appointment with the Son of God
e. It was Jesus sat down near the well outside of Sychar while the apostles went on into town to try to buy food
f. As Jesus was sitting there, a woman came out of the town a woman who was tired of being the butt of gossip, tired of being abused and the object of jokes by the respectable ladies
g. So to get away from all that, she had come to the well at noon expecting no one else to be there
(1) But to her surprise, someone was there, and he was a Jew. She looked at Him, but she didn't say a word.
(2) Quickly, she went about her business lowering the bucket down into the deep well, and drawing up the cool, clear water.
(3) Perhaps, she filled her water pot took a drink herself and then started to leave.
(4) But as she did, Jesus asked her, “Will you give me a drink?"
(5) Now, at first, the woman treated His request with obvious hostility
(6) She turned to him and sarcastically, I think, said, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"
(a) Knowing the hatred that existed between Jews and Samaritans, and the contempt with which most men treated women in that day, her taunting reply is certainly understandable
(b) Now, if we were to take time to go verse by verse through their conversation we would realize how skillfully Jesus tore down all the barriers between them
(7) Gradually, He worked around to the real problem in her life, and soon He was saying to her, “Go, get your husband and come back."
(a) That was the real nerve ending that was raw and tender.
(8) When she heard that, she said, “I have no husband."
(a) And Jesus responded, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband."
(b) Now, if you or I said that to a woman, I imagine that we would find ourselves in a serious trouble
(c) But there must have been something about the tone of His voice and the look in His eyes and His whole manner that caused her to realize that Jesus wasn't trying to tear her down.
(d) Here is Jesus, the Son of God, God in the flesh, talking to a woman, the object of jokes, of poor reputation, known by all to be immoral.
(e) But Jesus sees something in her that was beautiful and worth saving.
(9) That is why it wasn’t long until she rushed back into Sychar and grabbed the first person she saw and announced her discovery, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
(a) She was telling them, “I just talked to a man who knows everything I ever did, and He loves me anyway!”
(b) What a picture of God’s love!
h. And how about us today?
(1) Are we, or friends, feeling beaten and defeated?
(2) Maybe we all need to sit with Jesus by that well.
(3) Maybe we all need to be lifted up to see ourselves, too, as someone really worth something in His eyes
2. The 2nd sinner is found in Luke 7:36- 50
a. We won’t turn there, again we will just remember
b. Simon was a very influential Pharisee and he had invited Jesus to his home to eat
(1) Why, I don’t know, but he did
c. As they were eating, a woman of the streets came into the home of Simon and fell at the feet of Jesus, anointing them first with her tears and then with perfume from a jar she had with her
(1) She had no towel, so she used her own hair to dry His feet
d. Simon must have watched all that in total disgust
e. And he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who is touching him and what kind of a woman she is, that she is a sinner."
f. But you see, Simon missed it all
g. Jesus was more than a prophet, and He knew exactly what kind of woman she was
h. Simon saw a woman of the streets
(1) Simon saw deep sin
(2) And Simon saw a person deserving punishment for her sin
(a) But, Jesus saw a sinner who needed forgiveness, and whose life could be turned around
(b) She had certainly sinned, but she wasn't the only one. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
i. The law said that she ought to be put to death
(1) But Jesus said that she needed forgiveness and help
(2) And He gave it!
(3) No wonder the common people heard Him gladly
(4) And so should we.
3. Our last example is the tax collector named Zacchaeus
a. As you know, Zacchaeus was a tax-collector, one of those despised by the Pharisees as a ‘sinner,’ hated and shunned by the people as a traitor because he collected taxes for the Romans
b. Well, one day Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was going to be passing through his city, and he was curious, he wanted to see Jesus.
(1) So he rushed to where Jesus would be walking by
(2) But crowds of people filled the streets, and Zacchaeus couldn’t see Jesus.
(3) He couldn't see over the crowd because he was too short.
(4) He couldn't see around them because the crowd was too great.
(5) So Zacchaeus, a man of great wealth and position decided to do the very undignified thing of climbing a tree to see Jesus.
(6) What a sight that must have been, Zacchaeus, a grown man, perched on a tree branch, trying to see Jesus!
c. But Jesus suddenly stops, and of course so does everybody else.
d. Then Jesus looks up at Zacchaeus, and so does everybody else.
(1) I can imagine the embarrassment of Zacchaeus with everyone staring at him.
(2) Then Jesus said, “Zacchaeus, come down… I must stay at your house today.”
(3) The Pharisees must have been horrified!
(a) But to make a long story short, because of the love of God shown through Jesus that day,
(b) Zacchaeus was changed forever.
E. Three sinners changed because of their appointment with their Messiah
1. And now Levi named Matthew
2. Levi changed because of his appointment with the Son of God
3. And how many of those tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves, and sinners were changed that afternoon because of a diner party with Christ Jesus?
4. And I can’t help but wonder did any of those Pharisees make their appointment with Jesus
