"How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"v16
Mark 2:13-17 NKJV
Discrimination was rife in Jesus' days, as it is today. Some say it has gone over the top. However, when a person is less thought of because of the colour of their skin; who they are or where they live, then it is wrong. The Pharisees were renowned for their pompous attitudes and deeds, and today, it is no different.
Matthew or Levi, was a tax collector; not a very popular person in their day because they were thought to over charge a person and keep the money for themselves. In the Pharisee's eyes, they were unclean because they worked for the Gentiles. and their whole business acumen was suspicious. Jesus' reputation was not helped because He spent time with them, eating, drinking and in their eyes, socialising. Actually though, Jesus' intention was to speak to them about the kingdom of God and that was all.
The religious leaders had misunderstood Jesus' mission and, so have many churches today. We see homeless people begging in the street and it can be so easy to give them a wide berth, thinking, 'If I gave them some money, they would only go and drink it away'. That may be so, but ask yourself, 'Do I have the the right to judge these people?' We don't know where they have come from in life or what has led them to be out on the streets. Yes, they may come from unsavoury backgrounds and have unwholesome intentions, but then again, they may not have. Some are genuine. I worked with ex-prisoners and people with addictions for some time when I was pastoring a church and I learned that they can come up with the most convincing of stories about what had happened to them in the past. Some were war hero's, ex veterans down on their luck. The thing is, I was not there to judge them, just to be discerning, show them the love of Jesus and try to help them in whatever way we could. We ended up opening part of the church as a day centre where we clothed and fed as many as we could. Many ripped us off that's true, but they were ripping Jesus off, not us. That was the difference. As long as we continued to show them love and meet as many needs as we could, we had done our job. We did have many successes.
The thing is, Jesus said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance' v17. And this is the bottom line. People who need Jesus may not be dressed in nice suits and frocks but may be smelly and dirty. However, to Jesus, they are precious and lost.
Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.
Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers
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