Dinner with Sinners - A Reflection on Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
Matthew was a tax collector. He was universally disliked by his fellow Jews because he collected taxes for the Romans. The Jews felt the Romans had no right to govern Israel. Consequently, they looked upon anyone who worked for them as a betrayer. Additionally, tax collectors were extortionists. They would resort to threats and trickery to collect money, which was often far more than they were legally entitled to collect. So, as you can see, the Jews had valid reasons to dislike them. And to make their dislike obvious, they referred to tax collectors as “sinners”, equating them with other people they considered low-lifes.
One day, when he was sitting at his tax booth, Jesus called Matthew to follow him. The instant Matthew accepted the invitation, his life changed dramatically. It has the same effect on everyone who encounters Jesus. One of the first things Matthew did after this was invite Jesus for dinner. And he invited his friends as well. These were all people who were considered “sinners” by the self-righteous Pharisees. Why did Matthew do this, you think? Because he realized he was a sinner who had been saved, and having been saved, he wanted others — especially his friends — to be saved too. Eternal damnation is a terrible thing!
Jesus, of course, accepted the invitation. He had no problem eating and drinking with sinners. The Pharisees, however, had a big problem with that. “Why does your teacher eat with sinners?”, they asked his disciples, totally scandalized. We don’t quite get why they found this so shocking, so imagine Jesus eating and drinking with members of a drug cartel or a bunch of hoodlums. Anyway, when Jesus heard about this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” And they, of course, got even more angry with him.
Now, I want us to ask ourselves a question. The answer might sting a little, but that is not a bad thing. Who are we more like: Matthew or the Pharisees? You see, there is the very real danger that we can go from “sinner” to “saved” to “self-righteous” very rapidly if we are not careful. We can look down our noses upon “sinners” forgetting we were “sinners” just a little while ago. So how do we tell we haven’t become like the Pharisees? Simple. Do we invite “sinners” for dinner? Or do we believe we will corrupt ourselves if we associate with them?
I know that after finding salvation, we try to avoid people and situations that might tempt us to slip back into our old lifestyles. Now, I agree that there is a certain wisdom to this. But once our relationship with Christ is cemented and our faith becomes strong we are obligated to reach out with the gospel message to these “sinners”, especially those we once called our friends. No? Because if we don’t associate with them, how are we going to introduce them to Jesus? And how will they find salvation? Know what I’m saying?
So, have dinner with “sinners”. And don’t forget to invite Jesus to the party. Be safe.
Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:
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