Matthew 9:9-13 MSG Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” Matthew stood up and followed him.
10-11 Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and misfits?”
12-13 Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”
Matthew 23:13-14 Phillips “But alas for you, you scribes and Pharisees, play-actors that you are! You lock the door of the kingdom of Heaven in men’s faces; you will not go in yourselves neither will you allow those at the door to go inside.
Observation
Tax collectors, especially Jewish ones, were anathema and traitors to the Jews because they served the Romans by agreeing to extract (and profit from) exorbitant taxes imposed on their fellows. Anyone who associated with a tax collector would be a “disreputable character” in the sight of both Pharisees and fishermen. Jesus regularly engaged in this kind of shock therapy with His disciples to break down their strongholds of prejudice and judgment created by tradition and teaching of the religious leaders.
Jesus also purposely challenged the man-made rules of the Pharisees, but never broke Mosaic Law. Jesus accused the Pharisees of being so obsessed with duty and form that they missed the heart of God – grace, mercy and redemption. He accused them of misinterpreting God’s intended relationship with His creation. In Matthew 23 Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites who played the role of true spiritual men but were really only playacting rather than serving God with a pure heart. Above He accused them of foolishly and jealously (and unnecessarily) guarding the door of Heaven to keep out disreputable characters and missing the blessing of entering in themselves. Jesus came to throw the doors open wide.
Impact on Me
So, I have to ask myself – who do I consider disreputable characters, traitors, unworthy of heaven? Who do I mark as unredeemable, untouchable, crooks and misfits? Where am I playing the role of a spiritual woman to look good when my actions don’t represent what is in my heart? Where are the places in me that I don’t want Jesus to challenge and the Holy Spirit to touch? Hard questions that must be answered if I want to avoid playing a role and start living a holy life.
When I was first saved, my husband and I had a charter sportfishing boat. We spent many hours a day at the docks. The docks harbor many people who lead a rough and raw life – most of us would label them disreputable characters. On our way home one day I was thinking about (and judging negatively) a man on the docks who was coarse, hedonistic and disrespectful to women. In that Pharisee moment, I saw him as filthy and unredeemable. The Holy Spirit in His grace and mercy hit me with the baseball bat of His insight and I heard, “Yes, that is what your soul looked like before you received Jesus.” I wept because I realized that I had so easily forgotten the undeserved and overwhelming grace and mercy I received from the God Who gave His only Son for me and for Whom all is possible. This is why I need to ask myself again and again the questions above, allowing Jesus to examine my heart and the Holy Spirit to change me for the better.
Prayer
O Lord, God of the Impossible, Father of Mercy and Grace, how quickly I tend to judge other’s worth when I need to be judging my response to the grace and mercy I have received. I want to be a Pharisee in diligence, in studying Your Word, but keep me from falling into the trap of thinking that You are performance-based and give more worth by my achievements. Keep my heart soft toward the disreputable characters, the crooks and misfits that I might be an instrument of redemption in Your Hand. May I be one hugging and welcoming those who enter Your gates. Make it so, in Jesus’ name.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 