Matthew 9:9-13 MSG 9 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.”
Romans 2:1-4 Phillips Now if you feel inclined to set yourself up as a judge of those who sin, let me assure you, whoever you are, that you are in no position to do so. For at whatever point you condemn others you automatically condemn yourself, since you, the judge, commit the same sins. God’s judgment, we know, is utterly impartial in its action against such evil-doers. What makes you think that you who so readily judge the sins of others, can consider yourself beyond the judgment of God? Are you, perhaps, misinterpreting God’s generosity and patient mercy towards you as weakness on his part? Don’t you realise that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Observation
As a Roman tax collector, Matthew was persona non grata among the Jewish people. He was considered a Roman collaborator and one who enriched himself by enforcing burdensome tax laws. His family was probably punished – shunned by former friends and perhaps kicked out of synagogue – for Matthew’s association with the Romans. He was judged by his community as a disreputable character.
We don’t know what Matthew knew about this itinerant rabbi – what he had seen or heard about Jesus. Had Matthew come to a point in his life where he recognized trading wealth for relationships left him empty? Had he become uncomfortable with the poverty and despair he saw created by the demands he was asked to impose on his own people? Had the ostracism because of his position begun to increase the pain of loneliness and feelings of rejection? We don’t know for certain. However, something was going on inside Matthew for him to respond so suddenly and decisively to Jesus’ invitation. In that moment, Matthew traded all his accomplishment and status for what this itinerant rabbi offered him – redemption, belonging, hope.
Impact on Me
For me, this story is about the miracle of mercy compared to the captivity of judgment. The religious leaders were captive to the rules and traditions they had heaped on top of the Law of Moses. “What makes you think that you who so readily judge the sins of others, can consider yourself beyond the judgment of God?” It seems to me that they went around looking for violations, trying to take others captive to the same bondage they embraced, rather than encouraging people that God provided a way (read the Book of Leviticus) for each one to restore relationship when the laws had been broken. No wonder Jesus was so hard and confrontational with the religious leaders of His time!
I want to stay firmly in the camp of allowing God’s kindness to flow through me to lead others to repentance. Kindness born of God’s mercy and grace is the opposite of the condemnation of judgment. The only person I am allowed to judge is me as I am the only human who can truly know the motives and intentions of my heart. If I think someone else has gone astray, I am called to love him/her enough to draw them toward Jesus through kindness, allowing the power of His Holy Spirit to work on his/her inside.
So, I need to make a continuous and conscious effort to avoid judging others and “do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with my God” (Micah 6). It is not that difficult to fall into the trap of comparing my outward performance to that of another, feeling special or privileged because my life currently appears in a better state or I am experiencing the favor of people around me. That is not the way that I am judged by God. He looks on my heart, my thoughts, my deepest secrets. He knows where pride has taken me captive and where faith has been eroded. Following Him is a lifelong pursuit that requires my full attention.
Prayer
Lord God, Father of Mercy, Kindness, Truth, Justice, Grace and Encouragement, I humbly come before You and ask for the wisdom, strength and courage to be kind and merciful when I am tempted to become judgmental. I ask that You teach me to speak the truth in love so that Your kindness can bring the understanding that opens the eyes of myself and others to what it truly is to follow You consistently and fully. Deliver me from the temptation to compare myself with others, being content to allow You to be the judge of us all. In Jesus’ name, make it so.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 