Date: 11/30/03

Text: Matthew 9:9-13

Title: Jesus Calls Matthew

Theme: Jesus'' ministry is driven by his mercy towards sinners.

Introduction:

There is this Chinese saying, “近朱者赤, 近墨者黑”. We are careful with whom we associate with. I think of my cousin in china, who over 20 years ago was denied promotion in his bank because we lived overseas. Parents are concerned about whom their children hang out with. We want them to be with those who are well behaved, and diligent students.

As adults, don’t we also choose whom we hang out with? We want to be with like minded people. We feel comfortable with those in the same social and economic class. We choose our friends carefully. We believe in the words that whom we associate with, speaks a lot about who we are.

The passage we just read is about what kind of people Jesus hung out with. We want to explore this passage with a different approach. I will first retell the story and add some observations. Then we’ll identify what some of the principles are for us to learn and obey.

In this short passage, only 5 verses, there are 4 main characters and character groups: Matthew, Jesus and his disciples, Pharisees, tax collectors and sinners.

Matthew is also called Levite in other gospel accounts. Later, he is the one who wrote this gospel of Matthew. His vocation was tax collection. In the 1^st century Palestinian society, the tax system was complicated and corrupt. There were all kinds of taxes and each tax collector would keep a portion for himself and give the rest to the supervisor. The higher up in the tax system, the more money one would collect. Since some would also have to deal with gentile supervisors, therefore to the conservative Jews, the tax collectors were considered to be traitors and ceremonially unclean. No one wanted to associate with them. And this is the reason; they were often put in the same category in many of the gospel stories: the tax collectors.

In this story, the tax collectors were also lumped together with the sinners. Sinners were those who lived an obvious and apparent immoral life. They followed dishonorable vocations, such as prostitution and were despised by the society. So when the tax collectors and sinners are grouped together, it is a description of the crumbs of that society.

Of course Jesus was in this narrative. In vs.1-8, we saw how he manifested his authority by forgiving sins and healing the sick. He demonstrated his authority to transform lives. When he came to the place where Matthew had a tax booth, he said, “Follow me.” Matthew rose and followed him. Matthew simply obeyed.

However, in Luke’s account, he recorded that Matthew left everything behind, rose and followed Jesus. Luke knew that Matthew had to give up his vocation, probably by selling it to others, and then followed Jesus. Yet Matthew did not write this down. One can certainly understand this. He was being modest. It’s quite different from us, isn’t it. From time to time we hear testimonies of what we have to give up to follow Christ. We have to sacrifice our well paid and stable career, that comfortable house. We sound as if by following Christ, we are actually doing him a favor. What was Matthew’s testimony? He simply rose and followed him. It was a simple obedience.

What did Matthew do after his decision to follow Jesus? He hosted a banquet. It was a celebration. And whom did he invite? His friends, of course. Who were they? The tax collectors and sinners. In verse 10, in the original language is this simple word, “look”. As if Matthew wanted his readers to pay attention to who else was there: The tax collectors and sinners. And of all the people, Jesus and his disciples were there.

I want to make an observation here. We too celebrate our new birth in Christ, right? We have a party for the new believers. Whom do we invite? Family members, fellow Christians, and sometimes, pastors. Who is missing? Our non-Christian friends. Next time when we have birthday party for the new believers, let’s make sure their non-Christian friends are included.

Now back to the banquet. In those days, to be in a banquet, is to identify oneself with those present. It means full acceptance of those who are there. With Jesus and his disciples being there, he is sending the message of his full acceptance of the tax collectors and sinners. You see, up to now, the sick, the possessed were brought to Jesus and their lives were transformed. But now, he was in their midst, eating with them. No one can miss this, definitely not the Pharisees.

You see, the Pharisees had been keeping an eye on Jesus since day one. They were very much concerned by his self proclamation that he was the promised Messiah. They were puzzled by his teachings and healings. Could he be the Messiah? They probably felt very insecure at how Jesus was received by the crowd. To the Pharisees, the messiah was the one who would come to punish the unrighteous and support the righteous. But now, look at this Jesus, the self claimed messiah. He had come to mingle among the sinners, the unrighteous ones. How could this be? So they asked the disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?” Doesn’t he know who they are?

In vs. 12, 13 is Jesus' response, ““Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." ¹³"Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” In the gospels of Mark and Luke, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. For I cam not to call the righteous, but sinners” are in the same sentence. Here, it is separated by the phrase, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”

The sentence, ‘those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick’, could be a proverb of Jesus' time. Jesus is saying, the healthy are the righteous; the sick are the sinners. He has specifically come to the sick and the sinners. In anticipating the Pharisees asking why, he said, “go and learn what this means…” Go and learn is a very typical rabbinic style. Go and think about this and see what it means. The passage Jesus refers to is Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”

About 700 BC, through the prophet Hosea, God spoke to the Israelites. He told them they had been keeping the regulations in the OT laws. They went to the temple and offered sacrifices at the appropriate times. Yet they had lost the essence of the law: Mercy. They were blind to the sick, the poor and the heavy burdened. They had religion but not mercy, loving kindness. However, God wants them to show mercy to each other more than anything else. Why? Because God is a God of loving kindness. He is the merciful God, therefore he wants his people to show mercy.

So, in response to the Pharisees’ question: why did Jesus eat with the sinners? The answer is: it is God's nature to show mercy to the sick and the sinners. Its not that sacrifice is not important, for Matthew knew, so did his readers, that 3 years later, Jesus died on the cross as the ultimate manifestation of his mercy towards the sinners. It is through his death and later his resurrection that the sick are healed and the sinners reconciled with God.

So, what do we learn from this simple yet pregnant narrative? Who is the focus in this passage? Very often we focus on Matthew, telling ourselves that we should be like Matthew, simply obey and follow Jesus. But as we look closely, the focus is really on Jesus Christ, isn’t it? The truth in this passage is simply that Jesus' ministry is driven by his mercy towards the sinners.

When we study the American history, we learn that there was a time when individuals had a burning message for the nation, they ran for the presidency. In contrast, in present day politics, we often see individuals want to become the president. Then they start looking for a message that people like to hear. This is not how Jesus operates. His ministry is driven by his mercy towards the sinners. This mercy drove him to heal the sick and free the possessed. This mercy drove him to call Matthew and eat with his friends, the fellow tax collectors and sinners. He went to the sinners not because the sinners accepted him. He went there simply because they were sinners. The pharisees insisted that sinners become righteous to gain acceptance; Jesus insisted that they be accepted as sinners. While they were still sinners, God has taken the initiative to come and love them. This is mercy; this is the gospel of grace.

Why did he eat with the tax collectors and sinners? This is how he demonstrates his loving kindness towards them.

If Jesus'' ministry is driven by mercy, what does this mean to us?

1. Jesus'' mercy driven ministry to us should produce a deep sense of gratitude.

It is important for us to know that in our sinfulness, Jesus had first come to us and called us to follow him. By his grace, we responded and followed him. Are we better than others? No. Yes, our sins are forgiven, but we are still under the influence of sin. The longer we become Christians, the more we feel our corruption and sinfulness. The more we strive to become Christ-like, the more we feel our unworthiness. You see, when we stand before this holy God, all we see is our own sins and short comings. As we mature, becoming more like Christ, thoughts and behavior that we previously accepted as normal, are now bothering us. Issues such as dishonesty, self survival at the expense of others, are beginning to trouble our conscience. You see, the more we become Christ like, the more we’ll recognize our sinfulness before God.

Lately I have been using a collection of puritan’s prayers in my devotions. In this little book, “The Valley of Vision”, I am deeply impressed by the puritans’ deep sense of sin. Among their prayers are lines like this, “the more I do, the worse I am, the more I know, the less I know, the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am, the more I love, the more there is to love. O wretched man that I am.” “…but in my Christian walk I am still in rags; my best prayers are stained with sin; my penitential tears are so much impurity; my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin; my receiving he Spirit is tinctured with selfness.” This deep sense of sinfulness, also enables them to have the deep understanding of God's grace. “give me a broken heart that yet carries home the water of grace.” “there is no treasure so wonderful as that continuous experience of thy grace toward me which alone can subdue the risings of sin within: give me more of it.” “grant that through the tears of repentance I may see more clearly the brightness and glories of the saving cross.”

In our keen awareness of our sinfulness, we remember Jesus' words, ‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” He took the initiative to come to us sinners. His ministry is driven by his mercy towards us sinners. In response, our relationship with him is to be driven by a deep sense of sinfulness resulting in deep gratitude towards him.

2. Jesus'' mercy driven ministry toward us should cause us not to look down on others.

The Pharisees considered themselves as righteous and healthy, therefore they looked down on the sinners. How about us? Yes, we know we are sinners and our sins are forgiven. After a little while, we feel pretty good about ourselves. We congratulate ourselves through testimonies on how we overcome this and that sin. We are no longer in bondage to certain sins and habits. We tell ourselves that we don’t lie or steal. And you know what, slowly we begin to see ourselves as a little above the others. We may even pray and thank God we are not like that liar, unfaithful spouse, wife abuser, dead beat father or good for nothing husband. This is spiritual pride, right?

And you know what? The more I understand and experience Jesus' mercy toward me; the more I see my sinfulness, then I will realize that even though I am a believer, but I am really not that much better than others. Whenever I catch myself despising individuals for committing certain sins, I’d ask myself: am I really better than he? If I don’t have the restraint from my parents, from friends, from spouses, from the church and above all, God's restraining grace, I am fully capable of committing those sins. Before God, there is nothing I can boast. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners. This means that we must not think we are better than others.

3. Jesus' mercy driven ministry brings great hope to us sinners.

I remember a lady I came to know years ago. She always kept a distance from the church. For several weeks after her husband died, she would lavishly send flowers to the church for decoration. Yet she was hesitant to come to the services. Later after she left the city, I was told that she thought she was not good enough to come to church to worship God.

Have you ever made such comments? People in the church are good, how can a person like me be a part of that community? Why would Jesus want someone like me? However, if we correctly understand the passage before us, Jesus has come to heal those who are sick. He has come to free those who have been possessed by the demons. He has come to the midst of the sinners, those who are despised by their own society. He has come to forgive their sins. He has come to call Matthew, the tax collector; “Come, follow me.” No one is too sinful, too unworthy of Jesus. You see, because Jesus'' ministry is driven by his mercy, sinners like me can have hope.

Conclusion:

In recent weeks we have seen how Jesus ministry demonstrated his ability to forgive sins and transform lives. This morning, we read that he came to the sinners to seek them out, to forgive their sins and to call them to follow him. And throughout this past 2000 years, he has not ceased coming to individual sinners to issue the call to follow him. Like Matthew, countless individuals have heard this call and followed him. Throughout this past year, we have also witnessed how God has come and called us to follow him, and many obeyed.

Come to think of it, we are sitting here this morning. Is it because we have found him? Yes, we have come, but isn’t it true that if it is not him who has first come to us, we probably will not even be here? Jesus has come to us sinners. Many of us have heard his call and are following him.

This morning, Jesus has come to you. Through his spirit and his words, he has issued a call to you: ‘Come, follow me.”