Chapter 25
DISCOURSE IN MATTHEW'S HOUSE
Part II - Jesus Came For Sinners
(Matthew 9:9-13)
Before we begin our study of the second half of Jesus' discourse in the house of Matthew, let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before You in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Father, we ask You to please bless our time in the study of Your Word. Please grant us the eyes, ears and hearts for us to come to a better understanding of You and Your Word.
Amen
INTRODUCTION
Let us begin our study by reading the following Scripture that records Jesus' discourse during His stay in the house of Matthew, the tax collector.
Matthew 9:9-13
"[9] As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. [10] While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. [11] When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" [12] On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. [13] But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.""
After the Pharisees questioned Jesus about His eating with the "so called sinners" of their day, Jesus provided them and now us with some insight with respect to God's love and concern for us. Specifically, In chapter 24 we found that embedded in verse 13 there are at least the following two truths:
Since in our last study we explored the issue of extending mercy to others, this study will focus upon the fact that Jesus came to heal the sick, that is sinners.
As one reflects upon Jesus' statement that He did not come to call the righteous but the sinners, one might ask: "What is Jesus saying? What is He teaching us?" To find out it will be extremely helpful for us to read this portion of Jesus' statement to the Pharisees as it is translated by Kenneth S. Wuest in his more literal translation of the Greek text
1."[12] And having heard this, He said, No need do those have who are in sound health, of a doctor, but those who are ill; [13] having gone on your way, learn what is meant, mercy I am desiring, and not a sacrifice offered on an altar. For I did not came to call men righteous in character but those who are sinners by nature."
For those who, as did the Pharisees, believe they are righteous in character and do not believe they are sinners by nature let us read the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. For this study we will read the parable as recorded in,
Luke 18:9-14
"[9] To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: [10] "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [11] The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. [12] I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' [13] "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' [14] "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.""
In considering the above parable we find that Jesus has the following issues with those who believe they are righteous in character,
With these issues in mind, let us now begin our study by first exploring,
THE ATTITUDE WE SHOULD HAVE TOWARDS OURSELVES
We must all recognize and accept the fact that each and every one of us are sinners and by nature do not possess a righteous character. However, some may say that I am not a sinner. I do have a righteous character. I do keep God's Laws and I do not have a problem.
If this be true then, as the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia, God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for no purpose. To see this let us read from,
Galatians 2:21
"[21] I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!""
With this truth in mind one might respond by saying: "I have not murdered anyone, I have not committed adultery and I have kept all my promises, how can I be identified as a sinner with an unrighteous character?"
The answer to this question lies within Jesus' sermon on the mountain top. It is by this sermon we discover that God is not only interested in what we physically do or not do but is extremely concerned about what we think and how feel about things. To see this let us review how Jesus defines the sins of murder, adultery and oaths or promises. To do this let us begin with,
MURDER
To see how Jesus defines murder let us read from,
Matthew 5:21-22
""[21] You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' [22] But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell."
As a side note, in W. E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, the term "Raca" is a word used of utter contempt to signify a person to be intellectually empty
2.ADULTERY
Jesus' definition of adultery can be found in,
Matthew 5:27-28
""[27] You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' [28] But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
OATHS
According to Jesus anytime we make an oath we have sinned. To see this let us consider the following teaching with respect to oaths.
Matthew 5:33-37
""[33] Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' [34] But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; [35] or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. [36] And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. [37] Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."
Another way to look at this issue is to remember what Jesus taught those who believed that by eating certain foods they would become defiled. Specifically, Jesus said to them that it is not what goes into a man that defiles him but it is what proceeds from within their hearts. To refresh our memories let us read from,
Matthew 15:17-20
""[17] Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? [18] But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' [19] For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. [20] These are what make a man 'unclean'; ...'""
Let us notice that in Verse 19 Jesus teaches us that even evil thoughts makes a person unclean. In verse 19 we also find that our words such as false testimony, that is lying, or slander makes a person unclean. Finally, Jesus teaches us that sinful deeds such as murder, adultery or theft also makes a person unclean. In other words, the evil in our hearts, that is our sinful nature, may be expressed through our thoughts, words and/or deeds.
Given all this what is the point? What is the message?
THE MESSAGE
The message or point of all we have just covered is at least twofold.
First of all, we have seen that each and everyone of us has sin and in spite of what others may think or teach, in God's eyes, we, by ourselves, do not possess a righteous character. In other words,
We All Have Sin
If this is the first time you are hearing or reading this message you might be asking yourself, "Is there anything I can do to be saved from the punishment that will result because of my sins?" The answer to this question goes back to what Jesus said in the house of Matthew. Specifically, "Jesus came for you." In other words, Jesus came to this earth to save you and me from our sins and our flawed or sinful character. Thus, as the tax collector did in the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee we too, in faith, must come before Jesus Christ and confess to Him the fact that we are sinners. We must ask Him for His Mercy and forgiveness. In addition, we are to ask Him to give us a new nature or character by sending God the Holy Spirit to live and dwell within us. If we do this with all our hearts, God promises that He will save us. To see this let us read His promise as recorded in,
Romans 10:13
"[13] …, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.""
For those who have been born again and have already received God's mercy for their past sins and are truly born again of the Holy Spirit the second point of this message is for us. Specifically,
If We Think We Stand … Watch Out!
In reading the New Testament one can not help notice that throughout the epistles, God the Holy Spirit continues to exhort, encourage and warn His children to live their lives in a manner worthy of God's call to them. For this study let us read just two of the many exhortations that are given through the pen of the Apostle Paul.
In the first exhortation, God the Holy Spirit uses the attitude that a serious athlete has with respect to winning a crown of a track and field event to teach us what our attitude should be for our winning the crown of eternal life. To read this exhortation let us go to,
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
"[24] Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. [25] Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. [26] Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. [27] No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
Let us notice the following verses,
24 … In a track meet all the serious athletes run in such a manner as to win the race. In other words, they go all out to win the prize!
25(a) … For many years prior to the race the athlete, with much personal sacrifice, will train and build up his body for the upcoming event.
25(b) … Unfortunately, for the athlete all the years of training and personal sacrifice is for the moment of glory during which they receive a perishable trophy, crown or medal. In other words, after they die all that glory is left behind to rot and fade away. However, the crown, trophy or medal that God has called us to win is one of eternal value, that is it is reserved in Heaven waiting for us (see Matthew 6:19-21).
26 … Paul tells us that he, like the example of the athlete, trained, sacrificed and ran the race of his life with the determined goal and purpose of receiving God's eternal crown of glory.
27 … Notice that even though God chose Paul to be an Apostle and preacher of His Gospel, Paul continually remembered that he should never be presumptuous and consider himself to be righteous. Instead, the Apostle Paul continually surrendered himself and his body to the control of the Holy Spirit. This is why he said that it is no longer he who lives but it is Christ who lives within him. To refresh our memories of Paul's attitude let us read from,
Galatians 2:20
"[20] I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
In the second exhortation, God the Holy Spirit used the example of Israel's exodus from their bondage to the Egyptians to the promised land of Canaan to illustrate what the consequences of disobedience and sin could be. In other words, as we read the following exhortation, God the Holy Spirit is using Israel's plight to teach you and I that during our journey to the promised land of eternal life with God we must be careful and diligent to live our lives in a manner pleasing to Him. To see this let us read from,
1 Corinthians 10:1-12
"[1] For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. [2] They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. [3] They all ate the same spiritual food [4] and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. [5] Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. [6] Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. [7] Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." [8] We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. [9] We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes. [10] And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel. [11] These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. [12] So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"
Let us notice the following verses,
1-4 … All the Israelites that God delivered from their bondage in Egypt were given and experienced the same spiritual blessings. This is the same with the born again believer. All of us have received His Mercy and Grace. All of us have received His forgiveness for our past sins. All of us have been baptized into Jesus Christ. And, all of us have been filled with God the Holy Spirit Who lives and dwells within us.
5 … Unfortunately, with most of the people of Israel God was not pleased. As a result of their actions, they never made it to the promised land.
6-10 … All Israel's evil, disobedience and the associated consequences are used as examples to teach us about the manner in which we are to travel during our exodus from our sinful nature and the lusts of this world to the promised land of eternal life with God.
11 … God the Holy Spirit again reminds us that all what happened to the people of Israel are examples to teach us about the consequences that would befall us if we live our Christian life in the same manner as they did during their exodus.
In other words, as God the Holy Spirit stated in verse 12,
"if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"
Thus, the message for this portion of our study is recorded for us in,
1 John 1:8-2:2
"[8] If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
"[1] My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. [2] He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
In returning to the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee let us recall that the second issue our Lord Jesus Christ has with those who believe they are righteous in character is their attitude towards others. This now brings us to the third and last portion of this study which is,
THE ATTITUDE WE SHOULD HAVE TOWARDS OTHERS
In reading the Bible we find that there are at least three principles by which our God would have us live our life with respect to others.
First and foremost our Lord wants us to,
LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR
In fact our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that it is by our love towards others that they will know we are truly His. To see this let us read Jesus' command for His disciples to love one another as recorded in,
John 13: 34-35
""[34] A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.""
In Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth we find that even though we possess and operate in the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit or even if we suffer martyrdom for Jesus' namesake but do not have love, we gain nothing. To see this let us read from,
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
"[1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."
One of the by products of our love for others is that God would have us,
SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER
To see this, let us read the following exhortation that was written to the church in Philippi. It is recorded in,
Philippians 2:3-4
"[3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. [4] Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
This love for others should also extend to those who are not born again believers. This love should manifest itself within the context that we are to be,
CONCERNED FOR THE SALVATION OF THE LOST
Perhaps the best way for us to gain a better appreciation for this aspect of our Christian life is by reading the following parable of the lost sheep.
Luke 15:1-7
"[1] Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. [2] But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." [3] Then Jesus told them this parable: [4] "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? [5] And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders [6] and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' [7] I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
Perhaps another way for us to see this principle is that we must remember that as born again believers Jesus teaches us that are the light of the world. In this capacity we are to let our light, that is the light of the Holy Spirit from within us, shine in such a manner as to bring glory and honor to God. To see this let us first read the following excerpt from Jesus' sermon on the mountain,
Matthew 5:14-16
""[14] You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
We are to live this way to not only bring glory and honor to God but also in the hope that as the unbeliever sees and recognizes God's goodness they too would come to repentance and be filled with saving faith in Jesus Christ. To see this let us read the following correction that the Holy Spirit wrote to those who would condemn the unbeliever. This correction is recorded for us in,
Romans 2:4
"[4] Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?"
Given what we have just covered in this portion of our study one might ask, "What is the point? Or What is the message?"
THE MESSAGE
Perhaps the best way to summarize the message for this portion of our study is by noting again that Jesus did not come to condemn or judge us but He came to save us. To refresh our memories let us read how Jesus expressed His mission as recorded in,
John 12:46-47
"[46] I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. [47] "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it."
With Jesus' purpose in mind let us now return to the sermon on the mountain and read how Jesus would have us behave towards the unbelievers. It is recorded in,
Matthew 5:43-48
""[43] You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' [44] But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45] that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. [46] If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? [47] And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? [48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
CLOSING
As we come to the close of our study of Jesus' discourse in the house of Matthew we must ask ourselves again, "What was Jesus' message to the Pharisees of His day and to many of the churches of our day?" Perhaps the answer to this question is found in the following letter our Lord Jesus Christ sent to the church in Laodicea.
Revelation 3:14-22
""[14] To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. [15] I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! [16] So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. [17] You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. [18] I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. [19] Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. [20] Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. [21] To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. [22] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.""
Shall We Pray?