Title: Jesus Chose a Publican
Why did Jesus choose Matthew over the scribe? Why did Jesus have fellowship with sinners? This question is also the question asked by the Pharisees in the text. “When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (verse 11).
Jesus answers this question in three ways (verses 12-13).
1) Because Jesus is the doctor to the sick, the answer to all problems (verse 12)
“When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but those who are sick.”
Here Jesus is talking about the point. What the sick need is a doctor, and he says he is a doctor. He is not a doctor who treats only physical ailments. He is a doctor who heals all problems in life. Jesus, the gospel, is the power of God that gives salvation to those who believe (Romans 1:16). There is no problem that Almighty God cannot solve through Jesus Christ. There is no authority that can compare with Almighty God. There is nothing that the Gospel cannot solve.
None of the human-made programs have a way to solve all human problems. There is no special way to solve eternal problems. Only Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. “Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Therefore, the difference between meeting Jesus and not meeting Jesus will determine the ultimate destiny of man. People with problems need Jesus. Publicans and sinners need Jesus. We need to make Jesus known as the only answer to those who have problems.
2) Because Jesus has a heart of compassion (verse 13a).
“Go ye and learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”
Because Jesus always had compassion for people, He ate with sinners. Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 to show his heart toward sinners. The Hebrew word for pity is chesed, which is usually translated as compassion. ‘Hesed’ means sincere, steady and unchanging love. This is one of God's dispositions. God sits on the throne of mercy. Jesus also worked with this compassion.
“When he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them, because they were troubled and lost like sheep without a shepherd.” Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. :36-38)
“Jesus called his disciples and said to them, “I have pity on the crowd; they have been with me for three days and have no food. I cannot send them away hungry, lest they faint on the road” (Matthew 15:32)
“What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.
Jesus was moved with compassion and touched their eyes, and immediately they began to see, and they followed him” (Matthew 20:33-34).
Why did Jesus open the eyes of the blind when He told us to become harvest workers and to feed a crowd of 5,000 men alone? It was because of his mercy. If the character of Jesus was compassion, and if He worked with compassion, we should do the same.
3) Because Jesus came to save sinners (verse 13b)
“I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
To catch fish, you have to go to the sea. You have to go to the mountains to hunt the beast. If Jesus came to save sinners, where would you go? Of course, shouldn't we go to sinners? Because Jesus came to call sinners, he met sinners and ate with them.
When I first became a Christian, I thought that we should all evangelize and evangelized diligently. But the more we go to church, the more people and friends we know become church-going Christians. More and more we lose interest in unbelievers and don't know what to do. This means we have lost our first love. Jesus, who came to call sinners, commands us. “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19. This is our mission.
Brothers and sisters, what should we do?
He is convinced that the gospel of Jesus is the answer to all our problems in life. The gospel is the victory of the cross that solves all human problems. Let's pray that they will have pity on the people who are the target of evangelism. Let's go to them with Jesus and build relationships and fellowship.