First of all, I'd like to point out that the publicans and sinners came to Jesus.(verse 1) In the previous chapter Jesus had been teaching any and all followers. In the last verse of chapter 14 Jesus tells them that "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. The publicans and sinners were interested in what He had to say. We often tend to spend most of our time with those who WANT to spend time with us. The parable is told because of the murmuring of the Pharisees.
The second point I'd like to make is that Jesus never tells the Pharisees that they shouldn't judge the sinners or condemn them for the judgment of calling them sinners. Jesus knew they were sinners. By the way, the judgment condemned in the bible is that of judging as though you are better than the other person. Now, I'm aware that in other places of the bible the Pharisees are condemned for judging and it is in the respect of thinking they are better. Jesus tells the parable to say that He was spending time with them to "save" them. He came to seek and save the lost.
Jesus ate with sinners yes. It doesn't say He went into the places where the people were involved in their sin. It says He receiveth sinners. They came to Him! He received those who came to Him hungering for what He had to offer them...no matter who they were.
Another purpose of the parable is to show the Pharisees their hypocrisy. He uses the same type of wording in another passage when the Pharisees say that there shouldn't be any work done on the Sabbath (when Jesus heals). He tells them that they would pull the ox out of the ditch.
Please stop trying to justify your sin by saying that Jesus hung out with sinners. The Bible is very clear that we are to be IN the world but not of the world. It also says not to be worldly. It tells us to come out from among them(those that are worldly or involved in sin)and be separate. It tells us to have a good testimony before men so that they will listen when we tell them of Christ and God's love and so that we will glorify God. If you are doing the same exact things that those around you are doing, you will not have a good testimony before them!
1 comment:
Hello sister Tammy. I am also a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honoured to get connected with you as well as know you as Pastor's wife. It was a blessing to go through your blog post on "WhyJesus Ate With Sinners?". I have enjoyed going through it. I love getting connected with the peole ofGod around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 40 yrs in this great city of Mumbai a city with a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to th e brokenhearted. we also encourage young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have young people from your youth group to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. I am sure they will have a life changing experience. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blesings on you, your family and the minisry. MY EMAIL ID IS: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede.
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