As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
Matthew 9:9-13, NLT
Do you eat with scum? Do you even talk to disreputable sinners? Many of us do not because we think when we are holy and set apart, we should be removed from the world. Where in the Bible does it say this?
To be blunt, it doesn’t. Many people use confirmation bias to inform their theology. N.T. Wright gives a wise recommendation for the foundation of any theological stance. Go to the Gospels first. Go to Jesus first. If Jesus didn’t say it then why do we believe it?
Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners? Because, while other religious leaders of the day saw their task as being to keep themselves in quarantine, away from possible sources of moral and spiritual infection, Jesus saw himself as a doctor who’d come to heal the sick. There’s no point in a doctor staying in quarantine. He’ll never do his job.
N.T. Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1-15
Preachers and pastors may tell their congregations that they need to avoid the world. The Bible tells us not to be like the world but to go into the world and be salt and light.
“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Matthew 5:13-16, NLT
Jesus is abundantly clear. The apostles lived this life and walked this walk. As followers of Christ, we should strive to walk into dark places and bring light. Jesus gave us a lifegiving message and it is not something that we should keep to ourselves.
Go. Take the Gospel. Make disciples. Be salt and light to this sad, broken world.
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20, NLT
Moments with Emmanuel 