More Lesson about Discipleship. (Matthew 9: 11- 17) 

Reactions to Jesus Eating With “Sinners”.

We have arrived at the point where Matthew (who was a tax collector) has decided to accept the call of Jesus on his life and follow him. Because Matthew was a tax collector, so this meant for him leaving his old life behind. But things don’t go as planned because the pharisee’s become aware of what is going on. Let’s remind ourselves of where we are in the text.

 9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So, he arose and followed Him. 10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  (Matthew 9: 9-11)

At this point the Pharisee’s work out what is going on, but wait a minute where did they come, the Pharisees were based in Jerusalem what are they doing up in Galilee and Capernaum? You may remember earlier Jesus sent the man whom he cured of Leprosy to be examined by them and now it appears they have come down to Capernaum to check on the fellow who is displaying Messianic properties and when they witness him curing a paralytic and particularly see him forgiving him of his sins, they immediately conclude that this is blasphemy. So, they got started off on the wrong foot immediately, lets see how they react to these events.

12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice [a quotation from Hosea chapter 6, by the way].’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners,]to repentance.” (Matthew 9: 12-13)

They were indignant, outraged that Jesus should sit down with sinners. Now is there anything wrong with eating with tax collectors. Well, no” The Mosaic laws didn’t say you couldn’t do that, it did say you could not eat unclean food but here’s what the Pharisees did with that rule, they said that the Mosaic law says you can’t eat unclean food, so they said if you go eat with a gentile or sinners they’re probably going to serve you something that might be ceremonially unclean, so that means you can’t go eat with a gentile, or anyone else for that matter. They were applying their legalistic laws to what Jesus is doing here. They were criticizing him for eating with publicans and sinners. Jesus has a great answer for them he quotes Isaiah 66 which in turn was quoted by Hosea and says look God doesn’t want sacrifice, he wants mercy. God doesn’t want religious ritual he wants us to manifest his love and grace and mercy to people and Jesus then adds, “I didn’t come to call righteous people I came to call sinners to repent”.

On another level Jesus is saying to the Pharisees I didn't come to call you Pharisees to follow me because you don't even recognize you're a sinner, you think you’re holy and righteous and have no need of what I have to offer. The truth is they weren’t righteous, they were self-righteous. This is a critical point, he says, you’re criticizing me for eating with sinners, but these are the very people, I came to save. If you want to be made right with God to qualify you must be a sinner, self-righteous people don’t think they need any intervention by God. Jesus says I’m sitting down with sinners, because they’re the very people I came to save. It’s like someone saying to a doctor why are you getting involved with all these sick people. The attacks now thick and fast. Next some followers of John the Baptist come and question him about fasting.

14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  (Matthew 9: 14-15)

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting.

Next it’s the followers of John the Baptist, and they come and object because his disciples aren’t fasting. Now the mosaic law required fasting, but do you know what the Old Testament said about the requirement to fast, It was obligated as one day of fasting a year. The Jewish leadership of Jesus’ day added some other fast days, but the Pharisees not to be outdone by the regular Jews of the day fasted twice a week. It’s important to understand that background here, because some of the followers of John the Baptist also followed that line of thinking and also fasted twice a week. The criticism of them here was, “why don’t your disciples fast like us”. 

Jesus answers their criticism with an analogy, he says because the bridegroom is here, meaning if the wedding today is today, why would the wedding party be in mourning. When a couple got married in those days they didn’t go away on a honeymoon afterwards, they stayed home  and all the friends came to see them and celebrate with them for several days, up to a week afterwards.

During that week of “honeymoon” the couple were treated like a king and queen, and they had a party. So, Jesus says, I’m the bride groom, these people are the friends of the bride groom, so for my disciples this is not time for fasting this is time for celebration. Fasting was done as a sign of repentance or mourning so it is after the bridegroom and his bride leave that is the point at which people will fast and mourn. His point is they were critical of him because he didn’t have his disciples who fasted, instead they celebrated. John the Baptist had told them the Messiah is coming so why are they wanting to display signs of mourning, now he is here they should come out to see him and rejoice. Instead, they are out complaining. Jesus then goes on and says.

New Wine

16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9: 16-17)

Another analogy, what’s he saying here is, I didn't come to just add something new to your old religious system and he does this by illustrating that you don’t pour new wine into old wine skins. As you may know they didn’t have wine in bottles in those days they held it in wine skins. When wine ferments it expanded so you put it in an old wine skin which had already expanded and then turned brittle it would burst. When the new wine is poured into a new wineskin it can ferment and the skin can expand with it.

Jesus is saying, look, you are coming and criticizing me based on the old Pharisaic system and I’m here to tell you I’m not using that old religious system to make value judgements. I’m not trying to build on that, I’m doing something new. These guys have tried to contain the gift of salvation that God has always made available to all people throughout all history, but I have come to sweep that old, restricted way of trying to hold onto it and contain it by offering something new. Hence the metaphor of a new wineskin. 

Summary

Ok I’ve reached a point where I would like to sum up not only what I am saying today but what I have been talked about this last couple of days about these three miracles. I have one two themes I would like to draw your attention too. The point is Jesus did another 3 miracles here to prove that he is the Messiah, then at the end of those three miraculous events he calls people to discipleship, he calls them to follow him. He is seen to say, “follow me” to the writer of this account, Matthew himself. Having done that he then faces criticism, from the Pharisee’s and the disciples of John the Baptist, both criticized him. So let me try and sum up what this section was about. 

When Jesus demonstrated that he was the Messiah before their very eyes some people are seen to commit themselves to following him immediately, and others complain and criticize. And it is the same today.Let me now just try and break down these recent miraculous events described her over these last few days for you. 

Jesus is the Messiah, that’s the point of these two chapters, and  having demonstrated power over things that should supposedly make someone unclean, defilement and disease some call it. He did that in the opening verses of chapter 8 which we looked at last week. Jesus in this section now shows he has power over nature, demons and sin. Jesus can bring peace even to those afflicted by demons and those stricken with illness or even a guilty conscience.

This next set of miracles illustrated that as a healer he came to bring spiritual help to sinners. As the bridegroom he came to give spiritual joy the miserable, to make life a celebration, not a funeral. The illustration of the cloth then reminds us that he came to bring spiritual wholeness, he did not come to patch us up and let us fall apart again. The image of wineskin teaches us that he gave spiritual fullness. Jewish religious legalism had become a worn-out wine skin that was brittle and would burst when put under spiritual pressure. Jesus did not come to renovate or fix the extra laws of the Jewish hierarchy, by adding more rules, he came to do something new. Jesus is the Messiah who forgives sin, the Messiah who has power over nature, the Messiah who has power over disease, who has power over demons. Jesus is the Messiah, the Messiah who has all and offers all.

Some don’t like that, the Pharisees they didn’t like it. Some of the disciples of John the Baptist, they didn’t get it either, already. It’s amazing to me how some can look at the Bible and they just don’t get it. When Jesus spoke, he didn’t want to be the first of many wise men, his disciples recognized that, they immediately followed him and picked his brain everywhere he went thereafter. Amazing that all these people witness all the same miracles and still some didn’t get it. Some witnessed what he did and were more concerned with the preservation of their own perceived holiness or their own religious tradition than with helping another person. They were like doctors who refused to visit the sick, which is why Jesus used that analogy. The didn’t help people in their most dire need in case they should be infected by some spiritual infection. Their spiritual belief system was so flimsy and broken that they felt it could be broken down by just associating with outsiders. Essentially their religion was selfish, they were more concerned with criticism than encouragement, they were far more concerned to point out the faults of other people and to help people overcome their faults. 

When the doctor sees some even today with a particularly unpleasant condition they should try and not be disgusted by it, but filled with the desire to help. Our first instinct as Christians should never be to condemn the sinner, our first instinct should be to help them understand the love of God and experience and practice the goodness of God in their life. Instead of condemnation we should be teaching the forgiveness of God. What would our health service be like if the medical professionals were only concerned with diagnosing disease, but not the least a bit interested in trying to cure it.

What these people do here when confronted with the miracle working power of God in bringing healing and compassion to people. They just gripe and complain and spread rumors, even against the Lord. So, this passage can be summed up very simply.

Number 1. Jesus is the Messiah.

Number 2. Some don’t get it, and never will.

Number 3, Some are dead against it, from the beginning.

But if you do get, if you do recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, then there are two things you need to do.

Number 1. You need to believe in Jesus Christ. Last week I explained the difference between what I called sonship and discipleship. Sonship is when you become a child of God the son of God, or a daughter of God, a child of God intitles us to the blessings and inheritance of God. It’s very simple, believe that Jesus is the son of God who died and who arose from the dead. That means you can be given the gift of eternal life if you but simply trust in him and him alone. The Bible says the gift of God is eternal life. (Roman 6: 20). All you do to get the gift of eternal life is trust Jesus Christ, who died for you, and you immediately become a child of God.

Number 2. Follow him. The point of this passage is that if Jesus is the Messiah not only do you need to believe in him, but you ought to follow him. Notice he said to Matthew, follow me. I’m not asking you to follow a church, I’m not asking you to follow a doctrine, I’m not asking you to follow a movement, I’m asking you to follow me or my teaching ministry. This is a personal relationship between you and Jesus Christ. One that begins with saying I’m trusting you Lord, one that acknowledges this by you saying, “ I am a Sinner and you died for my sin and I am trusting you”, that establishes the relationship that will be continued by me continuing to follow you. It is continued because you can now say God is now my father and where you lead I’m OK with that. I will follow, meaning simply I will obey. 

When you were kids did you ever play follow the leader, whatever the leader did you mimicked. It’s really simple folks that’s the practical aspect of the Christian life, it’s simply mimicking everything he does and at the top of the list if he loves people that’s what it’s all about us loving people also. Somebody put it like this we must note what Matthew lost and what Matthew found. He lost a comfortable financially secure job but found his destiny. 

He lost a good income but found honor. H lost comfortable security but found an adventure the likes of which he had never dreamed of. It may be that if we accept the challenge of Christ, we too may find ourselves poor in material things, it may be that the our worldly ambitions will have to go, but beyond that without question we will find peace and a joy and a thrill life that we never dreamed possible. In Jesus Christ a man or woman can find wealth surpassing anything they may have abandoned for the sake of Him.

One more thing, to follow the Lord is not just about leaving things behind, it is also about gaining things, gaining everything, in fact. Matthew lost the job, but he found his vocation. He lost a good income and he found good riches. He lost material security and a high standard of living, but he gained eternal security and union with God. On top of that he found that adventure in this life that never ceased to thrill him. He may have left the work of a tax collector, but the Lord gave him the task of an evangelist.  From his writings inspired and sanctified by the Holy Spirit comes the inspired Gospel of Matthew. Some call it the first manual of the Christian faith, one of the most important works ever written. What a destiny for a Jewish employee who upon hearing of the grace of our great God found a new life and a new mission. What more could you want out of this life? What more could you want to serve someone who demonstrates power over disease, over nature, over demons, and can forgive sin.

Now you my friends we all have a choice, we can stand back and be self-righteous attitude and criticize all of this stuff just like some of the people of Jesus’ day did, or you can become a committed follower of Jesus Christ, from this day forward.