48 Why Jesus Ate with Sinners (Matthew 9:9-13)

Krisan Marotta: Thank you for downloading Wednesday in the Word. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. This is the 48th talk in my series on the Gospel of Matthew. Today we're gonna study Matthew chapter 9, verses 9 through 13. The lecture notes for today's talk are on the link below the podcast. You can also go directly to the notes by going to wednesdayintheword.com slash Matthew 48. Glad to have you along. We have been studying Matthew chapters 8 and 9 for a few weeks now, and in these chapters, Matthew presents a number of miracles that authenticate the authority of Jesus. God gave Jesus authority over disease, the forces of evil, and the forces of nature to prove and validate that he is the Messiah. But the miracles not only confirm that Jesus is the Messiah, they also remind us that Jesus came to rescue and redeem his people. Well, now Matthew's going to turn to another issue of Jesus' authority. Jesus had a fundamental disagreement with the religious leaders of his day, the Pharisees. And the issue they disagreed over was what does it look like to pursue righteousness? How does God want us to live? And we saw this theme a lot in the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5 through 7. The scribes taught their view of what it meant to follow the law and how you should live if you take God seriously. And Jesus says quite emphatically, they are wrong. In our passage today, we're going to see a specific example of that disagreement. This is Matthew 9, verses 9 through 13. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth and said to him, Follow me, and he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? But when he heard it, he said, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Matthew sets up this story by recording how he became one of the twelve. We don't know much about Matthew. Almost everything we know about him comes from the story, and it's told in all three synoptic gospels. Mark and Luke call him Levi in this story, but in their lists of the twelve, they call him Matthew. It's clearly the same person. We have four lists of the twelve, one in each of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and then there's another list in Acts. And Matthew appears in all the lists of the twelve. Matthew was a tax collector in Capernaum before following Jesus. It's probable that he collected the dues or the customs from travelers who were crossing the lake of Gennesareth. As a tax collector in this region, he would have been an employee of Herod Antipas. Now tax collectors were notorious for adding confiscatory fees on top of the taxes owed. That's just how the system worked. Herod Antipas had to send an annual payment to Rome. He collected enough money to send what he owed Rome and still keep a bundle for himself. Likewise, the local tax collector collected enough tax so he could send to Herod Antipas what was owed to him and also keep a bundle for himself. Generally, the Jews despised other Jews who became tax collectors, and they were hated for several reasons. Tax collectors helped support the Romans through their taxes, making them a sort of traitor, and they were often corrupt. And if that wasn't enough, they had to associate with Gentiles, which also made them unclean. So as a rule, only the most desperate of Jews accepted this job. Matthew's job would require him to know the value of all kinds of goods as well as the value of local and foreign monetary systems. He would have been required to know Greek, which was the language of commerce, as well as the local Aramaic language. So Matthew presents it as he's sitting in his booth along the main road exacting his taxes. Jesus comes up and says, follow me. And this sounds like a surprising and abrupt act that comes out of nowhere. But we've seen this sort of thing earlier in Matthew in chapter 4 when Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John. That also sounded like it came out of the blue, but when we put all the pieces together from all the Gospels, we can see that Peter, Andrew, James, and John knew Jesus and had interacted with him before Jesus called them. They followed him for a while on their own out of interest and curiosity, and then they returned to their homes and fishing business in Galilee. Jesus then returned to Galilee and gave them a very specific call to come and be his disciple, and they did. I suspect the same kind of scenario happened with Matthew. Both Jesus and Matthew lived in Campernum. It's highly likely that Matthew would have seen and heard Jesus whenever Jesus was home in the city, and even if he didn't see the healing of the paralytic, he would have heard about it as news spread all over town. We don't have any record that Matthew had followed either Jesus or John the Baptist, like we do with Peter, Andrew, James, and John, but I suspect that Matthew and Jesus probably knew each other prior to this encounter, and that Jesus is not calling a stranger. Matthew had probably been among the crowds listening to Jesus. They probably had previous interactions, and now Jesus says, I want you to be my disciple. The point here, as it was in chapter four, is that Jesus chose the twelve. Jesus is the one who says, I want you to come and follow me. So Jesus chose the first four, and now he's chosen Matthew. And Matthew would have been a surprising choice for Jesus to make, because respectable people despise tax collectors and they do not associate with them. The pious Pharisees saw them as sinners, and others just hated them because they were corrupt traders who take too much of your money. Yet this is the man that Jesus chooses for a very important role and a very close friendship. Luke makes it a little more emphatic in Luke 5.28, he says, and leaving everything, he rose and followed him. Luke emphasizes, Matthew knows what's at stake. Matthew is leaving his business, leaving his home, and becoming a disciple of Jesus. Luke also tells us that the table at the feast we're about to see is in Matthew's house. This is Luke 5.29. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at the table with them. Matthew tells us only, and as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. Matthew's friends are all tax collectors and sinners because those are the only people who would associate with him. So when he decides to have a big feast for his new boss, who else is he going to invite but other tax collectors and sinners? Now let's talk about this word sinners. In modern Christian vocabulary, we apply the term sinners to all people. But this is more of a technical term in the New Testament. The Jews of the New Testament made a distinction between those who were sinners and those who were not. Sinners did not keep the law properly as prescribed by the Pharisees. Those who were not sinners did follow all the law-keeping dictates of the Pharisees. So of course everyone sinned, but some people didn't even try to keep the law as respectable Pharisees did. And those people are called sinners in the way Matthew is using it here in 9 10. We can see this attitude very clearly in the parable Jesus tells of the Pharisee and the tax collector, which is in Luke 18. This is in 1810 and 11. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself. Swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. That parable gives a very clear picture of the prevailing attitude held by Pharisees. I, as a Pharisee, in my obedience to the law, am superior to these other sorts of people that I call sinners, and thank God that's the case. These other sorts of people are swindlers, unjust, adulterers, and tax collectors. So Matthew's friends are the sort that respectable Jews didn't associate with. Associating with sinners who did not keep the law made you ritually unclean. Hanging around with the wrong kind of people could compromise your own righteousness. The other Pharisees might cast you out as a sinner if you made friends with the wrong sorts of people. It was especially bad to go into the house of sinners and share a meal with them. Eating with them, sharing a meal with someone was considered a great honor. If you go into the house of a sinner and you eat with them, it's like you approve of their sin and it makes you unclean and unrighteous to associate with them, at least according to the Pharisees. Since Jesus draws a crowd wherever he goes, the Pharisees would hear about the party at Matthew's house. Presumably they are outside the house. I can't imagine that they would be caught dead inside Matthew's house. They hear that Jesus had entered Matthew's house and is reclining at Matthew's table, so they find some of his disciples and say, What is going on here? Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? I doubt this is a casual inquiry. I don't think they're asking, hey, could you explain what his thinking is? You know, we'd really like to know and understand. Rather, they are outraged by this behavior. This is a critique, a challenge. And their thinking is probably something like this. How can Jesus even think of doing such a thing? How can he pretend to call himself a righteous servant of God when he defiles himself by eating with sinners? I think you guys have followed the wrong teacher. This guy clearly does not understand what it means to pursue righteousness. But then in Matthew 9 12, but when he heard of it, this is Jesus, he said, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Presumably, someone tells Jesus what's going on outside. When he hears about what the Pharisees are saying, his answer gets right to the heart of the difference between his perspective and the Pharisees. To explain this, let's approach the question this way. What is the Pharisees' objection? Jesus and the Pharisees both agree that sin exists, they both think it's a problem, so where do they see things differently? Jesus has come to proclaim the good news of the gospel that your sins can be forgiven. Why wouldn't He take that good news to everyone? Well, the Pharisees' theology, as I understand it, goes something like this God has given us these religious requirements which we must keep, and these are spelled out in the law of Moses. The prophets explained that one of the reasons that the people were taken off into captivity was that they didn't keep the laws as God had commanded. They didn't keep the Sabbath and all the other laws. So the Pharisees look at that and they say, Well, we don't want to get taken into exile again. It's very important that we keep the religious requirements that God has given us. If we reject God's requirements, God will reject us. And we Pharisees, we have not rejected God's religious requirements. We observe them scrupulously and in minute detail, unlike these other sinners. Don't forget, God requires us to reject sin as we see it practiced. We must make clear that we disapprove of sinful practices. Our religious obligation is not only to refrain from such sin ourselves, but also to refrain from associating with sinners. God approves of us, Pharisees, because we are religiously pure. But if we associate with sinners, then our own standing with God is compromised. How can we claim to reject sin when we eat dinner with sinners? That would be like approving what they're doing. Our devotion to obedience requires us to show our disapproval of such things and of those who don't keep the law as we do. Well, in his response, Jesus reveals that he has a very different perspective. And at this point in Matthew, we know a lot about what that perspective is because Jesus spelled it out in the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5 through 7. When we covered those passages, we talked a great deal about how Jesus differed in perspective from the Pharisees. Part of what we saw in the Sermon on the Mount is that the people of God are marked by a different set of qualities. They are not seeking to prove their devotion to God by rejecting sinners. They are seeking God's mercy because they know they are sinners. They are not seeking to prove their worthiness of salvation by keeping the law in all its detail. Rather, they are humbly confessing to God that they are not worthy and cannot make themselves worthy of salvation. They are not confident that God will save them because they so diligently keep the law. Rather, they know that God owes them nothing and they do not deserve his favor. These convictions are manifested in their actions. They seek to be merciful to others because they know how much they need mercy. They seek to love their enemies because they know their enemies are fellow sinners just like them. The people of God understand sin to be a soul-destroying enemy. They know this because they have seen the devastation it causes in their own lives. And this understanding of sin is what lies behind the analogy of the physician that Jesus uses. Sinners are not religiously unclean objects that I must avoid. Sinners are people like me who are broken and damaged by the sin within, and I am required to love them. Mark describes the early ministry of Jesus this way. This is Mark 1, 14 and 15. After John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Matthew summarizes his early ministry in the same way. This is Matthew 4.17. From that time Jesus began to preach and say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So they both summarize the message of Jesus as good news, the kingdom of God is at hand. The Messiah, the king of that kingdom, is here, and the appropriate response is to repent and believe in the good news. If your message is repent and believe, then who needs to hear it? People who know they need to repent. You take it to sinners. His analogy is basically, what kind of doctor would I be if I said, I'm going to show my devotion to health by scrupulously avoiding all sick people? That's not what doctors do. I show my devotion to health by going to sick people and trying to get them healthy. Well, the Pharisees see sinners as religiously sick people that they must avoid to prove their own religious health. They think Jesus is undermining his own righteousness by associating with sinful people and even eating with them. But Jesus sees sinners as God's creatures who need help to escape their disease of sin. The love of God demands that he extend that help to sinners, which is the point he makes in 913. Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous but sinners. Well, this Old Testament quotation comes from Hosea 6.6. Let me set the stage for you for that passage. After the time of King David and his son Solomon, the nation of Israel was split into two kingdoms, the kingdom of Judah in the south and the kingdom of Israel in the north. Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, which is a bit unusual. Most of the prophets we know from scripture were prophets to Judah in the south. But Hosea and Amos were prophets to the north, or Ephraim, which is just another name for the northern kingdom. Hosea prophesied for about forty years before Assyria came and took the northern kingdom into exile. He speaks against the ungodliness of the northern kingdom, he speaks against their unjust treatment of the poor. He calls them out for their idolatry and the hypocrisy of the religion. So this is Hosea chapter six verses four through seven, and Jesus quotes verse six. What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam, they transgressed the covenant, there they dealt faithlessly with me. So Jesus quotes six six, for I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Now this word translated steadfast love is an important word in the Old Testament. Your translation might have compassion or loyalty. This is the Hebrew word Hesed. Hesed is used over and over again, hundreds of times in the Old Testament. The vast majority of those uses describe God. God is described as having Hesed. In this Hosea passage, we see God wants his people to have Hesed. So let's think about this word as it applies to God. And here's how I put it all together. If you think of this word as a recipe, it has three ingredients. All three ingredients are present every time the word is used, but the flavor in any particular usage depends on how much emphasis is given to one or the other of the ingredients. So some passages emphasize the first ingredients, others the second, others the third. They may be balanced, or maybe the first two are emphasized, but all three ingredients are present. So the first ingredient in Hasid is active love. God has Hesed in acting for the good of his people. Translations which translate this word loving kindness are emphasizing this active love ingredients. Because God has Hesed, He acts for the good of His people. The second ingredient is steadfast loyalty or faithfulness. God has Hasid because he can be counted on to be steadfast and faithful in acting for the good of his people. What he has promised to do, he will do. We can count on it. He is loyal, steadfast, and faithful. To emphasize this aspect, the word is often translated steadfast love. So that translation captures the first two ingredients, the act of love and the steadfast loyalty. The third ingredient is the idea of acting in spite of obstacles. And this is often captured by the English word mercy. It includes this idea of acting for someone's good in spite of all the obstacles. Sometimes the obstacle is sin or unworthiness in the other person, but not always. For example, we could talk about doctors going to help an area hit by an epidemic as being on a mercy mission. We don't mean that these doctors need to forgive the people they're helping. That's not the kind of mercy we're talking about. Rather, they're going to help in an area where there are big obstacles to be overcome. It is an act of compassion. They are acting for the other person's good, even though the problem is big and difficult and costly to tackle. So the doctors are extending themselves for the sake of something big. And in that sense, it is a mercy mission. So I understand this word to have these three flavors: active love, loyal, trustworthy, steadfast love, and merciful love. And usually in the Old Testament, we see this word describing God's steadfast, faithful, merciful compassion, his acts of love. And we can see all those flavors depending on the context. But here in Hosea, the passage is not talking about God, it's talking about his people. God says that it's more important to him that his people have Hesed than that they make ritual sacrifices. Hosea 6, 6, for I desire steadfast love, that's Hesed, and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. So God says he wants his people to have Hesed more than he wants them to keep the ritual requirements like sacrifice. And that's in parallel with the knowledge of God and burnt offerings. I think by knowledge of God in this context, he means understanding and knowing what God values and wants. The parallelism is that I would know that God is Hesed and that's what I should be as well. Interestingly, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, uses the Greek word that is usually translated mercy in this larger sense I just described. It can mean forgiveness or general compassion, extending yourself to help another, and that is the same word that we find in Matthew's gospel. Now it's possible that God is describing our relationship to him. God is steadfastly faithful to us, and we should be steadfastly faithful to him. But I don't think that's really the point in Hosea or in Matthew. I think it's more likely that he's describing the way that we should deal with other people. God acts with a steadfast, compassionate love toward us, and we should act with that same kind of compassionate love toward each other. God's merciful actions toward us are a model for our actions toward other people. So Jesus says, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous but sinners. I think Jesus is essentially saying, go and learn what Hosea meant. God desires that you be like him in pursuing steadfast, compassionate acts of loyal love instead of merely complying with the ritual requirements of the law, like sacrifice. When you think about it, then it's easy to see how appropriate this is as a response to the Pharisees' complaint that Jesus is associating with sinners. They are more concerned with keeping themselves ritually clean than they are with extending the love of God to sinners. They're more concerned with avoiding violating any rituals than they are to sharing the gospel with sinners. They would be disobeying their religious obligations if they were to share a meal with a tax gatherer. The Hosea passage speaks to that very issue. God wants us to follow his example. God wants us to emulate him in his unshakable, compassionate acts of love. He cares more about the kind of people we are than about how well we follow through all the rules and rituals. That's where the Pharisees have it exactly backward. They pride themselves on not reaching out to sinners because in avoiding sinners, they are keeping themselves ritually pure. But God really wants self-sacrificing acts of compassion toward all kinds of people, including sinners and tax gatherers, because that's what he's like. The Pharisees have seriously misunderstood what God wants from them. Jesus says, I didn't come to call the righteous, but the sinners. So we have to ask, who are these two groups? Who are the righteous and the sinners? By saying he's come to call sinners, he's showing that he is modeling the will of God as expressed in Hosea. The sinners have failed to keep all the rules and regulations of the law, and yet in spite of that, Jesus has come to show them merciful, compassion, and love. He's reaching out to rescue them from their own sin and rebelliousness. So he could be saying to the Pharisees, for the sake of argument, I'll accept your categories. You Pharisees are the righteous who keep the law, and these tax gatherers are the sinners who don't scrupulously keep the law. Can you understand why I've come to call sinners? Would you want a doctor who only associated with healthy people and never ever helped a sick person? Aren't the sick people the ones who need a doctor? Likewise, aren't sinners the ones who need someone to call them to repent and offer them rescue? And I think that is kind of what's going on here, but I also think there's a bit of sarcasm. I think Jesus is being provocative. The Pharisees see themselves as righteous precisely because they follow all the rules, they make all the sacrifices, and they keep the law. And they have made sure that they observe the law in all its minutiae. But their so-called obedience is a violation of Hosea 6, 6. They have elevated ritual obedience to what God wants most. But in Hosea, God says, that's not what I want most. He wants them to be people who show Hesed. So the very obedience they pride themselves on is not the obedience God wants. So I think Jesus is saying, righteous, like in air quotes, I didn't come for the so-called righteous people like you. I came for sinners, people who know that they have a problem with sin and are seeking a merciful savior. All right, so let's wrap this up. Jesus has deliberately chosen a disreputable person to be among his closest companions and disciples. To make matters worse, he celebrates that choice at a feast in this disreputable person's house with all of his equally disreputable friends. The Pharisees reject Matthew because he fails to keep the law as they do. The people reject Matthew because he traitorously takes their money and gives it to their Roman oppressors. And by choosing Matthew, Jesus provokes a confrontation with the Pharisees, who were the leaders, the religious leaders of his day. The Pharisees see righteousness as keeping themselves religiously pure, including avoiding those unclean people who are not religiously pure, the sinners. Jesus sees righteousness as seeking to follow God's example and treating sinful people with acts of steadfast, merciful compassion. And the most compassionate thing he can do is rescue them from their guilt and the destructive power of sin by proclaiming the gospel to them and calling them to repent. Well, that story leaves us a lot to think about, and I suspect I'm only scratching the surface here as I try to think about the significance of the story. But one thing it's important to remember is that Jesus is not saying, I associate with sinners because sin is no big deal. Rather, he's saying, I associate with sinners because they are seriously ill and I have the only cure. In order for an act to be compassionate, it needs to be grounded in truth. Suppose a friend of yours has cancer and you say to them, Oh, not a problem, eat your vegetables, have a drink of wine now and then, you'll feel better. We may have really good intentions and mean well, but we have not been truly compassionate because we didn't address the reality of their situation. Acting in love has to take into account reality and what our true problem is. As I was studying this chapter, I became aware of two American TV shows that are marketed toward Christians. My friends pointed them out to me and they said, you've got to watch these. These shows feature religious characters. The main characters are seen holding Bibles, going to church, talking about praying for each other and seeking God's help. But these same characters have exactly the same values and worldviews as their pagan neighbors. They themselves are just as promiscuous and they celebrate and encourage promiscuity in others. They encourage relationships and actions that the Bible would expressly forbid. Well, at first I was excited to see the mainstream media portraying Christians as something other than gullible, thoughtless hypocrites. But the more I think about this new look in the media, the more I find it really dangerous because it sends the message that Christians have the same view of sin that non-Christians have, especially in the area of sexuality and marriage. The Bible takes sin very seriously. Saving faith takes sin very seriously. Part of the point of Jesus' metaphor is that sinners know they are sick and they need a cure. We aren't doing anyone any favors to make light of sin or give the impression that God doesn't care about it. Over my years of Bible study, I have come to the conclusion that one of the fundamental truths taught in Scripture is the relationship between faith and works. Yes, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. None of us will be able to stand before the judgment of God and survive based on the merit of our own works. I am a sinner as we all are, and apart from the grace of God and the blood of Christ, I stand condemned. Left to myself, I can do nothing to save myself or change that fact. If I'm going to be saved, I will be saved solely on the basis of God having mercy on me because of the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. That is a key teaching in the Bible. Alongside that key teaching that we are saved by grace through faith is a second theme, which is that faith makes a difference in how I live my life. Once I have genuine saving faith, something real and tangible happens that produces changes in my life. I have a real repentance and a grief over sin. I have a real desire to be holy and to be freed from sin. I long for the life that God offers, and I long to live in accordance with his teachings and his precepts, and so on. Faith has to make a difference. If faith does not change us in any way, then it is not real faith. This is what James says when he says faith without works is dead. If your faith doesn't make a difference in your life, then it is not real faith. My favorite analogy to explain this is suppose you're lost in the jungle. And while you're wondering which way to go, a native pops out of the underbrush and says, You look lost, but don't worry, I am the best tour guide in the jungle. I can help you get back home. Do you believe me? Do you believe I'm the best tour guide in the jungle? Well, yes, you answer, I believe you're the best tour guide in the jungle. And the guy says, Great, follow me, we are going north. But you respond, oh, you know, north looks a little steep and narrow. South looks a whole lot wider and smoother, plus it's downhill. I'm going south. Well, your actions have called your belief into question. You say you believe this person is the best tour guide in the jungle, but when it came time to live out your belief, you acted, you chose something different. Your actions didn't match your stated belief and indicated that you don't really believe it after all. On the other hand, if you say, Great, North it is, your actions have confirmed and verified what you claim to believe. Well, in the same way, if I claim to believe in Jesus, then I'm going to make different choices than if I don't believe He is the savior I need. Real faith manifests itself in the way I live my life. Once I have faith, it makes a difference in the things I choose, the goals I pursue, the choices I make, the things I value, and what I strive for. Does it mean I'll never sin again? No. Every person with genuine saving faith continues to sin. Does it mean perfect obedience is within my grasp? No, it doesn't, but over time the way I live my life will change and I will increasingly make wiser choices. If we have genuine real saving faith, that will become evident eventually in the way I speak, the way I act, the choices I make, and what I value, especially when life gets hard and trials hit. For the media or anyone else to suggest that sin is no big deal and that Christians have the exact same view of sexuality, fidelity, and promiscuity as the rest of the world is a dangerous lie. Genuine saving faith makes a difference in how we live our lives and what we think is right or wrong. When the Bible talks about being judged by our works, it is in this sense of what I do, what I say, how I act reveals what I truly believe. What I say, what I think, how I act, reveal what is truly inside me, and ultimately, over time, it will reveal whether or not I have genuine saving faith. So we are not judged by our works in the sense that we have earned a place in heaven or a higher place in heaven or something like that. We are judged by our works in the sense that if it is in fact the case that we actually have saving faith, that we know we are sinners, and that we are counting on the grace of God and the blood of Christ to save us, if all those things are true, then our lives will begin to reflect it as we face trials and tragedies and circumstances of life. And one of the big changes is that we will no longer look at sin the same way as our fellow sinful atheists do, despite what the media is trying to suggest. Well, just to really complicate this issue, let's look at another teaching of Jesus that we're going to find later on in Matthew. This is Matthew 18, 15 through 17. It may be familiar to many of you. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Well, we just heard Jesus rebuking the Pharisees for not associating with tax collectors, and here he says, If your brother refuses to repent and recognize sin is sin, then treat him as a tax collector. What's going on here? If you don't read carefully and think this through, it looks like Jesus is contradicting himself. But what we have here is two different situations and two different contexts. And those differences explain what's going on here. Throughout the history of the church, we have struggled to figure out what it looks like to live a life pleasing to God. No doubt, at times the churches become more like the Pharisees, harshly judging and ostracizing sinners, and in that sense, we have two harshly applied Matthew 18 while ignoring Matthew 9. I fear at this point in modern America at least, we are in danger of ignoring Matthew 18 and running away with Matthew 9. We are in danger of forgetting that faith makes a difference in who I am, how I live, and what I value. And we are being sold the lie that all behavior is equal as long as you're sincere in your beliefs. That's why I started this discussion with the observation that in order for an act to be compassionate, it needs to be grounded in truth. Acting in love must take into account the reality of what our true problem is. We are not loving our neighbors to tell them that because they are forgiven, they can now live their lives in whatever way they want to live, willfully and gleefully ignoring what God says about right and wrong. But sadly, Hollywood has begun to portray Christians as people who are now enlightened and sophisticated enough to join the rest of the world in shedding all those old-fashioned notions of monogamy and faithfulness and chastity. And if you're watching such shows with your kids or your teenagers, thinking how nice it is that they're family-friendly, beware that they may also be sending the message that sin, especially sexual sin, is no big deal. Loving our neighbors involves telling them the truth about sin, calling on them to repent, and telling them where to find life. Now I'm not claiming to have all the answers here. I think the Christian life is a journey toward faith. By the grace of God we have been given hearts that are willing to see the truth, but our entire lives are a very messy process of learning and unlearning and relearning. We're all trying to arrive at wisdom, that place of balance that integrates all the biblical truths and knows how to apply them. Truths like I am a sinner. I should act with humility, I should treat other sinners with the same mercy that I would like to be treated with. I should obey God. Sin is destructive. God hates it. Distorting the gospel is evil and dangerous. Refusing to turn back to God in repentance and trust is a death wish. We are seeking to integrate all those truths and many others in order to lead a life of wisdom. Every believer will make progress toward that goal, but every believer will also fail, and none of us will reach it in this lifetime. Given all of that, no, I don't think that any one church tradition can claim to have put it all together perfectly, even after a couple thousand years of studying scripture. Making different points, Jesus said, both, I have come to call sinners like these tax collectors, and later, if your brother will not repent, let him be to you like a tax collector. We know we're getting out of balance when we preach one and ignore the other. We want to both love our neighbor, show hesed, and we want to call sin. Like the Pharisees, we are all inclined to be self-righteous, we're all inclined to avoid those we feel superior to, and we are all vulnerable to lack compassion because we rightly believe that truth matters. But we dare not cross the line that says sin is no big deal and it's okay for you to live your life in flagrant disregard of God. The fundamental problem of every human being is that we stand under the judgment of our Creator. Sin corrupts our lives today and destroys our relationship with God so that we stand to be rejected in the future. That's our situation. That's truth. Guilt, sin, and death are the ultimate problems of every human being. The most loving thing we can do is help people deal with the real problem. Now, I can't tell you what that's going to look like in every situation. I know that historically the reputation of the church is not particularly high in this area, and I certainly don't have all the answers, but it does seem to me that if we want to be truly loving people, we cannot ignore sin and we cannot call it good. It seems to me the most loving thing we can do is to try to help others understand what the biggest and most important truths are. Jesus sat and ate among the tax collectors with the message, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, and that is a message we would do well to share. Thank you for listening to Wednesday in the Word, the podcast that explains not only what a passage means, but also shows you how to figure that out. You can hear all previous episodes in this series on my website, wednesdayintheword.com. There is no charge, no spam, and no ads. It's all free to help you improve your study skills and your understanding of scripture. I have a favor to ask, if you've been blessed by this podcast, please subscribe to the podcast, leave a positive rating or a written review wherever you listen, but most importantly, tell a friend what you learned and where you learned it. Our theme music is graciously provided by my friend Reggie Coates. You can listen to more of his music, and you'll be glad you did, if you go to heartfeltmusic.org. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Krisan Marotta, and I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the Word.