“Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”

Luke 5:29-6:11 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. ³⁰ The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

³³ And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? ³⁵ But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

6 Now it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain. ² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ³ And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, ⁴ how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?” ⁵ And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶ On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. ⁸ But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. ⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

Jesus was asked:  “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”  Those religious leaders failed to recognize the truth that scripture reveals: Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:20) The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

³ They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good,
 not even one. (Psalm 14:2-3)   The religious elite of Jesus day were so blinded by their traditions, their adherence to religious activity that they missed the very Messiah who their religion promised would come. Many people look at these accounts in the gospels, of Jesus associating with “tax collectors and sinners” and misrepresent the truth that Jesus came to seek and save all the lost. Jesus Himself said: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15:24)  When He sent out the disciples, while He was still here on earth, He said: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 10:5-6)    Yet if anyone were to isolate those scriptures, those words of Christ today it would be considered intolerant, narrow minded and not inclusive.

Jesus did associate with sinners, but not to the exclusion of the church as some would try to make it seem today. In today’s text and throughout the gospels we see that much of Jesus teaching was done at “church.”     On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching…  In Luke 4:14-21, at the beginning of Jesus ministry we see:  Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. ¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

When He was arrested Jesus said: "I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. (John 18:20)

Jesus didn’t avoid the “church” in His day and he wouldn’t avoid the church today. The truth is Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. He came because: God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  Who ever believes, not whoever in the church or whoever outside the church, but just as we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so too did Jesus pay the price for the sin of all. Jesus confronted the religious people of His day with their sins of hypocrisy and self righteousness. Jesus confronted the adulterer with her sin of adultery saying: "Neither I do condemn you." Jesus declared. "Now go and sin no more." (John 8:11) To the man who Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda, the man who had been afflicted for 38 years, Jesus said: “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” (John 5: 14)  What could be worse than a life of affliction? The eternal consequence of a life without repentance.

To those in the church Jesus message both then and now is that religion cannot save you. Being a member of the church, even one who holds to all the rules and regulations, even one who attends and serves faithfully cannot save anyone. Jesus says:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Whether in the church or outside of the church, Jesus does not condemn sinners. Neither though does He condone sin. Jesus condemns sin. He says: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." He says: "Now go and sin no more."  Romans 6:23 says: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.    Jesus paid the price, the wage for the sin of all mankind. To think that He would wink at, tolerate or condone the very thing that caused Him all the pain and suffering is an affront to the cross.

Many today say that the Christian faith is intolerant and not inclusive because it believes Jesus words which say: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)   In truth though, what could be more tolerant, what could be more inclusive than:  “whoever believes in Him?”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit thank You that You did not come only for the Jew, You did not come only for those in the church or those outside the church, but Heavenly Father You so loved the world and Lord Jesus You paid the price that whoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life. I believe. Thank You for the power of the cross. Holy Spirit be my guide that I may truly “go and sin no more.”     Amen.