Read Matthew 9:9-13
I See Great Potential In This Person For Jesus!
Jesus, in his travels, sees Matthew the tax gatherer in the tax office and said to him, “Follow Me!” Matthew rose and followed Jesus. At a later time, Jesus was reclining at a table in a house and there were many tax gatherers and sinners dining with Jesus and his disciples. As I visualize this setting, I’m thinking there should be a painting of this. We have someone who painted a picture of The Last Supper. There should be one of Jesus sitting with a bunch of tax gatherers and sinners. Tax gatherers worked for the Roman government and they were corrupt. They had a bad reputation. So what was Jesus thinking calling Matthew and sitting with all these sinners? Imagine the gossip that took place about Jesus. The Pharisees were abhorred by his actions. These were sinners and he was sitting with them! Plus Jesus had the audacity to call one of them as one of his disciples. What kind of operation or Ministry is Jesus running?
1. Jesus sees our hearts and our potential. He saw something in Matthew and knew he could have an impact on the Kingdom of Heaven. That’s good news for all of us. We are all sinners. But Jesus sees our potential. Matthew obviously saw something in Jesus that he was willing to give up his career and follow Jesus. Matthew left his life of sin, (repented) and followed Jesus. Rather than complaining about who Matthew was we should be rejoicing about who he is becoming.
2. When asked by the Pharisees why he was sitting with sinners, Jesus responded, it’s not the healthy that need a physician but the sick. In other words, Jesus came to save lost souls, the unrighteous, the sinners. Apparently Matthew’s conversion resulted in some of his friends wanting to hang out with Jesus. Perhaps they saw a love from him that they didn’t see from the religious leaders. Jesus invested into the lives of sinners that they might be saved. Jesus was not concerned about how it affected his reputation. He was doing it for the father without compromising his faith and calling.
CHALLENGE:
Who is one person you could invest your life into? A “Sinner” that you see who needs Jesus? How could you connect with this person? How could you show God’s love to them? Perhaps over a meal or an invite to your house for a fun gathering with other loving and caring people that wouldn’t judge this person. Pray God gives you a person to love and pray God will build that relationship and that this friend might come to follow Jesus as Matthew did. May we do this without compromising our faith and without giving it to temptations.
