Matthew 39
Jesus the greatest example
Here we are in Matthew! Jesus is our greatest example that we have to follow! And today we see another great example for us all to follow and some things not to do as well! So, let's dive in!
Matthew 9:9–13 (NLT)
9 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.
10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.
11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
12 When Jesus heard this, He said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”
13 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.”
Jesus can use any of us, and there is no sin too big for Jesus!
VS 9 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.
· First, Matthew was not a “GOOD” man!
· He was what we could only describe as a thug today, a mobster, he extorted money from everyone, he did not discriminate, rich or poor, male or female, it did not matter
· And when Jesus finds him, he is doing just that!
o He didn’t wander into the temple asking for help
o He didn’t seek Jesus out
o But yet as modern American churches, we do just that, we wait for them to walk in!
§ We don’t what to get our hands dirty!
Matthew was going about his normal routine!!
· How comforting is it,
o that Jesus seeks you out,
o sees your heart,
o knows what good you have potential for!
· FOLLOW ME!
o Jesus has a call on us all
o A call to follow
o To reach the people that He puts in our path
o What a great EXAMPLE to follow!
· Matthew, you did something we all need to do
o He simply FOLLOWED!
Let the celebration begin!
VS 10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.
(Read Luke’s Version)
· And what a party it was
o I am sure the wine was flowing
o The music was bumping
o The crowd was loud, and there was laughter
· And Jesus was right in the middle of it!
o I’m sure some were dressed inappropriately
o I’m sure some were saying things were not very “Christian like”
o But Jesus was there.
There is a time to be reverent, there is a time to be with God's people, and there is a time to go out into the world!
· As we travel through Matthew, we will see Jesus out with the people that need Him
· He goes to them, where they are
· He rests with friends
· He refuels with prayer and spending time with God
· But His mission, our Mission is out in the world, being the hospital!
Oh, and there are haters again!
VS 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
· And the “church folk” speak up!
· They didn’t ask Jesus, they ask His disciples!
o To tempt them away
o To pull them into their camp
o And to shine a bad light on Jesus!
Church folks would never associate with sinners, let alone party with them!
· Church folks don’t try and reach anyone
· They look down on them
· They avoid them like they are diseased
· They picket them, they scream at them
· but they never love on them!
· Always remember and never forget that Jesus stepped out of heaven, and into human history for the poor and lost sinner (you)!
We are to love people, all people. Religion separates us, Jesus unites us!
We are all sick in need of the great physician
VS 12 When Jesus heard this, He said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”
· Sin is the sickness of the soul
o The original sickness
o And from that, all other sickness comes from
And Jesus was the great physician of the soul!
· Every sick, and sinful souls need the great physician!
· So, as image bearers of Jesus, we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus
· Spreading the cure, Jesus!
And the Pharisee’s didn’t see the need for the cure!
· They felt they had no need of saving
· And so many church folks walk around like that “blessed”
· Not seeing the need for a cure for the great illness of sin
Revelation 3:17 (NLT)
17 You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
· We desperately need to see just how bad we all are
· And the need for a savior daily
· Then and only then will we see the urgency and need that the world be healed by Jesus
· Then we will have the desire to take Him into the world!
· Not hide behind rules, because we are all desperate sinners in need for a savior
We are not here to condemn or judge the world
VS 13 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.”
· Jesus is referencing:
Hosea 6:6 (NLT)
6 I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.
· God does not need us to hold the world accountable
· God does not need us to judge the world for Him
· What God needs is followers to show the world a different way
o The way of love
o The way of mercy
o The way of Jesus!
James says it best!
James 5:20 (NLT)
20 you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.
· We are to bring sinners back to the one who formed them in the womb
· We are to love the world, and bring them closer to Jesus, not push them farther away
· And I see most religious people doing just that, Pushing folks away!
· We want to be a hospital, not a country club!
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