Encore Post: The Pharisees loved God so much that they tried hard to keep all of his commands. They even added more rules to be sure that they did this. They believed that if all of God’s people did everything God wanted them to do, then the Messiah would come, defeat the Romans in battle and rule the world from Jerusalem forever.
But they had so many rules, it was hard to learn them, remember them and keep them. Most people could not follow them all, so they really did not try hard. This upset the Pharisees so much they called these people “sinners.” They thought they were as bad as tax collectors, who worked for the Romans and made themselves rich at their neighbor’s expense.
So, when Jesus saw Matthew at his tax collecting booth and called him to be a disciple, they were outraged. It got worse when he went to Matthew’s house to eat dinner. In the Middle East to this day, inviting someone to dinner is a sign of deep friendship. Sinners and Tax Collectors were unclean and to eat with them would make you unclean. To the Pharisees, this meant Jesus didn’t take the law seriously at all. What they missed was that Jesus came precisely to save the lost, so he needed to go where they are.
Later, Jesus would remind his disciples and the Pharisees that everyone is sinful and cannot be good enough to please God. He came to die for us all to pay for our sins and bring the forgiveness of sins to us. He came to look for us, find us all and save us. So, people like Matthew are just the kind of people he wants as his disciple.
Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana
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