Friends in Unlikely Places

2008-11-30

When Jesus asks Levi, also known as Matthew, to follow him, he is really setting a new trend. Tax collector Matt and his sinner buddies were all at a party, and Jesus was there. A lot of eyebrows were raised at this one. So the religious people all ask Jesus’ friends, the disciples, about it, since confrontation wasn’t really their style.

But Jesus goes to these Pharisees and says this: “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Mark 2:17)

Those whom the world rejects are the ones Jesus is pursuing: The outcast, the downtrodden, the broken. The people that know they do not measure up to God’s standards.

Here is food for thought... who are the tax collectors of today? Who are the sinners? Who are the ones that society rejects? And, (gulp), who are the ones whom the religious people reject? These are the ones that Jesus is most interested in.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”