Jesus had a reputation problem, insofar as the religious establishment was concerned. He met with sinners and the unclean, tax collectors and adulterers. He offered a hand to religious outcasts and those considered unworthy, and the Pharisees and Sadducees called him, “A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (Luke 7:34). It was meant as an insult, but it was Jesus’ whole mission statement.
The question we should always be asking ourselves is: do we look anything like him?
Closed community
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14). The New Testament teaches us to live in relationship with fellow believers first and foremost. But how can we be in communion with Christians if we are unwilling to bring more people to Christianity? Somewhere along the way, we have gone from active outreach to building a wall around ourselves. Our friends are Christians, the church is the nexus of our social activities, we become unable to understand or even empathize with experiences outside of Christian ones. We see the rest of the world as something to shun.
But we are called to love the world, and to show Jesus’ love to the world. The greatest command is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind; but the second greatest command is to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Jesus regularly and publicly ate with sinners, in the face of constant criticism. When Levi, a tax collector, made Him a great feast, the Pharisees asked, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:29-32). When Zaccheus, the chief tax collector and a very rich man, climbed into a tree in order to see Jesus, Jesus told him to come down so that He could stay at his house: “So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:6-10). He spoke to the woman at the well, even though she was a Samaritan and an adulterer (John 4). Jesus didn’t shun them for their sins; he embraced them.
Jesus’ mission
Jesus’ purpose on Earth was to “seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). He was not tainted by their sins, but brought them into the light of salvation. Jesus understood what we seem to ignore: you can’t save people you refuse to be around.
Jesus also understood that God rejoices over one person’s salvation. He told three parables about it in Luke 15—the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son—and his point each time was that God rejoices as much over just one sinner’s repentance as he does over a hundred souls, or a thousand. We are all precious to Him, and he wants all of us to be saved.
Our mission
The parable of the prodigal son ends with the father admonishing the elder brother for not rejoicing in the younger’s return. The elder brother felt that his faithfulness and obedience had been ignored in order to celebrate the prodigal son’s years of sin. The eldest brother represents the Pharisees and Sadducees that judged Jesus’ ministry, but he also represents us and our refusal to eat with sinners.
Jesus ate with sinners because he loved them, and he loved them in order to save them. Jesus showed compassion, friendship, and grace to people the rest of the religious community shunned. If we’re serious about following his example, we ought to be doing the same thing. Have you eaten with a sinner lately?
Reflection questions
