The Healthy and the Sick

Hello: Our text for today is:

Matthew 9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

The text opens up with “as Jesus went on from there”.  This phrase refers to him healing the paralytic that the friends brought to him.  Here in our text, we have the story of how Matthew (one of the disciples) was chosen.  As you can see, Matthew was a tax collector.   Matthew was actually working, for he was sitting at his tax collector’s booth when Jesus approaches him and instructs him to follow him. 

Sometimes when I hear this sermon preached, I have often heard people say that when the disciples were summoned, they just stopped everything and followed Jesus.   One of the things that I always teach and you will continue to hear me teach is context. The bible is a unit of literature and one story cannot be interpreted in isolation of the whole.  You will discover that the disciples that were chosen had heard of the reputation of Jesus and God was preparing their hearts from the teachings and testimonies that they had experienced.  When Jesus calls them, often times the seed was already planted.

Evidently, after Jesus chose Matthew, he must have invited Jesus to dinner, for the text then teaches that while he was having dinner at the house of Matthew there were other sinners and tax collectors that joined them.In the ancient world, to be a tax collector was one of the most unpopular jobs you could do.  

The tax collectors abused the system and charged the people unfairly and overburdened people with taxes that sometimes they were not required by law to pay.  The tax collectors were hated by the people.   I often find it fascinating as I’m reading the scriptures of the people that Jesus chose to be his disciples and who he chose to help.  Many of these people are those that society has ignored, abandoned, hate and fear.  I can often find myself among them and I am humbled by the acts of his grace and mercy. 

When the Pharisees saw the company that Jesus was keeping they asked his disciples; “why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners” and when Jesus heard them he said it is not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick. 

I often think about how as Christians so many times our circle of acquaintances only includes people that are like us in our faiths and beliefs.  People often use the scripture “Be not unequally yoke with unbelievers for what fellowship does darkness have with light” as grounds to support not having any associations with “sinners.”    

One of the basic and most important missions of the gospel is to be a witness.  This concept is often loss within the agenda of the church and is greatly ignored in our own personal lives.   Encouraging each other as believers has its place but one of our reasons for being here is to tell others about the “hope” that we have and the God that we love and his son Jesus who can forgive sins and save souls. 

While sometimes it is not always heard much, there is an eternity and there is a destination for our souls called heaven or hell.  Once we come into the truth, then it is responsibility to share that truth with others.  

I have heard so many excuses as to why as Christians we do not witness.  We often say that the circle of people that I deal with at work, at home, at church, etc are the same  and they all know Jesus and if they don’t, I have already witnessed and they are not ready to accept Jesus yet.      While I know that in this busy world, this scenario is true for many of us, sometimes we have to take the time to put ourselves in other situations where we will meet other people who need to hear the message of the gospel.  It can be volunteering at a prison, or nursing home, or shelter, or joining community groups, or different societies and organizations where you will have opportunities to constantly meet different people.      I know …….  You may say I already have too much on my plate.   I have learned that sacrificing to help others can be one of the most beneficial things that we will ever do in life; not only does it help others but we usually end up getting more out of it than the people that we are helping.  It is so healing. So remember…….  In the words of Jesus, the healthy do not need a doctor but the sick do. God Bless!!!!!!!!! Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

This entry was posted on 28. August 2008 at 11:42 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.