A true Christian life is a happy life. It is the really good life.
There is a relaxed normalcy about it all. No strain of artificiality.
In our text, Matthew 9, Jesus is interrupted at a banquet. They had questions regarding the way He and His disciples were living.
Now, the two questions which were put to Christ concern the very issues many today are turning over in their minds. They involve two basic relationships in the Christian life.
- HOW FAR MAY WE GO IN OUR CONTACT WITH UNBELIEVERS?
The religious leaders of Jesus’ time were gagging on this issue. There sat the great teacher right among the irreligious and sinners of His day – eating with them! Many today debate this back and forth.
It all began when Jesus “saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him…” What a despised occupation Matthew pursued. Probably his tax collector’s booth was located near the lake of Galilee for the collection of tolls on fishing and trade over the waters. The Jews’ dislike for the Romans was intense. Rome ruled and taxed the Jews – often to the extreme. Here Matthew is pictured as being in the despised business of collecting those taxes from his own people.
Immediately, Matthew “got up and followed him.” No doubt he had heard Christ teach before, but this was his personal call and he responded – at great cost to himself.
Luke pictures the celebration made by Matthew (or Levi, as he was also called) as being a “great banquet for Jesus at his house,” (Luke 5:29). We are also told that the new disciple “left all” in order to follow the Lord. This dinner then was formal farewell to the old and his personal testimony of his new commitment to Jesus. It was entirely fitting that Matthew’s friends be present to share in the occasion.
In our imaginations we see Jesus there among these heathen men in natural, easy conversation. There is a winsome humility about Him – no tension caused by pride and self-consciousness. Men are free to express their views and they are compelled by the assured authority of His loving speech.
“When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11) Jesus Himself answers the question and drives home three points:
1) “On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.’” (verse 12) As the doctor goes among the sick, so one with the Gospel goes among the sinners. We contact them but we do not seek to share in their sickness of sin. Indeed, the doctor takes precautions not to contract the ailments of the sufferers.
2) Next, Jesus quotes from the Old Testament charging them to learn what it means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” verse 13. God chooses to extend mercy rather than have the routine offerings of men. Christ is not here referring to the blood sacrifice necessary for forgiveness of sin. He is saying that kindness and mercy is more important than empty worship and legalistic regulations. As He looked deep into the hearts of those about the table, He saw beneath the merriment. There was anguish, guilt, hatred, confusion, aimless heartache, fears, the terrifying thoughts of eternal future. “I will have mercy,” He says. That is the burden that kept Him up late at night and aroused Him early to prayer mornings. “I will have mercy.” God wants to help you who have needs. God wants each believer to carry enough concern for one another to extend them the message of hope.
3) “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” verse 13. (Many of the early Scripture manuscripts do not contain the word “repentance” in Matthew’s account of this incident, but Luke does, so the word was actually spoken on the occasion.) Nothing in Jesus’ relationship with the admittedly wicked dinner guests kept Him from His life-purpose of calling sinners to repent and come to God. Let every Christian search into His own personal relationships. Are you able to share the Gospel and bid them repent, or have you had to compromise and drift along in silence – on their terms?
2. HOW REGULATED IS OUR LIFE WITH GOD TO BE?
Into the banqueting hall now comes another group. (It is a busy place wherever Jesus is!) The disciples of John the Baptist want to know, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” verse 14
Jesus replies with still another question. ““How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?” The Lord’s followers are here compared to guests of a bridegroom (Jesus) who is looking forward to a great wedding. The solemnity of fasting would hardly become these happy, activity-filled days while I am yet with my disciples, explains Jesus.
Then He adds, “The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” Verse 15. The word “taken” expresses force and undoubtedly points to His crucifixion and ultimate ascension into heaven. Here is a pleasant reminder for God’s struggling disciple. These days now are not our fullness. We look forward to the great and joyous wedding on the bounds of eternity when we shall be forever joined with our Lord. The betrothal or engagement period may be accompanied by painful absences, but one day…!
Thus, we see that there is no binding regulation concerning fasting and the like. It is altogether a matter of personal relationship with our soul’s Lover Jesus Christ. Some will now find that voluntary abstinence from food on occasions will help quiet them as they dedicate the hours to prayer and meditation on the Word of God. What blessings are ours in this vital, spiritual relationship with Christ, even in these days when He is ruling from heaven! It appears that the hour is nearing when He will return, “and so shall we ever be with the Lord,” (I Thessalonians 4:17).
Friend, if you are not truly committed to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, these present days are the best you will ever know. When you face God, it will not be a happy union for you. Our Lord warns He will then say, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23) Believe that Jesus Christ paid for your sins. Admit all to the Lord. Commit all to Him. Then let me know that you intend to follow the Lord Jesus.