Tuesday, July14, 2026
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him. While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13
An Invitation For All
Sunday in the Come and See series, we heard the story of the calling of the disciple Matthew. Our key truth for this series, Come and See: Encounters With Jesus, is All are invited to come and see the truth found in Jesus. Jesus calls us out to follow him. Stepping out in faith and obedience leads to the abundant life we are longing for. Matthew was a Jewish man who worked for the Roman Government as a tax collector. Tax collectors in general were thought of as sinners, traitors, and horrible people all around. They were unfair in their treatment of people when they collected taxes because they over-collected from the people and were allowed to keep whatever they over-collected. A Jewish man in this profession was even worse, often becoming an outcast from family and society.
I am sure many people were shocked that day when Jesus walked by the booth where Matthew was working as a tax collector and said to him, “Follow me.” Matthew got up and followed him without hesitation. He was ready for a change. Perhaps he had been watching from his booth. Perhaps he had seen all that Jesus was doing and he knew that Jesus had something to offer that he needed. He was tired of being an outcast. He was tired of feeling rejected. Jesus wanted him to come and see, to come and be with him. He wanted a relationship with this person that not even his family wanted a relationship with anymore.
The Pharisees were constantly watching Jesus – looking for ways to catch him doing things that were against the Pharisaic interpretation of the Law. All along the way they were probably adding it all up, making a list. Now they can add that Jesus was hanging out with the outcasts and the sinners. The Pharisees – “religious leaders” – snubbed the outcasts and the sinners, who needed to be ministered to greatly.
We can be just like that as Christians today. Not only in churches but in our families, workplace, school, etc. We cut people out who don’t look and act like us. We cut people out who don’t share out opinions and beliefs – some of which boast grace and mercy. We are still acting like the Pharisees all these years later. Jesus gave us the example – as he did often with his own life – of how we are to be the very living and breathing testimony of God’s grace and mercy with our own lives in the words we speak and the things we do. How we treat people – and often the most unlovely people – speaks more about the condition of our hearts that anything.
Ministry is messy. It is not always about perfect worship services, beautiful people, and . Sometimes it is about hurting and broken people. It is phone calls at inconvenient times and hospital waiting rooms in the middle of the night. It is about questions that we can’t answer and wounds we can’t heal but pointing them to Jesus, sitting with them, walking beside them, and holding them up. It is about tables that others would not dream of sitting at and people that others would not give the time of day. And why is this important ministry? Because it is how Jesus did ministry. It is all about living and loving others like he did.
We can stay back, look away, and pretend we don’t hear but that is not what we are called to do as Christ followers. When we have a relationship with Jesus it changes everything – including how we respond to hard situations and people who offend us. When we have Jesus in our hearts we respond like he did. As Pastor Jim has said – we step where he steps. He leads the way. He prepares our hearts and minds. He gives us strength and the tools we need to do the work he has called us to do.
Matthew knew that Jesus had what was missing in his life. Jesus loved him and accepted him, called him to be with him, even knowing all the things. The Pharisees were offended that Jesus was spending time with such a person, the irony being that such a person needs Jesus desperately. Jesus reflected this in his response to the Pharisees when he said “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Who are you avoiding that needs to know the love and grace of Jesus through you?
After the Message: Read Matthew 9:9-13. How do you respond when you are offended? Do you place your offense in light of Jesus’ call to follow Him? Who would you invite to a “Come and See” party?
