“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors’…” (Matt. 11:19) One glance at this verse and we quickly learn why Jesus was hated by the religious leaders of his day. He did not fit their social mold, their temple mold, their fellowship mold, or their religious mold. He was a rebel to their thoughts and practices and was willing to call them out on their hypocrisy.
Jesus came and blew their mind and their system to pieces. He ate and drank with those that were rejected—the outcasts of their culture. Jesus was interested in reaching men with the good news, not in separating them into social clicks. He was willing to do what must be done to reach those on the outside of society. He crossed the bridge into their life in order to communicate the message of God’s love and redemption to them.
The men who were tax collectors had no fellowship with other countrymen except fellow tax collectors. They were regarded as puppets to the Roman government, and traitors and heathens to the ordinary Jews. They were viewed as unclean and vile, and the average Jew, especially the religious ones, would not even sit at a meal with them, as sharing a meal was viewed as acceptance into fellowship.
Matthew knew what it felt like to have his own countrymen regard him as the chiefest of sinners. He understood the condemning stares and the rejection from the religious men of his day. And yet, Jesus chose Matthew as a member of his inner circle of followers. This is the same tax collector the Holy Spirit used to record one of the four gospels.
This explains why Matthew gives us a special insight into the power of the gospel to reach all men—the down-and-outers and the up-and-outers. The thread of grace that offers redemption to all people is ever-present in Matthew’s gospel. It is like a great curtain on the stage behind the actors, always blending into every scene.
Matthew was a Jew, but he was far away from his people, far away from the Temple worship, and far away from God. In short, he was far away from home. Jesus came to bring the message of the gospel to others just like Matthew, people like you and me.
Like Matthew, we could not approach God. Therefore, he comes to us and meets us where we are. He becomes our friend to show us the beauty of letting him become our Lord. We must take the message of the gospel outside the church walls and into the lives of those rejected by society. Like Jesus, we must humble ourselves and be willing to reach out to the hurting, the lonely, and the rejected. Like Jesus, if we truly follow him, we will also become… A Friend of Sinners!
