Good Morning All,
Mark 2:16; “And the
scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax
collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and
sinners?”
One time I had a
principal tell me that he would step between a couple of 300-pound football
players who were duking it out; but he would hide if he saw a group of 7th
grade girls snarling at each other. The
strange thing was that those of us who were listening to the story all
commiserated with him. Kids can be
cruel. They seem to have a pack
mentality and heaven help the one that they turn on.
In many ways, that is what has happened in
our text. The leaders of the Jewish
Church had decided who was and wasn’t a “sinner.” If you were a “sinner” they would attack you
with a vengeance. They would banish you
from the Temple and require you to be “clean enough” to enter the Temple. Of course, this required a certain amount of
money to be spent (to them) before that would work. It accomplished two things for the scribes
and the Pharisees; they were wealthy and they rode roughshod on a whole nation
of people so beaten down that they had given up all hope.
Then along comes Jesus, a respected and
honored rabbi. Some even thought he was
a prophet and he had the gall to eat with these “sinners.” We need to remember that eating together at
this time is a somewhat intimate act.
You usually ate from common bowls and either dipped your hand or your
bread into the bowl. It was a sign of
friendship and great hospitality. For
one to eat together was a sign of acceptance by and of the other person. How could Jesus eat with those
“sinners?” You know; people of
questionable moral quality, people who were forced into situations not of their
choice, people that others had beaten down until they had nothing left. You know those people; “sinners.”
You know, people whose spouses deserted
them, who never seemed to catch a break, a young woman trying to raise a child
on her own because of bad choices made years ago, or a young man given a label
because he was curious or a young gal who went to a party and was taken
advantage of; you know “sinners”; people the world just beats down to no
end. Jesus eats with them.
Jesus sees the pain, the heart ache, the
hollowness in the eyes and the emptiness of the soul. Jesus comes to “sinners” like me and like you
and he gives us hope. He comes to us
with his Word of forgiveness and hope and he invites us in for a meal and a
chance to heal. He doesn’t judge what we
did; he forgives and forgets and tells us to release the pain and forget about
it. He gives us a new life in him. Jesus eats with sinners and gives them
eternal life.
Dear Jesus, you come to us and make us whole. You remove the suffering from our heart and
give us hope and life. You give us new life and the grace to live each day as
we continue on our journey with you. In your precious name we pray, amen.
God's Peace,
Pastor Bret
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