Friend of Sinners
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Matthew 5:20
The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and
drinks, and you say, “He’s a glutton and a
drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other
sinners!” (Luke 7:34).
Jesus’ teachings can seem to be paradoxical.
Exhibit A: He requires a standard of living that’s
even more rigorous than the Old Testament. Jewish
law condemned adultery (Ex. 20:14); Jesus said that
even looking at someone lustfully was wrong (Matt. 5:27-
28). Jewish law allowed for divorce (Deut. 24:1); Jesus
condemned it except for marital infidelity (Matt. 5:32).
Many Jewish leaders misread the Law and felt it allowed
for retaliation (Exodus 21:23-25); Jesus taught otherwise
(Matt. 5:38-42). Murder was always condemned (Ex.
20:13), but Jesus saw anger and hate as equally bad
(Matt. 5:22). Jesus definitely calls us to high moral
standards of eternal significance (v.20).
Exhibit B: But Jesus also earned a rather odd reputation
as the “friend of . . . sinners” (Luke 7:34). He dealt
gently with the divorced and the sexually loose (John
4:17-18, 8:10-11). He had dinner with thieving tax
collectors (Luke 19:5-8) and welcomed people with bad
reputations (7:37-39). Simon the zealot, one of Jesus’
own disciples, was a political revolutionary, and Peter
was even capable of violence (6:15; John 18:10). Jesus
kept company with the very people least likely to live up
to His moral standards. And that’s good news.
If you’re a murderer, adulterer, thief, or drunkard; if
you’ve lusted, lied, or been lax in keeping confidences; if
you’re greedy, angry, jealous, or selfish, Jesus is prepared
to accept you. He’s a friend of sinners. The only people Jesus can’t accept are the
arrogantly self-righteous—those who deny their need for change and forgiveness;
those lost in the deceptive belief that they are superior to all (Matt. 9:12).
Jesus was no doe-eyed softy, relaxing morals in some free-love way. His ethics
are hard, His standards high. But He’s also a friend of sinners, including you
and me. —Sheridan Voysey
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Read the story of
Zacchaeus in Luke 19.
Which came first—Jesus
seeking out this tax
collector or Zacchaeus
seeking forgiveness for
his sins?
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How does this
characteristic of Jesus
comfort you when you
sin? Which “sinner”
have you pulled away
from that you should
instead—like Jesus—
move toward in grace?
