And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Scripture clearly speaks against fellowship with sinners (Psalm 1:1, 119:63, Proverbs 13:20, 14:7, 28:7). Growing up, I followed this command very well. I kept my self so distant from people that I identified as sinners that in many ways I avoided the contamination of sin. Sadly, and ashamedly, I also avoided opportunity.
All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but repentance plays a part in making room for all at the table. Even the contemporary Jewish teachers of Jesus’ time taught that people should not look down on those who once sinned but have repented. Surely Jesus did not look down on those who heeded His words to repent, but He took things a step further.
Jesus did something different: He sat down for fellowship with sinners. This was something that the Jewish teachers of the law could not understand. These men could not even step into the home of sinners, much less sit a table with them for a meal.*
Jesus, always going to the heart of the matter, understood that the warnings against dining with sinners existed to help the children of God not to be influenced into sin. Jesus didn’t sit at the table with that risk. Jesus did not sit at the table with sinners to be influenced; He sat at the table to influence.*
As believers, we must beware of the table with sinners. It is a place where we can be influenced, but it is also a place where we can influence. To live a life completely separated from sinners may miss what Jesus invites us to do. As administrators of the ministry of Jesus, we may need to go to the sick as Jesus did as they are the ones in need of the Physician.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to step up to a table with sinners to show the love of God and to influence them toward Christ. Perhaps God wants you to get up from the table with sinners and hit the reset button. Maybe it’s time for you to dine with believers for a season as sin has influenced your thinking. Perhaps it’s time to move amongst the sick to bring the healing that the Great Physician so desires to bring.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 221–222, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 9:11–17) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).