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 The Company You Keep 

  

Jesus began by calling fishermen to be his disciples. He then interacted with a scribe who was apparently not quite ready to follow him (Matt. 8:19-20.)  And later he invites Matthew, a tax collector, to live for him. Matthew, we read, was “sitting at the tax booth,” the place that provided him with status and income, but when Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” Matthew was willing to leave all this behind and follow Jesus. 

To say farewell and celebrate his new life, Matthew (also called Levi) made Jesus “a great feast in his house” (Luke 5:29, ESV) and, “many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples” (Matt. 9:10). The religious people of the day, the Pharisees, were disgusted with this kind of company, challenging the disciples (in the words of Eugene Peterson’s The Message): “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?” (v. 11). But Jesus explained that he was like a doctor who had come to cure the problem of sin (v. 12) and then went on to say: “’I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders” (v. 13). 

In God’s economy, it does not matter so much where we came from, or what our past mistakes may have been. It is more important whether we are willing to change in order to embrace the new life and future that Jesus is offering us. As we receive God’s grace for us in Christ, we are then called to be gracious toward others as well. 

Praise God for …

· His grace that is available to all in Jesus, especially to those who feel unworthy

· The power to redeem your past

Pray that …

· God would use you to connect your friends and colleagues with Jesus

· Jesus would completely transform your life, just as he did with Matthew