You may have heard the phrase or seen the bracelets, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?). But what about WDJD… What Did Jesus DO?! Today we’re going to be talking about the fact that Jesus hung out with sinners. Did he condone their sin? No. Was he comfortable around sinners? Yes, because he had a goal. Let’s find out what that is today!
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Transcription:
You may have heard the phrase or seen the bracelets, WWJD, What Would Jesus Do? A great question for you to ask yourself and me to ask myself every day in any situation. Love it. But this week, get ready for WDJD, What did Jesus do? Welcome to the Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica, your host, and yeah, this week we’re going to be breaking down some of the most important things that our Lord did when he walked this earth. He was a walking Ted talk, like a Ted Walk. He showed us how to live on this planet. This old world is not our home, but we have someone who came before us, who goes ahead of us, who can help us navigate life right here now, in 2024.
So, today we’re going to be talking about a very interesting topic in my view, the fact that Jesus hung out with sinners. Did he condone the sin? No. Was he comfortable around sinners? Yes, because he had a goal. And I believe the apostle Paul sums it up so beautifully in Romans chapter two verse four.
Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
And that is what Jesus did as he hung out with sinners at dinner, sitting in the grass. I’m sure there are so many stories that weren’t even written down in the Bible, As he hung out with sinners, He was showing them God’s love. There’s that old adage, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar, and with Jesus, he was always honest. He didn’t slip anything under the rug, but he was always loving. As a matter of fact, some of Jesus’ harshest criticism was reserved for the religious people who weren’t kind to sinners. He left us with the same goal before He gave his life on the cross. The ultimate example of love, and we’ll get to that in just a moment. But first, dive in with me. Open your Bible if you’ve got it to Luke chapter five, or you can just listen along, whatever you prefer. We’re going to begin in verse 27. We’re going to meet a sinner named Levi, who later you’ll know as Matthew. Alright.
Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth.
I want to make sure I say this right now. Tax collectors were hated in those days, so keep it in mind.
“Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. 28 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
Wow, that’s like a whole book, two verses, isn’t it? Jesus, reaching out and seeing past the sin in Levi’s life, and seeing the man who Jesus created him to be, and calling that out in him. And something in Levi, who again, we later know as Matthew, he wrote the gospel of Matthew, responded to the Son of God. Something in him knew I need to go with this man. I want to change my heart. Jesus didn’t have to twist his arm or his heart. Verse 29, now.
Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. 30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” 31 Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. 32 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
In the Bible, we are told that our God is the great physician. And let me tell you his specialty. It’s the broken heart. It’s the bitter heart. It’s the “My heart has been trampled on and I can’t trust or love anyone again,” heart. He can heal any heart. It’s who he is. It’s what he does. The Bible says he’s close to the broken hearted. That he bandages the wounds of people. He is that good and that tender toward us. Now in being the great physician, in being around these people whose hearts were not right with God, he had the opportunity to show them God’s love. And perhaps just sitting at that dinner table in his presence, some of those hearts turned back toward God. Maybe some of them responded like Levi did to the words of Jesus. Perhaps he didn’t call anybody at that table to follow him, but perhaps somebody heard his voice and heard the love in it. People respond to love and to kindness. In Luke chapter 19, we hear the story of the woman who was caught in the middle of an act of adultery. Can you even imagine? And remember, everybody was ready to stone her. That’s what the law of Moses called for. And of course, all the religious leaders said, You know what the law says Jesus, what should we do? And remember that famous, he said, well, whoever of you is without sin cast the first stone. And one by one the religious leaders, the accusing people dropped their stones. And remember the part where there’s the woman who almost was murdered there by the rock throwers, and it’s just her and Jesus at that point, and he says to her, where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you? No, Lord, she said, and Jesus said, neither do I go and sin no more.
That is how Jesus operates when he comes face to face with a sinner. I want to go to another supper table, the last supper table, and we are going to spend a moment before we wrap up our time together, remembering what Jesus asked the disciples to do. He left them with this charge.
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
That is how Jesus lived. He lived out God’s love in front of sinners. He wasn’t saying, I’m totally cool with your sin. He was saying, I love you and I’m making a way for you to come back to God. Come, I’m here now. I’m making a way. And if you are one of those sinners today, I want you to know that the door to hope and a new life is open to you. Jesus opened his arms on the cross and opened the door of heaven to sinners. Listen, this is why we do this podcast, to make sure you know that there is so much hope. Thanks for listening. Until next time, you are really loved.
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