“Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” (Luke 15:1-2).
The late Dr. J. Vernon McGee liked to tell the story of a little girl who heard Luke 15:2 read from the pulpit. It was a cold London night, and she stepped, shivering, into the shelter of a church where a service was in progress. After the service, when the congregation had gone, she approached the rector and said, “Sir, I never knew my name was in the Bible!”
He smiled, “Well, little girl, what is your name?”
“My name,” she answered excitedly, “is Edith.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to disappoint you,” said the rector, “but Edith does not appear in the Bible.”
She insisted, “Yes, it does. I heard you read it tonight. It said, ‘Jesus receiveth sinners, and Edith with them!'”
Certainly our wonderful Lord receives Edith — and Mary and John and all the rest of us. Thank God, He does receive sinners!
In his commentary on Luke 15, Dr. Chuck Swindoll writes:
“Jesus grew up in the remote and irreverent town of Nazareth. For thirty years, He worked with His hands as a carpenter. When He launched His ministry, He chose calloused fishermen and a crooked tax collector for His companions. While He chastised “good” people who sold religious products at the temple (John 2:13-16), He publicly defended an adulteress. He angrily denounced the venerated Pharisees as ‘blind guides’ and ‘hypocrites’ and refused to play by their pious rules. At the same time, He enjoyed rubbing elbows with the unseemly people of the world, so much that He was chided as a ‘gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!’ (Luke 7:34).
“Jesus’ actions demonstrated that He was a radical, and His words proved it. In a society built on legalism, He preached, ‘Don’t judge one another.’ At a time of unrest and uncertainty, He said, ‘Don’t worry.’ In a community where people trumpeted their holiness, He warned, ‘Don’t show off.’ In a world of hate and war, He taught, ‘Forgive your enemies.’
“He advised the upper crust to invite the poor and the disabled to their society parties. He told the leaders to serve, rather than be served. Instead of cultivating His popularity, He thinned the adulating crowds with hard sayings and exacting terms of discipleship. He was no ordinary religious man.
“That is why the people flocked to see Him. Out of the taverns and up from the cellars they came. From back-alley hideouts, smoke-filled offices, and perfumed parlors; from gutters and shanties, from penthouses and slum houses, ‘all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him’ (15:1).
“Who were these people? The same ones who would later fill Christ’s church. People like the Corinthian believers, who once had been fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers — people, in fact, like us (see I Corinthians 6:9-11).”
The religious crowd of Jesus’s day spurned the sinners and tossed them aside as trash. Jesus, however, picked them up and cherished them as diamonds. Rather than punishing them for what they were, Jesus rejoiced at what they could be!
The music group Casting Crowns has recorded a song entitled, “Jesus, Friend of Sinners.” Here are the lyrics:
Jesus, Friend of sinners, we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in Your name, but the sword was never ours to swing
Jesus, Friend of sinners, the truth’s become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You, but they’re tripping over me
Always looking around but never looking up I’m so double minded
A plank-eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided
Oh Jesus, Friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, Friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks Yours
Jesus, Friend of sinners, the One Who’s writing in the sand
Made the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands
Help us to remember we are all the least of these
Let the memory of Your mercy bring Your people to their knees
Nobody knows what we’re for only what we’re against when we judge the wounded
What if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and loved like You did
Oh Jesus, Friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, Friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks Yours
You love every lost cause; You reach for the outcast
For the leper and the lame, they’re the reason that You came
Lord I was that lost cause and I was the outcast
But You died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet
‘Cause You are good, You are good, and Your love endures forever
You are good, You are good, and Your love endures forever
You are good, You are good, and Your love endures forever
You are good, You are good, and Your love endures forever
Oh Jesus, Friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, Friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks Yours
And I was the lost cause and I was the outcast
You died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet
Writer: Matthew West
Copyright: Songs For Delaney, External Combustion Music, WB Music Corp., Songs of Southside Independent Music Publishing
CASTING CROWNS lyrics are property and copyright of their owners
“Jesus, Friend Of Sinners” lyrics provided for educational and personal use only
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