Some of Jesus' comments are confusing to me. "The least will be greatest". "Blessed are the poor in spirit". "Those forgiven much will love much". "Be like a child". "How hard it is for the rich". "The tax collectors and sinners are entering the Kingdom before you". Its almost like what Jesus teaches is backward. It's not like how our world operates.
In Sunday school, I used to hear about how Jesus spent so much time with the tax-collectors and other sinners. For crying out loud, a prostitute...cried on his feet. I always thought that Jesus liked these people because "he came to seek and save the lost", and I thought that these people were happy to be around Jesus cause he was...well...Jesus. I'm not so sure that's the case though. I think these people loved Jesus because they loved everyone. They welcomed anyone. They would eat with whoever. They had no image to maintain, no religion to bow to. They were simple people, sinful - yes, but real. Jesus was digging it. And I'm sure he loved being loved.
There's this one story about Jesus where the religious elite are questioning him about why he spends so much time eating with sinners (I actually searched "sinner" in NIV and nearly all references in Matthew reference who Jesus is dining with). His response is worth noting - a quote from an ancient Jewish prophet: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
Could Jesus really mean that? Maybe there's something to be learned from the tax-collectors and sinners...because really, we aren't all that different, are we?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment