Proper 5
Notes
Transcript
Jesus calls Sinners
Jesus calls Sinners
The call of God is for every sinner. As we discussed last week, a sinner is one who has fallen from the original righteousness given when God created man. Because man choose to listen to the voice of one other than God Almighty, he became a transgressor and pulled all of humanity down with him.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). In fact, Holy Scripture goes on to say, “None is righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10)
Yet, as He did with Peter and Andrew, James and John, Jesus sees Matthew in the tax-office and immediately extends the call to “Follow Me.”
Jesus comes in mercy, beckoning us to follow Him and sin no more.
He Calls Them to Eternal Life
He Calls Them to Eternal Life
Today’s gospel reading took place during Jesus’ Galilean ministry. Jesus had healed a paralytic (Mt 9:1–8) and then went out beside the Sea of Galilee where he began to teach a large crowd (Mk 2:13).
The location was Capernaum. This city was an important link in regional and international trade. It linked trading routes from Damascus and the East to the road which led to Egypt.
Capernaum’s location on the lake also made it an important source of fish for the region. It was an ideal location for a Roman tollbooth.
Rome avoided running local tax booths directly. She would, instead, auction off a certain region for tax collection. Romans of the equestrian rank would form stock companies and bid for a region—usually on a five-year basis. They, in turn, would farm out each portion of that region to tax commissioners. Zacchaeus seemed to be such a tax commissioner in the district of Jericho. Finally, there were the tax gatherers or “publicans” as we know them in Scripture. Local tax collectors were able to speak the language of the empire and of the region. They had to be fairly well educated and knowledgeable about the people they worked with. As a rule, Jews were hired to tax Jews. This created quite a stir within the Jewish community.
Once Rome received the money it demanded from the region, the middlemen made a profit on the remainder. Anything beyond that was gravy for the tax collector. Nearly everything was taxed: durable goods, consumables, slaves, and land. The Publicans would often inflate the price of merchandise and tax it accordingly. It was legalized extortion.
Due to the dishonesty that surrounded the tax-collectors, the rabbis put them out of the synagogue. Or, to use the word of our day, the tax collectors were excommunicated.
This was Matthews tax collector—a publican—and Jesus called Matthew to follow Him. this meant leaving that sinful life behind.
Since Adam we are all made sinners
We sin against God in thought, word, and deed. Including those things we have left undone.
We have not loved God as we ought, nor have we loved our neighbor as ourselves.
This was Matthew’s situation and it is the situation of all sinners.
Jesus has called us to follow Him as well — we have been out of darkness and into his marvelous light.
The call to follow is the Holy Spirit’s calls us to repentance
Repentance, at its base level, it means to have a change of heart.
The Holy Spirit calls us by the Gospel, enlightens us with His gift, sanctifies and keeps us in the one true faith.
Today, unfortunately, some think they can follow Jesus while still engaging in sins of unrighteousness. In fact, in some circles it is celebrated.
This is what was happening in 1 Corinthians 5. A man was having sexual relations with his step-mother, and the congregation was proud, even boastful over how enlightened they were.
The Apostle, however, writes to the congregation ordering that this man be put out from among them—excommunicated—in order to teach him not to sin, so that he may be saved at the resurrection.
The power to follow Jesus—leaving our sinful life behind—comes to us from His mercy which endures forever.
This is what happened in the life of Matthew, and this is what God is always doing with us.
He Calls Them to Continue His Mission
He Calls Them to Continue His Mission
Matthew continued the mission by hosting a banquet for other notorious sinners.
To those who have left their former sinful life behind, Jesus calls us to do the same.
Jesus desires mercy, not sacrifice.
Calling all to repentance.