Differing perspectives

 

Mat 9:9  And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. 

Mat 9:10  And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. 

As Jesus sat at meat, many sinners and publicans came and sat with Him. That is probably the greatest of all testimonies to Jesus we ever saw. The meek and lowly came to Him and were allowed to be there! No one shushed them, shooed them, or claimed superiority.

What a fantastic thing to happen, they had dinner with God and no one stopped them. The outcasts, the downtrodden walked right in and sat down.

Mat 9:11  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 

Oh wait someone did say something, the “righteous” or should that read “self Righteous”? Pharisees. They said why does your Master (master in this respect means teacher) eat with the sinner and publicans. Now where else should a teacher eat except with those that need teaching? The Pharisees associated with the pharisees, they saw the outside “unclean” world just from a distance. They did not understand what was going on around them, the revivals, the healings from a common perspective for they did not know the common perspective. They were looking at the world through stained glass windows!

Perhaps we have lost this vision, this personal touch in the post covid united States but church, we must revert to this type if we are to bring about the survival of this nation ass we knew it.

The people absolutely loved Jesus for the access, the approachability and the personalness. The Pharisees were more worried about following the Law they had made, that they could not associate with the unclean, they forgot who they were here for.

We must set the example yes, we must be set apart from, yes, but we are not any better than they are. 

We are just saved by Grace with (hopefully) a renewed mind, a new perspective. That is the whole difference between us and them.

We have what they need, how will they know it if we are not among them? If we are not Living the set apart, consecrated life? 

Among them just as Jesus; but not of them, just as Jesus.