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. 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. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
The sheer magnetism of this Stranger of Galilee was unparalleled.
Imagine a tax collector hearing the call of the Master to come and "follow me" immediately leaving his world behind to go after Jesus. And Matthew drew others with him. Soon several more tax collectors were surrounding Him at supper. He had the whole local IRS office accompanying Him for dinner.
People liked Jesus and were drawn to Him like no other. He was a breath of fresh air. His message was encouraging, He offered hope and help. His was not a teaching of Do's and Don'ts, but of How's and Why's. He not only named the sins, as did the His counterparts, but He brought the solution. His teachings were given with love and a smile, rather than scorn and a frown. He spoke with authority. He made the Scriptures make sense and come alive with real application. His Spirit gave life.
The local ministerial association were miffed. They had targeted this crowd for shunning. Never had they thought to try to bring them to God. Yet, here they were, sinners becoming whole by the hand of the Great Physician.
They pestered the brand new disciples as to Jesus' ministerial tactics. "Why does He eat with sinners?" The future apostles hadn't learned yet how to deal with the whited sepulchers so Jesus put them in their place, the first of many times He would do so.
Later, Jesus would tell Nicodemus, one of these very same Pharisees, that if He, the Son of Man would be lifted up all men would be drawn to Him. I hope you are as compelled to be drawn to the Savior as I am.
I wonder, how could anyone say no to this wonderful Savior?
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