You can turn with me in your Bible to Matthew chapter 9. It's not going to work. Can you come up? Hang on.

Let me try a drink. I don't ever remember this happening to me on a Sunday. I guess maybe drinking water might help. You can turn to Matthew chapter 9.

Our focus will be verses nine to 13 in the mission and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter nine. In the particular context, in chapters 5 to 7, we see the power of Christ, or the authority of Christ, manifest in His words. In fact, if you look back for just a moment in Matthew chapter 7, that's how the Sermon on the Mount concludes.

In verse 28 it says, And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. So in the Sermon on the Mount, a demonstration of the power or authority of his words. And then in chapters 8 to 10, we see the emphasis in the power of his actions. And here specifically, with reference to the forgiveness and the healing of a paralytic in verses 1 to 8.

And then in the conversion of Matthew, in verses nine to 13. So I'll read that section. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, follow me.

So he arose and followed him. Now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? Then when Jesus heard it, he said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this glorious day. We thank you for the privilege to witness Christian baptism and what it signifies concerning the grace of God applied to needy sinners. We ask that you would indeed call out other sinners by your grace and for your glory, that they may come out of that darkness, confessing faith in Jesus Christ and know the joy of being found in him.

Edify, strengthen, sanctify your saints, build us up, and help us to glorify you in our daily lives. We ask that you bless our sister Stacey as she goes to Australia. Watch over her, protect her, give her a blessed time there. Just give her great grace, God, and we rejoice that she's going to a good church.

We pray that that body would be encouraged by her fellowship in the saints. Again, forgive us now, guide us by the Holy Spirit, and we pray through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, as we look at this particular passage, I want to notice three things. First, the call to discipleship in verse 9. Secondly, the supper at Matthew's house in verse 10. And then finally, the confrontation with the religious leaders in verses 11 to 13.

But notice first of all, with reference to the setting,

The Call to Discipleship

verse 9 tells us that Jesus passed on from there, or as Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. He's also called Levi in the parallel accounts in Mark 2 and in Luke 5. So two names were common then as they are now. Simon Peter, John Mark.

So it wasn't uncommon to have two names. So this Matthew is the Levi that we see in the synoptics. Notice as well where he is sitting. He's sitting at the tax office because he's a tax collector.

In Matthew 10, 3, he likely knew the four disciples who were fishermen, Andrew and Peter, I'm sorry, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, by virtue of his work, he probably collected taxes from these particular fellows. Now, in terms of being a tax collector in the first century, it wasn't any more popular than being a tax collector in the 21st century. Probably the least favorite person on your list are tax collectors. They hated taxes then, similar to the way that we despise them now.

I don't think there's anything new under the sun with reference to taxes and paying them. That it's biblical, principally, we see in Romans 13, though at times we may disagree with the way that that money is used or misused or abused. And the reasons why the tax collectors specifically were looked down upon in this society, there are four of them. Knox Chamberlain says they collaborated with Gentiles, they handled currency with pagan inscriptions and iconography, they took money from fellow Jews to give to the magistrate who oppressed them, and they were often greedy and corrupt.

That's one of the things that marked these particular individuals. They are linked with sinners in Matthew 9, 10. They're linked with heathen Gentiles in Matthew 18, 17. They're linked with harlots in Matthew 21, 31.

And with extortioners, unjust and adulterous men in Luke 18, 11. As R.T. Frantz says, for Jesus to call such a man to follow him was a daring breach of etiquette, a calculated snub to conventional ideas of respectability. which ordinary people, no less than the Pharisees, might be expected to balk at. Fishermen may not have been high in the social scale, but at least they were not automatically morally and religiously suspect.

Matthew was. So moving from the setting, we move to the Savior. So it says, as Jesus passed on from there. And I think it's very important for us to get the connection in the context.

I've already said that what we find here is a demonstration of Christ's authority in the works of His hands. But if you back up just a moment to that instance of the paralytic, We see there that there is a problem worse than paralysis. You look at verse 1. Jesus got into a boat.

He crossed over. He came to his own city. Then, behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, be of good cheer.

Your sins are forgiven you. And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, this man blasphemes. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk?

But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. Then he said to the paralytic, Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. And he arose and departed to his house. So that whole instance, with reference to a problem worse than paralysis, underscores the reality that the Son of Man has power.

He has authority to forgive sin. And this case with Matthew shows or demonstrates he doesn't just forgive small sin, he doesn't just forgive little sinners, but he forgives great sin and great sinners. because Matthew was despised in common society. Matthew was rejected in common society. People linked them with harlots, with unjust, with extortioners.

They were no better than those particular classes of people. So the connection, I think, is absolutely crucial. We see something similar in Jesus' condemnation, or not condemnation, but limitation in terms of rich men making it to heaven. Not long after he speaks concerning that, he says, or he ends that section by saying, with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Then we have Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus is that camel going through the eye of a needle to demonstrate the power and the glory of God Most High. in sovereign grace. So what Matthew does evidence to us in this particular instance is his own personal conversion, but he also instances that Jesus' authority to forgive sin is real. It's true.

It's legit. And I think by way of observation, it doesn't matter what you have done. It does, I don't want to say it quite like that, but this idea that I'm too sinful to come to Jesus. I'm too sinful to be saved by Jesus.

I'm too sinful and rebellious, and I've transgressed too many times, and I've lacked conformity so many times that there's no hope for me. Matthew evidences hope. Matthew declares hope. And it's not in Matthew, it's in Matthew's Christ.

It's in the Lord God Most High, who sent the Son of His love, who assumed our humanity, who lived for sinners, who died for sinners, who was raised again for sinners. The very mission of the Son of Man is specified in this particular passage. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I would suggest that if you are a sinner here this morning that hasn't trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are the one that is ripe to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is satanic logic that gets into your mind that tries to make you think that there's no way he'd receive you. He received us. He says and promises, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. He says, come to me in Matthew 11, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

This God, this blessed Savior, this Lord, didn't come into the world to reject sinners, to resist sinners, to keep sinners at arm's length. If anything, this passage should be a wonderful encouragement, an invitation, an exhortation for you to lay down your arms, to come to the Savior, to believe on Him. As we just sang, venture on Him, venture wholly. There is mercy to be had in our blessed God.

In fact, God, through the wisest man on this side of Jesus, says that whoever covers his transgressions will not prosper. But the one who confesses and forsakes will what? Will find mercy. There's mercy to be had in this Savior, and this passage displays that. in all of its beautiful detail.

So the tax collector, or rather, back to the tax notice. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, follow me. So he arose and followed him. So we see the setting, tax office and sinner.

We see the Savior, the one who has the power or authority on earth to forgive sins. Now we look specifically at the salvation. And

Matthew's Immediate Response

something interesting and something curious and something that bears our observation is the fact that Matthew responded. And he doesn't just respond this way. Well, you know, Lord, I like the language of follow me, but I also like the language of my sin. I like these bucks.

I like my status. I like being on the, you know, moral equivalent of harlots and extortioners and unjust men. No, he doesn't do that. As soon as Jesus says, come and follow me, what does Matthew do?

He gets up and he follows him. How many times do sinners hear the gospel and an earnest preacher call upon them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they don't? They continue to resist. They continue to reject.

They continue in their sin. This is the day. The scriptures tell us now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation.

So the immediacy of Matthew's response is a wonderful display of not only God's power and grace, but in Matthew's understanding that this Savior would have him. that this Savior wasn't faking it, that this Savior wasn't lying, that all of the calls of God through the scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments, they're not just empty, banging, clanging cymbals, but it's the truth of God. Isaiah the prophet, look to me, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. Those are the kinds of texts that I suspect many hear for many years and continue to resist and continue to reject. Don't do that.

You're a sinner. I'm a sinner. We need God's grace. We need the power of the life and the death and the resurrection of our blessed Savior.

And one of the things as well, with reference to the call of Matthew here, is

The Cost of Following Christ

the financial repercussions. The fishermen are called, they hang up their nets for a season, and then they return to their nets. Do you think Matthew is going to get his job back? Do you think any employer, namely government, is going to, you know, smile upon Matthew's decision to leave the tax office in the middle of the day to follow this man from Nazareth?

No, they're probably not. He's probably done for in terms of any livelihood in connection with his particular trade and ability. One dictionary says, a theological dictionary says, Jesus' summons to a tax collector to join him must have outraged and bewildered public opinion. For Matthew himself, the call of Jesus entailed great sacrifice.

He left everything. Fishermen could return to their boats, but a tax collector who gave up his occupation had no prospect of another job, even with the skills that he undoubtedly possessed. I get, or I would suspect, that if we were there, outside the tax office, when Matthew starts to follow Jesus, and we would bring that up to him, you know what he would say? I don't care.

This is not a sacrifice. I'm following the altogether lovely and the chief among ten thousand. I am following the Savior of sinners. I am a sinner, and I need salvation, and it's to be found in this blessed one, so I'm going to follow him.

In other words, don't think about what you may lose when you come to Jesus. You don't lose anything. You don't lose. You're never a loser by following Jesus Christ.

I don't mean losing in life, or taxes, or money, or acquisitions. In terms of your soul, what shall it profit a man? Jesus asks in another setting. If he gains the whole world, but he loses his soul, you need to think about the ramifications and the implications involved in resisting and rejecting the Savior.

What shall it profit a Matthew if he resists the call of Jesus and continues there with all of his tax money? If he continues in the status of an unjust, of a harlot, of a sinner? Nothing. He's only going to reap the consequences in terms of eternal punishment.

As well, in this text, notice the end of verse 9, it says, So he arose and followed Him. In the parallel account, in Luke's gospel, in Luke chapter 9, it says that he left all, rose up, and followed him. Why, when Matthew is rehearsing this, he doesn't give us that piece of data? Because Matthew is a godly, humble man.

And if ever in a context where he gives his testimony, he doesn't want to make sure everybody knows that he left all. Now Luke can report that, and Luke does report that, and Luke tells us that when it comes down to Jesus, Jesus is worth leaving all. But Matthew doesn't want to be fawned over for having made this sacrifice and giving up everything. No, again, Matthew understands you're giving up nothing and getting everything when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I say with personal testimony and on the behalf of those in here saved by God's grace, there ain't no thing better than having your sins forgiven and receiving a righteousness by which you can enter into the presence of God. There really isn't. There isn't any money, there isn't any houses, there isn't any cars, there isn't any security or stability that has anything on what it is to be justified freely by God's grace. To know that Romans 5.1 situation, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God.

There is nothing greater than a conscience washed in the blood of Jesus, a sinner washed in the blood of Jesus, a righteousness bestowed upon us, not based on our works or our merit or our obedience or our keeping, but solely and alone because of what Jesus Christ has done. So Matthew leaves all, he arises immediately, and he follows the Savior.

The Supper at Matthew's House

Notice then the supper at Matthew's house. This is Matthew's house. doesn't indicate that, but Luke tells us as much, then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house. So verse 10, now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. Now, why would Matthew do this?

Oops. Why would Jim spill the water? Why would Matthew do what Matthew does? I'm gonna try to answer that in three ways.

Why Matthew Held the Feast

First, it's a time to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a time to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. He's just been saved. Now, I realize that Matthew doesn't give us this full-orbed testimony of every jot and tittle and every realization that he has had, but we know what's happened.

He's sitting with his sin, not that all taxes are necessarily sin, but the taxes represent or symbolize his sinfulness. He's sitting there, he rises up, he follows Jesus. What else would he do? He'd throw a party.

He wants to honor the Savior. He wants to extol the glory of Christ. He wants to speak well of Him. He wants to celebrate with Him.

He wants to honor Him. Also, it's a time of thankfulness for the grace of God. Look at verse 15. Verse 14, the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?

And Jesus said to them, Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. What's his point? While Jesus is among them in his earthly ministry, they're not given to fasting.

They're given to feasting, they're given to gratitude, they're given to thankfulness, they're given to joy in His presence. Now, when He's stripped from them, and He's crucified on the cross, and He's removed from them violently, there's the time for fasting. So Matthew's been converted, he wants to honor the Lord, he wants to celebrate with thankfulness the Lord, but

Evangelism at the Table

he also wants to evangelize his friends. Matthew evidences something of the man who finds the pearl of great price, the man who's laid his eyes, by faith, upon the altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand. Shared with you on many occasions in Song of Solomon, chapter 5 into chapter 6, you have the bride describing the bridegroom. She calls him altogether lovely and chief among 10,000.

And the daughters of Jerusalem respond, where is your beloved that we may seek him too? She gave such a glowing description of this blessed one that those in her hearing wanted to find him as well. And notice the list, the guest list at Matthew's house that behold many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him. and his disciples. Matthew's Behold is designed to draw attention to his guest list here, and what he is doing is evangelizing them.

C. H. Spurgeon says, most naturally called in his old friends, that they might have the advantage of our Lord's teaching. They would come to a supper more readily than to a sermon.

And so he gave them a feast, and thus attracted them to the place where Jesus was. A time to honor, a time to celebrate, a time to thank, and a time to preach Jesus to these needy ones. Again, the manifest power of our Lord. He doesn't resist this invitation.

He doesn't say they're filthy, gross sinners that I don't want any part of. No, that's the Pharisees and the scribes. Jesus comes to this feast. Jesus comes willingly to this feast.

Jesus participates in this feast, knowing good and well who the guest list is. France, again, says the attentive reader of the gospel might recall the vision of the Messianic banquet in chapter 8, verses 11 and 12, where basically we're told that those ones that had rejected and refused the Savior, they would not be brought in to that supper, but it would be those from East and West, those outside of this geographical place. The covenant promises of God are yea and amen and our Lord Jesus Christ, and it includes from every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation. So France again says, here as there, the guest list is not at all what most Jews would have expected.

And

Confrontation with the Pharisees

that brings us then to the response of at least the religious Jews in this particular instance, the confrontation with the leaders in verses 11 to 13.

The Nature of the Complaint

Note first the nature of the complaint. Verse 11, it says, and when the Pharisees saw it, scribes were told by the synoptics, Mark and Luke, that the scribes were there as well. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? Now, the thing that you ought to observe here is that they don't have the guts to speak to Jesus.

They don't have the backbone to register their complaint with Jesus. They don't go to Jesus and say, what are you doing? You're sitting with miserable sinners, filthy, wicked, horrible men. No, they whine to the disciples.

They're gutless. They're cowards. Bullies usually are. Bullies aren't courageous.

They're bullies and they're cowards. They cover their cowardice with this kind of bullyism. And so they complained to the disciples, and they said, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? Brethren, I don't think this was an investigative question for necessary information.

Why does your teacher sit with such filthy specimens of human beings? That's not it. Their beef is with Jesus. Make no mistake about it.

They got an axe to grind with Jesus here. They don't directly address him with their question. There's a parallel, not to this, there is in Luke, but a parallel concept or theme in Luke 15. In Luke 15, we're told that all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him, to what?

To hear him. So what happens when all these tax collectors and sinners draw near to him to hear him? Well, the religious folk, the scribes and the Pharisees, they say, this man receives sinners and eats with them. Again, it's not, you know, a matter-of-fact report.

Huh, that's interesting. This man receives sinners and eats with them. That's not it. It's disdain.

It is abhorrence. It is loathing. This man receives sinners and eats with them. As I've said on probably more occasions than you care to remember, I've always thought, what did the sinners and the tax collectors do at that point?

Their ears probably looked like radar dishes to see how he was going to answer that. Is it true? Does he receive sinners and tax collectors? Does he receive them?

Because if so, I want to be even closer to this one. So does Jesus respond to that unspoken question? Yeah. He does in a threefold parable.

He speaks first of a shepherd who lost one of his hundred sheep, and he leaves the 99 so that he can find that one, put it on his shoulders, and go back home rejoicing. He does it like a woman who has 10 coins. She loses one of those coins. She doesn't just report it to CRA as a loss.

She moves the furniture. She gets out the broom. She searches. She scurries.

And what happens? She finds that coin. What's Jesus' response in each of these instances? So do the angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who repents.

Again, brethren, if I'm in that group of tax collectors and sinners, which I most certainly would have been. I mean, I hope I would have been close to him. I'm in the group generally, but specifically I would have hoped I would have been near him. I want to hear that.

What they complain about, this man received sinners and each with them, is the sum and substance of the gospel. It's the glory of the one who has power on earth to forgive sins. And of course, in that third instance, there was a man and he had two sons. And one of the sons says, Father, give me my share of the inheritance right now.

In other words, you're better off to be dead than alive. I just want what is mine for when that time comes that you depart. So what does the father do? The father gives him his share of the inheritance.

What does the son do? Does he go out and invest it? Does he go out and live righteously? No.

We know the story of the prodigal. He's a wretch. He blows it. He's craving and coveting what pigs are eating.

And he comes to himself and he says, I know what I'll do. And brethren, he's not converted here. I know that's a very obvious way or a lot of times the way people read that text. He came to himself means he knew there was grace to be had in his father.

No, he knew there was three hots and a cot to be had with his father. He knew, because he first goes and joins himself to a man of a distant country, tries to get three hots and a cot there. Doesn't work. So I know what I'll do.

I'll go back and I'll cast myself on my father's mercy, not for forgiveness, not for a righteousness, but so that I can be counted as one of the day laborers and get those three hots and a cot. He wasn't converted then. So what happens? He's a long way off, and the father sees him, and the father runs to him, and the father falls on him, and the father kisses him, and the father brings him back to his house.

The father orders that a ring be placed on his finger. The father orders that a robe be laid on his back. There's his justification. There's his cleansing.

There's his salvation. It doesn't come because he came to himself. It comes because the Father sought him and fell upon him and received him back to his own. And actually, I think the story is told to focus on the other brother, because he's just like those Pharisees.

This man receives sinners and eats with them. How does the brother respond when his son who was dead is now alive? When his son who was lost is now found? You never did this for me.

He's whining and he's grumbling and he's complaining. Jesus shows the blessedness of gospel to tax collectors and sinners. And he shows the Pharisees something of that attitude that complains and grumbles and murmurs and looks down at the grace of God most high. So when Jesus is invited to this home where tax collectors and sinners are in attendance, he responds.

This is the beautiful thing about Jesus. For those of us by grace who have tasted and seen that He is good, this is one of those things, right? He doesn't keep us at arm's length. He doesn't resist or refuse us.

He doesn't say, off with your head because you ever dared to think I would receive you unto myself. No, we have learned, we have found, we have seen by the grace of God that this man receives sinners and eats with them. This man came to seek and to save that which was lost. So the complaint was directed against Jesus, not the tax collectors and the sinners, and the complaint was bathed in their own sanctimony, their dripping hypocrisy.

Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? That's just foul as far as they're concerned.

Christ's Threefold Response

Now note the response to the complaint in verses 12 to 13. Jesus' response in a threefold way. First, his role. Second, his appeal. And third, his mission.

Christ as Physician to the Sick

Note his role. Verse 12, when Jesus heard that, he said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Now, Jesus is putting it right there where even a pharisaical, hypocritical wretch could understand. You don't call the doctor on a Monday morning to report that you're healthy.

If you've ever been to Chilliwack Emergency, you're sure not going there when you're healthy. Not just like sitting in the waiting room for five hours. It's great. Nobody does that.

Nobody wants medical assistance unless they're hurting. Nobody wants medical help unless they're diseased. Again, he's keeping it low level so that even these guys can follow the logic. In other words, who else should I be sitting with?

Who else should I be hanging with? What other kinds of persons do you have in your mind that I should surround myself? You guys? This is basic gospel logic 101.

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, This is a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world, sinners to save, 1 Timothy 1 and verse 15. Jesus, again, is gonna punctuate that in just a moment. But why else did Jesus come?

You have to get this if you're not a believer in Jesus. Everything in the Bible converges at this central place that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Why does God make the world? Why does God govern the world?

To carry out His plan and purpose to save from that world a great multitude that no man can number from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. If you ever ask the question, well, why did Jesus come into this world? Sinners to save. He's using gospel logic on these wretched men to silence their complaint.

Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? You'd never do that if you were happening to know that, you know, there was a group of sick people kind of hanging out in one area and a doctor went to see them. Would you ever say, well, why is that doctor going to visit those sick people? Doesn't he know they're sick?

Doesn't he know they might be contagious? Doesn't he know that he might get what they got? Of course he knows that, but the virtue of his office is to go to those particular sorts and heal them. So it's basic logic.

But then notice,

Appeal to Hosea 6:6

secondly, his appeal to the prophet. This is Hosea chapter 6 and verse 6. And I quite like the first part, but not the verse itself. I like that too.

But I like when he says, but go and learn what this means. Go and learn what this means. Do you think that the Pharisees and the scribes were familiar with the prophet Hosea? Yeah, they were.

Remember they had phylacteries, they'd recite scripture, they memorized scripture, but they hadn't learned scripture. Jesus reproves that in this simple statement, go and learn. Because they knew it, perhaps had recited it, perhaps had read it and preached on it in the synagogue. They knew it, but they hadn't learned it.

He says, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. I think there's two things going on here. The first is that Jesus is returning or rather responding to their complaint.

Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? Obviously. But secondly, he's showing consistency. This is what the Old Testament always bid as well.

I mean, to miss the Old Testament and emphases like these would lend itself to missing Jesus as the Messiah and Jesus as the friend of tax collectors and sinners. In other words, it's been the nature of God, even in the Old Testament, not completely obliterate the external. That's not what I think the text is calling us to. But rather to focus on the internal.

It wasn't different in Hosea's day, both in terms of its intent, be those who are wholly committed to the Lord, but as well, it wasn't different in Hosea's day than for these men who are receiving the same condemnation that those men in Hosea's day received. that same attitude, that same mindset, that same idea, that as long as we've got the externals down, then it really doesn't matter what our hearts are like. So Christ appeals to the prophet to show something of continuity in terms of God's nature and grace, but to show something of continuity in terms of man's sin and rebellion. Davies and Allison make it obvious. They say that as cultic observance, that means doing what God specifies in the religious apparatus that is Israel.

Cult doesn't necessarily mean Jehovah's Witness in Old Testament studies. It means that which is peculiar or particular to the worship of the Old Testament church or people. You've got temple, tabernacle, priest, sacrifice. That's cult.

So they say, cultic observance without inner faith and heart felt covenant loyalty is vain. That's what these men are showing, the same vanity that the target audience in Hosea is demonstrating. Frantz says, one of several prophetic sayings which challenge people's instinctive reliance on correct ritual while ignoring the moral demands of their religion. You see it in spades in the prophet Malachi.

Malachi comes along to upbraid the nation of Israel for their unfaithfulness. And through a series of rebukes, through a series of prophetical declarations wherein he condemns them, they keep saying, who, us? Us? Us?

Like, they're shocked. You mean I can't go to the back of my flock and pick the one that's lamed and maimed and blind and schlep him to the temple for offering? No. That's not heart religion.

That's just satisfying the externality. You brought an animal, he happens to be breathing still, but it's no sacrifice. It does no work in your farm, and it's not something that's going to fetch you any money at the market. It didn't cost you anything.

And what about when he ups the ante? You've stolen sacrifice. Another thing I've often thought, if you, on a Sabbath morning, living in Old Covenant Israel, steal an animal from your neighbor to take to the temple to offer it as a sacrifice, you're in a bad place. You're in a bad place.

The whole idea behind sacrifice is to pinch the flesh. Not redemptively or in an atonement, I'm gonna pinch the flesh so that God rewards me with salvation. No, that's not what I mean. Sacrifice.

Jesus commands the widow's might. Why? Because she took of her abundance. She took what little she had and took the majority of that or all of it and dumped it into the plate.

All these others that had a bunch and take just a little bit out of that bunch and dump it in the plate, who's sacrificing there? So the prophet Malachi lets them have it for this external ritualistic ideal or idea. And that's what's going on with the Pharisees in the first century. And

Christ's Mission to Call Sinners

then notice the text ends with his mission. His role as a physician, his appeal to the Prophet, and his mission. In case you guys didn't get this, he's saying, in case you didn't follow the doctor and the patient analogy, in case you're not the brightest bulbs when it comes to Hosea's sex, I'm just going to lay this out for you and make it crystal clear. that I came for the specific intention to receive sinners unto myself and eat with them. That's the glory of the Christian gospel.

That's the glory of the declaration in John 1 29. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's the glory of the gospel as free prefigured and typified and signified in the Old Testament. It's the glory of the gospel celebrated in the Psalms, celebrated in the prophets.

It's the glory of the gospel that the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. It's the glory of the gospel, look to me, all the ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God and there is no other. It's the glory of the gospel that he lays out in very clear detail to these men. He says, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

This is why He came. I think that at times we've got it backwards. He came to show us how to live. He did, but secondarily, He came to show us what must be in order for us to live.

To look to Him in faith, to believe on that gospel. To know the joy of the forgiveness of sins, and that's righteousness given by God to needy sinners. To do what you and I are unable to do. As well, I think at times we make it so narrow, we make it so closed, we keep it to just a certain band of people.

No, this gospel is to be testified everywhere, every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation. In Abraham, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Why? Because of the seed of Abraham, which is our Lord Jesus Christ.

So Christ summarizes the mission as the final aspect of his response to this complaint, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? Now when he says righteous, he is not suggesting that, you know, In, let's say, Idaho. I mentioned Idaho this morning. We'll still use the example.

And I don't think this. I don't have some Idaho. I actually said it last night. I don't have an Idaho fantasy.

It just popped into my head. But let's just say everybody in Idaho is righteous. I didn't come for them. I came for those other wretched 49 states.

Or I didn't come for BC. I came for those other wretched provinces. I didn't come for Chilliwack, but I came for all those other cities there in the lower mainland. He is not saying that.

This is not a commendation or an acknowledgement that there's a band of righteous men out there that don't actually need his blood atonement. No, no, no, no, no. Those who are righteous in their own eyes. Kind of like, I don't know, a Pharisee?

Kind of like somebody that would look down there and knows that the thought that Jesus was going to go to this supper and be surrounded by tax collectors and sinners. Yeah, that's what he means. I didn't come to call them. The ones righteous in their own eyes.

Turn to Matthew 11, where I think this is abundantly clear. Matthew chapter 11. Notice in verse 25, at that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent. Here's the righteous ones.

They're wise in their own eyes. They're prudent in their own ways. They think that all is well. They think that external compliance with external regulations is all that is necessary, thus showing they didn't understand Hosea 6.

They think that external compliance to the outward cult is all that is necessary, and they are in good standing with God. No. They're wise in their own eyes. They're prudent in their own eyes.

They're righteous in their own eyes. And as a result of that wisdom and that prudence and that righteousness, all pseudo by the way, they come to conclusions like, this man receives sinners and eats with them. Or, why does your teacher sit with tax collectors and sinners? When he says this, he is not acknowledging a band of righteous men that don't need blood atonement.

And then notice, he makes this clear at the end of verse 13, but sinners to repentance. Sinners to repentance. How do you think these guys responded to that? Oh, okay.

Now we get it. Sure, that makes sense. He's a doctor going to sick people. He's like the prophet Hosea commends to us.

And he's out there to rescue our fellows that have undone themselves. This is the kind of stuff that outraged them. This was the kind of stuff that culminates at the end of the Passion Week and then saying, away with him, away with him, crucify him. This is the kind of stuff that leads to the confrontations that we've seen repeatedly in John's gospel with these religious leaders.

The whole concept of a crucified Messiah, the whole concept of a suffering Savior, the whole concept of this one that apparently is weak and sorrowful and no form of comeliness that we should behold him, that was an affront, brethren. And I love the way Jesus doesn't back down from pressing and pressing and pressing. I'm a doctor to the sick. I'm what God has always expressed in terms of Hosea 6, and the very reason I'm here is to have lunch with these guys.

That's why. I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Again, a world of good news in a passage like this. I'm a sinner.

Well then, guess what? Christ is a Savior. I've messed up my life. Guess what?

There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. Guess what? There is salvation to be had in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is his point.

This is his response to the charge. Similar to the threefold parable that he tells when they whine in Luke 15, this man receives sinners and eats with them. You're right, I do. Like a shepherd, like a woman who lost her coin, and like a man who lost his prodigal son.

That's the way I do it. And here when they whine and they complain, it's a three-fold response. Yep, I'm a doctor for sick people. I'm what Hosea 6.6 is all about.

And this is the very purpose and reason for which I came. I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. That is blessed. That is wonderful.

I guarantee you this morning, if you're not a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ, and you look around this morning, I'm not saying do that necessarily, you're going to meet nice people. Nice people, right? I hope everybody's nice. But that's part of it.

That's having come out the other side of being washed in his precious blood and the imputed righteousness of Jesus and taking into consideration we're not always that nice either. We typically clean up pretty decently on a Sunday. We're not saved because we're nice. We're not saved because we performed.

We're not saved because this is a reward for what we've done in a former life. We're saved because of Jesus Christ, who says to Matthew, come and follow me. We're saved because of Jesus Christ, who's a physician for needy souls. We're saved because of Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of the nature of God revealed in Hosea 6.

And we're saved because Jesus Christ, in his mercy, in his love, in his kindness, came into this world, took on our humanity, lived in our place, died in our place, was raised again the third day, such that everyone who looks to him in faith will have everlasting life. If that's his job, if that's his purpose, if that's his function, you're not going to mess things up by coming to him. That's the emphasis. Be a Matthew today.

Get up, leave all, and follow Jesus in faith. That's the only way of eternal life. It's the faith, as evidenced by the leaving all and following Him. Look unto the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, and you will have everlasting life.

Application and Conclusion

Well, in conclusion, the power of Christ is on vivid display, not only in a general statement that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, verse 6, but specifically in the case of a notorious sinner in verses 9 to 13. Isn't that wonderful? It's not that there's just forgiveness with Jesus, but there's forgiveness with a guy like Matthew, who's got friends like Matthew and other sinners. that are kind of lumped into the same category with the rest of the dregs of society, ethically speaking. The Son of Man has power.

The Son of Man has authority. And the Son of Man has that presently at the right hand of the Father. It's not that he suspended that. It's not that 6 or 9, uh, 9-6 tells us, it was only while he was on earth.

Now it's over. It's expired. No, no, no, no, no, no. The Apostle John tells us, My little children, I write these things so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. So at the right hand of God the Father right now, Jesus is in the business of forgiving his people. It's a blessed privilege that we unfortunately have to use way too much. But he's also in the business of forgiving those who come to him in faith.

Whether you're old, whether you're young, the requirement is that you're a sinner. As some in the church have said, the only contribution we make to our salvation is the sin we need to be saved from. And I can assure you on divine testimony that all of us have that problem. I would suggest, secondly, in terms of a portrait of a disciple of Christ, which I think Matthew affords, he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.

He believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Definitionally, a Christian is somebody who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not Christians because we're better than anybody else. We're not Christians because we're nicer than anybody else.

We're not Christians because we've done more work. No. Definitionally, fundamentally, some and substantially, is faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. What does Paul and Silas say of Paul and Barnabas to the Philippian jailer?

Must have been Silas, yeah, Acts 16. Paul and Silas say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. I would suggest, secondly, he repents of his sin. And I think that's demonstrated, not in vivid detail in a way that Paul might treat it in a letter to the Corinthians, but this getting up and leaving all.

I think that's significant. He got up and he left all. Whatever at one time held him fast is no longer important. Paul speaks of this in Philippians chapter 3, what things once were gained to me, these I've counted loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.

Have you ever had that? Have you ever heard that? Lloyd-Jones got that. Lloyd-Jones was a medical doctor, a physician, and then he became a preacher.

And people would say things like, why'd you give up being a doctor to be a preacher? Gee, thanks for recognizing my career choices. He never looked at it as giving up. You ever have that in your early days as a Christian?

Why'd you give up all that? Have you ever thought and said, there's no giving up. I got everything in Jesus. I got the altogether lovely and chief among 10,000.

So he believes on Jesus. He repents from his sin. And while it's not here, we're going to shoehorn it in for the purposes of our day. He's baptized.

He's baptized by immersion to confess his faith in that triune God. And I want to encourage Wendy and Glenda with this reality, that the power of our blessed Savior that called this man out of darkness into marvelous light is the power exercised on their souls. That's a beautiful thing. In other words, what was available in Matthew 9 is available in Chilliwack in 2025.

And when it comes to baptism, it is a demonstration outwardly of an inward change. That water doesn't save them. It's not miraculous. It's gonna be let out into the parking lot.

Actually, now we have a, thanks to Mike, we have a nice big hole and it goes right into there. Used to go out into the parking lot. You'd get your feet wet when we'd walk out after a baptism. We're stepping it up in terms of getting rid of water.

It's not magic. It's not hocus-pocus. That water doesn't convey anything to these sisters. It rather demonstrates what God in His grace has conveyed in the gospel of His beloved Son.

It is an outward identification with the triune God in light of Matthew 28, baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The name singular of God and the trinity of persons in that one God, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As well, there is an outward commitment of life lived in obedience to God, our confession says, and of giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. Paul uses baptism in that capacity in Romans chapter 6 to answer the false charge that we continue in sin that grace may abound.

May it never be. You died, you were buried, you've been raised again in the power of our blessed Savior. And the outward manifestation of new covenant realities. So baptism, it's implied, assumed, and argued for here.

I would suggest as well, just to finish this up, he rejoices in the Savior, evidenced by the feast that he throws. He pursues the kingdom first. Oh, wait, Lord, let me just get this money stowed away. Let me make sure that my earthly...

No, he seeks first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. He sees Christ as the bride saw the bridegroom, altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. And as well, Matthew no doubt had a life of difficulty subsequent to this. Becoming a Christian doesn't mean all your earthly troubles just fall away.

They don't. Anybody who's telling you that is lying. But let's just be crystal clear here. Come to Jesus and life's gonna be great.

You'll grow another foot. Your hair will be thicker. You don't need glasses anymore. You get bigger bite?

No! The health, wealth, prosperity gospel is not gospel unless you're Satan and his minions and hell is your destination. There's trouble in the Christian life that no doubt Matthew had to undergo and he did so by the grace of God. And I would suggest finally, not just earthly external afflictions and turmoils and trials that affect us, But it's that inward problem, that remaining corruption, right?

Paul speaks of this in Romans 7 and Galatians 5. It's not like we're converted and we never sin again. No, that's not anyone's experience, nor was it Matthew's experience. But he understood the power of the gospel.

John Newton made this observation, and we'll close here. I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be in another world.

But still, I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God, I am what I am. Amen. May Wendy and Glenda be encouraged, and may all of us be encouraged in a fresh view of our blessed Savior as He reveals to us unequivocally what His mission is. Well, let us pray.

Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for this beautiful account of Matthew's conversion, and even more so, the beautiful account of Matthew's Savior. We know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins, and we see it here with a notorious sinner. And so, God, we pray that You'd open hearts, cause persons to reflect upon their sin before You, and cause them to see Jesus Christ as the one in whom there is forgiveness and a righteousness by which they may enter into your presence.

We ask for your blessing to be upon these ladies. She would encourage them that this would be a day that they can recall means of help to them in times of difficulty. And may you bless us as a local church, and may you help us to exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest we be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. And we ask these things through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 22:18
• Proverbs 28:13
• Song of Solomon 5:16
• Isaiah 45:22
• Hosea 6:6
• Habakkuk 2:14
• Matthew 7:28-29; 8:1-10:42; 8:11-12; 9:1-15; 9:6; 9:9-13; 10:3; 11:25; 11:28; 18:17; 21:31; 28:19
• Mark 2:14
• Luke 5:27-29; 15:1-2; 15:4-6; 15:8-9; 15:11-32; 18:11
• John 1:29; 3:16; 6:37
• Acts 16:31
• Romans 5:1; 6:1-4; 7:14-25; 13:6-7
• Galatians 5:17
• Philippians 3:7-8
• 1 Timothy 1:15
• 1 John 2:1