Jesus Friend Sinners

Jesus is the Son of God. John testifies to that truth in John 20:31. He writes, “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Jesus accepts the testimony of Peter that He is the Son of God.

Matthew 16:13-17
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

John and Peter both testify to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.

Now as the Son of God, God in the flesh, we would expect Jesus to be:
Powerful
Majestic
Perfect
Above Us Humans.

So let me give you a quick quiz. Please be honest and no cheating.
Have you cried over spilled milk?
Have you hid your vegetables or fed them to the dog?
Have you read in bed under the covers with a flashlight?
Have you put Jell-O in the fish bowl?
Have you put fish in the Jell-O bowl? (Ok, that may just be me!)

But remember when you did something wrong and got caught. You had to answer to:
Your Parents
A Teache
A Policeman
A Judge.

You knew you were going to get judged and condemned. You felt like:
A Loser
An Outcast
A Sinner.

Jesus, the Son of God has a scandalous love for the:
Broken
Lowly
Sinful
Struggling

Look at how Jesus is described in these two passages from Luke.

Luke 15:2
But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

AND

Luke 7:34
The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, “He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!”

Jesus loves, accepts and is a FRIEND to SINNERS!
Jesus accepted Zacchaeus.
Jesus showed mercy to an adulterous woman.
Jesus showed grace to an immoral Samaritan woman.
Jesus invited Matthew, a Tax Collector, to be one of the Twelve.

Jesus is a FRIEND of SINNERS!

In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus tells a parable that fully illustrates His love for sinners.

The Setting: To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” Luke 18:9-10

This parable is addressed specially to the SELF-RIGHTEOUS. Jesus uses two people who were seen by the culture as being the most divergent - a Pharisee (seen as honored and holy) & a tax collector (hated and unholy).

Jesus draws three lessons from these men going to pray in the temple.

Lesson #1: Resist Comparisons

Luke 18:11
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evil doers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector.”

We are not to compare ourselves to other people (good or bad).

2 Corinthians 10:12
Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards!

Look at what Paul is saying: To compare ourselves to other people is STUPID!

Look at what the Pharisee did. He chose the very worst people to compare himself to - robbers, evil doers, adulterers and tax collector. Hey, if you have to go that low to find people you are better than, maybe you should rethink the comparison idea.

No, we are to compare ourselves to only one.

Only one is our true standard.

Ephesians 4:13
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

When we measure our lives against the true measure - Jesus - we will fall on our faces before Him and confess our sin and shortcomings.

Lesson #2: Renounce Your Own Righteousness

Luke 18:12
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.

Isn’t this guy special?

The Pharisee started his prayer well - God, I thank you - but it went down hill fast from there. The Pharisee wasn’t really praying. He was boasting and bragging to God about himself.

Fasting does not make you righteous.
Tithing does not win you brownie points with God.

Fasting is something we need to do as followers of Jesus.

Tithing is something that as followers of Jesus we are commanded to do.

So understand what the Pharisee “says” he does are good and right, but they will not earn you salvation. And with the attitude the Pharisee has they don’t even honor God because they are all about the Pharisee, not God.

God is not impressed with you personal righteousness.

Isaiah 64:6
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Isaiah says that our good deeds are like a filthy rag. That term actually means menstrual cloth (I only share that with my close friends). The best I can do on my own is like a disgusting rag I will throw away.

Then in Matthew 5:20 Jesus says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Your righteousness has to be a righteousness from the inside out, not the outside in. The only way to have that righteousness is to be filled with it by the Holy Spirit.

Lesson #3: Rely on God’s Grace

Luke 18:13-14
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Tax collector had one prayer - MERCY!

Titus 3:4-5
However, when God our Savior made His kindness and love for humanity appear, He saved us, but not because of anything we had done to gain His approval. Instead, because of His mercy He saved us through the washing in which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and renewal.

Everything - life, salvation, blessing - is based on God’s goodness and grace, not anything I can do.

This just blew the crowd out of the water. He rocked their world. He said that the tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified by God.

WOW!!!

The tax collector, sinner, unholy, hated, traitor, dishonest was justified by God. Why?
The tax collector admitted he was a sinner.
The tax collector admitted he had sinned.
The tax collector asked for mercy.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about coming before God and admitting we are sinners and we have sinned.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about going before Jesus and saying the same thing the tax collector said. God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

If you need to trust Jesus for salvation - God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
If you need a closer relationship with Jesus - God, have mercy on me a sinner.
If you need wisdom or peace or hope or strength from Jesus - God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Whatever you need from Jesus - God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

In and With the Mercy of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

Joe