Jesus, Friend of Sinners

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Luke 7:33-34 (ESV)

Here Jesus mentions some of the things people said about him. They're meant as obvious insults and also to discredit him with those who were following him rather than the Jewish authorities. So how did he come to be characterized this way? It was because these were the people he spent most of his time with. Now it is true that we see him at the Temple, in synagogues, and invited to the homes of Pharisees, but the majority of his time is spent with “sinners.” The Samaritan woman at the well, a Roman Centurion, Zaccheus, a woman who touches him in a crowd, the woman taken in adultery. Jesus came seeking the lost so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he was a friend of sinners. He came with a message of hope for sinners and sinners listened to him and many became his followers.

So what about me? What am I doing to cultivate friendships with sinners? More importantly am I looking for ways to share the Gospel with them? Do I spend time hanging out in places I might meet people or do I mostly hang in Christian circles? Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with Christian friends but still Jesus was actively seeking relationships with sinners not the “church crowd” of his day.

Jesus, friend of tax collectors and sinners and I’m glad. If not, Jesus could not be my friend because I am a sinner saved by God’s immeasurable grace. Lord, help me to see my neighbors, coworkers, and others you bring across my path as friends who need to meet the friend who sticks closer than a brother.