Luke 5:27-32

 

Big Idea Of The Series

You’ll never really understand who you are until you understand who He is.

 

In Luke 5, the Pharisees tried to insult Jesus by calling Him a friend of sinners. Jesus took the title and embraced it, wearing it as a badge of honor because it was necessary for completing His task on Earth. 

 

Four Ways Jesus Is The Friend of Sinners

  1. He calls unlikely people to follow him (vv. 27-28). … A Jewish tax collector would have been treated as a traitor and thief by other Jews. They were shunned and despised. Why? When the Romans would conquer a land, they would get a local person to collect taxes from the people. These tax collectors wouldn't get a salary. To get hired, they would tell the Romans how much they could collect, then they would collect more and keep the extra for themselves. As a result, they were seen as traitors and thieves. Yet, Jesus saw Matthew (Levi) differently than everyone else did. He saw the man Matthew could become. So Jesus called Matthew to follow Him. 
  2. He isn’t embarrassed to be our friend (v. 29). … Matthew decides to throw a party and invites everyone he knows, who also mostly happen to be tax collectors. So Jesus goes to this party full of people who were seen by others as traitors and thieves. By doing so, Jesus makes the statement that these are the type of people He came to save. So, if Jesus isn't ashamed of us, we shouldn't be ashamed of Him. Matthew invited all these other tax collectors to his party so they could also meet Jesus. He recognized the importance of inviting his friends to also know Jesus. 
  3. He confronts religious hypocrisy (vv. 30-31). … The Pharisees were dedicated to following the Old Testament. They were so dedicated that instead of simply following the six hundred plus laws God had laid out, they made up another fifteen hundred to help them keep the original six hundred. Today, some of us still do something similar by trying to police what people wear to church or how the worship is done or how to act in church. By doing so, we can run off others who came to church to learn and to grow. This is something we should guard against. Try to avoid creating an air of superiority or country club environment. Keep church as a welcoming place, a haven for anyone in need, for anyone who seeks God, and for anyone who needs Jesus, which is us all. 
  4. He calls sinners to change (vv. 31-32). … As sinners, we were all heading in the wrong direction before salvation. Repentance is when a sinner realizes this and gets off the train to go the other direction. Even as believers, we sometimes find ourselves heading the wrong way again in a sinful life. We are still sinners and need to repent when we realize what we are doing. We must not get comfortable with the sin in our lives. Matthew stopped being a tax collector, stopped working for the foreign occupiers of his people, stopped thieving from other Jews. Jesus is a friend of sinners, but He doesn't approve of sin. He calls us to repent and change our ways. 

 

For Further Study/Resources Used to Prepare This Message

  • Who is Jesus? by Greg Gilbert
  • Exalting Jesus in Luke by Thabiti Anyabwile
  • Luke: That You May Know the Truth by Kent Hughes
  • Follow Me by David Platt
  • Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman,