And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
The verse records publicans and other outcast sinners drawing near to hear Jesus with living interest and deep conviction, while the Pharisees and scribes murmured in scornful displeasure that He receives sinners and eats with them. Their charge was spread as a slur to bring Him into disrepute by insinuating that He liked vile company and approved of sin. He did not shrink from the charge but answered it with the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son, teaching mercy and forgiveness. His receiving of sinners was the outworking of God's seeking love, for He came to seek and save the lost and to call sinners to repentance rather than to condemn them. His welcome corrects the idea that God loves the sinner only after he repents, for salvation comes not through seeking after God but through God's seeking after sinners in order that they may repent, and there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. That answer rebukes holding the straying at a distance until they return, calling instead for them to be sought out with tenderness and help.
The Complaint and Answer
Publicans and other sinners drew near to hear Jesus, listening with rapt attention and living interest, and among them were social outcasts and people outside the Jewish nation who despised the rabbis and never entered synagogues. They were deeply convicted by His words and were given the chance to be saved. At that sight the Pharisees and scribes, with the rabbis, murmured in displeasure, scorn, contempt, and hatred, saying this man receives sinners and eats with them. They could not tolerate either the Teacher or the listeners who followed Him with eager interest.
The charge was spread as a slur to bring Jesus into disrepute, meant to make it appear that He loved vile and defiled company, approved of sin, and was insensible to wickedness and unconcerned about sin. By portraying His welcome as approval of sin they hoped to condemn Him for welcoming publicans and sinners and eating with them. Their murmuring came from self-righteousness, self-conceit, and pride as educated, refined, chosen and preeminently religious people who heartily despised publicans and sinners. Christ's mission and work did not harmonize with theirs, for He did not approve their works and gave them no flattering words to nourish their pride.
They were disappointed and angered that One who manifested so lofty a character would not mingle with them and practice their manner of teaching, but went about in an unpretending manner working among all classes of people. His purity awed and condemned them, and His lessons of humility, compassion, and love laid bare their selfishness and pride, so they felt only condemnation in His pure presence and turned from Him in scorn and would have none of Him. Their contempt for His compassion contrasted with heaven's joy over the restored, and their response to His love helped lead them to determine to kill Him. Jesus did not shrink from the charge or accept the criticism.
He answered the complaint with the parables of Luke 15, teaching mercy and forgiveness. He spoke of the man having a hundred sheep who leaves the ninety and nine in the wilderness and goes after the one lost until he finds it, lays it on his shoulders rejoicing, and calls friends and neighbors to rejoice with him because the lost is found. He spoke likewise of the woman having ten pieces of silver who lights a candle and sweeps the house and seeks diligently till she finds the lost piece and calls friends and neighbors to rejoice with her, and of the prodigal son. In those parables He laid the rebuke back on the leaders of Israel for failing the duty of true shepherds toward the lost, showing that His special work was for those in need rather than for those who thought themselves safe.
He turned their rebuke on them by showing that the publicans' conduct reflected their own course and the only way to correct their errors. He also used the parable of the unfaithful steward to warn and instruct the publicans themselves, whom He saw as people He could help but whose work could lead them into temptation, dishonesty, and further crimes. He taught these hardhearted critics without openly rebuking them, so as not to close their hearts, still speaking to them without giving up hope that they would perceive the force of His words. Many of them were deeply convicted, and the symbol would convict some who after His resurrection and ascension would receive the Holy Spirit and join the disciples as believers.
Christ's Seeking Love
His receiving and eating with sinners was the outworking of God's seeking love that draws people with cords of a man and with bands of love, going after the straying to the very edge of the precipice at the risk of His own life to find and recover them. He received them so they could hear His teaching, to enlighten the understanding, to let light shine on those He met, and to sow seeds of truth with every word. He met people where they were, among those willing to admit they were sinners, so that truth could reach them.
He came to seek and save the lost, to reach them and call them to repentance, to recover them rather than to condemn or destroy them, because they needed a Saviour. He said He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, drawing near to every class rather than holding aloof. Those whom the religious leaders passed by needed help, were open to the light the leaders rejected, and were nearer the kingdom of heaven than their self-righteous accusers. The confidence of the Pharisees in their own righteousness left them feeling no need to repent, so they condemned His work of saving the lost.
His welcome corrects the idea that God extends love to the sinner only after he repents and that repentance is a work by which men earn heaven's favor and qualify to approach Christ. Salvation does not come through seeking after God, for none seeks after God, but through God's seeking after sinners. Men do not repent in order that God may love them, but God reveals His love to them in order that they may repent. That love was shown in that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
His welcome shows that all people, both Jews and Gentiles, are sinners in need of forgiveness and redemption, and that every character must meet God's moral standard. It proves the value of a soul straying from God, which is even greater than a lost sheep searched for until found, so that even the despised class could not say that no one cared for their soul. In His presence even the worst felt escape from the pit of sin was possible, since He greeted them as children of God estranged from the Father's house but not forgotten by the Father's heart. Their very misery and sin made them more the objects of His compassion, so that the farther they had wandered the more earnest was His longing and the greater His sacrifice for their rescue, while He did not countenance those who stood apart in self-esteem and looked down on others.
As the shepherd seeks a lost sheep, heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. Likewise there is joy in heaven and in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. The manifestation of God's renewing grace on sinful men causes angels to rejoice.
Warning and Work Today
The lost-sheep answer rebukes holding those who stray at a distance or requiring them to return before anyone reaches out to them, for those who stray are to be sought out with care, tenderness, and help. The criticism that welcomed publicans and sinners to table fellowship revealed a hard-hearted, self-righteous attitude that held aloof from those who needed help and neglected them instead of showing compassion. The rebuke was laid back on the leaders of Israel for failing the duty of true shepherds toward the lost, showing that Christ's special work was for those in need rather than for those who thought themselves safe and praised themselves for supposed piety. He does not countenance those who stand apart in self-esteem and look down on others, including outcasts despised by others whom He welcomed.
Pretentious piety of long robes and praying on street corners wins no approval, for His teaching is against all vanity and pride as abhorrent to God. The complaint exposes the self-righteous pride of those who counted themselves chosen people and heartily despised the publicans and sinners whom He received, turning from Him in scorn because His lessons of humility, compassion, and love rebuked their selfishness and pride. The verse reveals the contrast between the proud, whom the Lord knows afar off, and the humble and contrite, poor in spirit and trembling at His word, whose prayers are heard in heaven and to whom God looks.
The contempt expressed toward Him for receiving sinners was a sneer at His work in the conversion of souls and must not be repeated. It must not be repeated by calling genuine revivals and conversions fanaticism because spurious revivals and spurious conversions also exist, or by dismissing genuine renewal. The manifestation of God's renewing grace on sinful men causes angels to rejoice, contrasting with contempt for His compassion at heaven's joy when a lost person is restored, yet through unbelief this work is often termed fanaticism and the messenger through whom God works is charged with zeal that is not according to knowledge.
Grumbling like the Pharisees because so much time is devoted to hunting up the lost sheep comes from living in spiritual darkness with a cold and dead heart, from not having kindled the taper from the divine altar, and from having no overflowing and subduing influence for good to pour out upon the lost. It marks churches that have had every spiritual advantage and have been given the most solemn truths for this time yet do not trim their lamps that they may shine. Whatever their numbers, such churches are weak, feeling no burden and no love or sympathy for souls for whom Christ gave His life. They complain of those who do carry this burden and watch and hunt for souls, thinking they themselves should have all the attention that the breath of life may be kept in their souls, expecting to be nursed like sick babies instead of longing like babes for the sincere milk of the Word, a terrible representation to the heavenly universe.
The lesson is to put away narrowness of vision, study His method of reaching every class by drawing near rather than holding aloof, and get into connection with those who do not know the truth. Again and again charged with receiving sinners and eating with them, His answer was that He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, eating with them so that truth could reach them, meeting people where they were and sowing seeds of truth among those willing to admit they were sinners. His example calls for the erring to be met with mercy and love alongside justice, and for a wayward child to be received with the same love He shows those who have gone astray.
The verse records publicans and other outcast sinners drawing near to hear Jesus with living interest and deep conviction, while the Pharisees and scribes murmured in scornful displeasure that He receives sinners and eats with them. Their charge was spread as a slur to bring Him into disrepute by insinuating that He liked vile company and approved of sin. He did not shrink from the charge but answered it with the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son, teaching mercy and forgiveness. His receiving of sinners was the outworking of God's seeking love, for He came to seek and save the lost and to call sinners to repentance rather than to condemn them. His welcome corrects the idea that God loves the sinner only after he repents, for salvation comes not through seeking after God but through God's seeking after sinners in order that they may repent, and there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. That answer rebukes holding the straying at a distance until they return, calling instead for them to be sought out with tenderness and help.
The Complaint and Answer
Publicans and other sinners drew near to hear Jesus, listening with rapt attention and living interest, and among them were social outcasts and people outside the Jewish nation who despised the rabbis and never entered synagogues. They were deeply convicted by His words and were given the chance to be saved. At that sight the Pharisees and scribes, with the rabbis, murmured in displeasure, scorn, contempt, and hatred, saying this man receives sinners and eats with them. They could not tolerate either the Teacher or the listeners who followed Him with eager interest.
The charge was spread as a slur to bring Jesus into disrepute, meant to make it appear that He loved vile and defiled company, approved of sin, and was insensible to wickedness and unconcerned about sin. By portraying His welcome as approval of sin they hoped to condemn Him for welcoming publicans and sinners and eating with them. Their murmuring came from self-righteousness, self-conceit, and pride as educated, refined, chosen and preeminently religious people who heartily despised publicans and sinners. Christ's mission and work did not harmonize with theirs, for He did not approve their works and gave them no flattering words to nourish their pride.
They were disappointed and angered that One who manifested so lofty a character would not mingle with them and practice their manner of teaching, but went about in an unpretending manner working among all classes of people. His purity awed and condemned them, and His lessons of humility, compassion, and love laid bare their selfishness and pride, so they felt only condemnation in His pure presence and turned from Him in scorn and would have none of Him. Their contempt for His compassion contrasted with heaven's joy over the restored, and their response to His love helped lead them to determine to kill Him. Jesus did not shrink from the charge or accept the criticism.
He answered the complaint with the parables of Luke 15, teaching mercy and forgiveness. He spoke of the man having a hundred sheep who leaves the ninety and nine in the wilderness and goes after the one lost until he finds it, lays it on his shoulders rejoicing, and calls friends and neighbors to rejoice with him because the lost is found. He spoke likewise of the woman having ten pieces of silver who lights a candle and sweeps the house and seeks diligently till she finds the lost piece and calls friends and neighbors to rejoice with her, and of the prodigal son. In those parables He laid the rebuke back on the leaders of Israel for failing the duty of true shepherds toward the lost, showing that His special work was for those in need rather than for those who thought themselves safe.
He turned their rebuke on them by showing that the publicans' conduct reflected their own course and the only way to correct their errors. He also used the parable of the unfaithful steward to warn and instruct the publicans themselves, whom He saw as people He could help but whose work could lead them into temptation, dishonesty, and further crimes. He taught these hardhearted critics without openly rebuking them, so as not to close their hearts, still speaking to them without giving up hope that they would perceive the force of His words. Many of them were deeply convicted, and the symbol would convict some who after His resurrection and ascension would receive the Holy Spirit and join the disciples as believers.
Christ's Seeking Love
His receiving and eating with sinners was the outworking of God's seeking love that draws people with cords of a man and with bands of love, going after the straying to the very edge of the precipice at the risk of His own life to find and recover them. He received them so they could hear His teaching, to enlighten the understanding, to let light shine on those He met, and to sow seeds of truth with every word. He met people where they were, among those willing to admit they were sinners, so that truth could reach them.
He came to seek and save the lost, to reach them and call them to repentance, to recover them rather than to condemn or destroy them, because they needed a Saviour. He said He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, drawing near to every class rather than holding aloof. Those whom the religious leaders passed by needed help, were open to the light the leaders rejected, and were nearer the kingdom of heaven than their self-righteous accusers. The confidence of the Pharisees in their own righteousness left them feeling no need to repent, so they condemned His work of saving the lost.
His welcome corrects the idea that God extends love to the sinner only after he repents and that repentance is a work by which men earn heaven's favor and qualify to approach Christ. Salvation does not come through seeking after God, for none seeks after God, but through God's seeking after sinners. Men do not repent in order that God may love them, but God reveals His love to them in order that they may repent. That love was shown in that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
His welcome shows that all people, both Jews and Gentiles, are sinners in need of forgiveness and redemption, and that every character must meet God's moral standard. It proves the value of a soul straying from God, which is even greater than a lost sheep searched for until found, so that even the despised class could not say that no one cared for their soul. In His presence even the worst felt escape from the pit of sin was possible, since He greeted them as children of God estranged from the Father's house but not forgotten by the Father's heart. Their very misery and sin made them more the objects of His compassion, so that the farther they had wandered the more earnest was His longing and the greater His sacrifice for their rescue, while He did not countenance those who stood apart in self-esteem and looked down on others.
As the shepherd seeks a lost sheep, heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. Likewise there is joy in heaven and in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. The manifestation of God's renewing grace on sinful men causes angels to rejoice.
Warning and Work Today
The lost-sheep answer rebukes holding those who stray at a distance or requiring them to return before anyone reaches out to them, for those who stray are to be sought out with care, tenderness, and help. The criticism that welcomed publicans and sinners to table fellowship revealed a hard-hearted, self-righteous attitude that held aloof from those who needed help and neglected them instead of showing compassion. The rebuke was laid back on the leaders of Israel for failing the duty of true shepherds toward the lost, showing that Christ's special work was for those in need rather than for those who thought themselves safe and praised themselves for supposed piety. He does not countenance those who stand apart in self-esteem and look down on others, including outcasts despised by others whom He welcomed.
Pretentious piety of long robes and praying on street corners wins no approval, for His teaching is against all vanity and pride as abhorrent to God. The complaint exposes the self-righteous pride of those who counted themselves chosen people and heartily despised the publicans and sinners whom He received, turning from Him in scorn because His lessons of humility, compassion, and love rebuked their selfishness and pride. The verse reveals the contrast between the proud, whom the Lord knows afar off, and the humble and contrite, poor in spirit and trembling at His word, whose prayers are heard in heaven and to whom God looks.
The contempt expressed toward Him for receiving sinners was a sneer at His work in the conversion of souls and must not be repeated. It must not be repeated by calling genuine revivals and conversions fanaticism because spurious revivals and spurious conversions also exist, or by dismissing genuine renewal. The manifestation of God's renewing grace on sinful men causes angels to rejoice, contrasting with contempt for His compassion at heaven's joy when a lost person is restored, yet through unbelief this work is often termed fanaticism and the messenger through whom God works is charged with zeal that is not according to knowledge.
Grumbling like the Pharisees because so much time is devoted to hunting up the lost sheep comes from living in spiritual darkness with a cold and dead heart, from not having kindled the taper from the divine altar, and from having no overflowing and subduing influence for good to pour out upon the lost. It marks churches that have had every spiritual advantage and have been given the most solemn truths for this time yet do not trim their lamps that they may shine. Whatever their numbers, such churches are weak, feeling no burden and no love or sympathy for souls for whom Christ gave His life. They complain of those who do carry this burden and watch and hunt for souls, thinking they themselves should have all the attention that the breath of life may be kept in their souls, expecting to be nursed like sick babies instead of longing like babes for the sincere milk of the Word, a terrible representation to the heavenly universe.
The lesson is to put away narrowness of vision, study His method of reaching every class by drawing near rather than holding aloof, and get into connection with those who do not know the truth. Again and again charged with receiving sinners and eating with them, His answer was that He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, eating with them so that truth could reach them, meeting people where they were and sowing seeds of truth among those willing to admit they were sinners. His example calls for the erring to be met with mercy and love alongside justice, and for a wayward child to be received with the same love He shows those who have gone astray.