Matthew 9:9-17
Dinner with the King!
Read
John 1:16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Pray
Intro
Ex. Dinner with the Bible answer man
Haven’t you ever wanted to have time alone with your favorite Bible teacher to ask them all the questions you have!
Maybe over a leisurely dinner!
Will, can you imagine having dinner with the Author ~ King Jesus!
√ Dinner with the King
In the midst of Matthew’s retelling of the incredible miracles that Jesus did (chapters 8 & 9) he now records his own first personal experience with Jesus…
How he met Jesus at the office
How he enjoyed dinner with Jesus in his home
It is while they ate dinner together that some of the more traditional Jewish people challenged the way that Jesus and His disciples lived out their faith.
Jesus used their questions to clarify His message…
…that righteousness is a gift of His Grace, not a reward for keeping the Law.
We’re reminded that the Law is powerless to change us, or to save us. That it’s only by the Grace of Jesus that we can experience the power of the King to make us righteous.
He came to…
Give us spiritual health
Give us spiritual joy
Give us spiritual life
…which Matthew first heard while at dinner with the King.
Ap. Don’t go back to the Law!
Guard your heart against the draw of Law! Christians who try to incorporate the Law, or tradition, with their faith in Jesus will always end up without…
Spiritual health
Spiritual joy
Spiritual life
…because they suffer under a burden of a self-imposed law that they can never measure up to.
Only God’s Grace can change us and give us the true Christian experience.
Give spiritual health (Vs. 9-13)
Matt. 9:9 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.
Matt. 9:10 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.
Matt. 9:11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Matt. 9:12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Matt. 9:13 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.”
√ Give us spiritual health
Not only is Jesus the King, He is also the Great Physician!
He knows what makes people sick (physically, emotionally, and spiritually).
He alone has the power to make us well!
As we saw in the first section of chapter 9, Jesus is more interested in giving us spiritual health than physical healings.
He illustrates that point here by ministering to a man who is physically well…
…but spiritually sick.
That man is Matthew.
√ Sick sinner
Note that this section begins with the King’s call to Matthew to follow Him.
That’s a captivating thought in itself because no one else would have asked Matthew to follow!
That’s because Matthew was a tax collector and no Jewish Rabbi would even associate with such a man!
Tax collectors were wholly despised by the Jewish people and perceived as sinners, not saints.
Tax collectors worked for Rome.
Collected money to support the Roman occupation.
Used their power to extract extra money from their Jewish brothers for their own benefit.
Perhaps worse, we’re told that Matthew’s Jewish name was “Levi” (Mark 2:14) which some suggest indicate that he was of the tribe of Levi…
…a priest who was working for a pagan government oppressing the Jewish people!
So, that Jesus would call a man like Matthew to become one of His disciples should give hope to all our hearts because it reminds us that the…
…King came to heal sinners!
Ap. He’s calling you!
√ The Dinner Police
Matthew takes Jesus to his home where they sit down to enjoy dinner. We’re told in verse 9 that…
“...many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.”
…that caught the attention of the Pharisees ~ the dinner police!
Note their question…
“Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ~ Vs. 11
The reason for their question was that they interpreted the Law to say that eating with a sinner would “taint the saint”!
Ex. Middle Eastern culture
Meals were eaten from a shared dish in which everyone at the table would dip their bread.
To the Jewish mind the shared meal was a picture of oneness with those at the table.
Therefore, eating together made you “one” with the people sharing the meal and the Pharisee’s didn’t want to be one with a sinner.
√ The Great Physician
Just as He did in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ response shows us how to apply the Spirit of the Law, instead of the Letter of the Law.
He said…
“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.’ (Hosesa 6:6) For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Vs. 12-13
The Lord’s point is that His ministry was directed toward those who recognized that they had a need!
Those who knew they were sick sinners who needed a Great Physician!
Matthew was such a man! No one had to tell him he was sinner, his conscience already did!
The Pharisees were just as spiritually sick, but they didn’t acknowledge their need because they trusted in themselves and the sacrifices that they brought.
Worse, because they lacked compassion for other sinners (like tax collectors)…
…their sacrifices were meaningless rituals in God’s eyes (Hosea 6:6).
So, we’re reminded again that the Grace of the King is superior to the Law because…
…the Law brings judgment, Grace gives mercy.
Ap. Are you spiritually healthy?
What kind of Christian are you? Are you more like the Pharisees who maintained a strict life style…
…but lacked compassion for sinners?
Or, are you more like Jesus, uncompromising with the Truth but full of compassion for sinners?
You can discern for yourself by simply looking in the mirror!
If you see a sour disposition staring back
If you’re more concerned about the sin in everyone else’s life than the sin in your life
If you’re more like Martha than Mary
Then you’re trying to live your Christian life under the Law!
Recognize you’re spiritually sick and ask the Great Physician to heal you!
You’ll find yourself smiling the next time you look in the mirror!
Give spiritual joy (Vs. 14-15)
Matt. 9:14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
Matt. 9:15 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.
√ Give us spiritual joy
Illustrated by another group that questioned Jesus’ methods, that was the disciples of John the Baptist.
They wanted to know why Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast as they and the other rabbinical students did.
Ex. Jewish fasting
The religious leaders and their disciples typically fasted twice a week.
Believed that it made them pleasing to God.
Gave them power over sin.
Believed that it made them more righteous than others.
But, Jesus tells them that while He’s there it’s time to feast not fast! Because when He’s with His friends it’s like being at a wedding, not a wake!
Ex. Wedding vs. a Wake
A wedding is a celebration of new life and is marked by great joy and feasting!
A wake is a gathering of people to acknowledge the end of life and is marked by mourning and grief.
So, as long as Jesus is with the disciples then it would not be appropriate to mourn and fast.
Later when He would be taken from them, His arrest to His Resurrection…
…then, Jesus tells us His disciples will fast.
So, we’re reminded again that the Grace of the King is superior to the Law because…
…the Law brings condemnation, Grace gives joy.
Ap. Joy
Remember that the Christian life is supposed to be characterized by joy because of the presence of Jesus in our lives!
That doesn’t mean we won’t experience problems and difficult times in life.
Rather, that even in hard times we have a inner joy that can’t be contained because we know that the King loves us!
If you are not a joyful believer you’re probably still looking at yourself and others through the lens of the Law, instead of the eyes of Grace.
Give spiritual life (Vs. 16-17)
Matt. 9:16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.
Matt. 9:17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
√ Give us spiritual life
In these two illustrations Jesus shows us the incompatibility of the Law and Grace.
That is, the old system of religion and traditions can’t be fixed…
…it has to be replaced with a new relationship with the King.
1) Clothes
Note that Jesus says…
“No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.” ~ Vs. 16
His point was that He wasn’t going to patch up the old system of the Law…
…He was going to do something completely new!
Ex. A new work
The author of Hebrews writing to Jewish believers who were thinking about going back under the Law…
Heb. 8:13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Paul, the ex-Pharisee writes…
Gal. 3:24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal. 3:25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
So, Jesus tells us that we can’t patch up the garment of the Law, it must be replaced with the new robes of Grace!
2) Wineskins
In Jesus’ second illustration He tells us that He isn’t going to mix the new work with the old system just as one would not pour new wine into an old wine skin.
“Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” ~ vs. 17
Ex. Old vs. new wineskins ~ explain
The Jewish religion was a worn-out wineskin that would burst if filled with the new wine of the Gospel message!
Jesus didn’t come to renovate Moses, or even to mix Law and Grace!
He came to fulfill the requirements of the Law and to establish a new covenant in which righteousness is a gift to be received…
…not a reward for good works
So, we’re reminded again that the Grace of the King is superior to the Law because…
…the Law brings death, Grace gives new life.
Ap. New Life
Be careful that you don’t replace the Grace of the King with the Law that He died to fulfill!
Paul warned Gentile believers not to try to mix the Law with Grace…
Gal. 3:1 O foolish Galatians! (“my dear idiots”) Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?
Gal. 3:2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Gal. 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
So, beware of those who would tell you that you have to…
Keep the Sabbath
Eat a Kosher diet
Tie tassels on the ends of your clothing
…to please God.
God is already pleased with His Son and the work that He did on the Cross!
He loves those who love His Son, the King, and trust in the work that He did to make us righteous.
Close
√ Dinner with the King
We’re reminded that the Law is powerless to change us, or to save us. That it’s only by the Grace of Jesus that we can experience the power of the King to make us righteous.
He came to…
Give us spiritual health
Give us spiritual joy
Give us spiritual life
So, don’t go back to the Law!
Guard your heart against the draw of Law! Christians who try to incorporate the Law, or tradition, with their faith in Jesus will always end up without…
Spiritual health
Spiritual joy
Spiritual life
…because they suffer in the knowledge that they aren’t as righteous as they hoped to be.