Priests View the Cross 3

Luke 5:29-32

In one episode of the old “M*A*S*H” show there was a patient who thought he was Jesus. One of the doctors confronted him and asked, “If you are Jesus, why are you in a hospital?” The man answered, “I’m Jesus. Where am I supposed to be?”

It’s a silly sitcom, a show that by today’s perspective seems very sophomoric and out-dated, and yet in that episode, in that line, we have a truth of our faith. “I am Jesus. Where am I supposed to be?”

Where is Jesus in this passage? Who objects to this and why? What is Jesus’ response?
Levi, also called Matthew, a tax collector who is now one of the disciples, is hosting a banquet, a huge dinner in honor of Jesus. And this tax collector has obviously invited his co-workers, his peers, those people who are his friends. And the religious leaders object to this. They do not like the idea of associating with people who are not spiritually pure, with people who may have an unsavory or unacceptable background.

But Jesus explains that he has come to save these people, not the ones who are already on the right path with God. He has come to associate with sinners so that he might save them.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law did not have an accurate view of the cross. They saw God and His grace and love as being only for those people who were good enough to get it. But God’s love is for all people, and those who are living a life far from what God wants should not be shunned or avoided, but should be ministered to.

Jesus did not come to call the righteous to repentance, but to call the sinners to repentance. They are the ones who need the mercy more than the righteous.

We need to be willing to associate with people who are not of our faith. What do we accomplish if we have contact only with those people who are in our church? If our faith is strong and our love for God is pure, we should be able to go out into the world and deal with those who are living a life far from what God wants. And we should be able to resist being drawn into their sinful ways, and instead lead them to a holy way of living.

DAILY CHALLENGE: If you are to be an imitator of Jesus, then where are you supposed to be.