Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Matthew 9:9-13

Matthew 9:9-13 
  For Caleb, there are two categories of bad food.  There's foods he doesn't like, and then there are vegetables.  The vegetables are a category unto themselves, they're that bad.
  I've always appreciated the way the Pharisees divide sinners -- you can be a sinner, and then the tax collectors are so bad that they get their own category!  Lumping them in with all the other sinners would give those sinners a bad reputation.  (Tax collectors were working for Rome, which was the invading army, so they were seen as traitors, and then they were often corrupt, so they worked for the occupying army and stole from their own people.)
  Despite this reputation, Jesus goes straight to the tax collectors and invites Matthew, a tax collector, to be his disciple.  With people like Matthew, Jesus formed a community that stretches around the world to this day.
  So let's not assume there is anyone beyond the reach and love and grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.  Not you, not me, not anyone.

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