Jesus is Calling You
The great Victorian preacher, Charles Spurgeon, once told a story about a crossing-sweeper—someone who swept the dirty street ahead of a wealthy person, in exchange for a tip. Apparently, an artist wanted to paint the city and include an unkempt, ragged, filthy crossing-sweeper in the picture. The artist said to the ragged individual, "I will pay you well if you will come down to my studio and let me take your likeness." The man came to the artist’s studio in the morning, but he was swiftly sent away because he had washed his face, combed his hair, and donned a respectable suit of clothes. The man was no longer needed for the picture—the artist only wanted to include him in the painting as a beggar. What type of person does God include in His presence? Does God reach out to the ragged and battered? Or does God only seek those who appear respectable in the eyes of the world? The Gospel of Matthew reveals the answer, and it might just surprise you.
In Matthew 9, we’re told that Jesus “saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me’ (v. 9). It was scandalous that a religious leader like Jesus called a tax collector to be His disciple. Tax collectors worked with the Romans, who had annexed the homeland of the people of God. Tax collectors like Mathew were Israelites who collected money for the Romans. They were seen as traitors and they had a reputation for corruption and extortion – taking more money than required by law, and keeping a healthy chunk for themselves. The scandalous behaviour of Jesus only intensified as He proceeded to eat with Matthew. We’re told that, as Jesus “reclined at a table in the house…many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.” (v. 10)
The Pharisees were disgusted, and asked “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (v. 11). Jesus replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…” (v. 12) This statement was shocking. The Pharisees were a particularly conservative group within Judaism; scrupulously religious and law-abiding, and they saw themselves as the guardians of God’s law. They considered themselves “righteous” and distanced themselves from “sinners” such as tax collectors. They avoided being “contaminated” by tax collectors who collaborated with the Romans and betrayed God’s people through extortion and theft.
It is natural for us to assume that Jesus wants only respectable people to follow Him. If a company is hiring workers, it recruits the best labourers. If a school is recruiting students, it admits the best academics. But Jesus is altogether unique. He is actively looking for people who are openly, honestly, even painfully aware of their need. He declared, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (v. 13). Jesus was keenly focused upon the broken, the wayward, the sinful—so much so that He went to the cross precisely to die for sinners and pay the penalty for sin. Today, if you are feeling weak, sinful, and needy, Jesus is calling you. If you are feeling covered in guilt and shame—a spiritual outcast—Jesus is beckoning you. In the words of one famous hymn, “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling—calling for you and for me; patiently Jesus is waiting and watching—watching for you and for me! Oh for the wonderful love He has promised; promised for you and for me. Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon; pardon for you and for me!”