Matthew chapter 9, starting at verse 9.
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him,
Follow me. And he rose and followed him.
And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came,
and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples,
Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
But when he heard it, he said,
Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Go and learn what this means.
I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying,
Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?
And Jesus said to them,
Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
No one puts a piece of untrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment,
and a worse tear is made.
Neither the new wine put into an old wineskin.
If it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed.
But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.
Well, if you want to open up to Matthew 9, I'll keep it open.
That'll be helpful.
Make sure what I'm saying is true.
Well, if you were to picture the final goal that God is moving all human history towards,
so heaven on earth, in other words,
what would you picture?
What's it look like?
Scripture gives us a lot of pictures that develop certain aspects of what we can look forward to.
One of them is a great wedding banquet, a feast.
Why?
Because it's a great gathering, and it's full of celebration.
That's what it's marked by.
Why is it full of celebration?
Because of the permanent covenant union between two people
who have given themselves for each other in love.
Isaiah 62 verse 5 picks this up.
So this is the Lord speaking to his people.
For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you.
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
It's quite an emotion-filled image.
God's quite the romantic.
Heaven on earth will be so great because after all of human history of every one of us
chasing after other lovers, thinking we'll find life in them,
finally we'll be united with the God, the lover of our souls,
forever, at peace, in faithfulness.
And it's a time marked by celebration.
It's a banquet.
It's a great gathering.
So Jews of Jesus' day would speak of the time of the Messiah as being like a wedding banquet,
and blessed is anyone who's invited to that party.
We've already heard Jesus use this picture in chapter 8,
but surprisingly not using it for a Jewish person,
but the oppressor of Jewish people, a Roman centurion who expresses such faith,
just taking Jesus' word at face value.
Jesus says in chapter 8, verse 11,
I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
in the kingdom of heaven.
It's this banquet.
It's this reclining.
It's this wedding celebration.
In our passage this morning, we've got two paragraphs,
and the first one I think we warm to.
It's Jesus lowering himself, eating with tax collectors and sinners.
And then the second paragraph is about fasting and something to do with garments and wine,
putting it in new wineskins, and we're not quite sure what to do with it.
I think what unites these two paragraphs is this picture of the wedding banquet.
This is the goal of Jesus' mission.
This is the end point.
This is what God wants to achieve, this wedding banquet.
This is what Jesus' mission is about.
So I think that's what unites our passage this morning.
The main obstacle to achieving this union between God and people is our sinfulness.
We all know this, or hopefully we know this.
For Jesus to make this wedding banquet a reality, his mission must first remove the problem,
the thing that breaks the fellowship, which is a lack of faithfulness,
a lack of love for the Lord.
So let's get into the text.
Who will have a seat at this heavenly wedding celebration?
I think we get a glimpse of heaven in verses 9 and 10.
I don't think it's just a little moralistic story of lowering yourself and identifying with the lowest in society.
I think it's much more than that.
I think it's a picture of heaven.
Here is Jesus sitting with people like Matthew.
Above all your aspirations in life, I'm not sure what you're looking forward to this week,
what you're looking forward to this month, in the new year,
what is your greatest aspiration?
It should be having a place at this table, at this wedding banquet that Scripture talks about.
Do you want to arrive at the door and read the table list and find your name?
That should be our greatest desire, to be invited at this wedding banquet.
Don't you love those seemingly rare times?
Oh, I find them rare, where you're with friends, you're with family,
maybe at Christmastime coming up.
Or as Christmas, hopefully, is not stress and fighting,
but you know those rare times where you're just lounging around?
Maybe you're in the living room and the coffee table is just full of food
and some are just sprawled out on the floor, some are on the lounge.
No one's pretending.
There's no pretense in the room.
There's no personal agendas.
There's no tension.
There's just peace.
There's just enjoying each other's company.
There's laughter.
There's food and drink.
Some people need to loosen their belt.
They've just eaten too much.
You know that picture of just being together?
It's what we're looking forward to at Christmastime.
I think that's kind of the picture we've got here.
But instead of Christmastime, we've got Jesus, the Son of God,
God in the flesh, relaxing, reclining at table in the house,
totally at peace, eating and drinking and celebrating, no pretense.
Where is he?
Is he in Jerusalem, the religiously pure place?
No, he's not.
He's in Capernaum.
The people who have mixed their devotion with the world,
they're not devoted to God.
They're mixed up in the world.
Worse than that, he's at Matthew's house.
What's he doing there?
This is a sinner.
Other sinners would go, well, that's a bad guy.
Now, I don't know if you've watched the TV show The Chosen.
I think the show picks up well how much Matthew would have been hated.
This guy, you read it in Mark and Luke, the same story.
His name there is Levi.
So it's the same person, two different names.
He's a sinner.
Levi, he comes from the descendants of the Levites.
He should have been devoted to the temple.
But he's not.
What's he doing?
He's devoted to being a tax collector.
He's serving those who are subjugating God's people.
He would have been so hated.
And there was no corruption commission to stop Matthew from skimming off the top of the taxes for his own benefit.
He was stealing, robbing from his own people, devoted to himself rather than devoted to God.
And Jesus, seeing Matthew at the tax booth, notice that Jesus is the one who takes the initiative here.
I think it's similar to what we were reading last week with the healing of the paralyzed man.
Matthew is paralyzed in his devotion to himself.
He's sitting and Jesus says, follow me.
And he rose.
I think it's similar to the paralyzed man.
The command of Jesus makes him follow.
He leaves his world behind him and puts all his trust in Jesus to give him life.
So, Jesus is sitting at Matthew's house.
The worst of sinners, devoted to himself.
And he goes to Matthew's house.
And he's reclining.
He's celebrating with them.
He's at peace with them.
And many other sinners come and take their place at the table.
This is the picture of heaven.
Relax together around the table.
It's a glimpse of the everlasting wedding feast to come.
I think it's a beautiful picture.
It's the thing that's moved me most this week.
That Jesus wants to recline with me.
Totally at peace.
He knows my sin.
He's not pretending here.
He knows our sin.
But this is the goal.
To be at peace together in the kingdom forever.
So, do you think you're too sick for God?
Too unworthy to be invited to sit at the table?
Then I'd encourage you to soak in this picture.
Jesus is the friend of sinners.
In fact, he only wants sinners as his friends.
More than a friend, as we're tied up in the second paragraph as well,
he's the groom of sinners.
Even for those who everyone else has given up hope for,
even for those who have given up hope for themselves,
Jesus has come for those very people.
So, whenever you're feeling full of guilt and shame,
remember, you're not too sick for the doctor.
If you feel drawn to the almost unbelievable just acceptance that Jesus has,
then don't wait until you feel better to come to him.
Your place, your acceptance with him isn't because you're a great patient.
It's because he's a great doctor.
Don't wait until you are better before you come to him.
He's a friend of sinners, the worst of sinners.
You're never too sick to come to him.
There is a place at his table.
You are invited.
Come as you are.
He won't leave you as you are.
Fellowship with him will change you.
You won't stay as you are, but come as you are.
Whenever you're plagued with guilt,
feeling unworthy to open his word,
unworthy to pray,
unworthy maybe to walk into church,
you're too dirty to be among holy people like us.
Whenever we're thinking those wrong thoughts,
Jesus is the friend of sinners.
It's fellowship with him that will renew your hope
that one day your sin will totally be gone
and there will be that full peace.
It's fellowship with him that will actually remind us
of why sin is so awful in the first place
because it breaks that fellowship.
It robs us of that fellowship.
It may not break it completely,
but it robs us of enjoying that fellowship.
And fellowship with him
will make us boast in his grace towards us,
not in our own ability or goodness.
So come to him.
You are never too sick to come to him.
And notice in this passage,
who doesn't want a place at the table.
It's the righteous Pharisees.
I think we might be attracted to this story
for the wrong reasons today.
I think we might be cheering Jesus on
that he's sticking it to the establishment.
Go, Jesus.
Align yourself with the minority,
with the oppressed.
Stick it to the establishment.
Stick it to those who have all the power.
Taking down the oppressors.
Defending the marginalized.
But Jesus doesn't rebuke the Pharisees
for being religious leaders.
He doesn't rebuke them for that,
the fact that they did have social influence and power.
That's not their problem.
If we hear Jesus' rebuke of the Pharisees properly,
it's going to help us understand our own sin properly.
I think we always get back into that thinking of
sin is bad behavior.
I think we're just inclined to think that way.
But sin is much, much deeper than that.
So let's hear...
Jesus does have a go at the Pharisees.
Don't get me wrong,
but let's hear what the problem is
and not jump to our modern conclusions.
To do that,
I want to first appreciate the Pharisees.
You don't hear that in every sermon.
We love to hate Pharisees.
But consider Matthew.
Matthew was devoted to himself,
greed at the expense of his people,
not serving God.
He was not even trying to love God.
And then you've got Pharisees
who were totally devoted to keeping God's law
and the Jewish tradition.
Totally devoted.
Let me just give you two examples
that are probably going to make us all
feel a bit uncomfortable
because it puts us to shame
with how devoted they were.
Consider their giving.
How much did they give?
The Old Testament commanded tithing 10%
of all produce to the Lord
to thank him, acknowledge him
as the giver of all things
and to give to the work of his temple,
of his kingdom work.
The New Testament tithing is changed.
It's not the law anymore,
but it's kind of expanded.
In 2 Corinthians 8,
it's out of the joy that we have in Christ
that we give in our poverty.
It's not 10%.
It should be more than that.
It should be coming from a heart of joy in the Lord.
In chapter 23 of Matthew,
now the full context there,
we won't go into it.
Jesus is again rebuking the Pharisees,
but notice the good part of what they do,
how devoted they were.
They would tithe even their herbs in the garden.
Not just their main income,
but the herbs, the mint, the dill, the cumin.
Did I say that right?
I always get cumin.
It's like us on the way to church,
we find a dollar coin
and we go to the bank and break it
so that we can give the 10 cents.
It's that precise in making sure they keep the law.
Well, what about their missionary zeal?
We're called at the end of Matthew's Gospel
to join Jesus in his mission to the world,
to the lost.
We do that ourselves
as we are light
in wherever God has planted us,
but also by supporting the church
in sending out gospel workers.
In chapter 23 again,
we're told the Pharisees were willing
to travel across seas and land
to make one disciple.
Would we be willing to give up
a large portion of our life and income
to make one follower of Jesus?
The Pharisees would.
Well, not of Jesus,
of their own brand.
These were devoted people.
So the question I've had
in thinking about this passage is,
why did Jesus come to call sinners
and not the righteous?
At least the Pharisees were trying.
Matthew wasn't even trying.
We need to understand
why Jesus quotes Hosea in verse 13.
Go and learn what this means.
I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
This is the rebuke.
This is their problem.
Now, what does he mean?
At face value,
that's quite a confusing sentence.
Does it mean that God never
wanted those animal sacrifices
commanded in the Old Testament?
That doesn't really make sense
because God commanded it.
It was a pleasing aroma to him
when people did it properly.
So what does this mean?
Well, let's go back to Hosea
and see what the problem was
in his day.
Do you remember the prophet Hosea?
I think he's one of the most memorable
because he's the one
who's instructed to marry
an adulterous woman.
And their marriage was
to be a living parable
of the relationship
between the Lord and his people.
And like Hosea's wife,
Israel had gone after other lovers.
Instead of finding their life in God,
their bread,
and their safety,
their security,
they go after other gods
to get those things.
Spiritually adulterous.
And in chapter 6 of Hosea,
on the surface,
there was still plenty
of religion going on,
plenty of good behaviour
still going on
on the surface,
but inside,
they were chasing other lovers.
They weren't trusting the Lord
to give them life.
And so Hosea 6,
your love is like,
your love for the Lord,
your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew
that goes early away.
I desire steadfast love,
not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God,
rather than burnt offerings.
In other words,
the Lord isn't pleased
with externally good behaviour
if inwardly a person
is giving themselves
to another lover.
It would be like a wife
who flirts and flirts
with other men.
I'm stealing this from Matt Hand
who did a youth talk
on jealousy on Friday night
that God's a jealous God.
Someone who flirts and flirts
but then thinks her husband
should be pleased
that she takes care
of the laundry.
It's not about the behaviour.
Where's your affection?
Where's your devotion?
Where's...
That belongs to me,
says the Lord.
I want steadfast love.
It belongs to him
as our creator,
our saviour.
This is a sharp rebuke
of the Pharisees.
Yes, on the surface,
in your behaviour,
you are good,
or you seem good,
but inwardly,
you do not love God.
You're not...
You're going after
something else.
And for the Pharisees,
I think we saw in chapter 6
where they'll do their religion
to be seen by others.
It's probably their love of status
and glory in the community.
Could be something different
for you and I.
So where do we see
in this passage
that shows the condition
of the Pharisee's heart?
I think it's in
that loaded question
to the disciples.
We all know
when someone asks a question
but really they're making
a statement.
I think of a dad
saying to a teenage daughter,
are you really
going to wear that?
That is not a question.
That's a statement.
That's an accusation.
Listen to their question,
why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors
and sinners?
They're not wanting to learn.
If they wanted to learn,
they'd probably do
what John's disciples do
and go to Jesus himself.
They're talking to the disciples,
not to Jesus.
Their question is an accusation.
Your teacher is unholy,
befriending people like this,
associating with people like this.
Notice what the Pharisees
don't do.
They're not attracted
to Jesus' compassion.
They're disgusted by it.
They aren't even intrigued by it
and want to find out more.
They don't ask for a seat
at this table.
Let me put it this way.
They are so devoted to God
that when they see God's mercy,
they're repelled by it.
Their behaviour might look good,
but they don't love
the mission of Jesus.
They don't love his mercy.
Even in Hosea's day,
the heart of God
is seen as he pursues his people.
It says in Hosea 2,
I will betroth you to me forever.
I will betroth you to me
in righteousness,
in justice,
in steadfast love,
in mercy.
I will betroth you to me
in faithfulness,
and you shall know the Lord.
Here is Jesus
showing this same grace.
And the Pharisees,
they don't like it.
They don't like it,
what they see.
They think they're too good
to want any part of it.
They don't realise
how sick they are.
Jesus isn't saying here
that there's two categories
of people,
sick and healthy,
righteous,
and sinners.
He's not saying
there's two categories.
There's only one category.
Everyone's sick.
They've all got
the same sickness.
Some are going to show it
by doing whatever they want,
like Matthew.
Others are going to show it
religiously
by being good people.
Same sickness
if you don't love
the mercy of Jesus.
What he's saying is
they had the wrong
understanding
of his mission.
Christ didn't come
for good people.
He came for bad,
people.
There's no such thing
as good people.
My principal at school
growing up
used to say this phrase
that puzzled me
for years,
only bad people
go to heaven.
It puzzled me
for years.
God's heart
has always been
for the lost.
He always wants
to relate
based on mercy.
And this helps us
understand
what the sickness
Jesus came to deal
with is.
It's not primarily
bad behaviour.
It will show itself
in bad behaviour
but the real root
sickness is
not loving
God,
his character,
his mercy.
That's sin.
Not loving
his mercy
and going after
other lovers.
teeth.
I heard an interview
by a dentist
once that
one of the
major problems
with people
with their teeth
is they only
go to the dentist
if they've got
pain.
There's a problem
with that
because sometimes
if you leave
that pain
too long
it can get
so corroded
in the nerve
in the teeth
that the pain
stops and you
think you don't
have a problem.
outwardly
you've still
got the teeth
but they don't
come soon enough.
You don't realise
how deep it is
there's no pain.
It made me think
of sin
but sometimes
we think it's
just behaviour
that is what
God wants
it's not.
We can get
not even realise
that we don't
love Jesus'
mercy.
Don't realise
how sick we are.
So do you think
you're too
healthy for God?
Some of us
are going to be
here this morning
thinking we're
too sick for God
but maybe others
of us are
thinking we're
too healthy.
We don't really
need his mercy
or maybe we did
back then
in our life
but we're
okay now.
Or I think
this pandemic
we've gone through
and we're still
going through
has exposed
our values.
We've had to
make choices
stark choices
about what
is more valuable.
We've got to
order our values
during this time.
I think
we're left
with a question
of what would
we want Jesus
to do at the
moment?
Would we want
him to put
our life back
the way it
was?
Maybe a little
bit better
than it was
before the
pandemic?
Or is
our greatest
desire that
we grow in
deeper enjoyment
of fellowship
with God
ourselves
and that
God would
use us
in bringing
others into
that fellowship
that we
enjoy?
I've got to
admit to you
this very
week
there's
something I'm
looking forward
to in January
that I got
excited about
and I'm
spending time
with some
unbelieving friends
next week
and I'm like
oh okay
yeah let's do
that.
it just
the excitement
wasn't
proper
proportion.
Are we
happy to
leave people
as they
are as
long as
they're
socially
decent
people?
Or do
we see
sin
the heart
that doesn't
want to
know God
as the
main evil
in our
lives
and in
the lives
of our
family
and friends?
maybe we
think
ourselves
maybe we
think
others
are too
good to
need
his
mercy
it's
not
their
main
need
but
Jesus
is the
friend of
sinners
he's
come for
fellowship
with
sinners
and then
we come
to that
third
section
the
second
paragraph
we've
still got
to deal
with
the
question
of
John's
disciples
from
verse
14
onwards
it
seems
to be
a
sincere
desire
to
understand
what
is
Jesus
about
what
is
his
mission
about
I
think
this
section
helps
us
clarify
why
devotion
to
God
will
look
completely
different
to
the
Jewish
law
why
does
Jesus
change
everything
with
all
this
eating
and
drinking
reclining
with
sinners
does
Jesus
and his
disciples
take
God's
law
seriously
do
they
take
sin
seriously
why
aren't
they
fasting
and
repenting
of
sin
longing
for
God's
kingdom
of
righteousness
to come
how can
they party
when sin
is still
so prevalent
sin
and
Jesus
makes
himself
the
answer
and
the
wedding
guests
mourn
as
long
as
the
bride
groom
is
with
them
imagine
turning up
to a
wedding
reception
and
going
let's
start
let's
celebrate
I'm
here
who
can
say
that
only
the
bride
and
groom
only
the
main
show
Jesus
is
saying
I'm
the
reason
everything
is
about to
change
you
can't
just add me in to God's law into your old way of thinking of how to relate to God I'm going to change everything something new is coming or is here the goal of God's goal of history that fellowship that wedding banquet has begun because the groom has turned up it's a claim to be
the anticipated king
God's
it doesn't it it doesn't seem right to be the cows on a man's norm of the christian
it doesn't seem right is he just pushing sin to the side he's not I think it's I think we get a hint of how seriously Jesus takes sin in verse 15 the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them before there can be a wedding
there must be an execution there will be a sacrifice it's just not the animal sacrifices of old
sacrifices of old. It'll be the groom himself. There will be a temple. It's just not the
temple of old. I'm going to be the meeting place. The groom is here. That picture is
no longer needed. The real thing, the groom is here. So it won't do to just add Jesus
to the old ways of being devoted to God. He's more than that. The goal is here. We need
new clothes for the wedding. We need new wine put in new expressions, new wine skins, new
ways of showing devotion to God. We're not told precisely in this passage what that new
form of worship will be, so we need the rest of the New Testament to teach us that. But
what we are told is Jesus changes everything. That great wedding day has arrived. Sin is
dealt with. It's taken away. That's what his mission is about. Completely dealing with
sin. I think we are given one hint as to what devotion to God is going to look like now the
groom is here. So if it's not obeying the laws of old, what does it look like to show devotion
to God? I think it's captured by that call of Matthew, follow me. Follow me. It's just
got to be all about him in other words. He's the new wine. And if Jesus' mission, if what
Jesus is on about is showing mercy, calling, reclining with sinners, then following him must
at least mean we join him in that. We love him, love his mercy and want to share that
mercy with others. The peace and fellowship we richly enjoy, knowing we are fully accepted.
Do we want that for our children? Do we want that for our extended family? Do we want it
for our friends? Do we want it for that person we have only one conversation with randomly down
the street? Do we want it for people on the other side of the world who will never meet?
Do we want that reclining with Jesus, at peace with him, knowing our sin is completely dealt
with? We're called to follow him in that mission, reclining with sinners, sharing his call.
The wedding banquet has begun. We're enjoying it already by grace, by faith in him. One day
soon. Just think, if all here this morning who have faith in Jesus, we will be seated there
one day in his presence. Excuse the expression, but loosening our belt because we can't quite
take in how much feasting there will be. We will be there one day. Do we want others with
Jesus? So, my sinful brothers and sisters, seeing this glimpse of that everlasting wedding banquet,
isn't it such good news that Jesus is the friend of sinners? You're never too sick for him.
But be convicted deeply if you ever feel like you've arrived. If you feel like, in this situation,
I don't need his mercy. We need to be convicted by that. And let's follow him on his mission.
Let's recline with sinners. Will you pray with me? Let's pray.
Let's pray.
Father, I just pray that you would press that image into our hearts so that it becomes the
greatest longing, the greatest joy, that we will be seated with you, fully at peace with
you, enjoying your company in that great eternal wedding banquet.
Lord, please fill our heart with that goal because that is your goal. And Lord, I pray that you would
help us just rejoice in your mercy, that we would worship you for that, that we would relate all of our
lives to your mercy, that everything we receive is because of that. Everything we have to look
forward to is because of that. So, Lord, yeah, make us look forward to that great day when we're seated
with you. Thank you that our sin is already dealt with. I pray that you would motivate us with your
same love for the lost, just as you pursued us. In Jesus' name. Amen.