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Let's Be Honest With Ourselves | Matthew 9:9-13

Let's Be Honest With Ourselves | Matthew 9:9-13

Self-righteousness has no place here

Caleb Lee
February 13, 2024

Imagine you’re in school again and the teacher is pairing you up with someone to work on a project together.

But there’s someone in class who’s a bully. But you can’t do anything about him because they’ve got an older sibling who’s an even bigger bully.

You’d do anything not to be paired up with them right?

Tax collectors in Jesus’ day were like that bully.

But He asks one of them to follow Him.

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.

¹⁰ And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:9-13

You’ll notice that the tax collector Jesus calls is the same one who wrote the book that we’re reading.

Matthew was likely following Jesus and seeing His works before this point.

But Matthew’s life was likely one of luxury. He had money to spare and he was protected by the Romans.

Yet he gets up and follows Jesus.

Why?

Jesus hints at the answer in His response to the Pharisees.

The Pharisees, in their religious pride, ask Jesus what He’s doing eating with what they perceive to be the worst of the worst. Sure, everyone’s a sinner, but tax collectors are in their own category.

¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:12-13

Matthew joined Jesus because he recognized his need.

He recognized who Jesus was, the Savior of the world, and he recognized that Jesus had come to save sinners.

But more importantly, Matthew recognized that he himself was a sinner.

Which is much more than the Pharisees could say. They were more concerned with pointing fingers than they were with recognizing their sin, and their need for a Savior.

The decision to accept Christ as your Savior comes down to you.

I pray that you choose humility, not self-righteousness.

Have a blessed Tuesday, friends.