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bigmike

Luke 7:34 (LSB) 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
We frequently hear Jesus spoken of as a friend of sinners.
The religious leaders in His day accused Him of this.
We also hear many speakers teach about this as well.
And it is true. He spent time dining and fellowshipping with them around the table on numerous occasions.
But is it true in the ways that we have heard stated? Let’s take a look!
The accusation of the Pharisees and other religious men attempted to paint Jesus as irreverent, a drunkard (wine drinker), and of spending time with those who were “sinners” (irreligious Jews) and tax collectors.
Many teachers today also call Jesus a friend of sinners. But they use this phrase, which was originally spoken as an insult, to paint a picture of Jesus as someone who embraced them without addressing the sin in their lives.
Both uses of the phrase “friend of sinners” have partial truths in them. But we must be careful not to use the phrase loosely at the risk of painting an incorrect picture of why Jesus did what He did.
Jesus did not hang with “undesirables” for the simple sake of eating food and drinking wine with them.
He did these things to shine light on them; to show them love despite the labels they had been given by others in society who looked down on them and held themselves as being worthy of being called righteous, albeit by their faulty works.
And on many occasions, He addressed their sin directly, encouraging them to “sin no more”.
The end goal of Jesus was to lead them to repentance. How do we know that? By His own words.
Luke 5:31-32 (LSB) 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
So let us never mistake the actions of Jesus as condoning sin. But rescuing them, showing them truth wrapped in grace, to “heal them” from their sinful condition, and to lead them to repentance.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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