Jump Start # 741

Luke 15:1-2 “Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

In our Jump Start yesterday, we took a look at the sinful woman who came to Jesus while He was at Simon’s house. She washed the Lord’s feet with the tears from her weeping. That woman wasn’t a good person. It occurred to me that many people that came to Jesus were not good people. This was something that the conservative Pharisees noticed. It bothered them. Why is the Holy One of Israel, surrounded with bad people. Many of those who came to Jesus had failed in life. They were immoral. Others were cheats who made a living taking advantage of others. Even among the chosen twelve, there was a tax collector. Another was a radical zealot. There is something to be said about what the Pharisees observed.

When we were young, our mothers told us to pick good kids for friends. They were concerned about influence and impressions upon young minds. Some of us listened and did well. Others did not. Some of the trouble we got into was because of the people we associated with. Friends, such as we called them, introduced and challenged us to do wrong. We often listened to them and followed their ill advice.

The Pharisees see Jesus surrounded with people who lived sordid lives. Many are not good people. This doesn’t look right. This doesn’t seem right.

Following our verse today, is Jesus’ answer to this charge. He doesn’t flat out say “yes,” or “no.” He tells three parables—lost sheep, lost coins and lost boys. The lost were sought out. The lost were found. The lost maintained some value. There was great rejoicing when the lost was found.

There is something to be said about the “bad” people Jesus surrounded Himself with.

First, to a degree, all mankind is bad, because all have sinned. The Pharisees would never see themselves as the same as tax collectors, or especially the immoral woman who came to Simon’s house. Jesus did. Everyone needed salvation. It could be that some of us have that trouble today. Those that get up every Sunday to go to worship seem better than those that never go. Yet our secrets, our issues, our sins are just as bad as others. It’s like driving at night. It seems that the car coming toward you has headlights that are more glaring than yours. In reality, he’s thinking the same thing about you!

Second, the “bad” people for the most part came to Jesus. The exception may be the woman caught in adultery. She was used to trap Jesus and did not want to be around anyone. The immoral woman came to Jesus in Simon’s house. Zaccheus was in a tree looking for Jesus. There is a sense in which these folks realized their lives were broken and that they needed something, anything else. Jesus was that hope. Jesus was a second chance. It is as if they were looking for a way out of their “badness.”

Third, we do not find Jesus going to bars, gambling houses or other places that are infested with people doing wrong. The tables Jesus turned over were in the Temple, not the casino. I’d expect that most in these bad places have not come to the point where they are wanting to change. They enjoy doing wrong and plan to continue to do wrong. Their hearts are cold and indifferent to God. Jesus wasn’t in those places. This is important for us. Preaching to the wrong who are content and wish to continue to do wrong only invites a fight. Some are not looking or even wanting a second chance. Some are not convinced and will not be convinced that they are doing wrong. Jesus did not get in shouting matches with those whose hearts are bent on doing wrong. It’s the good and honest heart that receives the word of God. Some times that honest heart comes to those who have been wrong. Those who seek will find is a promise of Jesus.

Fourth, Jesus did spend a lot of time with broken people. They were looking and He was the answer. He came to seek and save that which was lost. If saved people today spend all their time with other saved people, there will not be much opportunity to share the gospel and teach others. We, like Jesus, must associate ourselves with those who are “bad.” Light shines the brightest in darkness, not in a lighted room. Our fear of “bad” people with their rough language, their false ideas, their worldly thinking, their selfish attitudes is exactly where we need to be. Let us not forget where we came from and who we are without Jesus. To reach the lost, you have to have contact with the lost.

What a privilege it is to share the perfect news about God’s perfect son to those who need it so much! We are instruments of God. We are His hands, His feet, and His voice today.

Roger