Matthew 9.9 As
Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax
collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed
him.
*9.12 12 On hearing
this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have
not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
*9.16 16 “No one
sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away
from the garment, making the tear worse. (NIV)
It took the context of this chapter for me to get it this
morning: I’ve never completely understood
the whole thing about patches and cloth and wineskins – at least not fully –
until today.
Jesus called a guy named Matthew to “follow” Him. And
Matthew did. Now, Matthew was a tax-collector, and tax-collectors then were no
more welcome than tax-collectors today – they were corrupt, cruel, and made
their living by overcharging everyone; for when they got what was expected,
they got to keep whatever over and above they could; and they were very good
at they could. Jesus reached out
to this man and offered him life in the Kingdom of God. The Pharisees howled in
protest. Jesus knew Matthew needed saved.
So, Jesus responded, “It
is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…” (Yes, Matthew is sick,
but he is also miserable and needs to be saved, not thrown out, or kept out, of
the Kingdom of God.) “For I have not
come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Yes, Matthew is a sinner and he
needs Me to save him from his sins.)
And then Jesus said: “No
one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull
away from the garment, making the tear worse.” Meaning: You cannot approach
the new with the old and have it work – this is a new day and calls for a new
approach. Jesus was there in a new day – the day God came to town – and to
accept God according to the old norms doesn’t work: it’s sinners who need
saved; not the righteous. A friend of mine quips: If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always be where
you’ve always been.
The Kingdom of God invites us to do something different;
something new – like save sinning tax collectors, and adulterers, and the dirtiest,
filthiest, rotten-est among us because it is they who need the salvation of God
– and they know it. The biggest
hurdle to the rest of us is admitting that everyone of us is no better than the
dirtiest, filthiest, rotten-est among us, and we all need saved! Follow God. Admit
my sickness. New patches, new cloth.
Father, it is indeed a new day. Not just because the sun
came up this morning but because the Kingdom of God is here. As I approach this
day may I: follow. Not just in my mind but in my heart as well. May I admit I
am no better than the ones we love to shun who deserve to be saved by Your Son.
And may I quit trying to sew new patches on the old cloth – it hasn’t ever
worked. New wine needs to be poured into new wineskins and I pray You help me
to do that. The righteous don’t need saved, the sinners do – it’s a new day.
Amen.
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