Often times Jesus was accused by the religious leaders of his day of spending time in the company of ‘public’ sinners or those ‘known’ to be sinners. Today’s Gospel is a case in point. Jesus has just called Matthew to follow him and become his disciple. Later, Matthew apparently has some kind of party in his home and we are told that Jesus was sitting at the table with many tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees who see this (most likely from outside the house) ask why Jesus is sitting at table with sinners.
Who were the “sinners” of Jesus’ day? Who is being referred to when the Bible says, “Those known to be sinners” or “public sinners”?
Well, first we know that tax collectors like Matthew were public sinners. People knew that they had sold out to the Roman occupiers and that they made their living off of collecting taxes from their own Jewish brothers and sisters. So, tax collectors were among those considered public sinners.
Prostitutes were also considered public sinners. Being a prostitute in a small village was nothing that could be kept secret. Everyone knew who you were and what you were doing. There was a public sense of scandal about those who had become prostitutes.
Adulterers were also public sinners. These were men or women who had been married and divorced several times. These were the men or the women who had left their families to be with someone else.
People who did not go to the Temple were also considered public sinners. Everyone knew who wasn’t faithful to their religious practices; those who didn’t pay their religious tithes, and those who didn’t observe the ritual laws of Judaism. These were the un-churched of Jesus’ day and they were well known.
Other public sinners would have been those who were mentally ill, alcoholics, transients, and those who did nothing for a living except beg or wander around the various villages or country-sides. They were very visible and were labeled the unclean or impure and were generally treated with contempt by the rest of Jewish society.
So, when we hear that Jesus was seen in the presence of public sinners, we get the point. Jesus spent time with the rowdy segment of society. He kept questionable company. He socialized with those who were considered to be a public embarrassment. His behavior was nothing less than scandalous., Jesus enjoyed table fellowship with such people. He laughed at their jokes and drank their wine and received hospitality from them. This kind of behavior bought him derision from the self-righteous people of his day.
When he was publicly questioned about this, Jesus told the religious leaders, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.” In other words, Jesus understood that it was his ministry and calling to seek out the lost and those who were in need of healing and forgiveness. His presence in the homes and at the table of public sinners was the necessary way for such people to receive the good news that God loved them too. These were the people who longed to hear, more than anyone else, that they belonged to God’s family too and that God cared for them even in their difficult situations. Jesus went to where the needy people were. After all, they were not to be found in the Temple so Jesus brought the good news to them where they could be found. There’s a saying that if you want to convert someone, you will have a better chance of doing so in the local bar than in the local church. That’s where Jesus was to be found. That’s where one could find people with the greatest spiritual needs.
This is true of Gospel work today. We can spend all our time preaching to each other who are already here in Church every week. But if we really want to do the work of proclaiming the Good News of God’s love we have to go where the people in need are: the bars, the streets, the jails and the homeless shelters.
These are the public sinners of our day and age and, often times, we know them. They might be prominent business people who are known to be corrupt. They might be the ones we have read about in the newspapers; the ones we know personally in our own tight knit community.
Public sinners are also those close to us: the family member who drinks too much or has an addiction to gambling or drugs; the relative who has been married and divorced several times; The brother who can’t keep a job. We all know of people who never go to Church and mock the practice of religion. We are familiar with people who lives hedonistic lifestyles— seeking only to eat, drink and be merry. Not only do we know of such people but we may be one of those public sinners. Perhaps our faults and sins are known to others within our own family or neighborhood. And as was the case in Jesus’ day, public sinners are those who are talked about in demeaning terms. Public sinners are those who we don’t invite to our family gatherings for fear of being embarrassed. They are those we constantly put down or preach to, not with love, but with a sense of disgust or frustration. For the most part, we don’t really want to be seen in the company of those who are openly troubled or problematic. We just stay away from them and hope that they will disappear.
Yet, Jesus makes it clear in his own ministry that people cannot be treated that way. There is a need for such people to belong and to be respected as human beings— as God’s children. Yes, their sins may be a source of embarrassment and chagrin but all the more reason for us to reach out to them. If the sick need a physician, then we are the physicians who are called to minister to the sick among us. We are followers of the divine physician. We work for him and we must be about his work. This means that we must be willing to spend time with the spiritually sick and to share with them the unconditional love of God. In doing so, we don’t make ourselves out to be better than they are. Rather, we extend our hands to them knowing that we, too, our sinners in God’s eyes and that we, too, are capable of committing the same sins as those we criticize most. And, if we have been on the receiving end of God’s mercy and love, then we must share that mercy and love with those who we know need it.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that it is our job to change people. We may never get a person to go to Church or to settle down in life or to kick an addiction. In fact, we may often feel frustrated knowing that sinners will keep on being sinners. Yet, we should know that when Jesus sat at table with sinners he didn’t do so with the goal of converting all of them. He was simply extending to them the presence of a loving God so that they might know what was available to them. Some, like Matthew, followed Jesus immediately. Others, while enjoying Jesus’ company, did not choose to follow.
Either way, our ministry is to offer ourselves in service to those who are struggling in various ways. We do that by letting people know that we do care and that we love them. We offer them hope and support. And we love them as Jesus loves them.
As Jesus told the Pharisees: “Go learn the meaning of the words, ‘it is mercy, not sacrifice that I desire.’ In other words, what pleases God most is that we are merciful to the lowliest and most needy of our brothers and sisters. Acts of self-righteousness do not impress God . What does impress God is the love and mercy we show to those who need it most.