And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with publicans and sinners.
The curse of bigotry
The sins society winks at are worse than those it censures. The most alarming sin is the self-delusion that we have no sin. The pride of the Pharisees had made them so callous that a sharp lancet was needed to get at the wound.
I. Bigotry bespatters with mire the fairest deed. According to its creed, better that a tree of fruitful goodness should not grow than that it should depart by a hairbreadth from the prescribed shape.
II. Bigotry blindfolds its own eyes. It can only see sin when sin wears a particular hue. It can see avarice or theft, but not insincerity or pride.
III. Bigotry seeks its bad ends by crooked ways. These scribes lacked courage, so instead of attacking Christ openly they tried to undermine His authority with His disciples.
IV. Bigotry cheats itself of largest blessing. Christ would have illuminated and enriched these proud Pharisees if they had allowed Him to. But they were too proud to admit their hunger, and so they starved. He who thinks himself already perfect is past improvement. Like hide-bound animals he cannot grow. (D. Davies, M. A.)
An implied charge set aside
Negatively:
1. That Christ did not associate with publicans and sinners because He entertained too humble an opinion of Himself. He knew that He was intellectually and morally superior to them.
2. That Christ did not associate with publicans and sinners because He was not choice as to His society. “Evil communications corrupt good manners.”
3. That Christ did not associate with publicans and sinners because of His sympathy with them. It was not their wickedness that drew Him to them; morally He had nothing in common with them.
Positively:
1. That to have refused Levi’s invitation would not have been courteous.
2. That in accepting Levi’s invitation Christ displayed a spirit of condescension.
3. That by eating and drinking with publicans and sinners Christ exhibited a friendly disposition towards them.
4. That attending Levi’s feast gave Christ an excellent opportunity of doing Publicans and sinners good. (G. Cron.)
Christ’s relations with the world
To come, then, to the root of the whole matter; the supreme Lover of the universe, God, is in the tenderest relations to everything that is. Not that we are to make no difference between good and evil. We are to make a difference between them. If we have the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ our goodness will make us more lenient, more charitable, more patient with bad men and bad things. And remember one thing-that no human heart is ever cured till you can find another heart to brood it; for the cure of the heart is of the heart, and a loving heart cures an unloving heart; and as God lives by His purity to make more pure, by His love to heal men’s selfishness, by His beauty and majesty and power to draw men up out of animal life into spiritual life; so His followers may imitate Him in those respects, and make atonement for those who are ready to perish-the atonement that love is always making-and as far as they carry that out they may redeem men. (H. W. Beecher.)
Christ welcoming sinners
We are told that in stormy weather it is not unusual for small birds to be blown out of sight of land on to the sea. They are often seen by voyagers out of their reckoning and far from the coast, hovering over the masts on weary wings as if they wanted to alight and rest themselves, but fearing to do so. A traveller tells us that on one occasion a little lark, which followed the ship for a considerable distance, was at last compelled through sheer weariness to alight. He was so worn out as to be easily caught. The warmth of the hand was so agreeable to him that he sat down on it, burying his little cold feet in his feathers, and looking about with his bright eye not in the least afraid, and as if feeling assured that he had been cast amongst good kind people whom he had no occasion to be so backward in trusting. A touching picture of the soul who is aroused by the Spirit of God and blown out of its own reckoning by the winds of conviction; and the warm reception which the weary little bird received at the hands of the passengers conveys but a faint idea of that welcome which will greet the worn-out, sin-sick souls who will commit themselves into the hands of the only Saviour. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ in company with sinners; or, the law of social intercourse in the Christian life
We have in this narrative a beautiful illustration of the law of social intercourse in the Christian life, given by Christ, and which, therefore, may be regarded as of authority. We observe-
I. That the morally good must associate with the socially depraved. “How is it that He eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?”
1. That the morally good may take part in the social festivals of the depraved, but not for the mere purpose of social enjoyment or intellectual companionship. Christ did not go to the house of Levi merely to enjoy a sumptuous banquet, or to participate in the festivities of unholy men.
2. The morally good may associate with the depraved in the commercial enterprise of life. The good must have dealings with the unholy in the commerce of the world. The tares and the wheat must grow together until the harvest.
3. The morally good are sometimes brought into incidental companionship with the depraved.
II. That the morally good in companionship with the socially depraved must be animated by remedial motives, and must give forth influences ennobling to the soul. “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick.”
1. The Christian must go into the company of the morally depraved with right views of their sad condition, and with an intense desire for their recovery.
2. The Christian can give forth healing influences to the morally depraved by kindly words, by gentle disposition, by judicious teaching, and by unpretentious example.
Lessons:
1. That the morally good must go into the company of the socially depraved.
2. That the morally good are the physicians of the race; they must be careful not to take the infection of sin, and to exercise judiciously their healing art.
3. That society will best be regenerated by individual effort. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)