“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” (John 6:37)
Jesus had some hard teachings that even his disciples had a difficult time understanding. Many even stopped following Him because they couldn’t accept what He was teaching (John 6:60-66). However, Jesus was never needlessly exclusionary. He was unusual among the teachers of His day in that He gave a seat at the table to those who were normally pushed to the side in His society. It didn’t matter who they were, where they came from, or what they’d done if they came to Him in faith.
The infamous welcomer.
This is a non-exhaustive list of a few of the people Jesus welcomed in opposition to social, cultural, and religious norms:
- Tax collectors (Matthew 9:10-13)
“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
Tax collectors were Jews who worked for the Romans, so they were resented, especially because many tax collectors abused their position and became quite wealthy that way. Not only did Jesus call a tax collector (Matthew) as one of his closest group of disciples and friends, he had dinner with a whole bunch of them, raising some eyebrows among the Pharisees.
- Sinners (Luke 7:36-50)
“When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.’”
The religious leaders often had trouble understanding why Jesus chose to associate with people who had a bad reputation, were considered unclean, or who had lived sinful lives like this particular woman. But Jesus not only allowed the woman to be near Him, he helped the Pharisee see that she was just as worthy of forgiveness as anyone else and actually had showed more love than the Pharisee had.
- Samaritans (John 4:1-42)
“The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)”
Jews and Samaritans were historical enemies, had separate places of worship, and didn’t associate with each other. When Jesus speaks with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in Sychar, she points this out. For Jesus, a Jewish man, to be talking with her is a major breach of protocol. However, Jesus goes even further and stays with the Samaritans in Sychar for two days at their request, resulting in many being saved.
- Children (Mark 10:13-16)
“People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”
The Bible doesn’t mention why the disciples wanted to send the children away, but perhaps they thought the children would bother Jesus or weren’t the highest priority for Him. But Jesus makes it clear that even the smallest was welcome.
Although the following passages don’t include direct challenges like the previous four, here is an additional sampling of people Jesus didn’t turn away:
- A Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13)
- A Pharisee in the Jewish ruling council (John 3:1-15)
- A Royal Official (John 4:42-54)
- Lepers (Matthew 8:1-4)
- The Demon-possessed (Matthew 8:16)
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Rich and poor, sinners and religious teachers, Jews and Romans, Jesus welcomed everyone who came to Him earnestly. He didn’t limit His grace to one social, economic, political, or ethnic people group. This was somewhat contrary to what people were expecting from the Messiah. For instance, the Jews expected the Messiah would help them overthrow Rome, but Jesus’ mission wasn’t political, and it wasn’t limited only to the Jews. Later, He would make it clear that His family was open to Gentiles and all peoples.
This indiscriminate welcoming earned Jesus plenty of outrage, particularly from religious leaders. But Jesus was more concerned that those who needed His message most got to hear it than about how many important Pharisaical feathers he ruffled in the process. The Jewish religion at that time as interpreted by the religious leaders was focused on adherence to rules, which would keep you righteous and clean. But Jesus came to point out that that system could never make people righteous enough, that only faith in Him would do that. But it was shocking to many that Jesus was associating with people considered unclean and unrighteous rather than rewarding those who had been “good” according to the rules of their religion. When asked why He ate with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus answered, “go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” He wanted to teach them that He was most pleased not by outward rituals and signals of righteousness, but by love shown to others, no matter how unworthy.
What about us?
If Jesus welcomed all who came to Him, regardless of who they were, shouldn’t we be doing the same as his representatives? The church ought to be the most welcoming place of all, yet sadly that’s not always the case. When gathered into groups, human beings often have the tendency to form cliques, and Christians are no exception. But because more is expected of us, we need to periodically ask ourselves some questions to make sure we aren’t excluding people whom Jesus wants to reach:
- Do we welcome all people or do we push some away?
- Do we have prejudices we need to address regarding who should and shouldn’t be welcomed?
- Do we have extra criteria we require of people to be one of God’s family—beyond what God requires?
If we as the Christian church are ever tempted to turn away from people because we don’t feel they’re “worthy” enough, maybe we need to “go and learn what this means” too.
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