Jesus Christ

Eats With The Sinners

By

The Twelve Apostles

Those Who Are Well Have No Need Of A Physician

The news soon spread through all the land that Jesus was at home and then the people came in throngs to welcome Him. And Matthew, one of the twelve, a man of wealth, whose home was in Capernaum, spread forth a sumptuous (luxurious) feast, and Jesus and the foreign ministers and the twelve, and people of all shades of thought, were guests. And when the Pharisees observed that Jesus sat and ate with publicans and those of ill repute they said, “For shame! This man who claims to be man of God, consorts with publicans and courtesans and with the common herd of men. For shame!”

When Jesus knew their thoughts He said, “They who are well cannot be healed. The pure need not be saved. They who are well are whole. They who are pure are saved. They who love justice and do right need not repent. I came not unto them, but to the sinner I am come.”

A band of John's disciples who had heard that John was dead were wearing badges for their dead. They were fasting and praying in their hearts, which when the Pharisees observed they came to Jesus and they said, “Why fast the followers of John and your disciples do not fast?”
And Jesus said, “Behold, you are experts of the law. You ought to know. Perhaps you will make known your knowledge to these men. What are the benefits derived from fasts?” The Pharisees were mute. They answered not.

Then Jesus said,

“The vital force of humanity depends on what they eat and drink.
Is spirit-life the stronger when the vital force is weak?

Is sainthood reached by starving, self-imposed?
A glutton is a sinner in the sight of God, and he is not a saint who makes himself a weakling and unfitted for the heavy tasks of life by scorning to make use of God's own means of strength.

“Behold, John is dead, and his devoted followers are fasting in their grief. Their love for him impels them on to show respect, for they have thought, and have been taught that it is sin to lightly treat the memory of the dead. To them it is a sin, and it is well that they should fast. When men defy their consciences and listen not to what they say, the heart is grieved and they become unfitted for the work of life. And thus they sin.

“The conscience may be taught. One man may do in conscience what another cannot do. What is a sin for me to do may not be sin for you to do. The place you occupy upon the way of life determines may what sin is. There is no changeless law of good. For good and evil both are judged by other things.

“One man may fast and in his deep sincerity of heart is blest. Another man may fast and in the faithlessness of such a task imposed is cursed. You cannot make a bed to fit the form of every man. If you can make a bed to fit yourself you have done well. Why should these men who follow me resort to fasting, or to anything that would impair their strength? They need all the strength possible to serve the race.

“The time will come when God will let you have your way, and you will do to me what Herod did to John. And in the awfulness of that sad hour these men will fast. They who have ears to hear may hear. They who have hearts to feel may understand.”

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"

And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Explanations:

1. Prayer of obedience is what is required from humanity.

2. People should read their Yahweh’s Book Of Life and do exactly what God said.

3. You do prayer of obedience by abiding in the paths of righteousness.

Compulsory

The meaning and understanding of what is sin may differ from one person to another. Yet, the laws of God are compulsory, universal and steadfast.