Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him. Luke 15:1
We read in the book of Esther of a lovely young Jewish woman who had an urgent need to speak to King Ahasuerus. But there was a problem with that. If she entered his presence unbidden, and he was offended by that, she could lose her life. Approaching the king’s presence unbidden was a perilous adventure for Esther, and she was his wife! How much more dangerous would it have been for anyone else to try it? From the experience of Esther, we learn that King Ahasuerus was not an approachable ruler, to understate the case. Many rulers and leaders are inaccessible to most members of the public. Try arranging a cup of tea with King Charles, or an afternoon chat with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and you will see the meaning of inaccessible. How unusual, then, that there are no obstacles to entering the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords!
Our text tells us of the openness of the Lord Jesus to those who would want to meet with Him, and to listen to Him speak. The chief priests and the scribes, who ought to have welcomed Him gladly, refused to do so. They would even dispose of Him if they could. But there were those who were impressed that the Lord Jesus would listen to them and would permit them to enter His presence. He did not ridicule or shun them like the Jewish leaders did. The Jewish leaders treated them like they were hopeless outcasts with no hope of obtaining God’s favour. But Jesus spoke to them of repentance and faith in Him, showing them love and compassion, and welcoming them into a relationship with God. No wonder they wanted to hear him. Such a loving and compassionate approach to sharing the Gospel is just as effective today.
The publicans knew all about rejection. They were hated and reviled because they were in the pay of Rome and therefore seen as traitors. They must have been shocked when Jesus allowed, in fact encouraged, them to draw near to Him. Like the Lord Jesus, we should never identify any people, or groups of people, from whom we would withhold the Gospel message, or to whom we would not show the love of Christ. There are probably more publicans than Pharisees in Heaven.
The word sinners in our text refers to more than the sinnerhood of all of us. These were people whose low moral character was known to everyone in the community. These were the people you sheltered your children from, the topic of gossip and rumour, the bad examples that you pointed to when speaking about morality and goodness of character. By welcoming these sinners, the Lord Jesus is reminding us of the greatness of His grace and the all-sufficiency of His precious blood shed for sin and sinners.
The Lord Jesus never sent publicans or sinners away. Are you thankful today that he did not send you away either? – Jim MacIntosh