Outside In

“But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”  Luke 5:30 (NIV)

Innermost Being

Notice how the healing of Jesus has moved further inward.

• The first man had a skin condition - a need for healing literally on his surface.

• The second man was paralyzed - a need for healing in his spine.

• Now, we have moved even further inward (core) to issues of the heart - tax collectors were known for greed and corruption. They acted as intermediaries for the Romans, collecting taxes from the Jewish people. It was common for tax collectors to charge more than what was due them, enriching themselves at the expense of their neighbors.

• An even deeper heart issue and need for healing - Pharisees also acted as intermediaries for the Romans, gaining power and wealth for themselves at the expense of their own people. But here we see the Pharisees publicly condemning the tax collectors, while failing to see their own flaws.

Authentic Self

Often the things that we find most disturbing in other people are the very same things we dislike about ourselves

• Embrace our authentic self (Both beauty and flaws)

• What are a couple of things you like about yourself?

• What are a couple things you wish you could change about yourself?

• What are your most difficult relationships and what frustrates you about these people?

• Ask for healing (“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”- Luke 5:31-32)

Nothing Disqualifies

Nothing we have done or could ever do can keep God from moving toward us in love.

Jesus (Luke 5):

• Touches the unclean

• Rewards men who do property damage

• Parties with sinners

• Invites fishermen and a tax collector into His inner circle

Biblical Record: Do you know these Old Testament sinners?

• Murders - David

• Adulterers - Abraham, David

• Sons who trick their fathers - Jacob

• Fathers who trick their son-in-laws - Laban

• Sisters who compete against each other and pass that animosity on to their sons - Rachel & Leah

• Brothers who sell each other into slavery - Joseph

No Greater Love: God knew what would happen when he made humans, He knew about sin and what it would cost Him, and He decided to make us anyway

Free Choice: Love requires that God lets us choose our response to Him.

Costly Discipleship: Consider Peter, James, John, Andrew, and Matthew’s response

• They leave everything and follow Him

• Except later they become deniers (Peter) and abandoners (all but John)

• Jesus’s death and resurrection shows God’s love & they become sold out, all in proclaimers of the Gospel

Response:

How can you choose to respond to God’s love? What might you need to put down or leave behind?