Tax Collectors and Sinners Draw Near to Jesus (Luke 15:1 and Haggai 2:10-13)

Luke 15:1 says, “Tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Jesus.” The end of the previous chapter contains the strongest verses in all of Scripture regarding discipleship. Jesus preached them because the crowds were bloated. They were filled with people who weren’t true disciples. Jesus wanted to thin the ranks. The tax collectors and sinners not only remained but drew closer to him. They were tired of their spiritual sickness, and wanted to be made well. Are you spiritually sick? There is a Physician who wants to make you well. Jesus wouldn’t turn away the tax collectors and sinners in his day and he doesn’t turn them away in our day. https://youtu.be/kXvRO7kDmEs Luke 15:1 says, “Tax collectors and sinners drew near to Jesus.” They were tired of their spiritual sickness, and wanted to be made well. Table of ContentsHoliness Can’t Be TransferredUnholiness Can Be TransferredUnholy People Rub Off on UsHow Do We Keep Unholiness Out Of Our Lives?First, Keep Unholiness Out of Your Life by Evangelizing Versus Compromising.Second, Keep Unholiness Out of Your Life by Pointing Tax Collectors and Sinners to the PhysicianRepentance Is the Physician’s PrescriptionTax Collectors and Sinners Who Know They Are Sick Draw Near to Jesus Jesus was able to deal with tax collectors and sinners while remaining holy. He sets a good example for us, because we should ask how we can be evangelistic and reach out to unholy people without becoming unholy ourselves. Let’s briefly consider verses that reveal that unholy people pose a threat to us. Holiness Can’t Be Transferred Here’s the context. After the Jews returned to the Promised Land following their exile in Babylon, they wrongly believed two things about holiness. First, they believed doing holy things like rebuilding the temple or offering sacrifices made them holy. Second, they believed being in the Holy Land made them holy. They didn’t understand these things wouldn’t make them holy if they were living unholy lives. God sent the prophet Haggai to correct their understanding. Haggai asked the priests two questions about the law, and considering they are the experts in the law, they would know the answers better than anyone else: On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” (Haggai 2:10-12). The first question was essentially, “What happens when something holy touches something unholy? Does what is unholy become holy?” The priests correctly answered, “No.” Healthy people can’t walk through a hospital and touch sick people and make them healthy. We can’t take non-spoiled food and touch spoiled food and make it non-spoiled. Similarly, holy people can’t touch unholy people and make them holy. Holiness isn’t contagious. It doesn’t rub off on others. Unholiness Can Be Transferred The second question: “Then Haggai said, ‘If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?’ The priests answered and said, ‘It does become unclean.’” (Haggai 2:13). Unclean is synonymous with unholy, so now Haggai asked, “What happens when something unholy touches something holy? Does whatever is unholy cause whatever is holy to become unholy?” The priests correctly answered, yes. The first question was about whether something holy can touch something unholy and make it holy. This second question is about whether something unholy can touch something holy and make it unholy, and it can! Maybe you’ve heard people say, “We’re going to take this unholy thing from the world— such as this movie, book, or music—and sanctify it or make it holy.” But this isn’t possible. If it’s unholy in the world, it’s unholy in our lives, families, homes, or churches. And if we introduce anything unholy from the world into our lives, families, homes, or churches, it makes our lives, families, homes, or churches unholy: Holiness begins in our minds and works out in our actions. That being true, what we allow to enter our minds is critically important. The television programs we watch, the movies we attend, the books and magazines we read, the music we listen to, and the conversations we have all affect our minds. We need to evaluate the effects of these using Philippians 4:8 as a standard. Are the thoughts stimulated by these true? Are they pure? Lovely? Admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy? Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, page 92 Unholy People Rub Off on Us What about when we are talking not about unholy things, but unholy people, such as tax collectors and sinners? Can they pose a threat to our holiness? Absolutely! This is why 2 Corinthians 6:14 warns, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” Consider these verses about the dangers of unholy people rubbing off on us: Proverbs 22:24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, 25 lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. The angry person doesn’t learn to control himself by being with the believer. But the believer learns to be like the angry man and gets himself entangled in a trap. Proverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. The companion of fools doesn’t save fools through their relationship. But the companion of fools suffers because the fool’s foolishness rubs off on him. Proverbs 14:7 Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge. Notice people are told to leave the presence of fools versus spend time with them to make them wise. One reason is because fools don’t listen. The other reason is so their foolishness doesn’t rub off on us. Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. Why is he blessed? Wouldn’t it be because he avoids the counsel of the wicked and influence of sinners? 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Good company doesn’t fix bad morals, but bad company ruins good morals. Paul says do not be deceived because we can be deceived into thinking associating with the wrong people won’t hurt us. We can believe their poor behavior isn’t contagious, but it is. How Do We Keep Unholiness Out Of Our Lives? So how can we be evangelistic and reach out to unholy people, without becoming unholy ourselves? Let me give you two recommendations that are rooted in Scripture. First, Keep Unholiness Out of Your Life by Evangelizing Versus Compromising. Consider these two verses: Galatians 5:13—You were called to freedom, brothers. only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 1 Peter 2:16—Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. One of the most common times people might use “[their] freedom as an opportunity for the flesh” and “as a cover up for evil” is in evangelism. They spend time with unsaved people and do unholy things. They might say something like, “Jesus hung out with tax collectors and sinners, so: “I am going to this bar because I want to share the Gospel.” “I’m close friends with these ungodly people because I want to see them become Christians.” “I go to this club, because I want to witness to the people going with me.” Is this true, or are these just sinful ways to feed the flesh? James 1:27  is a fitting verse that can apply to our evangelism: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” I know this is primarily about caring for the less fortunate, but a secondary point is that when we engage in religious activity we must keep ourselves unstained from the world. We are not to let the world’s unholiness rub off on us. In relationships we generally connect regarding our commonalities. If you think about the people you are closest with you probably have things in common that are important to both of you sports, books, movies, automobiles, or school. If you’re a Christian with another Christian, then you have Christ in common. But what does a Christian and a non-Christian have in common? They don’t have the New Man, or a love for Christ in common. But they do have the Old Man, or the flesh in common. Believers and unbelievers are not going to connect spiritually. They’re going to connect along the basest level: the flesh: God wants you to rub off on non-Christians friends, but Satan wants them to rub off on you. So remember: you can have friends outside the faith, but for your deepest comrades you should look to your brothers and sisters in Christ. Hang out with the holy. Get in with the godly. Spend time with the saved. Know who your real family is – the one where the Father is God. J. Budziszewski, How to Stay Christian in College, page 37 Thomas Brooks wrote, “Let your closest companions be those who have made Christ their closest companion.” Second, Keep Unholiness Out of Your Life by Pointing Tax Collectors and Sinners to the Physician Consider Jesus’s approach: Luke 5:27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled