Which Comes First?
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Matthew 9:9-12
Which comes first? The chicken or the egg? That was always the question that we asked as kids, and no one seemed to have an answer. Who am I kidding? I’m a fully grown adult, and I still do not know the answer! There are other things that remind me of similar type dilemmas. For example, great leaders are born and not made. Now I tend to believe that is a myth although my oldest daughter is someone who I have admired from afar. She was always one of the smallest people in her class, but everyone followed her lead no matter how big or small they were. She has continued that to this very day leading a team at FedEx, where they absolutely adore her. I always ask myself how that happened? I guess God knew something about her before her mother and me did.
This brings me to another dilemma that was presented to me in a book I was reading on the purpose of Jesus. The question is what does God want? Does He want us to follow His laws as part of transformation or to continually build on our relationship even as He knows and understands our flaws? We must be careful because we live a life for Jesus, and as such, it is natural for us to want to live a life like Him. That’s what I believed, and yes, I was wrong. Why? Jesus had numerous occasions where He promoted living a sinless life:
Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” John 8:10-11
But if we unpack this sequence, we see the answer to the question a bit more clearly. Jesus is God, and as such, had every right to condemn the adulteress. But instead, He chose not to and simply told her to sin no more. Clearly the relationship here took precedence over the law of adultery.
We need to focus less on trying to be perfect like Jesus and focus more on building our relationship with Him. In the book ‘Friend of Sinners’ by Pastor Rich Wilkerson, Jr., he dives into the story of Matthew. In Matthew’s evolution, we need to understand a couple of things. First, when the Pharisees said such bad things about Matthew, they we were being honest and truthful. The things tax collectors did in those days were truly ruthless. They robbed for their own benefit and often in acts of gluttony. Imagine robbing parents of money for their children just for your own vanity. Not only that, but it could also have been their next-door neighbor! That’s pretty cold and ruthless! Second, Jesus made it His business to hang with this group of crooks and thieves. Why? This is where Jesus’s wanting of the relationship more makes sense. Obviously, I need to dance a bit of a tight rope here because otherwise it might sound like I am saying to ignore the law, which I am not. What I am saying is we should focus less on being perfect like Jesus and more on building an honest and fulfilling relationship with Him where we know Him. To further that point, the meaning of the scripture Jesus was referring to was Hosea 6:6, where it says:
I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.
Jesus’s last sentence is a warning to us as well. As followers, we should never be so caught up in our own efforts to be Christ-like that we either see ourselves as self-righteous or look down on others because they themselves are not like us. We are all sinners in need of a savior no matter where we are in the journey.
So, you see the law matters but not as much as the relationship. It’s never been about following each individual rule of God. It’s always been about knowing who God is and serving Him to the best of our ability. Let us not get so caught up in learning every law to follow of God that we forget that our heart for God matters above all else. What struggles are you facing that you have not surrendered to Jesus? What next step or steps will you take to make your relationship stronger with Him? My prayer is whether we stand firm on God’s truth or are struggling to hit the mark, we remember which comes first; the relationship. Amen.
Contribution to ‘The Hope Fellowship’ by Kent Williams