And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:2 (NASB)
Some people we are very attached to tend to want us to act like them. As soon as they don’t like someone, even for no good reason, they want us to do the same to satisfy their ego. As soon as they have a disagreement with someone else, even if you have nothing to do with the situation, you must still support them and assert your disagreement with the other person too.
By seeing Jesus as a rabbi, even if they did not accept His ministry, the Pharisees and scribes expected Jesus to reject sinners too. They did not know that Jesus came for the salvation of sinners. If Jesus had decided to do like them, you would be lost for eternity. The example of Jesus should motivate you and encourage you to look at others with God’s perspective. They may be sinners but they also have the possibility of becoming children of God just like you.
Instead of running away or rejecting those who do not believe, who are not in Christ, thinking like the Pharisees and scribes that you are too spiritual to be with them, consider the grace of God in your life and say with Paul: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how will they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how will they hear except there be someone who preaches? (Rom. 10:14)" The grace of God is also for them.
May the grace and peace of God be with you all.
Comentarios