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Matthew 1; Luke 15 – No One Would Choose But Jesus Did And We Must Too
Jesus’ ancestry was defiled by sinners guilty of incest, prostitution, adultery (or possibly rape), and even the “sin” of being a different race (Matthew 1). To make matters worse, his birth was witnessed by ceremonially unclean shepherds (Luke 2).
Jesus’ life was spent being surrounded by outcasts such as tax collectors, prostitutes (Luke 15), and even the worse of the worse – women! All this gained him the reputation of being a drunk and glutton (Luke 7:34).
Jesus death resulted in him having on each side criminals, being accused of religious blasphemy.
Of course we could also point out he was visited by rich wise men, buried in a rich man’s grave, and was the descendant of a king.
I feel inadequate in both extremes. I try, but don’t find enough people from the “wrong side of the tracks.” Any church that looks down on these people cannot claim to be “of Christ”.
And I definitely don’t belong in the upper class. Of course Jesus belonged in the upper-upper-upper-third-heaven-class! And yet He could associate with the fallen of man’s society and those fallen from God’s society.
The applications are many: 1) No one should be judged by their birth; 2) Saved sinners are not too good to associate with any kind of sinner; 3) As Jesus raised people up ignoring cultural taboos, Christians should be willing to do the same; 4) Even if you are rich, compared to Jesus you are still from the wrong side of heaven’s tracks.
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