FRIDAY- 13^TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME –B

Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13: It is not the healthy who need the doctor. What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.

I Reading: Amos 8: 4-6. 9-12: I will bring famine on the country, a famine not of bread, but of hearing the word of the Lord.

Jesus Calls Matthew: Receiving sinners, Mt 9:9-13

What is so heart-warming and touching is that Matthew shares his own personal conversion how Jesus came to save sinners such as him. He does not talk about himself nor about the details of his sin and shame, but he lifts up Jesus and the glorious salvation Jesus came to bring. He emphasizes not his own conversion, but the fact that Jesus came to save all tax collectors and sinners such as him.

1.     The sinner who needed a Savior (v.9)

a.     Jesus saw a man

b.    Jesus called the man

c.      The man’s one act: he got up and followed Jesus

2.     The sinner who introduced his sinful friends to the Savior (v.10-11)

a.     He entertained Jesus and his sinful friends

b.    The religionists questioned Jesus’ fellowshipping with sinners

3.     The Savior who saved the sinner: His mission (v.12-13)

a.     He came to be where the spiritually sick are

b.    He came to have mercy, not to gain sacrifice

c.      He came to call people and sinners to repentance

Thought: Matthew committed himself totally to Jesus. Once he began to follow Jesus, he never turned back.

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