Lessons from Matthew 9: Invitation

When Matthew found Jesus, his whole life changed and Matthew couldn’t wait to gather together all his friends and tell them about his Savior and Friend.

Invitation and Introduction

The first thing Matthew did after following Jesus was host a banquet and big dinner party at his home for Jesus (Matthew 9:10). And who did Matthew invite? All the saints? No, Matthew invited those once like himself, the lost and lonely, the sinners. And so around this banquet table sat Matthew’s friends who were also tax collectors, some Gentiles, probably both men and women who were known as sinners too.

Matthew wanted to introduce his old friends to this Jesus, the one who gave him new life and new meaning. The one who filled his every need including his loneliness and emptiness. Jesus changed Matthew from being a social outcast to being a child of the King.

And Matthew wanted the same for his friends.

We should not be afraid to reach out to others who are living in sin. Maybe like Matthew and his friends, they are just waiting to hear about the Savior.

Take this opportunity to invite your neighbors or co-workers, your family and friends, in and share the reason you celebrate this upcoming season. Bring them to the manger and let them see the one born of God through a woman. Introduce them to the one and only God, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Immanuel, God with us.

And so like Matthew following Jesus’s example, we should share the gospel with the poor, immoral, lonely, and outcast, not just the rich, moral, popular, and powerful.

When Christians extend love, they become the living illustration of the Living Word to the minds of all who have never seen or heard Him.

Are you willing to be the means through whom the Lord reveals His grace?

Terri Hamman

Faith & Fitness Coach