Who Am I? I Am Giver of Life.

Photo Credit:  Joy Neasley
http://110facesofchina.blogspot.com/

In Jesus' days on earth, the Pharisees could not grasp the fact that Jesus was the Messiah.  Jesus "hung around" sinners.  He spent time with them, not as close friends participating in acts contrary to God's Word, but as their Savior, the One who came to give the lost Eternal Life.

The Pharisees did not see it this way.  They were appalled at the unlikely people Jesus kept in His company.  Sinners, tax collectors (Tax collectors were outcasts in their day because they were agents of the Roman government.), prostitutes, fishermen, laypeople, the lame and the sick, the deaf and the blind, and others that society refers to as the deadbeats of the world.





Look at who He chose as his 12 disciples. 

• Simon who was named Peter was a fisherman.
• Andrew was a fisherman.
• John was a fisherman.
• James was a fisherman.
• Philip (occupation unknown)
• Bartholomew according to a number of scholars was a missionary in Armenia, and he was belived to be the only disciple who came from royal blood (noble birth).
• Matthew was a tax collector.
• Thomas was possibly a carpenter and a stonemasson, but scholars do not widely accept this as fact.  There is little know about him before his days with Jesus.
• James the son of Alphaeus (occupation unknown, possibly fisherman)
• Simone who was called Zealot (occupation unknown)
• Judas the son of James (occupation unknown)
• Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor or a publican.
• Paul was a high ranking military officer set on persecuting Jesus' followers.

We find the names of the 12 apostles in Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:14-19, and Luke 6:13-16:  And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. (ESV)

Photo Credit:  http://www.newsfirst.lk/english/node/21857

The ones he actually chose were tax collectors and fishermen, among others. This is amazing because Jesus the LORD of heaven and earth chose some of the most lowly and hated people of this culture to be his disciples.  

How did the religious people of Jesus' day respond to this?

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and “sinners”?’ (Matthew 9:10-17; Mark 2:15-22; Luke 5:29-39)

“On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’"

Today, we are to follow Jesus' example, ministering and spreading the Good News of the Gospel to ALL, in all walks of life, without falling into their sins, their lifestyle, just as Jesus was able to do.  Be a giver of LIFE to those who do not have ETERNAL LIFE.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."  Romans 12:2