Jesus Sees The You Others Can't See

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." -Matthew 9:12

As Jesus taught by the shore,
a crowd pressed around Him-
hungry for His words-
manna in the desert.

He finished teaching
and strolled by the water-
waves whispering over pebbles,
swallows filling the air
with their fluttering song.

Suddenly, He paused at an open door.
The bustling crowd hushed-
like soft wind at a storm's edge-
wondering why He had stopped there,
and why He gazed silently
at the man inside.

With his office sitting
on the main road through town,
Matthew had heard it all.

Word of His miracles
kept arriving at his table-
every coin laid down
carrying another story.

"He's the Messiah."
"No-He's a prophet."
"Nobody has ever spoken like Him."

Everyone knew the man inside.
Most feared him.
All avoided him.

Though Jewish,
he had betrayed his own people.
Worse-he worked for their oppressors,
taxing his countrymen
beyond what they owed.

Matthew sat there-
surrounded by coins-
clinking like chains
that bound him from the Temple.
Counted with idolaters,
held back from sacrifice,
from cleansing,
from the house of His God.

You may not know this about Jesus-
He sees in you what others can't see.

Jesus looked at Matthew-
not the traitor,
not the extortioner,
but the image of God
beneath the life that defined him.

And He spoke two words
that ended his exile-
like a key opening
a tightly sealed lock.

"Follow Me."
-Matthew 9:9

Matthew rose and left everything-
a man finally free
from the life that bound him.

And that night his house
filled with tax collectors
and sinners-
a banquet for Jesus' friends
and Matthew's friends too.

And that's when the disreputables discovered
they all had a place at the table of their King.