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.