28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.
30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
Judge not, lest you be judged! We tell our children not to associate with those who might lead them into trouble. Yet, here we have Jesus eating and drinking with people that were judged to be sinners because of their profession. I’m sure that some of them were as just as some of the Pharisees and scribes were. Do we look around and judge others by appearance of by profession, or color, or language, or level of education? Do we bother to get to know someone and then decide if that person should be a friend? Even people we don’t get along with can be very good people at heart. Just think – someone might not choose me or you as their friend!
Jesus looked into the hearts of people. When he spoke out against the scribes and Pharisees, he spoke of their behavior. They did not practice what they preached! There are saints and sinners in all professions from what we may consider the lowliest to the highest. Does anyone look at us and feel that we, who call ourselves Christians, are hypocrites? When I got divorced, good Christians stopped inviting me to gatherings where I might be a “temptation” to their husbands. Only a few realized that I was no threat and welcomed me to their homes in the same way they had done before. It’s tough to be judged and some of you might have been unfairly judged as well and have suffered from it.
The important thing to remember is that God knows who we are. Levi became Matthew the apostle who preached the Gospel and is responsible for the one that comes first in the New Testament because it was so widely used in the early Church. Jesus knew his worth and he knows ours.
Dear Lord, it can be tempting to judge others without even knowing them. We can be judged as well. May we never be responsible for judging others in our words or in our actions, and give us the grace to forgive those judge us! Amen.