The question is not asked with curiosity. It is asked with alarm. When the religious leaders see Jesus reclining at a table with tax collectors and sinners, they do not wonder whether He is compassionate. They wonder whether He is dangerous. For them, the issue is not hospitality but holiness.
Jesus chooses to answer.
In the world of first-century Judaism, holiness was not gentle or flexible. It was powerful, consuming, and carefully guarded. Proximity to sin was believed to defile, not heal. The safest way to preserve holiness was distance. From that perspective, Jesus’ behavior appears reckless, even irresponsible.
This sermon explores why that reaction makes sense within its historical and theological context. It traces how holiness was understood as something that retreated from impurity, something that required mediation, boundaries, and separation. Against that backdrop, Jesus’ table fellowship is not merely surprising. It is revolutionary.
When Jesus answers the question, He does not defend His behavior or soften the seriousness of sin. Instead, He reveals His mission. He compares Himself to a physician who goes where sickness is present, not because illness is insignificant, but because healing requires proximity. With that answer, Jesus exposes a misunderstanding that still shapes religious life today: the belief that holiness must be protected from brokenness rather than deployed for its restoration.
Written with theological precision and narrative weight, Questions Jesus Answered | Why Does Jesus Eat With Sinners? reframes holiness as active rather than fragile. It shows that Jesus does not lower the standard of holiness. He embodies it. Sin is not ignored at the table. It is confronted, absorbed, and ultimately defeated through His redemptive work.
The sermon challenges listeners to reconsider how easily faith becomes about boundary maintenance instead of mission. It presses the church to examine whether proximity to brokenness is viewed as a threat or as the very context in which the gospel is meant to be lived out. Jesus’ answer leaves no room for detached righteousness or distant compassion.
This message is especially timely for congregations wrestling with questions of inclusion, purity, and mission. It avoids sentimental grace and instead presents a costly holiness that moves toward sinners because it has the authority to heal them.
This download includes the complete sermon manuscript and a professionally designed PowerPoint presentation, providing everything needed to preach or teach this message with clarity and theological confidence.
