1a) What kind of people do you want to be your friends?
b) What kind of people do you think Jesus was friends with?
c) Do you think Jesus would want to be your friend?
READ MATTHEW 9:9-13
9 Jesus went away from that place. While he walked, he saw a man called Matthew. Matthew's job was to take taxes from people. He was sitting in his office. Jesus said to him, ‘Come with me and be my disciple.’ So Matthew stood up and he went with Jesus.10 Later, Jesus went to eat a meal in Matthew's house. Many bad people and men who took taxes also came to the house. They came to eat there with Jesus and his disciples.
11 Some Pharisees saw what was happening. They said to Jesus' disciples, ‘Your teacher is eating a meal with these bad people. That is not right. They are people who do not obey God, and some of them take taxes from people.’
12 Jesus heard what the Pharisees were saying. He said to them, ‘People who are well do not need a doctor. It is people who are ill that need a doctor. 13 Go and study what it says in the Bible. God says there, “I want people to be kind to each other. I do not want them only to offer sacrifices to me.” Some people think that they always obey God. I did not come to help people like that. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me for help.’
2a) What do we know about Matthew?
b) What kind of people were tax collectors? Why?
Jesus was a Jew (a Jewish person). At that time the Jewish people lived in their own country, but their country was controlled by the Romans. They were not free people. The Romans made them pay high taxes. Tax collectors were Jewish people who worked for the Romans. They collected money from the Jews to give to the Romans. But they usually collected more money from the Jews than was necessary, and then kept some for themselves. So the Jews hated the tax collectors, firstly because they worked for the enemy and secondly because they were dishonest.
c) Jesus was a Jew, so how would you expect him to relate to Matthew? What would you expect Jesus to say to Matthew?
d) But what did Jesus say to Matthew? What was Jesus asking Matthew to do? What would Matthew need to do if he wanted to follow Jesus? How would Matthew's life change if he followed Jesus?
Following someone means becoming like them, living the way they live, obeying their teaching. For Matthew this would mean some big changes in his life!
e) How do you think Matthew felt when Jesus said “Follow me”?
f) What did Matthew decide to do? Why?
g) Jesus says “Follow me” to everyone. If you decided to follow Jesus, how would your life change?
3a) Matthew introduced Jesus to his friends. What kind of people were Matthew's friends?
b) What did the Pharisees (the religious leaders) think about Jesus' new friends? Why were they surprised/critical?
c) Why did Jesus want to be friends with Matthew and other outcasts? What do we learn about Jesus from this? What kind of people did Jesus want to be friends with?
d) What did Jesus mean when he said “People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick.”? In what way were Matthew and his friends sick? In what way were the Pharisees well?
e) For the Jewish people, offering animal sacrifices to God was an important part of their religion, it was something the Pharisees were very good at. In fact the Pharisees were considered very good and respectable people. So what did Jesus mean when he said “It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices?” Were the Pharisees as good as they thought they were? How have they shown their unkindness in this story?
f) Why do you think Jesus came to call outcasts and not respectable people?
4a) What does this mean for us? Some people are more like the tax collectors and other outcasts – they know they do wrong things and disobey God. What does this story teach these kind of people?
b) Other people are more like the Pharisees – they think they are good people and that God is pleased with them. What does this story teach them?
c) Are you more like the tax collectors or more like the Pharisees? If you think you're more like the tax collectors, how do you feel about the idea that Jesus wants to be your friend? How will you respond when Jesus says “follow me”? What will need to change about your life?
d) Or are you more like the Pharisees? But are you really as good as you think you are? What do you need to do before Jesus can be your friend?
A free resource from Friends International www.friendsinternational.org.uk
