I glanced up from a plate of bacon and eggs to see a world-renowned British actor only a table away. I peered again, unsure if I’d imagined it - perhaps this was just a regular bloke arriving for Saturday brunch - but after a minute or two, I was sure it was him. Having watched him perform alongside movie stars, I thought he might have opted for somewhere a little more high-brow than a greasy spoon cafe. Clearly even the celebs love a fry-up.
But while these ‘Why are you here?’ moments are a rarity in everyday life, they happen all the time in the gospels. In fact, Jesus often seems to be in the places you’d least expect. He never dined with kings or governors, but instead, regularly frequented the homes of tax collectors, sinners and the despised riffraff.
It’s no accident either - Jesus’ dining habits speak of his heart towards the outcast and the broken. And spending time with them over a meal was more than a nicety; it was an expression of companionship. To eat with someone was to say, ‘I count you as a friend.’
The Friend
Jesus’ heart towards sinners is the same today. He doesn’t only desire to be our king and master - these things are vital and true - but our friend too. As Jesus says to the disciples in John 15.15, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
Just like the tax-collectors and disciples, Jesus invites you to dine with him, to spend time enjoying his presence and to speak to him with the openness of a sibling or closest friend. In short, Jesus asks you - even you - if you’ll accept the joy of friendship with him.
…of Sinners
Yet when we hear this invitation, our minds often jump to objection after objection - mistakes, flaws, regrets. We discount ourselves with memories of past failures. ‘Jesus would never want to be a friend of mine’, we tell ourselves, ‘not if he really knew me’.
Except, the scandalous message of the gospel is that the sin we think exempts us from Jesus’ presence is exactly that which qualifies us to come to him as saviour. When the Pharisees confronted Jesus for eating with sinners, he highlighted this, saying: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2.17)
The message is clear: Jesus came to save those who don’t have their lives nicely ‘put together’. Christ came for those who know that they fall short, who know that their soul is fatally sick and who know they can never attain perfection.
Perhaps you feel this too. Perhaps you’re racked with guilt and condemnation, aware of your brokenness and sin. Jesus came for people exactly like you. He entered the lowly places in search of you, eating around tables you’d never expect him. And now, just like back then, he invites you to call him friend.
Our new single, Christ the Sinner’s Friend, is out today and explores these themes. Listen here.
These articles are written without the use of generative AI.