Christ on Trial

A Lenten Service Series

February 10, 2008 --First Week of Lent

"Witness: Matthew"

Prosecutor: We call to the witness stand Matthew, also called Levi. Ah, I see you have your testimony already prepared—not that it will help you!     Now, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God? 

Matthew: Yes.

Prosecutor: According to the records we have, you are a tax collector of the Roman government.

Matthew: I was a tax collector.

Prosecutor: As such, you were hired to sit at a toll booth along the road leading from the Sea of Tiberias , also called " Galilee ." There you collected a set tax on the fish or merchandise being taken to the market. Your employer had already paid the tax in a contract with the Romans, and was allowed to charge a certain amount over that as his profit. He then hired people like you to collect that tax, plus the profit. Is that correct?

Matthew: Yes.

Prosecutor: It is well known that corruption was rampant in this system. Both the owner of the contract and a person in your position, Matthew--the collector of the tax--overcharged and skimmed off the top. In addition, since you represented the Roman oppressors, you were hardly popular. Yet sneers were a small price to pay for the "comfortable living" your profiteering could afford. And you did have friends--other sinners ...

Matthew: We weren't all like that ...

Prosecutor: But as to the day in question: You were sitting in your tax booth and this man, Jesus, came up to you and out of the blue said, "Follow me." And you dropped everything and followed Him. Is that correct?

Matthew: Yes.

Prosecutor: Had you ever met Him before, had dealings with Him, heard Him preach?

Matthew: No. But in the work I did, I would usually catch the latest news. And this Jesus ... everyone was talking about the wonderful rabbi who preached about God's concern for ALL people, healed the sick, and best of all, who accepted people whom others neglected. So, when He looked at me, peering, it seemed, into my very soul ... and when He didn't turn away in disgust, but rather looked at me with love and acceptance ... well, I simply couldn't resist His call!

Prosecutor: I'm sure that was a moving experience. Let's move on. I understand you invited Him to your home for dinner and He accepted. And there were other guests at dinner as well. Religious types? Priests and rabbis?

Matthew: Not exactly. When people heard that Jesus was coming to MY house, of all places, they just sort of invited themselves along. They were people like me--other tax collectors, business associates, people who did the kinds of work that made them "outcasts": peasants who have to work too hard to observe all the laws and rituals. And there were, admittedly, a number of prostitutes and thieves as well.

Prosecutor: A so-called religious leader--a representative of God--surrounded by a house full of sinners?! That certainly says something about this Jesus!

Matthew: Oh, there were some Pharisees hanging around the perimeter. I could tell from the looks on their faces that they weren't pleased. They even asked some of the disciples why Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners. Oh, the scorn and criticism that dripped off every word! But Jesus overheard them and said the most provocative thing: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor," He said, "but the sick."

Prosecutor: Why is that so profound? And what does it have to do with this self-styled religious leader, this ignorant Jewish carpenter who has been affirming sinners instead of telling them to give up their wrong ways and become observant followers of the Law? He simply comes across as vague and misleading.

Matthew: That's hardly true. Jesus' message, His entire ministry, led with a call to "Repent!": to turn away from old ways ... to turn toward God's way. Plus, He went on to explain Himself. He quoted Hosea, where God spoke through the prophet saying, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."

Prosecutor: And what is that supposed to mean?

Matthew: From what I remember learning from the rabbis as a child, that was God's condemnation of the priests of Israel--a judgment of their emphasis on performing perfect rituals rather than teaching the people how to fulfill the covenant ... how to be God's people. God was telling the so-called religious leaders that they were to blame for the immorality and ignorance of the people.

Prosecutor: Who are you to give me and this jury a lesson on Jewish history?

Matthew: This isn't history. It speaks to today! Jesus was comparing the Pharisees of His day with the priests of Hosea's time. The Pharisees were following rigorous observances of laws and rituals--and demanded that everyone else follow their example. Yet, they were failing to teach people of God's love. The letter of the Law was superseding the SPIRIT of the Law: a Law that instructs us how to be family, united with our Father and with each other in a bond of mutual, respectful and self-effacing love.

Prosecutor: I've heard about enough ....

Matthew: If the Pharisees could have seen their own sin--the same sin as that of the priests at Hosea's time--then they could have joined the rest of us sinners at the table! Jesus didn't come to build up the egos of the superficially religious. Nor did He come to affirm those who try to save themselves by seeming to be good. Jesus sees into every human heart. He knows our sin is universal. And He calls into those hearts. He called into mine. He said, "Follow me." He said that to me ... a man whose heart was filled with sin. And I did follow Him. I followed Him to the cross. And there He took my sin away!  Your heart is filled with sin. All of ours are. Even the "righteous" who think they're being saved by doing everything right. Follow him!

Prosecutor: Heresy! Blasphemy! Slander! We need hear no more! Jesus came to call, to befriend, to save sinners like you and me? How DARE He!