Sunday Read: The Scandal of Grace
The Pharisees were scandalized by whom Jesus ate with. "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" they demanded (Matthew 9:11). In their worldview, holiness meant separation from sin and sinners. Righteous people didn't contaminate themselves by associating with the morally compromised. Yet Jesus repeatedly shared meals with the exact people religious leaders avoided.
Tax collectors in first-century Israel weren't just unpopular - they were traitors. They collected taxes for Rome, often extorting extra money to line their own pockets. They collaborated with the occupying empire, grew wealthy from their neighbors' oppression, and were excluded from synagogue worship. Dining with them was unthinkable for anyone concerned about religious purity.
Jesus's response cut to the heart of the gospel: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:12-13). He wasn't claiming tax collectors weren't sinners - he was saying sinners are exactly who he came for. The scandal of grace is that Jesus pursues those who don't deserve it and welcomes those who haven't earned it.
This offends our sense of justice. We want grace for ourselves but judgment for others. We want mercy when we fail but accountability when they do. We celebrate God's patience with our sin while demanding he punish theirs. The elder brother in the prodigal son parable expressed this perfectly: "This son of yours...comes home, and you kill the fattened calf for him!" (Luke 15:30). He couldn't celebrate his brother's restoration because he believed grace should be earned, not freely given.
The reality is more scandalous than we like to admit. The person who lived morally their whole life and the person who repented on their deathbed both receive the same salvation. The worker who labored all day and the worker hired at the eleventh hour receive the same wage (Matthew 20:1-16). The religious performer who obeyed all the rules and the broken sinner who simply believed both stand equally righteous before God through faith in Christ.
This levels the playing field completely. You can't earn more grace through better behavior. You can't accumulate spiritual credit that makes you deserve salvation. Whether you've been following Jesus since childhood or just met him yesterday, whether your sin was publicly scandalous or privately religious, whether you've failed spectacularly or consistently performed - grace is the same for all. It's completely unearned, totally undeserved, and equally available to everyone who receives it by faith.
This should produce two responses. First, humility. If you're saved by grace, not works, you have nothing to boast about (Ephesians 2:8-9). Your moral superiority is an illusion. Your spiritual resume is worthless. Your religious performance earned you nothing. You stand before God on the same ground as the worst sinner you can imagine - totally dependent on grace you didn't deserve.
Second, generosity. If you received grace freely, extend it freely. If God welcomed you when you didn't deserve it, welcome others the same way. If mercy triumphed over judgment in your case, let it triumph in how you treat others. The scandal of grace is that it's given to the undeserving - including you. If you've truly received it, you'll freely give it.
