Matthew 11:16-19
Friend of Tax Collectors and Sinners
16 “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17 “‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”
2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus Did Not Sin
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Some people think that we are much like the people we associate with...They might think our likes are dislikes are close to those we are with...Jesus is different in that respect...Jesus was often with unbelievers...Jesus very often taught tax collectors and sinners...And by teaching sinners and tax collectors, He was associated with them and was called a glutton and a drunkard...Some people were thinking of this guilt by association about Jesus...Jesus said this about His friend John the Baptist...John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’..The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’...But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”...
Jesus did not sin, nor was He a glutton or a drunkard...And He was certainly different than those He teaching and those He was around...Jesus should not be accused of any guilt by association...He was trying to help all those He was with...He was trying to teach them for about God, the heaven, the Divine, and the eternities...And in His teachings we find wisdom...We can certainly look back at His deeds and find Truth, grace, forgiveness, mercy, help for those who needed help, and wisdom...