My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
| 161 |
| FRIEND OF TAX COLLECTORS AND SINNERS |
| Matthew 11:19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” |
| Our last post dealt with God considering Himself as a Friend of Abraham. We spoke of how rare it was for someone to be called a Friend of God in the Old Testament , and that only Moses was somewhat considered the same as Abraham in this select club, that is of being a friend of God. To be a friend of God in the Old Testament seemed to be linked with trustworthiness, in that both Abraham and Moses were faithful to the call of God on their lives. As mentioned in the previous post, all that went loosey goosey in the New Testament, for as Jesus rubbed shoulders with those in the nation, He presented Himself as a Friendly One, to the point that the religious leaders of Israel tried to use it against Him. They noticed that He liked to be around “low life’s”, the “dregs of society” and “losers”. Little did they know that it is those very people who do not have some self imposed understanding of who the Messiah is that actually creates barriers to seeing the truth. Jesus was called a friend of tax collectors and sinners! Little did the enemies of Jesus understand that to openly be friendly with “sinners” would blow up the church! Flocks of “losers” would rush to be accepted by a God who would exhibit friendliness with then. The Pharisees had it all wrong. Their pride and obstinance blinded them to the greatest power to influence someone else. Although the Lord’s enemies described Him as a friend of tax collectors and sinners, this didn’t go far enough. As he strode amongst the “unwashed” He cared for them, healing them, listening and teaching a radical love of God, of a simple repentance and faith in God (and not in man)! Yes, Jesus was a friend of tax collectors and sinners, but it goes far deeper than that. His death of the cruel cross proved that He was a friend of “tax takers and sinless religious judges” – those who hated Him, those who mocked Him and spread slander about Him. Yes a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But so much more! |
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Your message has been sent
Come join us at Considering the Bible
Considering the Bible 