With whom would most like to have dinner? You can pick the circumstances and choose ANYONE you like – no one is off limits. Imagine what it would be like to have dinner with them. Next, with what kind of person could you least imagine having dinner? What would you talk about besides how you disagree with them or dislike them? What if you ended up enjoying their company once you got to know them, or how would you communicate your disapproval or disagreements with them?
Here in Matthew 9, Jesus’ choice of dinner companions is ruffling a few feathers. He is hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. He wasn’t merely tolerating them. He was eating with them, and the Pharisees were appalled. These people were sinners with a capital “S.”
