Jesus' Table Fellowship with Sinners

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

*Ordinary Season:  Thirteenth Week :  Friday*

*Gospel : Mt 9:9-13*

*First Reading : Gen 23:1-4, 19; 21:1-8;, 62-67*

*Responsorial Psalm : Ps 106:1b-2, 3-42, 4b-5*

*Jesus' Table Fellowship with Sinners*

*1) A Sign of Acceptance and Reconciliation*

In Jewish culture, sharing a meal meant deep fellowship and acceptance.

Jesus’ willingness to eat with *"sinners"* was seen as scandalous because it implied solidarity and friendship.

It symbolized that God’s mercy welcomes the broken, the outcast, and the unclean.

*2) Breaking Social and Religious Barriers*

“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” (Luke 5:30)

Religious leaders like the Pharisees kept a strict separation between the “righteous” and “unclean.”

Jesus reverses this logic—He does not become unclean by associating with sinners; He brings healing and holiness to them.

His table fellowship reveals that the Kingdom of God is open to all, especially those on the margins 

*3) A Call to Transformation*

Jesus dines with Zacchaeus, another tax collector, and the meal leads to repentance and renewal.

Table fellowship is not just social—it’s sacramental: it becomes a moment of conversion.

Sharing the table with Jesus is an invitation to a new life.

*4) Mercy Over Ritual Purity*

“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)

Jesus often chooses mercy over the rigid laws of ritual purity.

While religious elites focus on exclusion, Jesus focuses on inclusion with a purpose: to bring sinners back to God.

His meals become moments of grace where healing happens through encounter.

*5) Anticipation of the Eucharist*

“Take and eat; this is my body.” (Matthew 26:26)

Jesus’ meals with sinners prefigure the Last Supper and ultimately the Eucharist.

In the Eucharist, Jesus continues to invite sinners to His table, offering not just food, but His very self.

It shows that communion with Christ is not for the perfect, but for the penitent.

*6) Parables that Echo the Banquet Theme*

Jesus tells parables about banquets to describe the inclusivity of God’s Kingdom.

Those originally invited (the self-righteous) refuse to come, but the outcasts are welcomed with joy.

The table becomes a symbol of God’s radical hospitality.

*7) Invitation to Imitate Jesus*

“When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” (Luke 14:13)

Jesus teaches that His followers must imitate His inclusive table fellowship.

Christian hospitality must reflect God’s heart for the outcast and forgotten.

Jesus’ table fellowship with sinners is a living picture of the Gospel in action—grace that meets people where they are but doesn’t leave them there. 

It’s an invitation to intimacy, transformation, and mission. Each meal with Jesus becomes a space of healing, renewal, and community.

*Think about it*

*God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones*

*Fr Maxim DSouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*