One of the most outstanding characteristics in the ministry of Jesus Christ is the allinclusiveness of His gospel. He broke down all of the barriers and distinctions that were the accepted norm of His culture and day. Indeed, He paid little attention to time-honored class distinctions and differences, whether racial, social or religious.

Jesus was not partisan and He was not the product of any particular school of thought. Nor was His appeal to any particular group. In fact, He had come to speak and to appeal to all men. This was clearly noticeable in the way He mingled with those who were outcasts from respectable society.

Indeed, it was this very fact that brought Him into conflict with the religious authorities of His day, and it was this which eventually brought Jesus to the cross. What annoyed the religious leaders most of all was His willingness to associate and make friends of tax collectors and sinners’ (Matthew 11:19). He actually consorted with outcasts and ate with them. These authorities who sought the respect and admiration of men seemed to know so much about religious laws and standards but so little about the compassion and the mercy of God, stood shocked when they saw that Jesus accepted all who would come to Him in repentance and faith, without any apparent shame, regret or guilt. Yet, these religious leaders felt that no truly religious person could do such a thing.

According to their conception of religion, no man who truly worshiped God could possibly find any pleasure in the company of obvious sinners. The fact that Jesus spent so much of His time in the company of such people, and seemed to regard them as being candidates for God’s love and for eternal life, even as much as the religious leaders themselves, angered these examples of “great” virtue and authorized them to regard Him as an imposter, even and enemy of God.

They refused to accept Him as the promised Messiah. They could not believe that such a person could be the expected One of Israel. His life, His teaching, His unorthodox behavior, all proved to them that He was an enemy of true religion. Although He proclaimed Himself to be the Son of God, in the view of these religious leaders, however, He was just a “gluttonous man and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”

Thus, He offended the religious leaders for the simple reason that He held out hope for all. He held out hope for the publicans and harlots, all the most hopeless of sinners. And His only response to the religious leader’s criticism was that He came to save sinners, not the righteous.

His appeal was all-inclusive. He accepted anyone who came to Him in sincere repentance and faith. He said then and He still says today, “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Rick McLeod is pastor Southside Community Church in Cocolalla.