Sigh, how many times has it been said from the pulpits, "Jesus, the friend of sinners!" They say it with such glee and volume! As if this is one of the most wonderful sides of Yeshua. As if he was friends with everyone he encountered in the N.T. They say it in a way that means that Yeshua wants to be the playful big brother of all people, including you, as if Yeshua walked around with a big smile constantly. I've heard "pastors," say that Yeshua would put a disciple into a headlock and give him a playful knuckle sandwich! I've heard it said that Yeshua laughed, told jokes, winked, or said some things in a joking manner.
My question is, where do they come up with such ridiculous things? They don't get it from Scripture. Scripture says he was a man of sorrow. He was bruised, beaten, and punched in the face by laughing guards. They forcibly pushed a crown of thorns into his skull, mocked him, and scourged him (A very brutal ordeal. The Romans wanted the scourging to be so harsh that it helped speed up the death on a cross), had his beard pulled out and was hung on a cross, the most painful way to die in the history of mankind. I don't see any humor in all of that! Nothing about the life of Yeshua was "fun and games."
In Gen 11:6, Jehovah said, "...And now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined doing." That is exactly what these "pastors" are doing! They have no restraints on what they have imagined about Jeshua and then speak to their audience. Anything goes! Nothing is off-limits. They seem to forget that Yeshua is Jehovah in the flesh! They have no fear of Jehovah!
They say this as if one of the Apostles wrote it down! As if it was a "positive attribute," "a really good side" of Yeshua. It is said as a compliment! What a wonderful man Yeshua was!
Where does this come from?
Mat 11:19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of publicans and sinners...'
This wasn't a compliment, a positive statement! This was not a doctrine! This is an insult by the Pharisees and scribes! This was a statement meant to discredit Yeshua! This wasn't saying, "Yeshua, a friend of sinners, hip hip, hooray!" This is the only place where "friend" and "sinner" are in the same statement.
Mat 9:10-11 And it came to pass that as Yeshua was eating in a house, many publicans and sinners also joined him in the meal. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked the disciples, "Why does your Rabbi eat with publicans and sinners?"
We all know the publicans were despised by the Jewish people. But when the Pharisees called a Jew a "sinner," they didn't mean it in a way that "all Jews were regular sinners." They meant that these "sinners" were the worst type of sinners. This would include criminals, prostitutes, alcoholics, rapists, murderers, etc. In the eyes of the Pharisees, these people were wretched, evil Jews who were unredeemable. In Lk 7:36-39, the woman was or had been a prostitute. When they said "publicans and sinners," they meant those they called the worst type of Jews in morals and character. The Pharisees would ignore those who fit in that group. Wouldn't it be nice if these "pastors" would bother doing a little study rather than standing on stage with a big smile and repeating the company line, "Yeshua, the friend of sinners!"
Lk 5:30 The scribes and Pharisees complained to the disciples, "Why do you eat with publicans and sinners?"
Lk 15:1-2 All of the publicans and sinners in the crowd came closer to Yeshua in order to hear him better. The Pharisees and scribes murmured, 'This man accepts publicans and sinners and eats with them.'
Lk 19:7 And when the Pharisees and scribes saw it, they complained, saying 'Why, he has gone to be the guest of a sinner!' As if this was the worst scandal any self-righteous, "honorable" Jew could do.
Do you believe that Yeshua was friends with the false teachers? Was Yeshua a friend of the High Priest, Herod or Pilat? Were Yeshua friends with those he said were children of the devil? (John 8:44) Those he called a "Generation of Vipers?" (Mat 12:34) With those he said "woe" to and called them hypocrites, fools, snakes, and blind? (Mat 23:13-33)? Were Yeshua friends with those who beat him? With those who arrested him and beat all the way back to the High Priest's house?
Actually, Yeshua made it very simple to understand who was a friend of his,
John 15:14 You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Mat 12:50, Jn 2:5, 13:17, 14:21, 1John 5:3