A Physician Among Patients
The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
Matthew 11:19
Surprising as it may be to some, Jesus was never, biblically, a “a friend of sinners”. The Pharisees used the term, but, scripturally, He was no more a friend of sinners than He was a glutton or a drunk.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners? But when Jesus heard this, He said, It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
Matthew 9:11-13