Following up on yesterday's post, I get the impression that some people think that the concept of Yeshua being the friend of sinners means that he preferred the company of criminals over spiritually minded, hard-working people – that he would rather hang out at the local bar or brothel than the synagogue.
First, the way the term "sinners" is often used in the Gospels to refer to commoners as opposed to the strictly religious. While this would include people engaging in truly bad behavior, it primarily referred to those who did not adhere to the standards of the religious leaders.
Yeshua loved everyone. He had compassion on all. How a person looked or what their background was didn't matter to him. He hung out with rich and poor, those from so-called respectable ones as well as those from questionable backgrounds.
While he loved (and still loves) all people, he did not tolerate evil whether it was found in his own followers, or in the lives of leaders, or the common people. In order to be his followers, it was necessary to embrace his lifestyle. What made him different from other religious leaders was that he was not prejudiced against someone because of their background, personal history, or social standing.
Yeshua did not prefer one person's company over another. It was his relationship with God that motivated his pursuit of relationship with others.
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