Genesis 9 and 10. Matthew, Ezra and Acts 9.

A question came to mind as I was reading today's passages. Why does Jesus jump all over the Pharisees for hating sinners, while the Israelites in the Old Testament are forbidden to have anything to do with people that were different than them? Doesn't that seem like a contradiction? Aren't the Pharisees basically living out a worldview that was given to them by God in the OT? What do you think about it? I think the big issue is not being around "sinners," the big issue is the purpose and outcome of the interactions. Jesus is meeting with sinners and tax collectors because he wants to bring life change to them...he wants to bring them into his kingdom...he wants to share a message of hope with them. They need to hear that - everybody needs to hear that! In the Ezra passage we see that the issue is not just hanging out with non-Jews...the issue is that Jews have been marrying pagans, who remain pagan after the marriage. The Jewish people have allowed their families and communities to be infiltrated and corrupted by pagan worship practices, which is what got them into the whole exile predicament in the first place...and that is just crazy!!! Jesus encourages his followers to bring everyone from the darkness into the light, and to do that...you have to sometimes go out into the darkest corners of the earth. The corrupted Jews were just interested in finding the hottest most exotic looking women around to marry, not caring if they ever became God-followers. That's the difference. What about you? It is fine to hang out with non-Christians as long as you know you are on a mission to influence them towards Christ. If you feel yourself being dragged away from God and towards corruption, then you need to find more positive community to grow as a disciple of Christ.