Appendix A—At Simon’s House
“And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him.
And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.” Christ
had no home that He called His own. Those who invited Him to their
houses regarded Him as being too poor to possess a home. But every
house was His property
.
Simon thought that in making this feast he was doing Christ an
honor. But, even though what he furnished had been his own, in
partaking of his hospitality Christ would have given more than was be-
stowed on Him. As He sat at the Pharisee’s table, He ate the provision
furnished by His Father. Scribes and Pharisees were tenants in His
home. His benevolence provided them with food and clothing. If He
had not become man’s surety, they would have enjoyed no blessings.
And not only do temporal blessings come from Him, but to all who
will receive it, He gives the bread of life
.
Christ ate with publicans and sinners, as well as with Pharisees.
When He was invited to their homes, He accepted the invitation. In
this He offended the scribes and Pharisees, who thought that a Jew
should not thus forget the wall of partition that tradition had erected.
But with God there is no sect or nationality. When thus accused, Christ
answered, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
He placed Himself in the very avenue where He could gain access to
perishing souls, and plant in human hearts the seeds of truth, seeds
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that would spring up and bear fruit to the glory of God
.
Christ never provided a luxury for Himself, but He allowed expres-
sions of respect and love to flow to Him. This was His due. He had
nothing in the world which He claimed as His own, yet He made the
world and all that is therein. For our sake He became poor, that we
through His poverty might be made rich. He bore the weakness of
humanity. Could human eyes have been opened, they would have seen
that He was stronger than the strong man armed; but He never forgot
that in the estimation of the world He was a poor man
.
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