Text: Matthew 9:9-13
Theme: “Conveying Jesus’ words”

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Introduction – People will ask you questions about faith and spirituality. They can be easy, but they also can be hard, personal ones. Some of them may be fair, but there are times in which questions will feel less like curiosity and more like a test.

It could be a coworker who finds out you’re a Christian and wants to know what you think about some headline. Maybe it’s a family member at a dinner table who decided that is a good time to settle the God question. Maybe it’s someone online, and a lot of people out there are watching you answer.

Especially when it comes to the questions that feel designed to test you and challenge the Word of God. ‘Do I need to go to church to be a Christian?’ ‘The Bible doesn’t mention this topic, so why do you speak against it?’ ‘Isn’t the Bible like a cookbook — I can allegorize the recipe to mean whatever I want. Say, salt is peace, and eggs’ is strength; mixing all the ingredients means you need a god in your life?” It’s a feeling that is almost palpable, and hesitation may come with it. What do I say? How do I say it? What if I get it wrong?

The disciples in Matthew 9 were in a similar spot. The Pharisees come to them with a hard, loaded question. They were accusing Jesus of doing something that the disciples knew was not aligned with the religious practice of the time. If it was our day and time, we could say they were trying to cancel Jesus, to expose his teaching and practice as untrue.

How should they respond?

But before we think of that, we should notice that don’t they ask Jesus directly. Why? Did they fear Jesus as too dangerous to confront head-on? Well, perhaps it was because the disciples seemed to be easier targets, more likely to stumble over an answer. Or maybe they were testing them – “let’s see it they actually know what their leader is teaching and what they are standing for.”

Either way, they are the ones who field the question. But Matthew tells us that Jesus conveys the answer. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matt. 9:12–13) He quotes Hosea 6:6. He doesn’t defend himself. He defines himself. And that’s not what any of them expected the Messiah to look like.

Perhaps Jesus spoke it out loud so that those Pharisees could hear it, which seems the case. But once the question was posed to the disciples, we can almost see they turning their heads to the disciples, right after Jesus’s words, and asking with their faces: “So?… do you agree with that? Do you support that view?

Now, what do they do? Should they confirm it?  Add to this that there’s many other people around watching the moment. It is the local equivalent of our “let’s see what they will comment on Jesus’ post”.

Should they convey and confirm Jesus words, repeat them as uttered? That Jesus is the one who came for the sinners. That the system in which they are operating is outdated and needs an upgrade? That their teaching had many disconnections from the Old Testament – so much so that Jesus has to quote it to confront them?

The answer seems easy and clear: yes. Go and speak truth to power. Say it to their face! Fear not! After all, look who is backing you in that – The Son of God Himself. Why should they be shy and afraid?

How about asking the same question from us, in our own time? Will we convey Jesus’ words no matter what?  It seems easy, and it could be sometimes. But that is not always the case.

First, we are tempted to build walls, deciding who’s worth our time and who’s too far gone.

And second, we are tempted share Jesus’ words in a softened, adapted way in order to not cause to much stir and offense. After all, we have a social life to preserve, and we don’t want to be noticed as the weirdos who go to Church and still believe in Creation of the World, sin, life after death, a Jew  who is the saviour of the world,; forgiveness for people who don’t deserved it. And much more.

This is you and me. This is the house in which we are and people are looking at us and asking questions. Will we convey the words of Jesus as He taught them?

Jesus’ words to the Pharisees are not gentle. “Go and learn.” That’s a rabbi’s rebuke. He’s telling them they’ve missed something foundational in their own scriptures. But the reason behind the rebuke? Mercy. He wants them to understand mercy — not just as a theological category, but as a way of seeing people. Jesus does something that is hard, but that is the only way out. The only way out is through. He speaks the truth in love. Not softened truth. Not loveless truth. Both, at once, with full weight on each side.

Jesus says, “go and learn”. For the Pharisees, that was a rebuke. But for us, let me frame it as an invitation. Go and learn. So that you know. So that you’re not caught off guard. So that when someone asks you the hard question, you’re not scrambling — you’re grounded. Fear not! After all, look who is backing you in that – The Son of God Himself.

Here’s a question from last Wednesday’s The Chosen session: how would your life look like if you knew your Bible very well? Worth taking some time to reflect on later. It may come as a word of Law, accusation (I don’t study God’s word as frequently as I should) but I want you to think about it as a word of Gospel, a gift: being close to God’s Word is being close to Grace, to understanding in faith, to strength and support. It means being near to Jess Himself, the One who went to the Cross for you. For the Risen Christ is the Word of God.

Now, it is important to tackle something very real. Sometimes we avoid hard conversations because we think we only have two choices: 1)we need to give the perfect answer, biblically and theologically profound. It has to be a mic drop; or 2) if we are not at that level, we better silence and say nothing. “That’s why we have pastors, they know better. I will just quietly live my private faith and my Church attendance.”

That’s not that simple and it is simply not true. Most of the times, we have more than 2 options about many situations inf life. That applies to our life of faith too. There’s more than one way in which, without wavering in faith you can convey Jesus’ words, Jesus’ acts and interact with people in faith conversations. I want to validate for you a few options you can have under your belt at the dinner table, at the coffee shop or even at Oasis at Church:

-You can answer directly, when that’s something you know well. ‘Yes, Jesus is fully man and fully God, and the only way to the Father. Yes, there is eternal life. Yes, we are all sinners who need forgiveness.’ Yes, the Bible is the Word of God from cover to cover. Yes, this practice is not approved by Scriptures.’ Say it clearly and without apology.
– You can answer partially and commit to learning more. ‘I know this is in the Bible, I just don’t remember the reference right now — I’ll get back to you.’ Or: ‘This is a topic where context really matters. What’s your take? Let’s talk about it.’
-You can say: ‘That’s an area I don’t know well, but I can connect you with my pastor if you’d like.’ That’s not weakness. That’s honesty and wisdom. And you can take the occasion to increase your own knowledge on that topic too.

And sometimes you can also say: ‘The Bible doesn’t directly address that, so I’m genuinely open to hearing your perspective.’ That’s not giving ground on your faith. That’s leaving room for a real conversation.[1]

In all those situations you are tying things back to the core tenets of our faith, that is, you are being held inside the main biblical teachings, while leaving room for a conversation that is rooted in love. By the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit that dwells in your heart, You are conveying Jesus’ words and actions in your vocation, right there where you are.

Conclusion –  Here’s one last thing I’d like you to think about. Sometimes people ask hard questions not because they want to trap you, but because they don’t know where else to go. They’re not ready to walk into a church. They’re not in a place where they know Jesus directly. But they’re willing to talk to someone who knows Him.[2]

If the Pharisees went to the disciples as easier targets for their challenge, sometimes people come to us because they think we might actually have an answer. Because they’ve seen something. Because they’re looking.

We can always go and learn more. The goal is not just so we can win arguments, but so we can serve people. When the questions come, you will feel that you are more ready than before to not only field questions but also to feed hearts.

You won’t be speaking for yourself. You’ll be conveying the words of the One who already spoke.

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The questions from the beginning of the sermon can be addressed this way:

_“Do I need to go to Church to be a Christian?” To be a Christian, you need faith in Jesus. But once you have faith in Jesus, you find that you want what the church offers — the Word, the sacraments, the fellowship. At that point it stops being ‘do I need to’ and becomes ‘I get to. I want to go.’ The question itself changes.

More here: https://connectandreconnect.blogspot.com/2025/07/what-do-you-really-get-from-going-to.html

_“The Bible doesn’t say anything about (insert topic here), so why do you speak against it?” The argument of silence is dangerous, because, ironically, it can say a lot about anything. What is the topic you have in mind? Abortion, MAID, Genders, Marriage? Let’s have an honest conversation and we can hear what the Word has to say about it.

More here:https://connectandreconnect.blogspot.com/2025/09/what-jesus-said-and-what-he-didnt-say.html
https://connectandreconnect.blogspot.com/2025/08/if-jesus-never-said-it-he-must-be-okay.html

_“Isn’t the Bible like any cookbook — you can make it say whatever you want?” You’re right that any book can be read selectively. But no other book delivers God himself — Jesus — for us. That changes what it is and how we read it. It’s not open to personal preference. It interprets us more than we interpret it.

More here: https://connectandreconnect.blogspot.com/2026/06/not-same-as-cookbook-yet-written-to.html

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[1] How do we do that? One fundamental thing to keep in mind about human conversations when it comes to faith is this: hesitation and withdrawal are almost always proportional to how secure we are in what we know and believe. That’s not a spiritual problem. That’s just how it works.

Let me put it this way. If you’re a Lions fan, do you fear talking to a Riders fan? Are you worried they’ll convince you to switch teams? Of course not. That only happens to someone who isn’t sure where they stand. You know who you cheer for.

Same principle — and much more is at stake — with your faith. When you know your God, when you trust him, when you continually go and learn, you don’t fear the hard conversation as much. Because you know that nothing and no one can move you from that truth. And you know that in every conversation, you have more than one option.

[2] And sometimes they may want to see if you actually mean what you say. If you actually live it. If there’s something real there, or if it’s just something you do on Sundays.