Jesus' Closest Friends Were Sinners

"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23All God ever had to work with according to scripture were sinners of one degree or another Noah was a drunk yet God called Him.So is it all that surprising that Jesus' closest friends were whores, adulteresses, lepers no one else would go near and even the zealots?Simon was a zealot and so was Judas whereas Matthew was a tax collector and therefore was as reviled as any prostitute, Roman or leper but even more so. Tax collectors were hated even more than Samaritans were. But here is a touching parable Jesus teaches about a tax collector and a Pharisee:

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Luke 18:9-14

The sinner who went to the Temple of all places was humbled and repented therefore Jesus was good with him being there. And the Pharisee who used piety as a status symbol was regarded as the true sinner.

It's not enough to sin to be bad one must be unrepentant and a superiority complex doesn't help either.

We are all sinners but if we repent and try again we are doing all we can, all that can be asked of us.

Jesus saved the life of an adulteress and He did not condemn her and though He could have cast the first stone He did not.

Jesus said He did not come for the righteous but to call sinners to repentance. But all He met in His life were sinners of one sort or another. And they turned out to be some of His best friends. 

But it was not the power of Hesus that changed or healed them. It was their own faith. Many times when Jesus healed someone He said "You're faith has made you whole."

So while we may struggle in life we can through repentance become whole again. Jesus never look into a crowd or around His disciples and saw sinners of every kind. He saw children of God struggling as we all do. But He loved them regardless. And we should all see others in the same way.