ient.

Would the sight of a miracle have effected a moral change in a Pharisee?

How would religion be affected, if miraculous demonstrations could be
furnished at will?

Sixth Day: When Religion Separates Men

And as Jesus passed by from thence, he saw a man, called Matthew,
sitting at the place of toll: and he saith unto him, Follow me.
And he arose, and followed him.

And it came to pass, as he sat at meat in the house, behold, many
publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his
disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his
disciples, Why eateth your Teacher with the publicans and sinners?
But when he heard it, he said, They that are whole have no need of
a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what this
meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice: for I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners.--Matt. 9:9-13.

The Jewish community, religious at the core, had a fringe of people who
had failed to live up to the requirements of the Law. They came under the
condemnation of the respectable people and of their own conscience, and
drifted into the despised and vicious occupations. These were the
"publicans and sinners," the "publicans and harlots," to whom the Gospels
refer. A socially efficient religion would have prompted the good people
to establish loving and saving contact with these people. Actually
religion so accentuated the social divergence that the Pharisees were
shocked when Jesus mingled in a friendly way with this class and even
added one of them to his traveling companions. The parables of the lost
coin, lost sheep, and prodigal son were spoken in reply to the slur, "This
man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them" (Luke 15). The elder brother
of the prodigal pictures this loveless and censorious religion.

Jesus crossed the line of demarcation and established social contact and
friendliness, through which salvation could come to these religious
derelicts. He quoted again the old saying of the prophets, "I desire
mercy, and not sacrifice." God was not as much concerned about correct
religious performances as the Pharisees thought, and a great deal more
concerned about mercy for the fallen, and the simple human qualities which
bring the strong and the weak together.

What experiences have we had of refusal to associate? Was the cleavage
along lines of race, wealth, education, morals, or religion?

_Has