Self-Righteous Men REFUSE to Understand God's Life-Changing Forgiveness!
The big argument of the Pharisees was this, "How could this mean eat with sinners?" As if they weren't sinners themselves. I do find it annoying with how Christianity is so vilified by contradictory claims. First, the world believes that Christians condone to sin then second, they expect Christians to be perfect and sinless. It is indeed a contradiction that you cannot really see what's going on. For them, they see the Christian missionary who preaches the Gospel to the worst of sinners - those in jail, those in the brothels and indeed in the worst places of society.
These are those really "difficult cases" in the New Testament:
The calling of Matthew (Matthew 9:9-13)
Matthew was once called Levi, he was a tax collector. Who would have expected that one day a tax collector for Rome would LEAVE his post and become an evangelist for Jesus?
Nicodemus the Pharisee (John 3)
Nicodemus is a difficult case. The Pharisees were very well-condemned as hypocrites. These bunch of people thought they were good enough for Heaven, condemned Jesus for eating with the "low lives" of society. It even made them just as much of a "hopeless case". But guess what... Nicodemus became a follower of Jesus!
The Samaritan woman by the well (John 4)
One such difficult case was the Samaritan woman. What was wrong with her? She was an adulteress no doubt. She has had five ex-husbands and was now in a live in relationship. Jesus came to her anyway requesting for a drink. He told her about her sin and the need of the Savior. She looked really hopeless but Jesus exposed her sin to the point she repented. She met the life-changing Savior, she invited others. If Ruth and Rahab were converted, why not the adulteress here?
The woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11)
The woman caught in adultery was another difficult case. The Pharisees' self-righteousness didn't only want to stone her, but also to trap Jesus. Remember the Roman Law forbade the Pharisees from carrying their own executions. The man was basically absent. There was no proper trial. Also the woman was caught in the act. But what did Jesus do? He could have stoned her but instead, he said, "Let he who sinned not cast the first stone." The sinful woman could only do nothing but be at the feet of Jesus. Then she was at that moment a saved woman.
Zaccheaus the Tax Collector (Luke 19:1-10)
Zaccheaus was another difficult case. Remember publicans were considered traitors to the Jewish population because they worked for Rome. Many times they are known for cheating. But look at Zaccheus after he welcomed Jesus. Jesus wanted to dine with the tax collector. The whole result was unbelievable. Zacchaeus the cheater became Zacchaeus the honest men. People condemned Jesus for eating at the house of "a sinner" but as if they never needed salvation.
Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9)
Saul who was later renamed Paul is another person you don't easily expect to get converted. Just think of how Saul of Tarsus was. He was a Pharisee aggressively trying to eradicate the followers of Jesus. I would even suspect he was bragging how many Christians he killed in a day. But one day, seeing the risen Lord along the way to Damascus changed his life. While he is unforgivable by human standards, however Jesus changed the prosecutor into a preacher of the Gospel!
Conclusion:
Self-righteousness happens to be the other major reason to reject the Gospel aside from the love for sin. People think they are good enough for Heaven. Sad to say but a lot of people will one day appear before God. Matthew 7:21-23 has it where people will claim to know God but only one day... to find out they were not saved. They would brag about their good works but they are dismissed as workers of iniquity. Works salvation itself is ironic as many of those who adhere by it turn out to be the ones living very sinful lives!