"So welcome each other, just as the Messiah has welcomed you into God’s glory” (Rom 15:7 CJB). In the context of Romans 15, Paul is speaking of Jews and Gentiles in the same congregation welcoming one another (see vv. 8–12). Significantly, Paul points to the Messiah’s example as the reason why we should do this—because the Messiah has welcomed us, we should welcome each other.

There are various ways this wording can be understood, but I would like to offer one possibility. The words “just as the Messiah has welcomed you” may be a reminder that the sinless one welcomed sinners. In Romans 5:8, Paul writes, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in that the Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners.”

As the wholly righteous one, Yeshua had reason to keep his distance from us. He could have spent time only with the pious like Yochanan (John) the Immerser and avoided sinners. But instead, Yeshua regularly ate with sinners. He welcomed them. He defended them. He gave everything—including his life—to them. We are them. We are the sinners he died for.