Tuesday June 10, 2003

~ The doctor is IN ~
(Praise da LORD!)

   While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does the teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?
   On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

— Matthew 9:10-13 (NIV) —

   Jesus is such a crazy dude. Picture this… hanging out with the dregs of society… the earlier version of the IRS, prostitutes, gangsters, and other ungodly people. What the heck is He doing with company like that? And this is exactly what the Pharisees asked his followers. Bad company corrupts, yes? It’s so easy for me to put myself in the Pharisees shoes. Hey, Jesus, don’t you have better friends to hang with?

Jesus overhears, accidentally? Who knows… maybe the Pharisees had come to see what the commotion was about… and started questioning Jesus’ character… WHO hangs out with SCUM like these people??? Jesus answers them so everyone can hear: “… For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Jesus acknowledges that these are imperfect people, but he has come for them…

Jesus has come to show God’s mercy to those who seek God. Those who have realized that there is nothing that can be done to save themselves… but there is only hope in God’s mercy and nothing else. Sacrificing something to God to appease him for your sins is not enough… we could kill every animal as a sin sacrifice to God and it would still not be enough.

I look at the quotes… and something interesting struck me. The book of Romans says there is no one righteous…(~3:10) yet Jesus spoke about the ‘righteous’… maybe Jesus is talking about ‘righteous’ like the Pharisees were talking about ‘sinners’ The book of Romans also says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (3:23). So there are no ‘righteous’, there are only those who consider themselves ‘righteous’ (Pharisees) but Jesus came not to save those who are proud and think themselves above others… but those who know who they are: sinners, and know that there is no other hope for them besides for the mercy of God.

Thank you, God, for making me a ‘sinner’… and not a ‘righteous’. Keep me from become self-righteous and proud. May the you pop my ego, and rip out that stone of a heart so I may be a follower in Christ’s footsteps. Help me to give mercy, instead of sacrifice. Thank you especially for the Great Doctor of our souls. To cure sicknesses that we cannot, to heal wounds that no man can heal, to remove things that hurt us and make us more like Love-incarnate, Christ. I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.

== Edit: Prayers ==

Father, You are doing work in my sister’s life. She’s confused, tired and frustrated. Give her soul rest in You, as you promised to those who will follow you. She is troubled by life and all the other distractions in her life, help her to see You and to remember the hope she has in Your ultimate sacrifice. Jesus, you didn’t come for the healthy, you came for the sick. Heal the sick, Lord, open her eyes and let her see what you are doing in her life, the blessings, the making of a mighty woman in Christ, the loving care you have for her, the grace & mercy that can only be found in Jesus and give her a faith that can withstand good times and bad, a faith in You and your promises, a faith that grows. Thank you for everything good that we often take for granted… May Your will be done! I ask this in the name of the only hope of sinners, Jesus, Amen.