40 Days of Praise - Day 39
Day 39
“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:32
Jesus had just called Levi, also known as Matthew, to follow Him. Levi had been a tax collector. In response to Jesus call, Levi shut down his tax collecting business and then threw a party for Jesus and invited all of his friends from his business world – other tax collectors, women of questionable morals and men of unethical business practice.
The Pharisees, who seem to be aware of most things that Jesus did, asked the disciples why they and Jesus were eating with tax collectors and sinners. The question is a legitimate one.
Jesus was known, at that point, as a rabbi, a teacher of God‘s Word and God‘s ways. As such, it was expected that He would be holy in His behavior and His associations. The Pharisees had a significant list of those with whom they would not associate and practices that they would not engage in, so they expected that Jesus would have the same. But the people at this party were all questionable.
The question of the Pharisees made its way back to Jesus, and Jesus answered the Pharisees directly.
People who are well don’t need a physician. The Pharisees thought they were spiritually healthy so they were not seeking Jesus’ company. The tax collectors and sinners that Levi invited, however, had no illusions about their spiritual health. But they also found in Jesus someone who was holy, but who cared about them and was not ashamed to be seen associating with them.
And therein lies the wonder and the genius of grace. Jesus was not defiled by being among sinners. We could not make Him unholy, but He, by His life and sacrifice, would make us holy as we received Him. He came to carry our sin to the cross.
In the Old Testament, the priests had to keep themselves separate from anything that might make them ceremonially unclean — unholy. Jesus came in perfect holiness from the halls of heaven and pitched His tent among us who were dead in trespasses and sins. To say it more personally, Jesus felt no hesitation to receive me even though I was defiled by my sin. And He is not ashamed to claim me as His own even though I still stumble in many ways. Many have rejected me for much less; Jesus knows all and embraces me. And in His embrace, I become more holy.
When you have stumbled, when you have fallen, even when you have taken a swan dive into sin, don’t hesitate to come to Jesus. Grace and truth came through Jesus: grace to receive us and truth to lead us out of sin and into His holy love, making us more like Him. Our Lord is gracious!
Grace, grace — God’s grace
Grace that will pardonand cleanse within
Grace, grace — God’s grace
Grace that is greater than all our sin
Charles M. Butler
“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:32
Jesus had just called Levi, also known as Matthew, to follow Him. Levi had been a tax collector. In response to Jesus call, Levi shut down his tax collecting business and then threw a party for Jesus and invited all of his friends from his business world – other tax collectors, women of questionable morals and men of unethical business practice.
The Pharisees, who seem to be aware of most things that Jesus did, asked the disciples why they and Jesus were eating with tax collectors and sinners. The question is a legitimate one.
Jesus was known, at that point, as a rabbi, a teacher of God‘s Word and God‘s ways. As such, it was expected that He would be holy in His behavior and His associations. The Pharisees had a significant list of those with whom they would not associate and practices that they would not engage in, so they expected that Jesus would have the same. But the people at this party were all questionable.
The question of the Pharisees made its way back to Jesus, and Jesus answered the Pharisees directly.
People who are well don’t need a physician. The Pharisees thought they were spiritually healthy so they were not seeking Jesus’ company. The tax collectors and sinners that Levi invited, however, had no illusions about their spiritual health. But they also found in Jesus someone who was holy, but who cared about them and was not ashamed to be seen associating with them.
And therein lies the wonder and the genius of grace. Jesus was not defiled by being among sinners. We could not make Him unholy, but He, by His life and sacrifice, would make us holy as we received Him. He came to carry our sin to the cross.
In the Old Testament, the priests had to keep themselves separate from anything that might make them ceremonially unclean — unholy. Jesus came in perfect holiness from the halls of heaven and pitched His tent among us who were dead in trespasses and sins. To say it more personally, Jesus felt no hesitation to receive me even though I was defiled by my sin. And He is not ashamed to claim me as His own even though I still stumble in many ways. Many have rejected me for much less; Jesus knows all and embraces me. And in His embrace, I become more holy.
When you have stumbled, when you have fallen, even when you have taken a swan dive into sin, don’t hesitate to come to Jesus. Grace and truth came through Jesus: grace to receive us and truth to lead us out of sin and into His holy love, making us more like Him. Our Lord is gracious!
Grace, grace — God’s grace
Grace that will pardonand cleanse within
Grace, grace — God’s grace
Grace that is greater than all our sin
Charles M. Butler
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