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Daily Devotion: Matthew 9:11-13

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Matthew 9:11-13     "And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Jesus had just called Matthew to come follow Him. Since Matthew was a tax collector (publican), he was held in low regard among the people. After Jesus called Matthew, He sat down for a meal. Other publicans and sinners came and sat at the meal with Him.

The Pharisees, who considered themselves the most learned and devout of the Jews, found Jesus’s action offensive. They could not fathom having any fellowship with people of such low degree. In their eyes, Jesus was no better than the people with whom He was eating. Since Jesus was a Jew and a teacher, the Pharisees could not understand why He was not paying more attention to them and their supposed piety.

Jesus heard their question to His disciples, and He gave them a very simple answer. People who have nothing wrong with them do not need a doctor. Doctors are for people who are sick and suffering. Then Jesus told the Pharisees to go and learn what that means. Which brings me to a question, do we know what that means?

Jesus was not telling the Pharisees they did not need a physician. He was instructing them to seek the truth of God’s word and understand that they were also sinners. They were to search until they understood that Jesus was much more interested in compassion than He was their self-serving sacrifices. He had come to minister to those who understood their need for Him.

Dear ones, Jesus is not interested in how good we think we are. Until we understand that we are sin-sick, we do not understand that we NEED a Saviour and that Saviour is Jesus Christ. Jesus does not come to us because we deserve Him. He comes because we cannot have a meaningful life without Him. If Jesus refused to eat with publicans and sinners, then we would find no place at His table. 

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