(Jesus] told them, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17 CSB
Do you know what the difference was between the sinners sitting at the table and the sinners pointing their fingers at the table? It’s that God had come to save both but only one side knew they needed Him.
Let me explain: “And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance'” (Luke 5:29-32). Jesus sitting with sinners. What a controversy and a mercy, if ever there was one. These people, blemished and unclean, sinful and unsanctified, would’ve dropped dead in the throne room, but on this night the Holy One sat and ate a meal with them.
The Pharisees and scribes were just as blemished as the “tax collectors and sinners” except they held positions and wore clothing that had a deceptive quality about it. An undiscerning eye would conclude that they, the teachers of the law and scribes of it, had to be holy too, right? Look at them, dressed like atonement. Present within the synagogue, schooled in the Scriptures, obedient to the Law, we’d surmise. But Jesus knew who and what they were even if no one else did. About them, He said, “You are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matt. 23:27).
Hypocrisy fools everybody but God. But the good news would’ve been fantastic if they believed the truth. The truth about the Law (including how they hadn’t kept it), the Prophets, and the One sitting in front of them as a fulfillment of both. They believed they were healthy, but they had a sick mind. They thought they were clean when they needed to be cleansed.
In our day, there are plenty with the same spirit. They know Scripture, have family that do too—one that might’ve picked sins that don’t sing as loud as the others. They got an ear for the spiritual, know the language of it by heart also, and they might be you. If ever you decided that anything you are or have done makes you good, you’re deceived. And the deceived tend to think so highly of their own selves that they move toward death daily, full of pride and self-righteousness, while God stands with two nail-torn palms, waiting for them to come.
It’s interesting that “obvious sinners” can be closer to the kingdom than the ones raised near it. Both the Pharisee and the tax collectors were under the same wrath. They both had the same fate, for the wages of all sin, secret and spoken, subtle and obvious, is death (Rom. 3:23).
But as God’s grace would have it, Jesus was there, on earth, in the flesh, among sinners, so that they could be made right with His Father. Jesus didn’t come for perfect people, for if He did, He would’ve only been coming for Himself. In love He was coming for the sick ones. They are and will always be the only ones who need Him, and they know it.
To keep reading, click here to grab a copy of Jackie Hill Perry’s devotional, Upon Waking.
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