Matthew 9:10-11 NKJV – ‘Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your 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.”’
The heart of God and the goal of every true follower of Jesus Christ is to see men come to repentance and the knowledge of the truth. We cannot achieve this by being ‘standoffish’ and judgmental. We have to reach out to sinners with an attitude of love.
At the same time, when reaching out to sinners, we need to ensure our determination not to conform to the world and our firmness in our conviction in Christ (1 Corinthians 9: 19-27).
As much as Jesus cared about sinners, the book of Hebrews showed His true spiritual state in the midst of all His interactions. Hebrews 7:26 AMP – ‘It was fitting for us to have such a High Priest [perfectly adapted to our needs], holy, blameless, unstained [by sin], separated from sinners and exalted higher than the heavens.’
While He ate and dined with sinners, Jesus remained sanctified (set-apart and holy).
PRAYER: Lord, you sanctified yourself so that I might be sanctified. Please help me to have passion for the lost while keeping myself pure. Let me remain pure and pleasing to you while I become all things to all people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.