31 Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
This verse is given by Jesus in response to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law’s question as to why Jesus and His disciples would eat and drink with such “sinners”. Their attitude screamed that they were above associating with those whom habitually and heinously “miss the mark”, so to speak. It never occurred to them that the self-righteousness in their own hearts was despicable in God’s sight too. Aren’t we blind to our own flaws! Like David, we should pray:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23-24 (NIV)
Interestingly, “offensive way” in the above verse literally means “the way of pain”. Anytime we are off God’s path, out of His will, it is the way of pain – anytime. I don’t know about you, but I am certainly glad Jesus came to call the sinner to repentance! Sometimes I think we are our own worst enemy. We have a way of convincing ourselves that we are really not that bad. We are constantly comparing ourselves to the lives of others and we come out looking pretty good. There is always some poor soul who makes us look a little bit better (what we fail to grasp is except for the grace of God go I!) Unfortunately, God’s standards will not be found in our comparison to humans. His standards are MUCH higher! He compares us to Him and in His estimation, we all come up woefully short – there is no exception! We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; Isaiah 53:6 (NIV) 10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; Romans 3:10 (NIV) 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 (NIV) 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- Romans 5:12 (NIV)
Problem stated, the solution is found in our repentance of sin and in our turning to Jesus. What exactly does that mean? What is repentance? It is a change of mind. It is a turning from one way, our old way, to THE way. Jesus states: 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NIV)
Our salvation comes through Christ alone. Interestingly, we do not even have the ability to carry this out! It begins with a resolve in our minds to turn – meaning a movement back to the point of departure – yet we are not even capable of turning! Jeremiah gives us an excellent insight of this: 19 Therefore this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; Jer 15:19 (NIV) The words “repent” and “restore” in the above verse are the exact same words – both meaning to turn! God is telling us if we make the decision to turn, He will turn us! How very precious! He calls us, He turns us, He saves us and as if that were not enough, He empowers us with the precious Holy Spirit giving us the ability to “walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ”. As Isaiah puts it: 4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? Isaiah 5:4 (NIV)
Indeed, Jesus came to call the sinner to a life of repentance – for our good, for His glory!