Luke 5:12-32

(Written during the Great Lakes Region Summer Bible Conference, July 17-19, 2009)

Key Verse: Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance.” (v. 31-32)

Throughout this passage, we are shown Jesus’s love and compassion for people. The people in each situation were approached in a way that was unique to them in their specific circumstances and the state of their heart. The leper honestly sought after Jesus with faith and was healed because of his earnest desire to seek Jesus. The paralytic man was greatly blessed to have such great friends of faith, friends who would even lower him through a roof to bring him to Jesus. Jesus respected their faith, calling them his friends and healing the paralytic as well. Then, as Jesus called Levi, who would later be called Matthew, Levi had the faith to leave all his belongings behind to follow Christ. He recognized the value of being a follower of Jesus and left all he had, and then celebrated his new life with Jesus with a feast.

At this celebratory banquet the Pharisees asked Jesus’s disciples, ““Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance”” (v. 30-32).

Again, Jesus shows his compassion for sinners. He truly had a shepherd heart for mankind and it is something we need to emulate, and to seek God’s direction in so that we also can look at individuals and see their humanity, but as sinners who have different needs, feelings, and situations… and a need God’s love.

Jesus came to save sinners—he came to call “sinners to repentance,” and not the righteous. While we help others, we must also recognize that we ourselves are sinners, as well. This is something I struggle with greatly; I know in my head that I am a sinner, but it is very hard to continue to see myself that way after I was saved. I tend to let things slide a lot more because I know I’m not perfect, and God knows I’m not perfect, but I’m saved so “things are all good if I just slip up every once in a while”, or don’t do anything too bad. But every sin is the same to God, as it says in James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

So while I know that I am a sinner, I don’t feel like one. I need to have a better understanding of myself and have God truly open my eyes to the deeper seated sin problems in my life. I could claim that I’m lazy, or that I am too prideful, or any number of generic, blanket-like sins… but it is hard to see the underlying, much more specific problems that are in my heart. I need to seek God’s guidance and constantly fall on His mercy and grace so that I can seek His forgiveness and overcome those obstacles in my life that are holding me back from being a world-class student leader and (someday) a compassionate shepherdess.

The more I realize that I am a sinner, the more real I can be to my future Bible students and set an example that they can follow by mirroring the best example of all—Jesus Christ. Please pray for me as I continue to grow and seek God to discover and root out the deep weeds of sin that are still thrive inside my heart.

One Word: Jesus calls me, a great and miserable sinner, to repentance.