“And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.” Matthew nine, ten kjv
IS THERE – –
Is there something inside of you that wants to dine with Jesus like the publicans and sinners did? To just be near Him and let some of Him rub off on you? Well, He’s ready for that. Seek Him out, but he won’t necessarily be found in the commotion of the religious community.
Then offer yourself to Him in your weakness and see what He does. Be assured that if you love Him, you can be a link in God’s plan to reach others even if you have a messy past and still have some stains.
FILLING IN THE GAP
I was trying to pull this together yesterday but had a gap in my thought process. I was chatting with a pastor and asked, “What was it about Jesus, that publicans and sinners wanted to be with Him?” He replied without hesitation, “They felt no condemnation from Him.” BINGO!
“Publicans and sinners” feel the condemnation of the self-righteousness that we wear to try to hide our own frailties and sins. Did you ever wonder why they don’t want to “dine” with us like they did with Jesus?
TODAY
God is at work and is calling out those whose hearts are turned toward Him. He’ll be separating the sheep from the goats and there’ll be some surprises. Remember I Sam. 16:7 from the last post?
Jesus’ lineage included some of compromised character, and He established the Church through those who were “unschooled, ordinary men” (Acts 4:13 niv) and were rough around the edges, instead of through the polished religious professionals. It will be the same today as He does a new work among us in these Last Days, and you can be part of it.
Jesus is your shepherd. Receive His love and acceptance; listen for His voice; and follow Him. He is ready to bring greater life into your soul and to work through you to reach those whom the self-righteous can’t get close to. Imperfect people are only comfortable around other imperfect people who know they are imperfect, and they turn away from hypocrisy.
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, OH USA
June 12, 2021
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Love the answer the pastor gave…. Because they felt no condemnation from Him! <3 <3 <3
Is it possible unbelievers feel condemnation because of their refusal to surrender to Jesus – John 3:16 is often known but 3:17-20 is ignored. Their deeds condemn them but instead of repenting they point the finger at some Christians, falsely accusing them as being self righteous. It is not self-righteousness at all, but Christ living in believers that they get confused with… we are called to righteous living.
Well, I need to ponder that one a bit! Thanks for the question.
Any thoughts yet? I’m always open to correction.
Please see my reply with your original question. Thanks!
My apologies for the slow response. I do value your thoughtful responses and questions. Most certainly some feel condemned because they are – – because they have not received Eternal Life. Its the II Cor. 2:15-17 thing. But I’m also sure that many are turned away from Christ by our judgment and rejection, which is sometimes fueled by our self-righteousness. We feel qualified to judge them because we don’t sin in a certain way they do, even though we have other areas of weakness and sin.