August 22, 2024
Passage Read: Luke 15-16
Meditation Verses: 15:2-5
Thought
The Pharisees have nothing but contempt for Jesus. They look at the "rabble" that He welcomes and they condemn Him. They are disgusted that sinful people are seeking Jesus and finding mercy. They are disgusted because they're not like them who have perfected the art of dressing and acting like perfect people. So they belittle them by calling them sinners, because that is what they were; and in calling them sinners, they make Jesus look like an unholy man, like one who condones sin and probably participates in it. Jesus doesn't hate sin enough to keep Himself far from these people, like they do. But they don't understand that these people are no longer sinners; they have repented and come home to God, the whole point of Jesus's the parables in this chapter. They are no longer considered sinners by God, but only by those who despise them, who justify their rejection of them by only acknowledging their past.
Application
The Pharisees still need to repent; they are the ones left out of the kingdom. They think they're in because of all the things they do, things that they have decided make them good with God. But they don't know God or His heart or His desire for all men to repent and be saved. They don't understand that if a sinner repents and turns to God, he finds welcome. They think that you have to clean up your life and look and act like them. But God accepts anyone who is ready to give up their sinful ways and learn from Him. I need to have that same desire for people to repent; they don't have to have everything perfect before I welcome them; I'm here to teach them what God desires, not what religious people have determined to be good and right. And anyone willing to forsake their sin and turn to God in humility and submission, they should be my delight! But religious people who think they have it all right but lack teachableness, these I can't hate, but there's not much I can do for them until they're ready to humble themselves too.