Day 73 "Loving sinners doesn't mean you love what they do; it means you care."

Day 73

Matthew 9:10-13 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?" When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Jesus placed a great deal of emphasis upon this quote in verse 13, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' – so much so that He instructed the Pharisees to "go learn what this means." That would indicate to me that no harm would be done in our doing likewise; are you with me? Mercy is described as "compassion and forbearance for an offender" or "compassionate treatment of those in distress," and lastly, "to issue one a penalty less than they deserve." The word sacrifice here is very easily translated to "the act of killing." Hosea 6:6 says this: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice. And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." How is it that we Christians throughout the world have so easily fallen into the trap of requiring sacrifice before issuing mercy? All too often, I hear statements like this: "You don't deserve anything but death" or "God wants you to suffer." I'm sorry, but these are half truths and very dangerous ones at that. If Jesus is saying to the religious leaders of His time that they need to understand the meaning of mercy more than the meaning of sacrifice, could it be that we, too, may want to learn that same message and apply it in our lives?

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that being a Christian is easy or that it doesn't mean we will need to sacrifice some of our fleshly desires; however, I am agreeing that "mercy is better than sacrifice." All too often we seek for others to make the sacrifice in order to receive the mercy. How about issuing the mercy and letting God deal with the sacrifice? If we point out to people that our God is a God of mercy and that He will issue compassion upon those who are wounded, sick, and sinful, they will be drawn to that very compassionate and merciful God. Once they have received mercy, then they, by their own choice and guilt, will choose to sacrifice the things in their life which need to die. In this age, we must seek to send a message of compassion by our words as well as our deeds: people are seeking compassionate, non-judgmental relationships with others more and more.

Look at it this way, which group of people is Jesus talking to in this passage, and which group of people is Jesus ministering to in this passage? He's warning the religious and loving on the sinners. Wow, what a concept!

Daily Prayer: Father, teach me to be a compassionate and merciful person, willing to love the unlovely, that they may come to know You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

"Loving sinners doesn't mean you love what they do; it means you care."

Pastor Gene Burroughs