Devotion: Luke 5:32

Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” 

In today’s verse, we find Jesus having dinner with tax collectors and other societal outcasts. This is just after He had called Levi, who we know as Matthew, to be His disciple and Matthew hosts a large dinner in His honor. The religious leaders did not like this and openly criticized Jesus for eating with “sinners.”

Jesus responded to the Pharisees with a comparison. He explained to them the purpose for Him coming using a medical analogy. He compared Himself to a doctor who goes to those who are broken and in need of healing and fixing. He points out to them that healthy people do not need a doctor. Only sick people need doctors.

He then went on to say He came to call sinners to repentance, not to call the righteous. My first assumption when reading this was that the righteous already know God, they are already living a Godly life and serving Him. They don’t need help seeing where they are sinning and how to change.

But then I learned something that made me stop and delete everything I had already written. The “righteous” that Jesus was referring to in this statement are not Godly believers living lives for Him. He was talking about the Pharisees. He was talking about the fact that they reject Him and their need for healing. They refuse to see their own sin. And because of that, they do not repent and have their lives transformed. He was challenging the religious elite when He said these words but they were too self-righteous to realize what He was saying or to see it in themselves.

As believers, we must recognize that true repentance requires admitting we are at fault and making the choice to turn to God for a changed life. It means seeing when our thoughts, behaviors, or actions cross the line and become sin. Sin is easy to fall into. It is easy for us to slip up and find ourselves in a place we don’t want to be. And when we do, we need to act immediately to remedy the situation. We need to stop what we are doing and confess it to God then turn away from it and back to Him.

Yesterday we asked God to help us examine our hearts to identify the sins in our lives. Today, let’s continue to explore our actions and behaviors. Identify simply one thing that you can repent of and be freed from. We all have sin in our lives. The question is are we honest enough to admit it and make an effort to change?

Prayer: Lord, I don’t want to be held captive by sin any longer. Help me to find freedom from it today. I need You to help me and You to forgive me. Thank You for Your grace. Amen

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