Christ Receives Sinners

-September 15, 2023-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“Then all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’”

(Luke 15:1-2).

The self-righteous Pharisees were spiritually blind and far from God. Instead of receiving Jesus, acknowledging His Messiahship, and following Him, they rejected and condemned Him. They completely missed the point of His coming to save sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are all sinners in need of a Savior. Paul quoting the Psalmist wrote, “There is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10).

Their greatest complaint became His great compliment. Yes, He receives sinners, eats with sinners, and saves sinners. He didn’t come to partake of our sin, nor to participate in it, He came to forgive our sin, save our souls, and change our lives. There are so many examples in the gospels showing this. He came to us in our need and received as we were, but He didn’t leave that way. He made us His children.

Jesus received the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, Mary Magdalene possessed by demons, Zacchaeus in a sycamore tree, blind Bartimaeus on the side of the road, and many, many more. Best of all He received you and me. Hallelujah! Yes, Jesus is a Friend of Sinners, He is our Friend as well as our Savior. The blood of Christ has washed us.

The hymn writer J. Wilbur Chapman wrote, “Jesus! what a friend for sinners! Jesus lover of my soul! Friends may fail me, foes assail me, He my Savior, makes me whole. Jesus I do now receive Him, more than all in Him I find; He hath granted me forgiveness, I am His, and He is mine. Hallelujah! what a Savior! Hallelujah! what a friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.”

What a Friend we have in Jesus! A friend that loves at all times, a brother who is born for adversity. The One who is with us, for us, and in us. Let us receive Him as He has received us to the glory of God. Have a blessed, bountiful, and beautiful day. Stay safe and healthy.

When Jesus is our Friend, we are safe in His arms,

Dean