A Friend of Sinners
“I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” - Luke 5:32
Jesus not only loved those like Him. He loved everyone. And this wasn’t just a theoretical overarching principle. Jesus actually HUNG OUT with people who were different from Him. Jesus was a friend of sinners.
In Luke 5:27-32 states, “…Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’”
Jesus hung out with sinners, not to sit back, chill, and tell jokes. He hung with sinners to change their hearts and minds and lead them to the true and living God.
Jesus never sinned, and yet He was a friend of sinners because He knew the impact He could have on them. Imagine the impact you can have when you follow Jesus and show His love to those who have yet to experience it.
If we want to be more like Jesus, we must be willing to step outside of our comfort zone and engage those who may not know Jesus. Their eternal life is dependent on it.
Jesus not only loved those like Him. He loved everyone. And this wasn’t just a theoretical overarching principle. Jesus actually HUNG OUT with people who were different from Him. Jesus was a friend of sinners.
In Luke 5:27-32 states, “…Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’”
Jesus hung out with sinners, not to sit back, chill, and tell jokes. He hung with sinners to change their hearts and minds and lead them to the true and living God.
Jesus never sinned, and yet He was a friend of sinners because He knew the impact He could have on them. Imagine the impact you can have when you follow Jesus and show His love to those who have yet to experience it.
If we want to be more like Jesus, we must be willing to step outside of our comfort zone and engage those who may not know Jesus. Their eternal life is dependent on it.
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