Matthew 9:10-13

Beautiful Saturday morning fellas!

Today I read the following scriptures:

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew‬ ‭9‬:‭10‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬.

Before I share what God put in my heart while reading this passage today I want to define some words that would be great to know:

• Mercy = compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.

• Sacrifice = an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to God or to a divine or supernatural figure.

• Redemption = the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.

In the passage above, the Pharisees could not understand why Jesus would be around the sinners. They were blinded by their ego and pride. Somehow they thought they were holier than the sinners, so much so that they didn’t want to be around them. But Jesus makes it very clear in his response (that I highlighted in bold) that he came to save the sinners. 

Early in my walk with God, He revealed to me that I was clinging to my self-righteousness. Meaning - believing that my ideas and behaviors were morally better than those of other people. I was acting like the Pharisees in the passage above.

At the beginning of the year when I decided to start a men’s virtual bible study, I would pray for wisdom and tell God to let it be His will and not mine. Slowly but surely He would begin to give me the names of the men He wanted me to invite to the bible study and I was shocked. Just like the Pharisees were shocked when Jesus ate with the sinners and tax collectors.

I was shocked because the men the Lord was putting in my heart to reach out to were not perfect. Every one of them had a sinful past. Here I thought I was going to be reaching out to the holiest of men, but God humbled me.

He told me, "How dare you judge your brothers for their sins when you are struggling with your sins". Here I was saying holy things and trying to act holy, but I had forgotten that God truly knows my heart. I can fool the world, but I can’t fool God. I wasn’t coming to Him to be redeemed of my sins. Specifically during this time when I was struggling with lust and pornography. This sin was overtaking my life.

But thank God that I obeyed Him and reached out to every man that He put in my heart. Not all the men I reached out to accepted my invitation. But those men who did accept my invitation have been the biggest blessing in my life over the last 7 months.

I can say that in these short 7 months of 2024, God has turned old friends and even strangers into my brothers. My faith would not be as strong as it is today if it were not for the men in our bible study. Seeing these men live their lives for Jesus Christ encourages me to live a faithful life.

My thinking was wrong and by the mercy of God, I was redeemed. God saved me from my sins. He showed me that our purpose is to do the same on this earth; to sit with the sinners and share His goodness.

For some of us, the world has seen our sins out in the open. For others, we’ve been able to hide our sins from the world, but at the end of the day, we are all sinners. But it’s not how we appear to others that matters, it is whether we are willing to be redeemed from the power of sin in our lives. Don’t be self-righteous like I was, but rather humble yourself. The Lord can redeem you from the power of sin in your life. All you have to do is surrender your life to Jesus. 

Have a blessed day fellas, God bless!

-Toño