Mark 2:16 - 17 “And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? (17) When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
The Jews, like Gentiles today are always self-righteous people.
No matter who you are, everyone has some self-righteousness about them. Listen
to the words written by the Apostle Paul, they are very humbling words, “But
by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me
was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but
the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10 I believe a
careful study of this verse will humble even the strongest of preachers. The
greatest of preachers are those who humble themselves before the Lord. It’s
natural for people to be competitive, to be proud, to want honor, but as
Christians we deserve none of this because everything about us as Christians are
purely from God’s grace. Paul said “…but the grace of God which was with me.”
meaning everything he accomplished was of God’s grace and power, while he
labored more abundantly than they all, he was still a great servant of God in
his time, but only by grace.
The Jews were always critical of Jesus, like most self-righteous
religious people, they only wanted to find bad in Jesus because they did not
believe He was the Messiah. Here it was because He ate with sinners, “And
when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they
said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans
and sinners?” I heard it asked once many years ago and I have repeated it
many times since, “if Jesus did not eat with sinners, then He would have never
eat with anyone.” We never need to forget the pit of sin that we were all in
before God saved our souls by grace. It is sinners that Jesus came to save and
it is sinners He went to save them because they were lost. Humility is the
greatest thing a Christian can have in their hearts. Always remembering, I was
sick and God healed me by grace and Jesus, I was dead and God resurrected my
spirit and made it alive, I was ignorant and God made me knowledgeable, I was
weak and God made me strong. Then we can all quote the words that Paul wrote, “But
by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me
was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but
the grace of God which was with me.” Thank you, Lord!
We all must realize our sickness before we can be healed,
and in salvation it is most needed. If one does not realize they are a sinner (sick)
then they will continue in life without any concern about the Lord. Self-righteousness
is what we are blinded with by Satan, “I’m ok, I can figure this out and I am
strong enough to do everything I want.” But we cannot, all people outside
of Jesus Christ and God’s grace is going to hell. People by their self-righteous
hearts will never believe that they are spiritually dead, they will never need
Jesus in their hearts. These religious Jews thought they were special, they thought
they had it all figured out, then they crucified our Messiah. People that
believe in works for salvation are very self-righteous people, they do not need
Jesus because they can do this their self. They are very proud people and are a
lot like the Jews, holding their heads up high more righteous than everyone
else because they are not sick, they are not sinners, because they are greater
than all else in the world.
A true saved person understands grace, because grace was
applied in our quickening and believing and repentance, and our salvation.
Grace is our stronghold as Christians to make and keep us strong in the Lord,
always dependent on our Great Physician. Self-righteousness belongs nowhere in
a believer’s heart, nowhere! We need to endlessly remember how weak and frail
we are without grace, and without Jesus Christ, that very thought, will keep us
forever humble and needing the Lord. The write in Acts said, “For in him we
live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have
said, For we are also his offspring.” Acts 17:28 Everything we are, every good
thing we accomplish, every act we perform, is because of grace. It’s ok to eat
with sinners, it’s ok to carry the gospel to them, it’s ok to humble yourself,
because without the grace and power of God we would all be to frail and sickly
to do anything. But listen to this scripture, “I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13
