February 12, 2008
Passage:Matthew 9:10-17
“And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’ ”
In 1996, I came down with the flu. That flu turned into pneumonia and a major infection. I ended up bedridden, unable to do things for myself.
In today’s text, the Pharisees were upset that Jesus was hanging with Matthew, the tax collectors and his friends who were also of questionable moral character. Jesus told the Pharisees that those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do need a doctor.
Sometimes, we can forget that we still sin, we still do things that separate us from God. We are in need of God’s grace all the time.
The Pharisees were steeped in what they did. They were proud in keeping the law. But in the end, their pride kept them from being in relationship with God. The ones on the outside, the tax collectors and other sinners, had no pride since there was nothing to be proud about. This allowed them to actually be in relationship with God in Jesus.
It is the sick who need a doctor. May we all realize that it is only in Christ can we be healed.
Dear God, we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed. Help us to rely not on our works, but on your wondrous grace. Amen.
Dennis Sanders is the IT/Communications Specialist for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. He is also an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
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