Jesus Came for Me

Some church people are strange. They believe that everyone in the church should be able to judge everyone outside the church. They get upset when someone comes to their church who doesn't fit in. These people don't use the correct language. They don't go to the same places. They have vices that plague them. Of course, these church people believe that Jesus came for them but not so much for those who don't act right.

Maybe that's why they are busy condemning, boycotting and staying away from those who don't act like church people. They would be appalled if prostitutes, drug dealers, homosexuals or convicted pedophiles came to their churches. They actually think, "If Jesus ever gets His hands on them . . . ."

Such a group of people confront Jesus when He is eating with tax collectors and sinners. Shouldn't He be eating with most religious people of the day, the Pharisees? Of course, they didn't think they really needed a savior. They were all righteous, right?

Jesus response was that He came to call the sinners not those who were righteous. I think He could have added, "or those who think they are righteous." People who think they are well generally don't go to a doctor anyway. These people thought they were well.

I wish all sinners like me heard this message. I have done things that I wish I hadn't. I have done things that embarrass me. I have fallen short of God's glory. I am a sinner and Jesus came for me.

When I find that I have sinned, I remember that Jesus came for me. When I feel guilty for something that I have done, I remember that Jesus came for me. When I still feel guilty for something I have already confessed, I remember that Jesus came for me. He came to heal my heart. He came to take away my sin. He came to remove the guilt. He came to make me whole again.

And Jesus came for  you, too. That is, He came for you if you are a sinner in need of Him. If you are so righteous that you don't need Him, then, maybe not.

Mark 2:17 (ESV)

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."