Verse of the Day 3/2

Through the Bible - Numbers 29-31, Mark 10:1-34

 

Good morning,

In yesterday's verse Jesus instructed the disciples to "shake the dust off of their feet" when departing from the home or town of someone that would not receive their message.  It may surprise you to find out who the "dust" is that is being referenced.

For today's verse we'll go to Matthew 9 where Jesus tells his disciples, and us, just who it was He came to save.
 Matt 9:12 When Jesus heard this, he said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do." 13 Then he added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."   NLT

In these verses Jesus said that He did not call the "righteous - self righteous" but tax collectors and sinners to repentance.  He was meeting with other tax collectors and sinners at Matthew's house.  Notice how the tax collectors are singled out.  They were despised to the point of having their own category of sinners.  Rapists, murderers and common thieves were lumped in together, but tax collectors, they were looked upon as being rotten to the core.

The ones that would be shaken off, left behind were those who thought that they were good enough in their own works to "make it" into God's kingdom of their own accord.

The passage begins with Jesus asking telling Matthew "follow me".  In a message on this passage that I heard this weekend, the pastor pointed out that no "sinner" then or now is like Jesus, and that the call to follow is not about total obedience immediately, but following Him, and that in following Him you will learn from Him, learn that you are sick, observe how He lived and loved, and  learn to obey as you follow.  It's not who you are now, but who you are becoming that matters most to Jesus.

Matthew and the other disciples learned to follow and learned what it was to be, to become a Christ follower through faith, a faith that observed a life being lived in obedience.

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Matt 9:9-14

Jesus Calls Matthew

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with such scum?"

12 When Jesus heard this, he said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do." 13 Then he added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."   NLT