The part that stuck out the most to me was verses 9-14. The Pharisee stood to pray with himself and mentioned all the things he has been doing right. The tax collector, however, stood far off and could not even raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"
Jesus said, this man went down to his house, justified rather than the other.
I heard a sermon on my ipod the other day and the preacher was saying that we will never be more righteous than we are right at this very moment! If we have put our trust and faith in Jesus, we are righteous because of HIM. Not because of anything we do!
This is so exciting. How easy it is to forget that it is Him who makes me righteous. It has not ever been, nor will ever be, about my actions or lack there of.
That is why the tax collector can stand there and be cleansed and justified... more than the one who sees himself as his source.
Last week I was running errands with Solo and we were downtown waiting for him. I sat at the curb in the car with my kids in the backseats. Two men came out of a building in front of us. One was working a pair of skinny jeans the way I can only dream about myself and the other had a purse on his arm that I was hoping for for Christmas. They were affectionate with each other and it was a scene that I thought is probably not often witnessed in Lincoln, Nebraska. It made me think about something with Judah (my 5-yr-old son) sitting in the back seat. I told him, "Judah, do you know that Jesus loves everyone?"
"Yes, of course" he said.
"Judah, did you know that Jesus loves bad guys?" (In 5-yr-old language, this was the best way I could think to describe the people he would think might be big bad sinners.)
"No. Jesus doesn't love those bad guys."
"Yes, Judah. He may not love what they are doing, but he created everyone and he wants even the bad guys to give their hearts to Him. They don't have to be good first. They only need to give their hearts to Jesus."
Funny how human nature puts sin in different boxes, I think. We unconsciously decide that certain sins are worse than others when Jesus just wants our hearts. He will take care of the rest. Because of Him and Him alone, we are righteous. If we judge people, we will get it wrong every time.
2 comments:
What a good post Sarah. I know God is teaching me a lot about how I look at people. He created ALL people to worship Him and be a companion to Him. All people. In fact, we are created like Him.
Thanks!
Great post, Sarah; and what a great teaching moment! My desire is to see people through God's eyes, through the blood of Jesus.
The health care system in Jesus time was REALLY broken! Those with a disability sat along the dusty roads near the cities . . . day after day after dusty day . . . begging. And yet, the very people the disabled depended on for help ignored their obligation to help the needy.
Jesus’ passing by drew a large crowd. Have you ever heard a quiet crowd? Yet Jesus heard this one man . . . heard his faith . . . “Jesus, Son of David” . . . even though the people around him tried to hush him up.
Why did they want him to be quiet?
Were they embarrassed by his disability?
Embarrassed by his “occupation,” begging?
Embarrassed because they were not taking care him, of those in need?
But Jesus heard him . . . stopped . . . asked . . . what do you want? Specific . . . I want to see! Jesus said, “All right, you can see! Your faith has healed you. INSTANTLY the man could see and he FOLLOWED Jesus, PRAISING God. And ALL who saw it PRAISED God, too.” (emphasis added)
God not only knows our “disability” . . . He hears us . . . each one of us . . . in this crowd called humanity! When we say the name of Jesus . . . He hears us . . . you . . . me!
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