Key Thought

God has never wanted to condemn. That has never been his purpose. His Old Testament Laws were meant to distinguish the Israelites as his people and preserve them from spiritual and physical harm. When people rebel, rather than looking forward to punishing them for their sin, God grieves over the rebellious child. He yearns to bring restoration. When Jesus comes as Immanuel, he teaches and shows that God seriously cares about reaching and redeeming rebellious sinners. Incredibly, both Jesus and John the Baptist have more success with those who are in outright rebellion than with those who have been inoculated by their legalistic religious debates. Jesus came to the lost, the broken and the least, to save, mend, and make first.

Today's Prayer

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Loving and merciful Heavenly Father, give me a heart of concern for those who around me are lost. I am convicted today of your gracious love and sacrificial concern for those who are caught in sin. Please use me as an instrument to give them hope and bring them to you. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew. Matthew was sitting at his place for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, "Follow me." Then Matthew stood up and followed Jesus. Jesus ate dinner at Matthew's house. Many tax collectors and other bad people came and ate with Jesus and his followers. The Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with these people. The Pharisees asked Jesus' followers, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and other bad people?" Jesus heard the Pharisees say this. So Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Healthy people don't need a doctor. It is the sick people that need a doctor. I will tell you something. Go and learn what it means: 'I don't want animal sacrifices; I want you to show kindness to people.' I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners." Then the followers of John came to Jesus. They said to Jesus, "We and the Pharisees fast often. But your followers don't fast. Why?" Jesus answered, "{When there is a wedding,} the friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will leave them. The friends are sad when the bridegroom leaves. Then they will fast. "When a person sews a patch over a hole on an old coat, he never uses a piece of cloth that is not yet shrunk. If he does, the patch will {shrink and} pull away from the coat. Then the hole will be worse. Also, people never pour new wine into old wine bags. Why? Because the old bags will break. The wine will spill, and the wine bags will be ruined. But people always pour new wine into new wine bags. Then the wine and the wine bags will continue to be good."

— Matthew 9:9-17 (ERV)

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.