“While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
– Mark 2:15-17
Maybe today you’re thinking: I don’t know if this Christian faith thing is for me. I’m kind of a black sheep or a rogue or a rebel. But those are Jesus’ favorite people. When you look in the Bible, Jesus goes to prostitutes, tax collectors, hoodlums, and thieves because He’s just a friend of sinners. The Kingdom of God is an upside down Kingdom. That it’s a Kingdom of grace — one in which rebels, rogues, and outsiders are called and chosen. It doesn’t mean that God wants us to sin or to do evil. He wants us to lead moral and good lives, but it begins with grace. It begins with His power, because of humility. Anyone who loses his life for my sake will gain it. Anyone who humbles himself will be exalted. That’s the Kingdom of God. |
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for your upside down Kingdom. Thank you for being a friend to sinners — a friend to us.
Reflection
Do you feel like a black sheep, rogue, or rebel?
