Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Matthew 9:11-13

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” 

We all have our own lens through which we see the world. The Pharisees lenses were focused on keeping God’s laws, the Commandments. They believed that doing so would bring about the world God wanted to create before sin captured the human heart. Thus, tax collectors were working against what God wanted. 

Jesus’ lens was quite different. God’s commandments are important, but they are not the way God’s re-creation will happen. Love is how God is going to remake the world. 

One of my favorite lines from the book, The Shack, is when Papa (God the Father) says to Mack, “I don’t want to punish sin; I want to cure it.” Jesus came into that group of “sinners” not to guilt them, but to love them because love was the cure. 

– Pr. Paul

Lord Jesus, what you did was not rocket science; it was something any of us could do. Give us hearts of love, not judgment. Everybody has a story. Everybody needs to be healed… including me. Amen.