One thought I had today about Jesus is that you do not find in any account a recollection of his actions in any situation as questionable to sin. Jesus was yet without sin as the writer of the book of Hebrews 4:15 states,

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Any time someone had a concern about the superiority of Jesus to us as sinners it is due to the motive to catch him in a fault by the Sadducees and Pharisees. Let’s take for example a moment recorded in three of the four gospels of Jesus found in Mark 2:15-17,

“And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

We can see that Jesus has an explanation and justification for why it is what is happening is in effect. He is the righteous judge, and a righteous judge will always have a justification for a right action. In this instance Jesus is in the role of a doctor, He is going into this situation as a means of repairing and mending something that was broken in times past.

Who is to say what these publicans and sinners had need of to be fixed? Definitely not me.

However, it can be assumed that maybe they had emotional damage from some altercation that they once had from a pharisee of the time. Or maybe another was hurting severely from loosing a loved one over something that seemed so untimely. What can be known for sure, is that we all have moments where we are broken, hurting, and in need of a physician.

Opposed to what the ‘righteous’ members of the church thought He should be doing… Jesus always shows up right when you need Him to be the physician to heal your brokenness.

Paul once wrote to the Galatian church saying,
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Galatians 5:16-18

Jesus was not walking among sinners and publicans in order to eat their dainty meats to fulfil His need to sustain His earthly body, no instead Jesus was walking in the Spirit to fulfil the need of the Spirit.

What does this mean? It is okay to go out and be around others that do not look, act, or think like you. Just remember to keep your priorities in order when you enter into these situations. If you have the need to fulfil what the Spirit needs, the opportunity will present itself right before you.

Always reserve the right to speak with faith into someone else’s situation. If you end up at dinner like Peter in Acts 10 eating a big pig with spam on the side, there is probably a purpose to the peculiar predicament and there is always method and meaning in the seemingly mundane. If you are willing to look at the situation from the point of view that Jesus was when He sat with the publicans and sinners, then you will probably be staring someone who needs a word of encouragement right in the face.

To end this devotion let’s focus on 1 Timothy 4:10-16 which says,
“For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.