Friend of
sinners!
Did you ever think that a doctor behaves very strangely? He
comes into the area where you live and only goes to the home that
other people try to avoid! He only goes where there is sickness!
Does he love diseases? Does he want to get sick? Of course not! We
all know that he comes with his knowledge and skill to try to help
the sick.
But when the greatest Doctor ever, 1*. the Lord Jesus Christ , went among those He had
come to help and save many people thought it strange. "The
Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes
sinners, and eats with them.'" 2*. They were thinking, if Jesus is the holy person
He claims to be why would He want to be with such sinful
people?
Jesus told them this parable of a shepherd who, instead of being
with his sheep, was out where you would be more likely to find wild
animals!
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does
he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the
lost sheep until he finds it?" 3*.
Those religious leaders would have easily understood why the
shepherd had gone into unpleasant places; and yet they didn't want
to believe that Jesus had come "to seek and to save what was lost."
4*. and that was why
He was often with them!
How is a lost sinner "saved"? The sinner must realise his or her
need to be saved from the punishment and power of sin and know that
only Jesus can save from sin. To all who receive Jesus as their
Priest and Saviour by faith, to those who believe in His name, He
gives the right to become children of God. 5*. If you put your trust in Jesus the
Saviour to forgive your sins and keep you from sin you will be
saved and become a child of God! 6*.
In Jesus' parable what happens when the lost sheep is found by the
shepherd? "He joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home."
This is a picture of the one who repents and believes 7*. - the one who wants to be
rescued from his or her sin and sinful ways and asks Jesus to do
that for them. That person will be saved and kept by
Jesus, and Jesus promises to get that person safely home to
Heaven. 8*.
Jesus went on to tell how the shepherd calls his friends and
neighbours together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my
lost sheep." Then Jesus said, "I tell you that in the same way
there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
9*.
So, you see, Jesus is the Friend of
sinners because He wants to forgive and save those who will
repent. But those who refuse to repent and believe in Him now will
not know Him as their Friend on the day of judgement. For
them He will be their Judge who will have to put them away
from Him forever. 10*.
Read of Him as the Friend of sinners
in Luke chapter 15, verses 1-7.
Bye for now,
John Nixon, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland. P31HD98. Contact: jnixonj@gmail.com
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Bible quotations from N.I.V.
1 See Luke
5:31-32.
2 Luke 15:1-2.
3 Luke 15:3-4.
4 Luke 19:10. 1st Timothy
1:15-17. 1st John 4:14.
5 See John 1:12-13.
6 Romans 10:13. Ephesians
1:3-8.
7 Acts 20:21.
8 John 10:27-30. 1st Peter
1:3-9.
9 Luke 15:6.
10 Matthew 25:31-33,
41,46.
