Jesus

I was going through the gospels and a few thoughts came to my mind. These books really reveal a lot about who Jesus was, who He came for, who He had kind words for, and who He had harsh words for. Keeping in mind that in Jesus dwells all the fullness of God, it sure gives us an insight into the heart of God.

Jesus came for the ungodly sinner. That in itself is absolutely astounding. To think that a just and righteous God would come to this earth and seek out a family among those that fornicated, drunks, liars, thieves, blasphemers, murderers, and convince and persuade them to believe in Himself to be saved and then call them righteous, is mind staggering. In this passage the religious of the Jews wondered why Jesus was eating and drinking with sinners and publicans.

Mt 9:12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Mt 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance

Obviously Jesus was being somewhat sarcastic when He said "whole" and "righteous". Jesus is saying that He did not come to call those people that thought that they did not need a Savior. He came for sinners who knew that they were ungodly sinners. He came for sinners like this...

Lu 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.


I find this theme throughout the life of Jesus here on this earth. When He started His ministry he went to the fishing docks to find disciples. It would be the equivalent of going into one of our modern day factories. One would think that He would have gone to the synagogue and found some young men that were really devout and followed after righteousness and holiness. But He didn't. Why didn't He? Because Jesus came with a new message and He needed new "wineskins". So He went to the fishing docks where the men were who cussed, chewed tobacco, had vile filthy mouths etc. If you have ever been to a fishing dock, these are rough men that have a very crude demeanor. For example you look at Peter, the guy fished in the nude. These are not men that you would think the Son of God would chose to be His close confidants. But He did.

What about the Samaritan woman at the well? A Samaritan was a half breed. These people dwelt in a piece of land that religious Jews would not even walk through. The Samaritans were considered unclean and worse than dogs. Jesus is sitting by the well and this Samaritan woman approaches and Jesus asks her for some water. This woman could tell right away that Jesus was not just a normal Jew. And for Jesus to ask her for a drink out of her own waterpot was absurd. This was unheard of. This woman was not only a Samaritan, she had had five husbands and the man she had now was not her husband. This was not a virtuous woman. And Jesus, the Son of God sat and told her of Himself, that He was the Messiah and that He had living water and if she would drink from the living water that he would give her, she would never thirst again. He told her everything that she had ever done and when she left, she was in such a hurry to tell others that she forgot her waterpot, her whole purpose for coming. What got me about this story is that Jesus had no qualms about speaking to a Samaritan woman who was not virtuous. It didn't matter to Him her status or who her family was or even her background. Not only this but he spent two days in this Samaritan city with these "unclean people", ministering to them.

So how could Jesus have such kind words to say to sinners and such harsh words to the religious? The harshest words that Jesus uttered were to two groups of people, the Pharisees and the Scribes. When we think of Pharisees we usually think of hypocrites. They were, but they were also the most devout and the most righteous group of people in the world. They observed all the laws. They sought after righteousness more than anyone. They went to the synagogue more than anyone. They taught in the synagogues and prayed and fasted. They loved the laws of God and yet Jesus had nothing but words of rebuke for them. The scribes studied the law. They studied prophesy and more than likely memorized the first five books of the bible. That's right, all five books. But this didn't impress Jesus.

Mt 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?
Mt 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mt 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mt 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

That doesn't sound at all like how Jesus talked to the women at the well. Neither does it sound like what Jesus told the adulteress woman who was caught in the act. The Pharisees bring this woman to Him and knowing that the law states that she should be put to death, ask Jesus what they should do. Jesus agreed with them about what the law says, but adds, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her". Everyone was convicted of sin and no one threw a stone. Amazing.

John 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
John 8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

All through Jesus's ministry we see that Jesus had compassion on those that were genuine sinners. What I mean by that is people who had lived a life of sin and knew it. These people knew that they were ungodly and in great need of a Savior. They recognized their sin and how it was contrary to everything that was righteous and holy. If anything is self evident about the ministry of Jesus it is that there is nothing that God hates more than self righteous, religious people who have no need of Christ. People who have gone to church all their lives and talk only about outward things such as holy living, modest apparel, ignoring the awesome works of God. All under the guise of pleasing God. If you see through it you see that it is all about pleasing men. These people seem to think that heaven itself is somehow indebted to them and rarely talk about Jesus, or the cross and what it cost for God to justify ungodly sinners like us.

The moral of the story is this. If you think you are a pretty good person, you are in big trouble. There is a judgment day coming. You think that nobody knows about the vile dirty things you do when no one is around. You might have fooled most people but you can't fool God. You think that you are getting away with it. You're not. Judgment is coming. Faith in Jesus is the only way to escape the coming wrath. This is Jesus praying to God the Father...

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Eternal life is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Not in "church", not in baptism, not in any religion. When one has a relationship with Jesus, one doesn't need religion. Only through faith can one please God and without faith it is impossible. Jesus is all one needs.













Romans 4:5 To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Jesus died for the UNGODLY! Friend, that is you and me!
It's a FREE GIFT. Dwell on that, FREE GIFT! You cannot do anything to earn it and and the only people the gift is offered to, is THE UNGODLY! This means YOU! This is wonderful news and you don't have to DO ANYTHING, just believe. It's not what you do my friend, it's what He has done... Tetelesti. It is finished.