𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝟐:𝟏𝟓-𝟏𝟕 (𝐄𝐒𝐕)—

𝟏𝟓 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 𝟏𝟔 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 𝟏𝟕 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘷. 16? 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵, “𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥’𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘥.” 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯. 𝘖𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵.

“𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥. 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵; 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯 (𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴), 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯!”

Jonathan Edwards et al., The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards: A Reader (New York and London: Yale University Press, 1999), 165.

𝘞𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧.

𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐎 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨, 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬–𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬, 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲. 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧