Tuesday

“But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered...”

Read Luke 15:1-2.

My mother once wrote a letter to Dr. James Dobson explaining how happy she was that I was such a compliant child. I was a rule follower, a “good” kid…and the kind of student everyone wanted in their group in a school project because they knew I’d do the work correctly. And I took some level of pride in this behavior when I was young, because I was set apart and admired by adults in my life.

If I were in the Luke 15 story, I would most likely be with the Pharisees—the “good” group of rule-followers. And I would also most likely be muttering along with them about how Jesus is eating with all the rebels and rule-breakers and about how unfair it is that he’s not eating with me, since I’m the “good” one. I love how the NIV translation says that the Pharisees muttered. I can just picture them all grouped together with their Torah scrolls, grumbling under their breath to each other about how Jesus was eating with sinners.

As I follow this chain of thinking, I realize the Pharisees are far worse off than the “sinners” in the story. Not only do they not get to eat with Jesus, but their hearts are full of jealousy, bitterness, and judgment. (Is that my heart too?!) All of their “good” behaviors were completely for naught, as their hearts weren’t right. Jesus warns against this repeatedly in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). It rarely seems fair when “sinners” get chosen over people who do the right thing most of the time, but we all sin—in things we’ve done and things left undone—and so we can delight in knowing that Jesus chose us! -AB

Lord, thank you for your grace, compassion, and kindness. Amen.