He Came for You

He Came for You


And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:11–12).

The Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees, believed they were in right standing with God because they were descendants of Abraham. They claimed to be spiritually healthy. They certainly did not have any use for this humble carpenter who hung out with thieves, liars, and prostitutes.
In the Old Testament, God always had a special place in his heart for the type of people the Pharisees considered of little value: orphans, lepers, the poor, widows, and the elderly. He had pity on the hopeless and those who were down and out:
You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again (Psalm 71:20).
Those who society casts aside as being expendable are the very ones Jesus finds to be redeemable. Today, many are trapped in troubles of all kinds:

• alcoholism
• drug addiction
• fear
• grief
• cigarettes
• pornography
• depression•
• anxiety
• loneliness
• occultism
• religious ritualism

Anything that creates hopelessness is a bondage. If you’re trapped in a situation you feel powerless to get out of, Jesus came for you. No one has gone too far in sin to be considered out of the reach of God’s grace: I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and I will redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless (Jeremiah 15:21).

“We must never cease to pray. No case is hopeless while Jesus lives.” (Charles Spurgeon)