WHEN JESUS HEARD THIS HE TOLD THEM ' HEALTHY PEOPLE DON'T NEED A DOCTOR - SICK PEOPLE DO. I HAVE COME TO CALL NOT THOSE WHO THINK THEY ARE RIGHTEOUSBUT THOSE WHO KNOW THEY ARE SINNERS.'
Context: Jesus is still at Matthew's house, directly after calling him to discipleship. Jesus is eating with Tax Collectors and other disreputable people. The teachers of religeous law ask why does He eat with 'such scum'.
Timeline: It is not clear exactly how long the remarks about the 'scum' came - was it still within the context of the meal, just afterwards. What was the time delay? It does not give details as to who reported these remarks to Jesus or whether Jesus overheard the remarks. The word 'scum' shows the contempt that the religeous teachers had for ordinary people, that they considered themselves superior. They are therefore guilty of the worst of the deadly sins - pride - which Jesus will address later.
In this extract Jesus indirectly calls the religeous leaders out by using the word 'think' - they 'think' they are righteous - what Jesus is saying is that they are indeed not righteous in light of their contempt for their fellow man. Jesus is 'calling' those who know they are 'sinners' and therefore already stand in the light of truth and have self-knowledge. This also calls on later teachers not to judge others 'less you be judged by your Father in heaven'
REMARKS
Strangely now, spiritual advice for those early on in their discipleship - it would not be recommended to spend a lot of time with people of ill repute but rather to surround oneselves with others who are also searching. This is not a contradiction - the goal should be to strengthen oneself enough to be able to spend time with other sinners and be able to spread the news of the Gospels.
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