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The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Jesus Receives Sinners" for Saturday, February 25, 2017
But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.[Romans 5:8'
Jesus is always ready to receive sinners. Period.
Please, don't for a moment think Jesus stopped receiving sinners centuries ago or when the last of the apostles breathed his last. There has never been a moment in history -- no -- let me make this personal, there has never been a moment in your life, when Jesus has not been ready to receive you. That's right, Jesus wants to receive sinners like you.
No, don't tell me you're not a sinner. You are.
True, you may not be a really big sinner, but you are a sinner. Ask your spouse, or your loving children, or your best friend. I'll tell you what, ask the person who defends you and stands by your side no matter what you do. Ask him or her, "Am I a sinner? Have I ever done, or said, or thought anything that didn't seem right to you or pleasing to God?"
Go ahead, do it. Don't think I'm joking. Really, ask them. I'll wait.
You're not going to ask them, are you? I didn't think you would. You're not going to ask because you know, as much as they love you, as often as they've taken your side and defended you, they're going to hesitate just a little bit too long before they give an answer to your question. Their over-long hesitation means they know -- and you ought to know -- this truth: you are a sinner.
Worse, you are a sinner who can't do a single thing to change yourself. Nor can you do anything to change the unpleasant place you're going to be spending eternity after you die and have been judged. This is why, my sinful friend, you need to be received by Jesus.
Of course, it is possible that denying your sinfulness isn't your particular problem.
Is it possible there is overwhelming evidence showing you to be a depraved, debauched transgressor? Is your shame so great, your guilt so troubling and terrifying, that you believe if you were ever brought before Jesus, He would recoil at the sight of you and refuse to receive you?
My dear, big-sinning friend, don't be so foolish.
When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was crushed to the ground by the great weight of humanity's sins. Your transgressions were there that night. Jesus knew you, your life, and every one of the sins you have ever committed.
Trust me on this. I've read the Bible.
There is not a single passage which speaks of Jesus carrying the sins of everybody with the exception of you. Nowhere does it record Jesus saying, "Yes, Father in heaven, I'll die to save the world with the exception of Bob or Bertha in the 21st century." There, on the accursed tree, He gave His life as your ransom and offered His perfection to win your salvation. He paid the price, and then, with His resurrection from the dead, showed to all who are given eyes to see it: Jesus receives sinners.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, once the Pharisees accused the Savior of receiving sinners. I give thanks, that for once, the Pharisees were right, and You have done all to receive us, forgive us, and save us. In the Savior's Name I give thanks. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Leviticus 3-5; Mark 5:21-43
Leviticus 3:1 (iv) “‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, then, if he offers before Adonai an animal from the herd, then, no matter whether it is male or female, it must be without defect. 2 He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting; and the sons of Aharon, the cohanim, are to splash the blood against all sides of the altar. 3 He is to present the sacrifice of the peace offerings as an offering made by fire to Adonai; it is to consist of the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, 4 the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. 5 Aharon’s sons will make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering which is on the wood on the fire; it is an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai.
6 “‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Adonai is from the flock, then, when he offers it, no matter whether it is male or female, it must be without defect. 7 If he brings a lamb for his offering, then he is to present it before Adonai. 8 He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aharon are to splash its blood against all sides of the altar. 9 From the sacrifices made as peace offerings, he is to present Adonai with an offering made by fire; it is to consist of its fat, the entire fat tail, which he will remove close to the lower backbone, the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, 10 the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. 11 The cohen will make it go up in smoke on the altar; it is food, an offering made by fire to Adonai.
12 “‘If his offering is a goat, then he is to present it before Adonai. 13 He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aharon are to splash its blood against all sides of the altar. 14 He is to present from it his offering, an offering made by fire to Adonai ; it is to consist of the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, 15 the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. 16 The cohen will make them go up in smoke on the altar; it is food, an offering made by fire to be a fragrant aroma; all the fat belongs to Adonai. 17 It is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations wherever you live that you will eat neither fat nor blood.’”
4:1 (v) Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘If anyone sins inadvertently against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, if he does any one of them, 3 then, if it is the anointed cohen who sinned and thus brought guilt on the people, he is to offer Adonai a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he committed. 4 He must bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Adonai, lay his hand on the bull’s head and slaughter the bull in the presence of Adonai. 5 The anointed cohen is to take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tent of meeting. 6 The cohen is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times in the presence of Adonai in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. 7 The cohen is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense before Adonai there in the tent of meeting. All the remaining blood of the bull he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He is to remove from the bull for the sin offering all of its fat — the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, 9 the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys 10 as it is removed from an ox sacrificed as a peace offering; and the cohen is to make these parts go up in smoke on the altar for burnt offerings. 11 But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with its head, the lower parts of its legs, its inner organs and dung — 12 in other words, the entire bull — he is to bring outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are emptied out. There he is to burn it on wood with fire; there, where the ashes are emptied out, it is to be burned up.
13 “‘If the entire community of Isra’el inadvertently makes a mistake, with the assembly being unaware of the matter, and they do something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, they are guilty. 14 When the sin they have committed becomes known, then the assembly is to offer a young bull as a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. 15 The leaders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter the bull in the presence of Adonai. 16 The anointed cohen is to bring some of the bull’s blood to the tent of meeting. 17 The cohen is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the presence of Adonai in front of the curtain. 18 He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar before Adonai, there in the tent of meeting. All the remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19 He is to remove all its fat and make it go up in smoke on the altar. 20 This is what he is to do with the bull — he must do the same with this bull as he does with the one for the sin offering. Thus the cohen will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. 21 He is to bring the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
22 “‘When a leader sins and inadvertently does something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty. 23 If the sin which he committed becomes known to him, he is to bring as his offering a male goat without defect, 24 lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering in the presence of Adonai ; it is a sin offering. 25 The cohen is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. Its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings. 26 All its fat he is to make go up in smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice for peace offerings; thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.
(vi) 27 “‘If an individual among the people commits a sin inadvertently, doing something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty. 28 If the sin he committed becomes known to him, he is to bring as his offering a female goat without defect for the sin he committed, 29 lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering in the place of burnt offerings. 30 The cohen is to take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. 31 All its fat he is to remove, as the fat is removed from the sacrifice for peace offerings; and the cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar as a fragrant aroma for Adonai. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
32 “‘If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect, 33 lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where they slaughter burnt offerings. 34 The cohen is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. 35 All its fat he is to remove, as the fat of a lamb is removed from the sacrifice for peace offerings; and the cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings for Adonai made by fire. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin he committed, and he will be forgiven.
5:1 “‘If a person who is a witness, sworn to testify, sins by refusing to tell what he has seen or heard about the matter, he must bear the consequences. 2 If a person touches something unclean, whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, a domestic animal or a reptile, he is guilty, even though he may not be aware that he is unclean. 3 If he touches some human uncleanness, no matter what the source of his uncleanness is, and is unaware of it, then, when he learns of it, he is guilty. 4 If someone allows to slip from his mouth an oath to do evil or to do good, and he doesn’t remember that he clearly spoke this oath, then, no matter what it was about, when he learns of it, he is guilty. 5 A person guilty of any of these things is to confess in what manner he sinned 6 and bring his guilt offering to Adonai for the sin he committed; it is to be a female from the flock, either a lamb or a goat, as a sin offering; and the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to his sin.
7 “‘If he can’t afford a lamb, he is to bring as his guilt offering for the sin he committed two doves or two young pigeons for Adonai — the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8 He is to bring them to the cohen, who will offer the one for a sin offering first. He is to wring its neck but not remove the head, 9 sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar and drain out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering. 10 He is to prepare the second as a burnt offering in the manner prescribed. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin which he committed, and he will be forgiven.
(vii) 11 “‘But if his means are insufficient even for two doves or two young pigeons, then he is to bring as his offering for the sin he committed two quarts of fine flour for a sin offering; he is not to put any olive oil or frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering. 12 He is to bring it to the cohen, and the cohen is to take a handful of it as its reminder portion and make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings for Adonai made by fire; it is a sin offering. 13 Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin he committed concerning any of these things, and he will be forgiven. The rest will belong to the cohanim, as with a grain offering.’”
14 Adonai said to Moshe, 15 “If anyone acts improperly and inadvertently sins in regard to the holy things of Adonai, he is to bring as his guilt offering for Adonai a ram without defect from the flock or its equivalent in silver shekels (using the sanctuary shekel as the standard), according to your appraisal of its value; it is a guilt offering. 16 In addition, he is to make restitution for whatever he did wrong in regard to the holy thing; moreover, he is to add to that one-fifth and give it to the cohen. Then the cohen will make atonement with the ram of the guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.
17 “If someone sins by doing something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty, even if he is unaware of it; and he bears the consequences of his wrongdoing. 18 He must bring a ram without defect from the flock, or its equivalent according to your appraisal, to the cohen for a guilt offering; the cohen will make atonement concerning the error which he committed, even though he was unaware of it; and he will be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering — he is certainly guilty before Adonai.”
20 (6:1) Adonai said to Moshe, 21 (6:2) “If someone sins and acts perversely against Adonai by dealing falsely with his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him, by stealing from him, by extorting him, 22 (6:3) or by dealing falsely in regard to a lost object he has found, or by swearing to a lie — if a person commits any of these sins, 23 (6:4) then, if he sinned and is guilty, he is to restore whatever it was he stole or obtained by extortion, or whatever was deposited with him, or the lost object which he found, (Maftir) 24 (6:5) or anything about which he has sworn falsely. He is to restore it in full plus an additional one-fifth; he must return it to the person who owns it, on the day when he presents his guilt offering. 25 (6:6) He is to bring as his guilt offering to Adonai a ram without defect from the flock, or its equivalent according to your appraisal, to the cohen; it is a guilt offering. 26 (6:7) Thus the cohen will make atonement for him before Adonai, and he will be forgiven in regard to whatever it was he did that made him guilty.
Mark 5:21 Yeshua crossed in the boat to the other side of the lake, and a great crowd gathered around him. 22 There came to him a synagogue official, Ya’ir by name, who fell at his feet 23 and pleaded desperately with him, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Please! Come and lay your hands on her, so that she will get well and live!”
24 He went with him; and a large crowd followed, pressing all around him. 25 Among them was a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years 26 and had suffered a great deal under many physicians. She had spent her life savings; yet instead of improving, she had grown worse. 27 She had heard about Yeshua, so she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his robe; 28 for she said, “If I touch even his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Instantly the hemorrhaging stopped, and she felt in her body that she had been healed from the disease. 30 At the same time, Yeshua, aware that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 His talmidim responded, “You see the people pressing in on you; and still you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But he kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 The woman, frightened and trembling, because she knew what had happened to her, came and fell down in front of him and told him the whole truth. 34 “Daughter,” he said to her, “your trust has healed you. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35 While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official’s house came, saying, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the rabbi any longer?” 36 Ignoring what they had said, Yeshua told the synagogue official, “Don’t be afraid, just keep trusting.” 37 He let no one follow him except Kefa, Ya‘akov and Yochanan, Ya‘akov’s brother. 38 When they came to the synagogue official’s house, he found a great commotion, with people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 On entering, he said to them, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead, she’s just asleep!” 40 And they jeered at him. But he put them all outside, took the child’s father and mother and those with him, and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand, he said to her, “Talita, kumi!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 At once the girl got up and began walking around; she was twelve years old. Everybody was utterly amazed. 43 He gave them strict orders to say nothing about this to anyone, and told them to give her something to eat.
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CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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