“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
(Luke 5:32)
Christ did not come to congratulate the self-sufficient or to commend the righteous in their own eyes; He came for the sick—those wounded by sin, weary of guilt, and broken under the burden of their iniquity. He came as the Great Physician to bind up the wounded, to apply the balm of grace, and to breathe new life into dead souls.
This is why no sinner should despair. The greatness of sin only highlights the greater mercy of Christ. The gospel was not sent to those who are whole, but those who are broken. If you had no sin, you would need no Savior. But because sin abounds in the soul, the healing work of Christ is shown to be all the more glorious.
Scripture declares this plainly. “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isa. 43:25). God, in His mercy, does not simply cover sin; He casts it into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). The forgiven sinner can therefore stand before God not as one pardoned but still stained, but as one in whom no iniquity is found at all—“there shall be none” (Jer. 50:20).
When a Surety pays a debt, it is as if the debtor never owed it. Christ, our Surety, paid our sin debt to God once for all, in full. There is no remaining guilt for those in Him. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). For Christ finishes what He begins, and those He touches are truly made whole.
As Henry Scudder observed, if God can forgive even one sin, He can forgive all.[1] The power to pardon comes not from the size of the sin but from the sufficiency of the Savior. Whether a soul is newly awakened or long hardened, young in sin or long buried in it, Christ’s voice still calls: “Come forth” and His touch still brings life.
So you who are weary with guilt, hear the invitation: “Let the wicked forsake his way … and return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy … for he will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:7). The Great Physician does not charge for His healing. He does not require moral payment. He invites the bankrupt, the ashamed, the undone. So if you are sick of sin, come and be made whole.
Contemplations:
- Weak faith. Saving faith in many Christians is oftentimes so weak that if they should examine their faith only by their sins, they would question the truth of it all and wonder whether the Great Physician has actually healed them. But I know that Christ, by his Spirit through the ministry of the Word, awakens a man’s conscience and makes him see his many sins so he may be moved to look to the Lord Jesus for pardon.
- Sorrow for sin. I am well aware of my wretched, miserable condition and the grief and sorrow that accompanies it. All men are not afflicted with a sense of their sinful state in the same way (for some are affected much more deeply than others), yet very few pass through the pangs of their new birth without some grief and sorrow for their sins. Neither can I understand how any should close with Christ as their Savior until they have been made sick of their sins, realizing their dire need of this Great Physician.
- Clothed in Christ’s righteousness. Help me Lord, to more willingly seek to be clothed in Your righteousness. For so long as a man is full of himself, he will never seek out the Great Physician for life and salvation. For our Savior says, “The whole do not need a physician.” In other words, they are not even aware of how desperately they need His medicine for their sick soul.
- Rest for your soul. Those poor sinners ready to forsake their sinful ways are invited to come to You as noted in Isaiah, “Ho, every one that thirsts come to the waters, he that has no money,” (i.e. no goodness nor righteousness of his own), “let him come.” And as the Great Physician says in Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Great Physician of souls, I come to you in weakness, not in strength. I come sick with sin, because You did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance—and so I come. Heal what is wounded in me. Cleanse what is defiled. Raise up what is dead. Speak life into this soul of mine, that I may rise and walk in newness of life.
Let me never again trust in my own sufficiency. Strip me of all self-confidence and turn my heart to You alone. When my conscience accuses me, point me to Your blood. When guilt rises like a flood, anchor me in Your promises. Let me not question Your power to forgive. For You are not only able, You are also willing.
May I never forget that Your healing is full, Your grace is free, and Your love is greater than all my sin. Thank You that in You, there is no condemnation. Thank You that my iniquities are not remembered. Thank You that Your mercy reaches even me.
Grant me strength to forsake sin and joy to pursue righteousness. Work in me by Your Spirit, that I may glorify Your name. You are the Savior of the unworthy. Be praised in me forever.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Further Scripture References:
Luke 15:7; Acts 5:31; Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 18:11
[1]“He hath made sure promises to take away your sin, and to forgive it ; and not yours only, but reserveth mercy for thousands.” Henry Scudder, The Christian’s Daily Walk, (Glasgow: Oliver and Boyd, 1884) 298.
