Divine Dining February 26, 2026 Devotional

LUKE 5:31-32 |  ³¹ Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick; ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

These famous words contain an incisive implication. God’s Messiah wants to call His people to renewed spiritual life within this kingdom, but only those who repent can enter His kingdom and experience this new life. The Jewish leaders resisted the idea that they needed this repentance, since they saw themselves as the righteous element with Israel, in contrast to the large number of unrighteous who failed to scrupulously keep the demands of the Torah. They were spiritually “well” and so had no need of a physician.

Ironically, their lack of mercy for those they saw as unrighteous, and their pride about their own spiritual status, were evidence of a deep spiritual malaise. Jesus same to call them too, and to heal their sickness. 

Why do you think religious people tend to divide the world into the righteous and everyone else?

Gracious God,

Create in me a clean heart, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence. Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation and sustain in me a humble spirit.

Amen.