MONDAY, JANUARY 29
Luke 5:29-35
Matthew 7:1-5

“And why beholdest thou the mote
that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not
the beam that is in thine own eye?”

THE HEART OF THE CALLED

Matthew (or Levi) hosted a great feast for the Lord. It was his way of honouring his Saviour as well as an opportunity to invite his friends and relatives to meet and hear the Lord. He freely used both his house and his property to host a gathering where he introduced Jesus Christ as his new found Master and Lord. A great number of his friends and acquaintances attended the occasion that they might be convinced of the change happening in his life. It was a blessed time for the crowd to see and hear his heavenly teacher.

The murmuring self-righteous scribes and Pharisees were always indignant with the Lord. They complained that Jesus ate and drank with publicans and sinners. They did not realize that Jesus did not want to eat with them because they were more vile and outrageous than those publicans and sinners. Jesus well said, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (Matt 7:3). Jesus did not express His resentment over the rebellious attitude of the scribes and Pharisees as He justly might have done, but answered them with reason and meekness. Instead of taking that occasion to show His displeasure against the Pharisees and scribes, He took it to show His compassion to poor publicans and sinners to encourage them. Jesus told them that He did not come to call the righteous (those who thought they were) like the Pharisees and scribes. He did not mean that they were righteous but that they proudly esteemed themselves to be. How foolish were these men who believed they could earn salvation by their own hypocritical righteousness.

Similarly, modern Christianity is characterized by many hypocrites. They have this “holier than thou” attitude against their own brethren who are struggling in their Christian walk. They do not know that Jesus specifically said that He came to those who regarded themselves as sinners who needed the Lord’s salvation.

THOUGHT: Do I acknowledge myself as a sinner to the core?
PRAYER: Father in heaven, grant me a broken and a contrite heart.