Matthew 9:9-13
The Calling of Matthew
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Acts 4:12
Salvation is Found in No One Else
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
John 8:12
Jesus is the Light of the World
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
The world is ailing...And the world can be dark and lonely...When Jesus came to our world and was recruiting Matthew to be one of His Disciples, He likened Himself to a Physician...But not any normal type of Physician, He is a Great Physician...He tells that the world is sick...The world can be a sad place as we read the world headlines and see the things globally around us...It is hard for us to escape the things going on in the world...The world is ailing and it is ailing with sin...Some, like the Pharisees could not see the ailment...But Jesus tells us the world and people do sin...And He came for this very reason...He came for the sick...He came for those who need a merciful Doctor...He came for sinners...
So, one can at times we may feel swallowed up in the ailing world and its darkness...Jesus came to us, to give us hope...There is One who calls Himself the Light...The Light takes away the darkness...Darkness and more darkness cannot put out darkness...Only Light can put out darkness...His teachings, His stories, His parables, His life are filled with His insistence of good news...He never let the bad news drown out His good news...When we follow Him we have the Light of life...This Good Doctor has a cure for what ails the world...Like any Good Physician He brings with Him a cure for our ailments...He is the cure for our sins...He is our Savior...No one but Him came save the world or save each of us...Salvation can be found in no one else...