A SERIES OF DEVOTIONS BASED ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW 

JESUS SINNERS DOTH RECEIVE      

Matthew 9:12-13 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

Perhaps you have heard someone say, “the church is not a museum for saints, it is a hospital for sinners.” This quote is attributed to St. Augustine. However, there is no conclusive evidence St. Augustine is the source for these well-known words. That having been said, there is truth in this quote. 

This is exactly how Jesus conducted His three-and-one-half-year earthly ministry. He went to the synagogue where He preached and taught God’s word to those assembled. He also went into the homes of the most despised members of society to minister to known public sinners like the tax collectors. The outcasts of society were not so to Jesus. He was not afraid to have lepers come into His presence. He faithfully ministered to beggars, the helpless and hopeless.   

Erdmann Neumeister, a Lutheran pastor and poet, who died in 1756, wrote the hymn “Jesus Sinners Doth Receive. The verses of this hymn discuss the Bible’s teaching regarding repentance and forgiveness. Each verse of Neumeister’s hymn end with the phrase, “Jesus sinners doth receive.”   

John writes in his Gospel, “. . . God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:17) Jesus cares for all and He searches for the one lone sinner in need of His forgiveness. Sinners come into Christ’s presence. He ministers to them to remove their sin. Through Him sinners become saints, that is, holy ones, without sin, righteous in God’s sight. 

Prayer: I come to You, dear Jesus, asking You to wash me in Your blood You shed on Calvary that my sins be no more. In Your holy name. Amen. 

Jesus sinners doth receive; Oh, may all this saying ponder  
Who in sin’s delusions live And from God and heaven wander!  
Here is hope for all who grieve: Jesus sinners doth receive. 

We deserve but grief and shame, Yet His words, rich grace revealing,  
Pardon, peace, and life proclaim; Here our ills have perfect healing.  
Firmly in these words believe: Jesus sinners doth receive. 

Sheep that from the fold did stray No -true shepherd e’er forsaketh;  
Weary souls that lost their way Christ, the Shepherd, gently taketh  
In His arms that they may live: Jesus sinners doth receive. 

I, a sinner, come to Thee With a penitent confession.  
Savior, mercy show to me; Grant for all my sins remission.  
Let these words my soul relieve: Jesus sinners doth receive. 

Oh, how blest it is to know: Were as scarlet my transgression,  
It shall be as white as snow By Thy blood and bitter passion;  
For these words I now believe: Jesus sinners doth receive. 

Now my conscience is at peace; From the Law I stand acquitted.  
Christ hath purchased my release And my ev’ry sin remitted.  
Naught remains my soul to grieve: Jesus sinners doth receive. 

Jesus sinners doth receive; Also I have been forgiven;  
And when I this earth must leave, I shall find an open heaven.  
Dying, still to Him I cleave: Jesus sinners doth receive.  

Jesus Sinners Doth Receive // LSB 609