Daily Devotional
"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:21
Before Jesus says one word about sin, He says, “Take heart, my son.” Courage. Do not be afraid. And then He uses a warm, family word: son. Before this man hears anything about his need, he hears that he is welcome. Then Jesus gives him the thing he did not ask for but needed most: “Your sins are forgiven.” Not someday. Not if he cleans up his act. Forgiven, right now, all of them.
This is the only time in Matthew’s Gospel that Jesus forgives a specific individual in this way. Go back to chapter one, and the angel tells Joseph that this child will save His people from their sins. In Capernaum we finally watch Jesus do exactly what the angel said He came to do. The mission announced at His birth is now on display in a single, tender sentence spoken to one man on a mat.
Dane Ortlund, in Gentle and Lowly, points to this very moment as a window into the heart of Christ, who moves toward sinners with reassurance before they can even ask. Many of us come to God the way a child walks into the principal’s office, head down, hoping not to be expelled. That is not who Jesus is. The qualification for His forgiveness is not that we deserve it. It is that we least deserve it and truly desire it.
Today's Challenge
When you come to God in prayer, do you come like a child running to a father or like a student called to the principal’s office? What does that reveal about how you see Him? What would change in your prayer life if you truly believed Jesus’ first word to you is “Take heart”?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You came to save Your people from their sins, and You speak to sinners with tenderness. Forgive me for approaching You as if You were eager to condemn me. Help me to hear Your welcome before I hear anything else. I least deserve Your mercy, but I truly desire it. Thank You that this is enough. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
