How does Jesus' response in Mark 2:17 challenge our view of righteousness?

Setting the Scene

- Jesus has just shared a meal with tax collectors and sinners.

- The religious experts complain, assuming true righteousness keeps separate from moral failures.

- Mark 2:17: “On hearing this, Jesus told them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”

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Jesus Exposes Our Default Definition

- We tend to label “righteous” as the outwardly moral, church-going, well-behaved crowd.

- Jesus flips the script: if you believe you’re spiritually “healthy,” you’re actually missing the diagnosis.

- Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all like sheep have gone astray.” No exceptions.

- Romans 3:10–12 reinforces, “There is no one righteous, not even one.”

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Righteousness Recalibrated

- True righteousness starts when we admit we’re “sick.”

- The Pharisees’ self-confidence insulated them from grace; the sinners’ humility opened the door.

- Luke 18:9-14: the tax collector goes home justified, not the self-assured Pharisee.

- Jesus’ “doctor” metaphor insists: pretending wellness keeps us from the cure.

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Personal Heart Check

Ask yourself (silently):

• Do I measure righteousness by comparison with others or by Christ’s standard?

• Am I more aware of others’ sins than my own?

• Do I rush to Jesus daily as the Physician, or do I act as if I’ve outgrown the clinic?

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Living Out True Righteousness

- Embrace honest confession (1 John 1:8-9).

- Depend on Christ’s righteousness, not your résumé (Philippians 3:8-9).

- Extend grace to the “sick” around you; Christ’s table still seats sinners saved by grace.

- Celebrate that the Doctor doesn’t just diagnose—He heals, forgives, and transforms (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Jesus’ words in Mark 2:17 tear down self-made righteousness and invite every sinner—us included—to find wholeness in Him alone.