Why was Jesus so fond of sinners?

February 9, 2025

I have noticed in great saints, as well as in great human beings in all walks of life, that a common trait is their deep awareness of their own limitations, and even their own sins.  Today’s readings all include such statements by Isaiah, Paul and Peter. 

            “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live                 among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the                                          King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah)

            “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an                 apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” (Paul)

            “Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man” (Peter)

In an earlier blog I had already briefly referred to the virtue of humility (How does one hold onto hope?) but there I had spoken more of the limitations that great people are aware of in themselves, and which they accept quite openly. But in today’s readings we have a recognition by the speakers, that each one of them is actually a sinner.  We all know that Paul initially persecuted the Church, and so we perhaps can understand why he says that he has sinned.  But why do Isaiah and Peter call themselves sinners? Remember in Peter’s case, this was much  before he had denied Jesus.  And in the case of Paul, does it mean that once he was converted, he never sinned?  Some of his writings, including the one in today’s second reading, do give the impression that Paul was quite proud of his erudition, his hard work, and refused to be considered second to anyone of the other apostles.  So perhaps Paul too continued to suffer from the sin of pride, even after his own conversion experience. In short by calling themselves sinners, each of these is confessing that each has not lived up to his own calling, and each has failed in important ways.  So were they just ‘pretending’, when they called themselves sinners?

The reality is that if we remove the notion of sin being something bad or evil in itself, but look on it as instances of our stumbling, our taking the wrong paths at times, along the journeys of our lives, then we might be able to see more clearly how we all continue to be sinners. Good teachers know how making mistakes is not only part of learning, but also a necessary part of it. It is only when we don’t acknowledge our mistakes, or refuse to change after becoming aware of our mistakes, that we harm both ourselves and others.  The mistake is only a pointer, a signpost - and that is how we perhaps could look at sin.   To say that “I am a sinner’ is not to say that I am a bad person, anymore than saying that because I made a mistake in this math equation, I am bad at mathematics. I could end up, of course, being bad at mathematics if I don’t improve, but in itself, that ‘mistake/sin’ does not automatically make me ‘bad’ in the subject.  As we probably know from the story of many great inventions, they were often the result of multiple ‘mistakes’.  According to his own records, Edison failed 2774 times before he succeeded in inventing the light bulb.  To say that I am a sinner, is a recognition that we have and continue to fail. It is, however, not meant to be a breast-beating and putting-oneself-down kind of admission.

All of us know, or ought to know, how far we are from the ideal person we want to  be.  And so in that very real sense we are ‘sinners’.  The reason Jesus used to get terribly angry with the leaders of the Jewish religious establishment was their pretending to be perfect, rather than accepting their own sinfulness:  “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). So Jesus seemed to find that those who acknowledge their own sinfulness, are more real, or genuine, and perhaps that is why ‘sinners’ are more acceptable in the kingdom of heaven than those who claim to have no sin. This could explain why “Jesus said to them: “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. (Mathew 21:31b)

If I am complacent about where I am, then there is no hope for improvement. Knowing that I have not yet ‘reached’ my best self is also a motivation for me to improve.  But if one doesn’t recognise it, and acknowledge it, one continues to keep making the same mistake. And often enough because of this we are also unable to forgive others for what we may perceive to be their ‘sins’.

I have seen parents who seem to have really messed up in bringing up their children; I have seen children refusing to forgive their parents or their siblings. And the story is repeated in so many relationships.  And they seem to be stuck in a continuous vicious circle , and seemingly cannot get out of that - each one waiting for the ‘other’ to change.  Perhaps if each could introspect and start focusing on what one has oneself contributed to the painful situation, rather than trying to find fault with the other, or waiting for the other to change before oneself changing, then perhaps there would be hope for healing.  In other words if each could accept that “I am a sinner’ who has contributed to this situation, perhaps there could be a way forward in relationships that seem stuck in such vicious circles.   

But doesn’t acknowledging one’s own ‘sin’ as contributing to a painful relationship, somehow let the other off the hook, - and so in a sense allows (or encourages) the other to continue to believe that s/he was always right - and therefore does not need to change?  Yes, of course, in many cases it does.  Though I have also seen miracles where the change in one inspires a change in the other.

In any case, whether the other changes or not, perhaps we must remember that unfortunately, we do not have the power to change others; we only have the power to change ourselves.  That doesn’t mean that we cannot, if the appropriate opportunity arises, express our concerns, our feelings, and how we would like the other to change.  But we must accept that for the ‘other’ the choice to change is fully dependent on him/her, and sometimes (for various reasons) the person may be incapable or unwilling at that particular stage in his/her life of making such a change. And so, while acknowledging one’s own ‘sin’, may not fully heal the situation, it certainly would help to heal that person who acknowledges his/her own sinfulness, and tries to him/herself change or improve.  

Unfortunately, for many of us, the very idea of calling oneself a ‘sinner’ is a depressing  and a de-motivating way of looking at life, and one that hits at our very self-worth.  The idea that God gets hurt by our sins is perhaps largely responsible for this de-motivating approach. If, however, we use the analogy of a parent who feels deeply when the child hurts him/herself then perhaps we will also realise that if the child learns from that ‘mistake’ and then works his/her way out of that, the parent is joyful, and perhaps even rejoices in that ‘sin’. And so  while the father of the Prodigal Son with a heavy heart allows his son to take his share and go away, he rejoices when the son chooses to come back, however mixed the prodigal son’s  reasons are.  In fact one could even say that what one learns through one's own mistakes gets far more deeply etched in ourselves than when we don't make those mistakes.  And so it is because the prodigal son made the 'mistake' of walking away from the life he had with his family, that he was really able to appreciate what he had wantonly thrown away.   All of which would explain Jesus’ statement that “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). Can we daresay, that God rejoices in sin, as long as the sinner gets up and walks back again? 

First Reading: Isaiah 6: 1-2a, 3-8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

 

Second Reading: First Corinthians 15: 1-11

 

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.  Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

 

Gospel: Luke 5: 1-11

 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.