Mercy, not Sacrifice

The Call of Matthew

Matthew 9:9–10 CSB

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him. While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples.

Tax collectors were Jews who betrayed their people and worked for the Roman Empire to extract money from their fellow Jews—they were the most wretched kind of sinner in the mind of the people.

But even this most wretched sinner was drawn by Jesus and Jesus even reclined at his table with yet more wretched sinners.

Matthew 9:11–13 CSB

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

In this time and place, sharing a meal with someone in this context was seen as solidifying extremely important social bonds; it implied deep friendship, fellowship, and unity.

So this is a fair question—if bad company corrupts good morals, then anyone hanging around the wicked in this way should be scrutinized and criticized!

Psalm 1:1–4 (CSB)

Psalm 1:1–3 CSB

How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Psalm 1:5 CSB

Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

“The wicked will not stand up in the judgement, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”

But as Matthew has already made clear: Jesus is not like the rest of us, and as I have explained: Jesus is like the glowing coal that touched Isaiah’s lips and made him clean.

Matthew 9:12–13 CSB

Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus is not saying that the Pharisees are not sick, but exposing the hypocrisy and misguidedness of the Pharisees who overlook and neglect the lowly, downtodden, impoverished sort of sinners.

Go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” This is a Bible verse in the Old Testament: Hosea 6:1-7

Hosea 6:1–7 (CSB)

Come, let’s return to the Lord.

For he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds.

He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence.

Let’s strive to know the Lord.

His appearance is as sure as the dawn.

He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.

What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?

What am I going to do with you, Judah?

Your love is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes.

This is why I have used the prophets

to cut them down; I have killed them with the words from my mouth.

My judgment strikes like lightning.

For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant; there they have betrayed me.

See also Ps. 51

“For he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds. He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence.”

“For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant; there they have betrayed me.”

When we walk with Jesus in faith, through baptism, toward communion, under the guidance of the Bible, we die to sin like Jesus and rise with Jesus to newness of life.

More than burnt offerings or ritual sacrfices, God wants everyone to walk with Him and to know Him as their Heavenly Father.

Jesus’ prescription for the sinner is not a list of good works but rather to know and love God with all their heart.

Matthew 9:14–15 CSB

Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests be sad while the groom is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

While Jesus and His company were enjoying a meal, the disciples of John were fasting…why don’t the disciples fast like the rest of the Jews?

Jesus is comparing His situation to the prelude to a marriage; in this comparison, the bridegroom’s company is the disciples, principally the twelve.

Just like the bridegroom’s company were preparing for the wedding, the disciples and Jesus were preparing for the inauguration of God’s Kingdom.

The disciples are so overjoyed to be with Jesus, like the guests at a wedding, that it would be inappropriate to fast while with Him.

What is the nature of the preparations?

Matthew 9:16 CSB

No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse.

Jesus is building us up together as Christ’s Church and a temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

So the nature of Jesus’ preparations is to fundamentally change the follower of Jesus into a new creation.

Matthew 9:17 CSB

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

If Jesus did not fundamentally change the believer by grace through faith, then the Holy Spirit would not be able to dwell in us.

And it is by the revelatory power of the Holy Spirit, who further changes us and works in us, that we can truly know God and walk with God.

So Jesus changes not only our outward selves but also our inward selves—He not only renews our garments, but the wineskin that is our hearts—and He does this so that we can truly know God and be His children and walk with Him in Spirit and truth.

Jesus called Matthew to change Him, and He changes Him completely.

And Jesus is calling us to change us, and He wants to change us completely.

If you have never received Jesus as Lord, or received the Holy Spirit into the new wineskin of your heart, then receive Him now so that you may be baptized and prepared to receive Him in the Lord’s Supper.