In Matthew chapter 9, Jesus was traveling through the country and “He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ So he arose and followed Him” (Matthew 9:9). Matthew (sometimes called Levi) then prepared a great feast for Jesus and many tax collectors joined in the feast (Luke 5:29). We need to appreciate that tax collectors were collecting taxes for the Roman government; they were looked upon as traitors to their country because they were working for the conquerors. In addition, some tax collectors were dishonest and exacted more money from the people than was necessary. As a result, they were hated by most of the Jews and deemed to be great sinners. Jesus was eating a feast with these people. The Pharisees would never have eaten a meal with these kind of people; tax collectors were unrighteous individuals that they thought should be shunned. How could Jesus eat with such people? Matthew 9:12-13 “When Jesus heard that, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’”
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Sick people are the ones who need physicians or doctors, not well people. By analogy, sinners are spiritually sick; they need the Great Physician, Jesus, to “heal” them of their sins and show them how they should live. “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Tax collectors were sinners, so it was appropriate for Jesus to associate with them and call them to repentance.
When Jesus quoted “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” He meant that God values genuine love, compassion, and kindness toward people far more than empty religious rituals and strict rule-following. This was a direct criticism of the Pharisees who were greatly concerned with rituals and strict rule following. He is telling them that they need to shift their priorities. God is merciful.
After God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, God described Himself. Exodus 34:5-7 “Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.’” I think it is important that God described Himself as merciful, gracious, and longsuffering. For those who continue in iniquity, He takes vengeance. But for those who turn to Him in repentance, He is merciful. Remember the story of Jonah; he didn’t want to go to Nineveh and he tried to run away from God. After he was swallowed by the fish and vomited out by the fish, he went to Nineveh, preached, and the people repented. God had mercy on the city and did not destroy it. Here is Jonah’s prayer. Jonah 4:2 “So he prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.’” The reason Jonah initially fled from God and did not go to Nineveh was that he knew how merciful God is. God is merciful!
What great mercy God has had for you and me! Romans 9:15 “For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’” Praise God that He decided to be merciful to whoever believes in Jesus, that we should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). God is rich in mercy towards us. Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” How great is God’s mercy to us!
Since He is merciful, God asks us to also be merciful. Luke 6:35-36 “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” I encourage you to love mercy.
Jesus told the parable of a servant who owed his master a large amount of money. Since the servant did not have the resources to pay back the debt, he asked for patience. The master of the servant was moved with compassion and forgave the debt; he showed him mercy. Matthew 18:28-35 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” This parable illustrates how important it is that we be merciful and forgiving to others.
We need to be reminded that we depend upon the mercy of God given to us. I therefore encourage you to be merciful to others. But there are those who need to receive God’s mercy. 2 Corinthians 5:11a “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” I encourage you to persuade others to come to Him and receive His mercy.