Mercy and Sacrifice

After Jesus called Matthew to follow Him, Jesus ate at his house and many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him.  When the Pharisees saw this they asked His disciples:  "Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  Merely asking this question exposed the unbelief and ignorance in these religious leaders.  Their question implied they saw His sinful company as a blight upon His character; it showed they did not believe sinners could be redeemed or Jesus unable to cleanse or change them.  Their response showed they did not believe Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah God sent to seek and save the lost.

Jesus answered their query in 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. ¹³ 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.”  Jesus pointed out the foolishness of this line of questioning, for no one would think ill of a physician for treating sick people.  It makes sense that sick people need the care of a physician, and thus sinners needed a Saviour.  A good doctor needed to examine sick people to prescribe a course of treatment for their benefit.  Jesus told these learned men of Israel with divine authority to go and learn what this meant:  "I will have mercy and not sacrifice."

In considering the statement of Jesus, I was led to consider when David asked God for mercy after he sinned in the matter of Bathsheba and Urijah in Psalm 51.  He humbly asked in Psalm 51:1-2:  "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."  In light of God's goodness and righteous laws David acknolwedge and confessed his sin, and he asked for cleansing and pardon.  He asked to be delivered from the guilt of bloodshed, and then said regarding sacrifices in Psalm 51:16-17:  "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise."  God was always inclined to show mercy, not primarily upon those who offered sacrifices according to the letter of the Law, but upon those whose hearts were humble and contrite before Him.

The statement of Jesus shows it was never about what man could offer God that moved Him to show favour to help, heal or redeem mankind:  it was God's choice and out of His goodness He extended mercy.  Therefore those who are God's people will be merciful as He is and show compassion towards lost sinners He calls to repentance and desires to save.  Jesus spoke of a self-righteous Pharisee in Luke 18:11-14 who prided himself in his sacrifices for God, for he tithed of all his possessions--a meagre offering compared to what God had freely provided or how much he kept for himself.  While the Pharisee prayed with himself in arrogance, Jesus described a tax-collector who humbly confessed his sin before God and went home justified:  "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"  God will have mercy and not sacrifice, and the humble can offer the sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart He will gladly receive.

All who have repented of their sin and been born again by faith in Jesus should learn what He meant when He said, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice."  At time we can be reminded of sacrifices we have made for the LORD's sake in obeying Him and feel we have paid a high price--without consideration of the highest price Jesus has paid for us in laying down His life on Calvary and the mercy, forgiveness and acceptance granted to us.  The flesh can long for what we have lost that has only become gain for those who have chosen Christ and obeyed Him.  God desires mercy, and the proud and self-righteous have absolute poverty of soul in this regard.  Let us be those who repent we have withheld mercy from others and thought much of our sacrifices, as we have received mercy from God and lacked no good thing by His grace.