Matthew 9:9-13

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (NIV)

The focus is on verses 12 and 13, on hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.” But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Why is Jesus’ statement about health and sickness linked to another statement about mercy and sacrifice which was quoted from Hosea 6:6?

It is instructive to look at the whole Hosea chapter 6 in answering this question.

1 "Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.

2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.

3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."

4 "What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.

5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.

6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 As at Adam, they have broken the covenant;
they were unfaithful to me there.

8 Gilead is a city of wicked people,
stained with footprints of blood.

9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,
so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.

10 I have seen a horrible thing
in the house of Israel.
There Ephraim is given to prostitution
and Israel is defiled.

11 "Also for you, Judah,
a harvest is appointed.
"Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people, (NIV)

Then, let us consider this example also. I was recently incarcerated in the hospital for more than two months for not taking my medications for schizophrenia. Luckily for me, after almost twenty four years of taking medications, the diagnosis was finally changed to Bipolar affective disorder, which might be the correct diagnosis this time, and also there were memorable events in the hospital.

However, members of my family and the doctors felt I should be “punished” this time, even though I showed no signs of relapse, because they thought taking medications was a sure path to my health and well being. Actually, I was acting on my faith in God and His sure word for me. Even though I had misinterpreted this sure word and I actually think I should continue to take my medications, did this mean I should be hospitalized and “punished” even though I was not sick? This gives us a clue to the passage in Matthew 9, especially verse 13. The sick are the only one who need a physician. All the members of my family rallied around me while in the hospital. Some brought gifts of money, clothes, and so on. But what did Jesus say in Matthew 9:13 “ But go and learn what this means: ‘ I desire mercy and not sacrifice’. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Again, going back to Hosea chapter 6, we see that God sometimes permits sickness to come upon His earthly children. Sinners and the righteous are likened to those that are sick and those that are well. Should the righteous say because they are well, God should not have mercy on the sinners who are sick, seeing that the righteous were sometime ago, sinners themselves.

Could not my family have had mercy on me seeing I was only acting on faith? It was such like that Jesus referred to, the sinners too deserved mercy and not judgment, and the righteous have to have mercy and ask for mercy from God for the sinners, and not ask for judgment. Isn’t it significant that Jesus did not say, “I desire mercy, not judgment,” or should I say the word of God does not say this. The difference between “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, and “I desire mercy and not judgment” is that when we consider others we should have mercy on them. This relates to us and not to God. We should be merciful and not ask for judgment on the sinners.