This week’s #scripturesong is Matthew‬ ‭9:13‬ ‭NIV‬‬: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Here, Jesus and his disciples were having dinner with tax collectors and other sinners. This shocked the Pharisees who lived by extremely high standards and judged those who didn’t do the same. So, they asked Jesus why he did that.

In verse 12, he says: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” In other words, why would a doctor refuse to be near sick people?

The Pharisees thought they didn’t need saving. They thought following all the rules made them righteous. But in reality, their hearts were equally as sick as the sinners they condemned. The problem was they boasted in their own abilities and performance instead of acknowledging their need of a Savior. But here we see that God is more pleased with acts of kindness toward others (mercy) rather than the external duties of religion (sacrifice).

Jesus doesn’t condone sinful behavior. However, it is his kindness that is meant to lead to repentance (Romans 2:4). He did not participate with them in sin, but stood by with open arms letting them know that forgiveness was available.

Jesus is a friend of sinners. And guess what? That’s GREAT news for all of us! Because we all have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and Jesus died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

Even though we are a new creation after we become followers of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), we must remember not to look down on others like the Pharisees. At one point, we were all once like those people Jesus sat with. We were greedy, sexually immoral, liars, thieves, murderers, idolatrous, etc. And we must never forget that in ourselves, we have nothing to boast in. We did not, could not, and will never be able to save ourselves. God, out of His amazing, unending love, sent Jesus to do it for us. ✝️