Marvels Of Mercy

In Matthew 9:9-13, Jesus has just called Matthew to follow him. He is then seen reclining at a table with many tax collectors and sinners along with his disciples (Matthew 9:10). In verse 11, the Pharisees question Jesus to his disciples, asking “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11 ESV)

Jesus hears the question and responds that it’s not the well who need a physician but the sick (verse 12). Then Jesus gives the charge, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous but the sinners.”’ (Matthew 9:13 ESV)

The word used for mercy here in Greek is “eleos” (Strong's G1656). This word is used 27 times in the New Testament. The King James Version translates it as “mercy” each time. According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, “eleos” is a “kindness or goodwill toward the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them.”

In Matthew 9, Jesus is being questioned by the Pharisees for who he is hanging around.. Later on, the Pharisees challenge Jesus for his disciples not keeping the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8). At this point, Jesus says to the Pharisees, “And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” (Matthew 12:7 ESV)

The first time, Jesus charges the Pharisees to “go and learn” about mercy over sacrifice, and the second time Jesus says, “if you had known.” There is a progression to learn about mercy or goodwill toward those in need. I appreciate how Thayer’s says that it is “joined with a desire to relieve.” It is not pity, which would say, oh that’s too bad. No, it is recognizing the need and then desiring to meet that specific need.

The greatest example of mercy being shown, or goodwill toward those in need, is how Jesus came to help those in need, which was all of humanity, from Adam to us today. He came down and showed mercy.

In these two texts of Matthew 9 and Mathew 12 above, Jesus is charging the Pharisees to take the time to understand that God desires mercy, not sacrifice. The purpose of sacrifice in the Old Testament was to remind the Israelites about their own sin. It was an annual reminder of it (Hebrews 10:3).

So, the sacrifice was really about the people giving the sacrifice. They had to come to the temple, have the appropriate animal, and have the priest offer the sacrifice. This ultimately was a reminder to them.

It was a way for people to acknowledge their own sins before God. But, Jesus comes and flips the tables. In Matthew 12, the Pharisees are so focused on staying on the “right” side, that they are condemning anyone who is not keeping the letter of the law, which was the case in Matthew 12:1-8.

For the purpose of this discussion today, let’s call a “sacrifice” something we do “for God.” It could be any type of act “for” God. It is you saying, “Here I am God, I am coming to present myself to you with this sacrifice.”

The Pharisees were so precise with their sacrifice that they thought it put them in a category to not spend time with certain groups (Matthew 9) or to condemn those who were innocent (Matthew 12).

Jesus countered both of these actions with the heart of the Father, saying, “I desire mercy not sacrifice.” When we sacrifice or do something “for God,” it can put us in a place to say, “Okay, God. I did this for you, so now I am in a bit of a different category than those who haven’t done the same.”

It is like a child bringing a picture that they drew “for” their parent. Maybe they spent a lot of time on it. They come and present it (typically) with an expectation. It’s (typically) innocent and sweet, and it is basically saying, “I did this for you. Now, show me love and attention.”

When we come to the Father with our sacrifice with the expectation of Him giving us something in return, we are not actually approaching Him in the right way. There is nothing we could ever do for God that would cause God to “owe” us anything. (Job 41:11)

This speaks to the motive of the heart, which of course can be difficult to determine. For the Pharisees, they were so precise in their sacrifices that it caused them to have very clear lines of those who were “in” and “out” of their preferred group.

On the other hand, Jesus came to the world and never sinned. He did not need to offer any sacrifices for his own sin. His actions and attitude looked very different from that of the Pharisees. He spent time with people that they would never spend time with and he refused to condemn the innocent.