When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
Devotion
Go deeper
"tax collectors and sinners"
The Ones at the Table Β· hamartΕloi Β· G268 Β· GREEK
Sinners β those who miss the mark, those regarded by the religious community as morally compromised, unworthy of God's presence
Matthew's first act as a disciple was to throw a party and invite everyone he knew β which meant his whole network of tax collectors, social outcasts, and people the synagogue had rejected. He didn't clean himself up first. He didn't wait until he had more theology. He brought his whole broken, compromised world to a table with Jesus and let them all meet each other. That is still the most radical evangelism: just bring people you love to a meal with the one who changed you.
π Luke 14:15β24 Β· The Banquet They All RefusedA man threw a great banquet and sent his servant to call the invited guests. One by one, they made excuses: a field to see, oxen to examine, a wife to attend to. The good reasons were endless.
The master was furious. "Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame." When there was still room, he sent out again β to the highways and hedges, compelling whoever would come.
The people who were supposed to be there didn't show. The people who had no business being there filled the house.
Matthew's party is this parable in real time. The qualified people weren't coming. So Jesus sat down with the unqualified β and they were the ones who actually showed up.
"I desire mercy, and not sacrifice"
The Thing God Wants Most Β· eleos Β· G1656 Β· GREEK
Mercy β compassionate response to the need of another, especially those in misery or distress; the outward expression of covenant love in action
Jesus is quoting Hosea 6:6 to the Pharisees β the very people who knew the Torah best. They had built elaborate systems of sacrifice and purity that kept them from people like Matthew's friends. But God had told them clearly through Hosea: what I want is not your rituals β I want your mercy. Sacrifice is what you offer God. Mercy is what you offer the person across the table from you. Jesus keeps choosing the second one.
π Luke 10:30β37 Β· The One Who StoppedA man was beaten and left for dead on the road to Jericho. A priest saw him and passed by on the other side. A Levite β also trained in the law β looked and also passed.
Then a Samaritan β someone the Jewish community despised β saw the man. He stopped. He bandaged the wounds. He put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, paid the innkeeper, and promised to return.
Jesus asked: "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The lawyer couldn't even say the word "Samaritan." He just said: "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus said: "Go and do likewise." Not: go and learn more. Not: go and refine your theology. Go and have mercy on someone who needs it today.
"but sinners"
The Only Qualification Β· hamartΕlous Β· G268 Β· GREEK
Sinners β the ones who miss the mark; but here used by Jesus as the technical category for those he specifically came to call, making moral failure the one credential that gets you in
"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." This is either the best news you have ever heard or a sentence that confuses you β depending on whether you have given up trying to earn your place. Jesus did not come for people who have it together. He came for people who know they don't. The only requirement to be called is to be a sinner, and that is a qualification every person at Matthew's table met with room to spare.
π Luke 18:9β14 Β· Two Men at the TempleTwo men went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself: he fasted twice a week, gave tithes of all he got, was not like the tax collector over there. He listed his qualifications.
The tax collector stood far off. He would not even lift his eyes to heaven. He beat his breast and said: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
Jesus said: this one β the one with no qualifications, only need β went home justified. Not the other one.
Matthew's dinner guests were the tax collector in this parable. They had nothing to offer but need. And Jesus says that is exactly the credential the kingdom accepts.
Declarations
- β¦ Jesus came not for the righteous but for sinners β which means he came specifically for me. (Matthew 9:13)
- β¦ I receive mercy freely and extend it freely, because I know how much I have been given. (Matthew 5:7)
- β¦ I am justified by grace as a gift β not by my performance, but by his. (Romans 3:24)
- β¦ Jesus came to seek and to save the lost β and he found me. (Luke 19:10)
Prayer
Father, thank you that your table has no guest list I could fail to make. Thank you that Jesus came for sinners β which means he came for me, exactly as I am, with everything I am carrying. Help me receive that fully, and then extend it. Show me who I am passing by that you are walking toward. Make me someone who throws open the table rather than guarding who sits at it. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Think about it
Who in your life might Jesus be inviting you to share a table with β someone you have been avoiding or written off?
I will create space at my table β literally or figuratively β for someone who needs to encounter the welcome of Jesus.
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