Matthew 9:13, commentary and pictures

Spoken to answer the Pharisees when they criticized Him for eating with publicans and sinners at Matthew's feast, Jesus explained by the physician going to the sick that He went among the sin-stained because they are the ones who need healing, forgiveness and mercy. The righteous He did not come to call are those who regard themselves as whole and needing no Saviour, who feel no need and refuse to come, while poor sinners who feel sick and feel their need accept His help. To go and learn I will have mercy and not sacrifice means God desires kind, pitiful compassion for those in need more than religious rites, outward sacrifice, ceremony, forms and display. He came to call sinners to repentance and to seek and save the lost, leaving the royal courts of heaven and veiling divinity with humanity to uplift the whole human family, Jews and Gentiles alike, and restore the lost image of God. Therefore sinners, however guilty or polluted, need not stay away or wait to make themselves better, but feeling their need of Christ are to come at once as they are, look to Him, plead His atoning blood, forsake sin and be cleansed and clothed with His righteousness.

Setting and Wording

The saying was given as an answer to the Pharisees, joined at times by the disciples of John, when they criticized Jesus for eating with publicans and sinners at Matthew's feast. Jesus had called Levi-Matthew, a tax collector despised as a betrayer and sinner, to follow Him, and Matthew left his work without hesitation to follow. Turning to His accusers with the dignity of His mission, He declared that He had come to call sinners to repentance and not the righteous. His present work given to ministers is therefore to do as He did by seeking to save the lost, laboring for those who have not heard the truth and making direct appeals to the unconverted, with greater need than ever because darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people. Souls are very precious in His sight by creation and by redemption, and He came into the world to seek and save the lost, to save and not to destroy.

Like a physician caring for the sick rather than the well, He went among sinners because they were stained by sin and needed healing, forgiveness, and mercy, and these needy ones were the ones He came to help. His willingness to eat with publicans and sinners shows mercy in action, receiving those who need forgiveness and restoration instead of condemning or excluding them. The publicans and sinners recognized their need of pardon and were ready to hear Him, while those who considered themselves righteous scorned them and refused His help. The Pharisees regarded themselves as spiritually whole and sinners as sick, but their pride and self-sufficiency made them less open to truth than the people they despised, showing they did not understand the spirit of God's word.

The righteous He did not come to call are those who regard themselves as righteous, feel whole, and feel no need of a Saviour and of help. Poor publicans and sinners who feel sick and feel their need accept the instruction and aid He is able to give, while self-sufficient men who feel no need cannot appreciate His work and mission, refuse to come to Him for life, and place themselves where they cannot accept the salvation He came to bring. Like a sick person who knows the need of a physician, sinners must feel their need of Christ and of the cleansing power of His blood, for the blood avails only for those who recognize that need, while self-sufficiency and self-exaltation prevent accepting the Saviour. Attention is therefore to be given to people seeking truth and hungering for salvation rather than spending effort on the self-righteous.

His eating, mingling, and social kindness with publicans, Samaritans, and outcasts was holy, purposeful fellowship to teach truth, encourage those who had gone wrong, meet their deepest needs, and lift them from low habits, not to share their luxuries, amusements, feasting, ways, or spirit nor to become low Himself. He accepted the hospitality of despised people, sat as an honored guest at the table of the publicans, slept under their roofs, ate food prepared and served by their hands, taught in their streets, and treated them with dignity, courtesy, sympathy, and kindness in spite of Pharisaic custom and prejudice. His welcome did not make Him a sinner and did not affirm unrighteousness, for He went among them to give a godly example, bring them truth, and guide those in trouble toward eternal realities. His words reached their troubled and thirsty souls with blessed, life-giving power, awakened new impulses, clarified minds, made men long to become worthy of His confidence, and opened the possibility of a new life and of entering the kingdom through repentance.

His pure and undefiled life, with no word from His lips that could stain His character, gives the representation of what a repentant sinner may become, with assurances all through Scripture of what may be attained. In the sight of God the guilt of the self-righteous who spurn light is the greater. Their malicious, self-righteous criticism in pride and self-righteousness, hating and despising those Christ in humility drew to Himself, exposed them to judgment rather than a place in His kingdom.

Mercy Over Sacrifice

Go and learn what it means is a command to search diligently until it is understood that God desires kind, pitiful compassion for those in need more than religious rites, outward sacrifice, ceremony, forms, display, needless mourning, and bodily humiliation. The lesson first given to John's disciples and the Pharisees remains for the present time, calling for hearts humbled before God instead of an appearance of great devotion. Self-advancing and self-enriching, oppressing others, and neglecting the simple duties of life are to be put away, and while souls are under Satan's dominion there is to be no saving of self but stern practical work in bringing sinners to repentance. Time is to be devoted to merciful acts for suffering humanity, and kindness to the needy, clothing the naked, and relieving the oppressed are works of righteousness that give evidence the Spirit of God is operating on the heart.

True religion does not consist in forms or ceremonies, outward attractions or outward display, and pomp and hypocritical pretence are dispensed with. What God values above ceremonial offerings is a merciful, pure character, and faith that works by love and purifies the soul is the only qualification required for the kingdom of heaven. The saying was used to train the Jews to see the purpose of the passing ritual service, which possessed no virtue apart from Him. He is greater than the temple, the living sacrifice and true offering in whom all Jewish ceremony and typical service finds its fulfillment, purifying religion by making forms and ceremonies of none effect.

Mercy is an attribute of God that human beings may share in labor together with God. It is kind and pitiful, a manifestation of divine love, shown by serving Him and reflecting the light of heaven upon the pathway of fellow creatures. Reflecting that love, it purifies the soul, beautifies the heart, and cleanses life from selfishness. It calls for genuine, practical compassion toward a brother in distress, including helping and forgiving those who have gone wrong, for sin is hated but the sinner is pitied and may become a child of God through the merits of Jesus Christ, not personal merit.

Mercy rather than sacrifice is the test distinguishing true religion from false. True sympathy between a person and fellow human beings is the sign distinguishing those who love and fear God from those unmindful of His law. Christ expressed this mercy and sympathy by coming to give His life a sacrifice for a dying world. His religion leads to genuine healing and medical missionary work, for He was a healing power, and true healing work joins physical compassion with calling sinners to repentance, giving the pattern for ministry to the sick.

Medical missionaries are therefore to act with the tenderness and compassion He would show, relieving the suffering of those who ask sympathy, helping the blind, and showing sympathy to a wrongdoer who has confessed sin and pleads for another trial. The heavenly Father notices even a sparrow's fall, and those who disobey by dealing without mercy will be visited with judgment and dealt with as they have dealt with those who cried for help. Because God requires mercy and not sacrifice, duties positively essential to relieve suffering humanity on the Sabbath are right and lawful and in accordance with His law. That allowance covers only what is positively essential to relieve suffering and gives no excuse for carelessness, unnecessary traveling on the Sabbath, or other work that might be left undone, while God does not require disciples to sacrifice health and strength without regard for need, so needed rest after exhausting labor is duty.

In the management of His work the requirement of mercy condemns laying plans to gain control of everything, bringing individuals to terms decided in councils, grasping everything, destroying individuality, and ignoring individual accountability. Institutions in different parts of the world are to stand in union without one swallowing up the others, each maintaining its own individuality, with workers receiving help from the institutions that have the largest revenue. God does not ask unconverted men to attempt to serve Him with their natural traits of character, for they will make a failure, and those in authority who have not been brought under the control of the law of justice and mercy should step down until they learn mercy. Mercy takes precedence over rigid, narrow condemnation, so Brother Hickox's working to pay rent and receiving a rent allowance for that work were commendable, not offenses to condemn, and his past errors did not place him beyond help but called for help toward recovery and continued service rather than condemnation for past errors.

Mission to Sinners

He came to call sinners to repentance and to save them, not to commend or affirm or leave alone those who consider themselves righteous and feel no need of a Saviour. Trust in one's own righteousness and good works cannot save, for people cannot redeem themselves or restore themselves to their former standing before God, and His welcome of publicans and sinners gives hope and freedom and courage to those who need forgiveness. His mission is to seek and save the lost, and it extends to the whole human family, Jews and Gentiles alike, with no narrower field of labor able to contain it. He did not come only for the small portion who accept Him, nor to seek and save those who are faultless and lovely, but to save every son and daughter of Adam who are lost and ready to perish.

To do this uplifting work He left the royal courts of heaven, laid aside His glory and royal robes, and veiled divinity with humanity to come into close connection with humanity. As the true Shepherd He left the ninety-nine to seek the lost sheep in the wilderness, and He worked by precept and example, healing the sick, cleansing the leper, and casting out demons, to uplift and ennoble humanity and restore the lost image of God in the human soul. As Prince of Life He stands in controversy with Satan the prince of darkness, in direct contrast to the rumseller who takes away the righteousness of the soul, makes men abject slaves of Satan, and perpetuates human woe and degradation and downfall. He came into the world to seek and save the lost, to save and not to destroy, offering Himself in human form for a sinful world to teach and heal. Souls are very precious in His sight by creation and by redemption, and every soul has great value because of the immeasurable love shown in self-denial and humiliation and crucifixion as the redemption price of a lost world.

His call of sinners to repentance belongs with His teaching that He came not to destroy God's law but to fulfill it, so sinners must turn from their own way, forsake sin, and live obedience through the new power He gives. The wickedness of an audience is therefore no reason to avoid ministering to them, since His work is for sinners needing repentance.

Sinners Receiving Him

Like a sick person who knows the need of a physician, the sinner must feel the need of Christ and of the cleansing power of His blood, for that blood avails only for those who recognize their need. Self-sufficiency and self-exaltation keep a person from accepting the Saviour, while those who feel no need do not seek His saving remedy.

However sinful, guilty, polluted, or neglectful of duty a person is, there is no need to stay away, to stop praying, or to wait to make oneself better, for that self-improvement will never happen on its own. Being a sinner is itself the reason to pray and the reason a Saviour is needed, and the one who has sinned is precisely the one who needs the Saviour. Such a one is met not with reproof that drives away but with invitation to come at once as he is, to come now and believe he will be received just now. He is to look away from sin to Christ, to come without self-righteousness or reliance on his own goodness, to lay hold of the sacrifice made at infinite cost, to take hold of Jesus as Saviour, and to plead the atoning blood through which he finds acceptance with God and access to His throne. Christ died and rose again for justification, so the sinner can come for salvation rather than remain lost.

Accusations of guilt are answered by trusting Christ as Saviour, Substitute, and Surety, since people cannot redeem themselves or restore themselves to their former standing before God. His death provides forgiveness and cleansing, and His righteousness is the sinner's defense. When the sinner comes with repentance and faith he finds Christ as the sinner's Saviour and receives pardoning love, coming to God through Christ. He may carry his load to Calvary and lay it down at the foot of the cross, leaving sin and transgression to become a loyal subject of God and be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, which does not cover any continued iniquity but washes clean so that every stain is cleansed away.

The call is for everyone regardless of past life, rank, or condition, and no one can remain neutral but either receives and obeys or rejects it. The gates of heaven stand open to the weakest who most need help, for help has been laid on One mighty to save, so that all who connect with Christ and the Father and comply can be accepted as Christ was accepted. Coming to Christ means committing the keeping of the soul to Him as a faithful Redeemer who will keep what is committed in trust against that day, for Christ bears sin and gives His life to save sinners from being overcome by temptation. He greets even the men and women who cause discouragement with hopeful assurance because He sees in them qualifications to take a place in His vineyard. His heart is cheered by those who are poor in every sense, by the ill-used who are meek, by the unsatisfied hungering after righteousness, and by the inability of many to begin, and if they will constantly be learners He will fit them for work within their capabilities and give them power through the impartation of His Holy Spirit. He gives the burden of the work for the poor and needy in the rough places of the earth to men and women who have hearts that can feel for the ignorant and for those that are out of the way, so that where the Light passes privileges appear in hardships, order in confusion, and the success and wisdom of God in what seemed failure.

Christ receives sinful people, and they need to understand that He calls them to repentance and offers forgiveness and mercy. His welcome gives hope, freedom, and courage to those who need forgiveness.

Mercy in Practice

The answer to the critics makes reaching the unconverted the work given to followers, for He came to call sinners to repentance and not to commend or affirm those who count themselves righteous. Those who know the truth have a duty to share it with those who do not know it and to labor together with God for salvation and the uplifting of souls. This means going out to seek and save the lost rather than seeking ease and pleasure, helping and strengthening those seen to be at fault rather than holding them at a distance, and not leaving them alone in their wrongs, since mercy requires effort and sacrifice.

Following that example means meeting people in ordinary social settings where they are rather than withdrawing from social communion. Sympathy is to be identified with suffering humanity by reaching the sinful, helpless, and needy where they are and making their necessities one's own. Mercy stands in place of judging consciences and binding exacting burdens that God does not bind, so those whose unpopular faith separates them from the world must take care not to place themselves so far away in sympathy and views that souls cannot be reached and the door of access is closed by exacting traits that bring a burdening restraint no one can endure. Mingling with every class and sharing social life to reveal character and teach truth is central to the mission and not compromise with sin or worldly conformity, exposing self-righteous bigotry that condemns such mercy and refuses to learn.

The work requires seeking the Lord in prayer for the best way to reach each person contacted, using different methods for different people. For some this is giving a tract, for others asking directly whether they love Jesus, and in meetings speaking in an interesting, simple, practical way that hearers ignorant of spiritual terms and with little interest in spiritual things can understand. It includes speaking to outsiders in public open-air meetings. It includes accepting invitations to gatherings to rescue the lost when presence among publicans and sinners is objected to. Sitting at table with publicans and sinners is not to share luxuries, amusements, or feasting but to diffuse precious gems of truth as lessons whose jewels remain in hearts, and though hearers may not yield at once they are affected and kept drawn until they finally yield; speech among the unconverted should therefore recommend Christ by self-denial, patience, kindness, and forbearance.

Effort is to be bent to neglected cities steeped in sin and crime such as New York, which holds many precious souls who need truth and many who will listen to the last message of mercy, by establishing there a center for truth as a memorial for God with missionary effort and a sanitarium. The same chapter that teaches care for every class connects with receiving and laboring for the poor and suffering in sanitariums. Meeting places once used for wicked purposes may be purchased and used to reach sinners, and ministers are to spend time preaching to wicked audiences. Wherever there is a sanitarium for care of the sick there should be a church where patients and helpers assemble to worship God and hear the word of life, for God softens hearts so that many accept Christ as Healer of the soul, as was done when the Battle Creek Sanitarium with its hospital was almost the only place for care of the sick.

Belief in Christ who embodies the Father's love must form His character in His people, who are to live in loving connection and show mercy as He did. God desires mercy rather than sacrifice, so His people are to show love and compassion and draw together in love rather than criticize one another. That self-giving love for sinners is to be reflected through mercy, forgiveness, pardon, compassion, and loving-kindness that draws outcasts, publicans, and sinners to come, and it does not approve self-esteem that stands apart and looks down on others. In schools the erring and needy are to receive especially earnest help with patient sympathy, tenderness, and love rather than suspicion and criticism, since reform comes through faith and love. Genuine piety is not Pharisaism but Christ shaping everyday life through conversion, mercy, and the love of God rather than self-serving ways and plans.

The mission calls Christians to care and work for those neglected and most in need, and neglecting them contradicts the mercy it requires. The call of the physician to the sick goes to those who recognize guilt and need of a Saviour, offering saving call and eternal life equally to black and white, so that people neglected and wounded by others can be reached, converted, and helped to lead others from darkness into light. True devotion is not formal religious observance, fasting, or bodily humiliation but surrender of self in willing service to God and others, as He gave His life for the world whether fasting in the wilderness or eating with publicans at Matthew's feast, expressing the mercy and saving purpose set against empty forms.

Hearts humbled before God are to replace appearance of great devotion, needless mourning, and bodily humiliation, and the lesson first given to John's disciples and the Pharisees is for the present time. Self-advancing and self-enriching, oppressing others, neglecting the simple duties of life, and afflicting the body are to be put away. While souls are under Satan's dominion there must be no saving of self but stern practical work with time devoted to bringing sinners to repentance and to merciful acts for suffering humanity. Evidence that the Spirit operates on the heart is seen in works of righteousness such as kindness to the needy, dealing bread to the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the poor, relieving the oppressed, loosing bands of wickedness, and breaking every yoke.

Souls are very precious by creation and by redemption because He came to seek and save the lost, to save and not to destroy. Therefore those who deal with others, especially the youth, are held responsible for the salvation of those with whom they deal, and God will require at their hands souls they have not tried to save. They must cherish the love of God and outwit the enemy who constantly tries to lead youth to think the course of unbelievers is more nearly correct than the course of those who claim to believe the truth.