We are sometimes like the Pharisees. We like to look down our noses at certain people. Jesus goes out of His way to show that no one is below His mercy and fellowship.
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples: Jews were commanded to be separate from anything outright sinful. Jesus, revealing the character of God, came to draw outright sinful people to himself.
Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? This is a fair question to ask from a Jewish standpoint.
Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick: This is logic and wisdom straight from heaven, straight from God. Sick, sinful, broken people need someone greater than them to be healthy and forgiven. And someone greater needs to seek them out. This is why Jesus came. We are to have the same heart for sinners as Jesus does. To seek and to save the lost.
Go and learn: This is discipleship.
I desire mercy, and not sacrifice: Mercy for sinners not snobbish, self-righteousness.
For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners: The wording of this has a sharp edge. Jesus did not come for people who think they are superior. He came for those who know they are helpless sinners.
Matthew, a despised person in Israel, is someone Jesus seeks. The lost really matter to Jesus.
The Men's Bible Reading Idea 