Matthew 9:10-13 - 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.”

In this passage we see Jesus spending time with “those people,” the ones that a proper upstanding citizen would try to avoid. The Pharisees try to call him out on it, but Jesus responds with love. He points out the fact that the people who are healthy don’t need to go to the doctor. Doctors exist to help those who are sick. And then he goes on to quote from the prophet Hosea when he says, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”

Part of a Pharisee’s goal was to be an expert on the scripture. When Jesus said this, they would have known exactly what he was referring to. The people to whom Hosea was speaking dutifully brought their sacrifices to the temple. They were following the letter of the law, but in doing so they became lazy with fulfilling the spirit of the law.

They were given the law so that the people could learn to fully rely on God. They couldn’t do it all themselves. This reminder would cut deep for people whose whole identity was their own self-righteousness. The Pharisees knew what the scripture said but now they knew exactly what the scripture meant. We can bring our sacrifices, follow the rules of the Bible (and a few we made up along the way) and think that we are being perfect little Christians.

Unfortunately, God never called you to be perfect, because you can’t be. How can you add mercy to your spiritual life? What or who have you neglected in your pursuit of self-righteousness?

We’ve all been sick, and we can all know the great physician.