Matthew 9:9-13

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.  As Jesus was having a meal in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Jesus and his disciples.  When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  When Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do.  Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus calls a tax collector, someone who the Pharisees labeled the same as sinners. Treated as a sinner most of the time, I’m sure Matthew was surprised to hear Jesus call him. Matthew is one who would have known what Jesus meant when He said “Follow me”. It meant leaving everything, and following Jesus. Calling the righteous (like the Pharisees), was not the plan. Jesus did not come to affirm everything religious that was happening in that day. He came on a rescue mission for sinners like tax collectors, lepers, and those who had been labeled unclean by “religious” standards. It is these people that are able to receive His mercy, because He offers them hope and reconciliation, just as they are. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”