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As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
- Matthew 9:9-17
Yesterday, we read that after Jesus' encounter with the demoniacs in the country of the Gergesenes across the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum, He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!" But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. This man is the author of the Gospel we're reading. Matthew is also named Levi (Mark 2:14). At this time, Roman overlords assigned Jewish tax collectors to specific areas. They were free to collect extra revenue for their own profit, making them particularly despised among their fellow Jews. Not only were they collaborators with Roman occupiers, they also routinely practiced fraud and corruption, so they were considered to be unclean (11:19). Here, Jesus is actively calling Matthew to discipleship: "Follow Me." It's not a question, but a command. And Matthew responds.
Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Jesus dining with tax collectors and other sinners, and also accepting a tax collector as a disciple, offends the Pharisees. But Jesus' answer makes perfect sense, and also places His ministry into a category that characterizes everything He does, so that we understand Him more deeply. He goes where the need of the physician is the greatest; He is ultimately the supreme Healer. "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is a quotation from Hosea 6:6, but its expression is found elsewhere in the Old Testament as well. My study bible says that it's not a rejection of sacrifice per se (Jesus Himself will make His own great sacrifice), but shows that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51, the great psalm of repentance).
Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garent; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." My study bible says that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday. There were also public fasts that were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (see for example Esther 4:16, Joel 2:15). Fasts were important particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19). But the day of the Messiah isn't a time for fasting; on the contrary, it was seen as a wedding feast. That is, a time of joy and gladness, great blessings and thankfulness. Jesus declares He is Messiah by calling Himself the bridegroom. Fasting, in Christian tradition, is a way of preparation for the wedding feast of the Bridegroom's return, meant to help us to understand the practice of self-mastery, abstention from sin. My study bible says that the old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, viewed as imperfect and temporary. The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ. It says, "The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law."
Jesus' ministry seems to be qualified and characterized overall by healing. He is the Physician for all ailments, whether they be physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, philosophical. He works to heal on a personal and a community level. As such, He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, as He has said. Just as the Law and the Prophets worked to establish a people to God, to draw a people back to relationship with God, Christ fulfills this mission and thereby is of Himself primarily a healing influence. What was lost through sin is found again, regained through Christ. The Law worked to create a conscious awareness of loyalty to God, an understanding of sin. Christ fulfills the aim and goal of the Law through healing and restoration. We often fail to see correction as healing. Many people regard "law" as something that is essentially oppressive or restrictive. But we have to understand its aim and its goal; the aim is restoration of people to God, in covenant. And that is where the notion of healing as the ultimate aim and goal comes in. To be restored to God is to be healed. John 3:16, so often quoted, tells us that Christ, the Son, has come in human form "for God so loved the world." And we really have to understand that this healing power is for the whole world. It's not about some people, nor even only people. It's for the whole creation, as Jesus' command to the disciples in His last appearance tells us, from the Gospel of Mark, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." It's restoration of right-relatedness in all ways. Healing becomes the centerpiece of the expression of God's love. You really couldn't get a more despised person than Matthew sitting in the tax office. He's a collaborator, taking money from his own people (backed by Roman force) for their enemies and extra for his personal profit. But Jesus gives the command, "Follow Me." Nobody and nothing is left out of this healing ministry. Discipleship means just that, we "follow Him." Healing means correction and change. Can we understand that even a rebuke from Christ is an act of love and mercy? This is the new wineskin, for new wine. God's love is active, at work in us. This gospel is for the love of the world and everything in it, for all the creation.
