I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew siting 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 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 the encounter with the demon-possessed men in the country of the Gergesenes, Jesus and the disciples got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city of Capernaum.  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 siting 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 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."  Matthew is also called Levi (Mark 2:14).  Under the Roman colonial system, Jewish tax collectors were assigned specific areas.  These Jewish tax collectors were also free to collect extra revenues for their own profit, and they had Roman might at their disposal to enforce their practices.  My study bible says that their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption resulted in the hatred of other Jews and viewing them as unclean (11:19).  For Jesus to dine with tax collectors and also to call one as disciple ("Follow Me") is an offense to the Pharisees.  But Jesus' argument is straightforward:  His mission is to go where the need of the physician is highest.  Jesus quotes from Hosea 6:6:  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  My study bible notes that this is not a rejection of sacrifice per se, but rather it tells us that mercy is the higher priority (Psalm 51).

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."  At this time, the typical fasting practice of the Jews was twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Additionally there were fasts which were regularly observed, and also those occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21, 40; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15).  This was especially important for the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  The time of the Messiah was the opposite:  viewed as a wedding feast, filled with joy and gladness.  Jesus is proclaiming that day.   In so doing, He reveals Himself as Messiah/Bridegroom.  My study bible notes that for Christians, fasting is meant to be not gloomy but desirable, a "bright sadness."   In this perspective, we gain self-control and prepare ourselves fro the Wedding Feast by fasting.

"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."   Traditionally, wine was kept in leather wineskins.  As indicated by Christ, as the wine ages -- like unshrunk cloth -- the old wineskins, incapable of expanding, could not contain the aging wine with its enzymatic action inside.  My study bible says that the old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, seen here as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant are those in Christ.   My study bible adds that the new wine is the Holy Spirit which dwells within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

What is the new thing that Christ brings into this picture?  It is the action of Himself as physician, and the need for medicine and rehabilitation as part of the picture of religious faith.  Jesus views sinners as akin to those with illness, and in need of treatment.  Of course, that opens up all kinds of other questions.  What is treatment?  What is rehabilitation?  How necessary is it that those who are ill recognize that this is their condition, and that they need treatment and medicine?  And that they need one particular kind of medicine, and not another?  All of these questions open up to ask ourselves.  For it is one thing to understand sickness and illness causing a visible ailment and its symptoms.  It is another to understand where empathy and compassion are good and important things -- and another to understand what only hampers and delays treatment, or even what the wrong remedy is.  When I was young I knew a young man with a chronic ailment.  He was extremely bright and talented.  But in response to the need for constant medical treatment, and a feeling of responsibility, he was quite spoiled and willful.  He grew up to be quite successful in his career, but also quite arrogant and problematic in his relations with people.  The "treatment" he received was, in effect, not good for him or his growth as a person.  Jesus does not teach us about indulgence.  He teaches us about care.  And so often we tend to confuse the two.  One does not suppose that Matthew continues his work as tax collector after he is called by Christ.  But there is another good case in the Gospels for us to look at in this context, and that is the story of Zacchaeus, found in Luke 19:1-10.  In that encounter, as Christ approached Jericho, Jesus calls to Zacchaeus who is a wealthy chief tax collector, and tells him that He must stay at Zacchaeus' house that day.  When the people complained that Jesus went to stay in the home of such a known sinner, Zacchaeus said, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."  Zacchaeus found a way to correct and make restitution.  Jesus' reply tells us something about salvific medicine and therapy.  He said, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."  So salvation, redemption, medicine is about saving that which was lost.  If in sin we are ill or disordered in some way,  Christ's mission is to help restore us to proper order, in right relationship to God and to others, and in this way we are in good health.  So let us consider today what "right order" means.  What does it mean to be in good health in body, soul, and spirit?  Christ went the full distance to bring us healing.  For Him no sacrifice was too great.  What will you do for your restoration and healing?  What sacrifice is it worth to find the way to the health He offers?  Sometimes, we are so used to our own condition, we can't recognize when we're ill.  What is it worth to you to find Christ's vision for your own fullness of good health?  Jesus teaches, "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Which of us has no need for such medicine?  Sometimes -- perhaps most often (like the well-meaning mother who spoiled her ailing child) -- we are unaware of what would be better to change.  But that is what our faith is for, to lead us in the path of righteousness throughout our lives.  The whole question remains within whether or not we can accept the change.