The View from the West Mesa

I desire mercy, not sacrifice. This short sentence appears twice in Matthew, once in chapter 9 and again in chapter 12. In the first instance the form is “Go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” and appears at the end of an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees who were complaining (read: judging) about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. Our phrase is this instance comes between two statements about those considered Less-Than: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…For I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners.” It is the mercy of God that moves him to go to those who are on the outside of proper society, to people who were routinely ostracized by the righteous ones. Jesus isn’t interested in the right sacrifices done at the Temple by people whose hearts avoid considering those on whom they look in disgust. If the Pharisees considered themselves as OK with God, why would the merciful God come t...