Mercy, not Sacrifice

Forgiveness links the call of the tax collector to the healing of the paralytic – Christ’s authority to discharge sins and restore men – Mark 2:13-17.

When Jesus pronounced the paralytic’s sins “forgiven,” he offended the Scribes and Pharisees, and he alienated them by showing mercy to “sinners” considered unacceptable by more scrupulously religious Jews. Seeing Jesus eating with “tax collectors” and “sinners,” the Scribes and Pharisees insinuated that Christ also was a notorious sinner – (Mark 2:1-17).

In his ‘Sermon on the Mount’, Jesus declared that those men who perform acts of mercy are especially blessed. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.” Implicit in his statement is that those men who do not show mercy will not receive it. Christ also taught that his followers become “perfect like his Father” by loving their enemies and doing them good – (Matthew 5:7, 5:43-48).

[Rainbow Photo by Abigail Keenan on Unsplash]

Jesus put his words into action by healing the paralytic and “discharging his sins,” and by forgiving the sins of the hated tax collector and making him his disciple. On that day, mercy triumphed over sacrifice.

Christ’s call to show mercy to friends and enemies is not optional. When concluding his sermon, Jesus warned of the day when he would declare to those men who refused to obey his words, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness!” Radical acts of mercy are one of the defining characteristics of the true disciple and something Jesus called for in his ‘Sermon on the Mount’ – (Matthew 7:21-27).

The Apostles of Christ certainly taught his Church to embrace mercy and provided real-life examples of how to perform deeds of kindness and self-denial by laying down their lives to bring others to forgiveness and faith in Christ. Those men and women who have received mercy through Jesus Christ ought to show mercy to others easily and liberally. For example:

• “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and shouting, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: and be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you” – (Ephesians 4:30-32).

• “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without variance, without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace” – (James 3:17).

• “I thank him that enabled me, even Christ Jesus our Lord, for that he counted me faithful, appointing me to his service; though I was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: howbeit I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief <…> that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all his longsuffering, for an example of them that should thereafter believe on him unto eternal life” – (1 Timothy 1:12-16).

TAX COLLECTORS AND SINNERS

Tax collectors were despised by many Jews. Their occupation required them to handle currencies from pagan and Jewish sources, and they interacted with men from all walks of life. Contact with pagan symbols and Gentiles meant they were ritually unclean. Moreover, patriotic Jews viewed tax collectors as collaborators with Rome.

• (Mark 2:13-17) - “And he went forth again by the sea, and all the multitude was coming to him, and he began teaching them. And passing by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting over the tax office, and he said to him: Follow me! And arising, he followed him. And it came to pass that he was reclining in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they began following him. And the Scribes and Pharisees seeing that he was eating with the sinners and the tax collectors began saying to his disciples: He is eating with the tax collectors and sinners! And hearing it, Jesus said to them: No need have the strong of a physician, but they who are sick, I came not to call the righteous but sinners” – (Parallel passages: Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 5:27-32).

The man named ‘Levi’ was probably identical to the 'Matthew' listed in Matthew 9:9. It was common for Jewish men to have two or more names. As a tax collector, he was in the administrative service of Herod Antipas.

Religiously observant Jews avoided employment of this kind since it required them to engage in transactions with Gentiles, putting their ritual purity at risk. The actions of Jesus were doubly offensive since he associated with politically objectionable and ceremonially unclean men, and he compounded his offense by eating with tax collectors and “sinners.”

Table fellowship was important in Jewish society, and eating with less observant Jews put the ritual purity of more observant Jews at risk. The category of “sinner” could include immoral individuals, but in this case, it was used for Jewish men considered ritually impure regardless of any greater moral failures.

The sect of the Pharisees adhered strictly to the Mosaic Law and its body of oral traditions for interpreting the regulations of the Torah, the so-called “Tradition of the Elders.” Many of these traditions concerned ritual purity, such as dietary rules.

Christ’s concluding statement emphasized that his Messianic Mission was about redemption, not condemnation. The version in the Gospel of Matthew adds a quotation from the Book of Hosea cited by Jesus to justify his actions toward sinners:

• “Go and learn what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” – (Matthew 9:9-13, Hosea 6:6-7).

God did not reject animal sacrifices in Hosea, but He stated his preference for righteous deeds over religious rituals. Jesus was more specific. Acts of mercy were superior to the Levitical rituals valued so highly by his opponents. He expressed the same idea in his later denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees:

• “Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin and have dismissed the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. It was biding to do these, but these not to dismiss” - (Matthew 23:23).

By calling “sinners” to repentance, Jesus was fulfilling his role as the ‘Servant of Yahweh’ who was sent to restore Israel and bring salvation to the nations:

• “And now declares Yahweh who formed me from the womb to be his Servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered for him. For I am honourable in the eyes of Yahweh, and my God is my strength. Yes, He declares, It is too light a thing that you should be my Servant to lift the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you for a light to the Nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth” - (Isaiah 49:5-6).

Whether forgiving sins or healing the sick, Jesus came to redeem the lost and restore men and women to all God originally intended for them. He showed mercy in this story by healing the paralytic, forgiving the tax collector, and welcoming him into his fellowship. He thus restored two sons of Israel.

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SEE ALSO:

• Forgive your Persecutor - (How we react to hostility and persecution demonstrates exactly whose disciple we are, and whose kingdom we serve)

• "Rejoice and Exalt" - (The followers of Jesus are called to rejoice when they are found worthy to suffer for him and his Gospel)

• Wise or Foolish? - (At the conclusion of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus claimed absolute authority for his words. Disciples ignore them at their peril – Matthew 7:21-28)

• Прости своего врага - (То, как мы реагируем на враждебность и преследования, в точности показывает, чьими учениками мы являемся и чьему царству служим)