August 25, 2022

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
 
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
 
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:9-13

Devotional

We are missing a piece of this narrative. We see Jesus calling Matthew, who immediately leaves the tax tables to follow Jesus. The next scene is Jesus eating at Matthew’s house, along with “many” tax collectors, plus sinners AND the disciples. It’s a curious array of people.
 
How did this party take place? Well, the host is certainly Matthew, and he apparently has a home large enough to accommodate all those people. As the host, Matthew can directly invite anyone he chooses to be his guests. We can imagine the conversation:

• Tax Collector associate: “What, you’re just walking away from being a tax collector?”
• Matthew: “Dude, I want you to come to my house for dinner tonight; I want to introduce you to Jesus.”
• Tax collector: “Wait—you want HIM to meet ME? I don’t think so.”
• Matthew: “Don’t worry—he gets us. He’s a great listener and he’s great company. Come on, please?”
• Tax Collector: “How about if I bring some of the other guys with me?”
• Matthew: “Perfect, see you tonight.”

So people are invited to dinner, where Matthew arranges for food and all forms of hospitality to celebrate Jesus, get to know the other disciples and include “sinners”, as the Pharisees call them. Then comes the moment in which Jesus serves up a particularly stinging dish for the judging Pharisees, offhandedly dismissing them while quoting the prophet Hosea: “Go and learn what this means… ‘For I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” (Hosea 6:6)
 
When’s the last time you held a party? Whom did you invite? Whom did you celebrate? Was mercy included on the menu? Perhaps the next party should feature mercy as the main course.

For Reflection

Where can I offer hospitality today?

How can I offer mercy today?

Prayer

Gracious God, help me recognize those moments in my day where mercy is the most needed element. Help me include someone who seems to be neglected—or worse, rejected. You regard the small acts of inclusion more than any self-rewarding sacrifice. Lead me into those small, unseen acts of mercy today, and help me repeat them over and over. Amen.