DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY: “I DID NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS BUT SINNERS (Mt 9:9-13).”
“Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. (10) While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, (11) “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (12) He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. (13) Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Gospel Commentary from the Navarre Bible, Commentary to the Gospel of St. Matthew (with permission)
- 9 “Tax office” [custom post]: a public place for the payment of taxes.
- On “following Jesus”, see note on Mt 8:18-22.
- The Matthew whom Jesus calls here is the apostle of the same name and the human author of the first Gospel. In Mk 2:14 and Lk 5:27 he is called Levi the son of Alphaeus or simply Levi.
- In addition to Baptism, through which God calls all Christians (cf. note on Mt 8:18-22), the Lord can also extend, to whomever he chooses, a further calling to engage in some specific mission in the Church. This second calling is a special grace (cf. Mt 4:19-21; Mk 1:17-20; Jn 1:39; etc.) additional to the earlier calling through Baptism.
- In other words, it is not man who takes the initiative; it is Jesus who calls, and man who responds to this call by his free personal decision: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (Jn 15:16).
- Matthew’s promptitude in “following” Jesus’ call is to be noted.
- When God speaks, a soul may be tempted to reply, “Tomorrow; I’m not ready yet”.
- In the last analysis this excuse, and other excuses, are nothing but a sign of selfishness and fear (different from that fear which can be an additional symptom of vocation: cf. Jon 1).
- “Tomorrow” runs the risk of being too late.
- As in the case of the other apostles, St Matthew is called in the midst of the ordinary circumstances of his life:
- “What amazes you seems natural to me: that God has sought you out in the practice of your profession! That is how he sought the first, Peter and Andrew, James and John, beside their nets, and Matthew, sitting in the custom-house. And wonder of wonders! — Paul, in his eagerness to destroy the seed of the Christians” (St. Josemaria, The Way, 799).
- The Matthew whom Jesus calls here is the apostle of the same name and the human author of the first Gospel. In Mk 2:14 and Lk 5:27 he is called Levi the son of Alphaeus or simply Levi.
- On “following Jesus”, see note on Mt 8:18-22.
- 10-11 The attitude of these Pharisees, who are so prone to judge others and classify them as just men or sinners, is at odds with the attitude and teaching of Jesus.
- Earlier on, he said, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Mt 7:1), and elsewhere he added, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7).
- The fact is that all of us are sinners; and our Lord has come to redeem all of us. There is no basis, therefore, for Christians to be scandalized by the sins of others, since any one of us is capable of committing the vilest of sins unless God’s grace come to our aid.
- 12 There is no reason why anyone should be depressed when he realizes he is full of failings: recognition that we are sinners is the only correct attitude for us to have in the presence of God. He has come to seek all men, but if a person considers himself to be righteous, by so doing he is closing the door to God; all of us in fact are sinners.
- 13 Here Jesus quotes Hos 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic style.
- A more faithful translation would be “I desire mercy more than sacrifice”.
- It is not that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we offer him: he is stressing that every sacrifice should come from the heart, for charity should imbue everything a Christian does — especially his worship of God (see 1 Cor 13:1-13; Mt 5:23-24).
VIDEO REFLECTION
TOPIC: DO WE FOLLOW THE CALL OF JESUS TO SHOW MERCY TO AND LOVE OTHERS?
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus shows us how we should comport ourselves as His followers – that we should practice love and mercy for others.
In this passage, Jesus invites Matthew, a tax collector, to be his follower. Tax collectors were henchmen for the Roman colonizers and hated by the Jews. They were public sinners who milked the people and, thus, were ostracized by the Pharisees.
Jesus made it clear to the Pharisees that He came for sinners uttering the words, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
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