Mercy and sacrifice

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)

In this lesson, we see that once again the Pharisees ‘just didn’t get it’. There was the Messiah, right in front of them, and they couldn’t understand why He was doing what He was doing. Yet Jesus did not turn His back on the Pharisees; He wanted them to believe in Him. So Jesus gave them this instruction: But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' Jesus tells them to reread God’s words spoken through the prophet Hosea, and really listen to what those words say. If the Pharisees can understand these words, they’ll understand what Jesus’ work is all about.

Jesus issues this challenge to us as well. But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' That is what we will attempt to do in this devotion.

We start with looking at sacrifices. The Old Testament is filled with them. As a matter of fact, God even commands some sacrifices; in Exodus 20:24 He told His people, "Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle." Sacrifices were made for two chief reasons. Some sacrifices were offered to God as a way to thank Him for His gifts, especially for the gifts of children and good harvests--these were called Thank Offerings. But the most important sacrifice was the Sin Offering. Whenever an Israelite committed a sin, he had to bring an animal to the priests to be sacrificed. The sinner touched the animal to symbolize that his sins had been transferred to it. Then the animal was killed and the blood poured out on the altar of God. This spilling of blood settled the penalty for sin, because the penalty for sin is death. By the means of sacrifice, an animal died in the sinner’s place. A sinner who did not offer a sacrifice to repent was cast out and considered to be the same as an unbeliever, subject to God’s judgment for his sins.

The point of offering a sacrifice was to either ask God to forgive sins, or to thank Him for His generous mercy. But as the years went by, the Israelites began to take God for granted. Instead of offering sacrifices out of repentance or gratitude, most of the people ended up bringing sacrifices as part of their regular routine. Going to God’s temple was no longer something that they wanted to do; it became something that they did to ‘keep God happy’ since He had commanded sacrifices to be made. God intended sacrifice as a way to build a relationship of caring love with His people, but the Israelites turned it into nothing more than a duty of the Law.

It is because the Israelites no longer saw God’s merciful love in sacrifices, that God eventually said, "Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me" (Isaiah 1:13).

At its heart, the Sin Offering was always about mercy. But when the Israelites could no longer see God’s offer of mercy in the sacrifice, God made the point more clearly: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." The sacrifice was the means by which mercy was given. The Israelites got wrapped up in paying attention to the means, but forgot about the mercy. Sacrifice without mercy is meaningless.

So what is mercy? Mercy is an act of compassion. In fact, mercy is an act of compassion that is not deserved. We usually think of mercy in connection with war—when one side has lost, they beg the other side for mercy. The leaders of the losing nation know that their conquerors could come in and destroy everything, and would feel justified in doing so because of their own casualties and war expenses. By asking for mercy, the losing nation asks the winners to put aside their anger and pain, and instead show compassion to the hurts of the loser. That is mercy.

Mercy is what God shows us. We have angered God with our sins, and we deserve His punishment. But instead God puts away His anger, and out of love for us shows us compassion. In the Old Testament, He did this by allowing the Sin Offering to remove the guilt for our sins. But the New Testament is about the ultimate Sin Offering, Jesus the Son of God. Jesus was sent by His Father to be our Sin Offering, our one and only sacrifice. We touch Jesus through the water of holy Baptism, through the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper; we speak to Him through our prayers. When we ask Jesus to forgive us, the guilt of our sins is transferred to Him. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, died for those sins and everyone else’s sins, on the Cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago. His cross became God’s altar, and His holy blood was poured out on behalf of all human sin. Saint Peter writes, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18). And Jesus rose alive from the grave of our sins, to prove that there is no sin left that hasn't been atoned for. Jesus’ sacrifice is complete; no other sacrifice will ever be needed again.

Jesus is the ultimate expression of God’s mercy to us. But that mercy is given to us along with an obligation—God expects that His mercy will be the centerpiece of our lives. When God said, "I desire mercy," He meant two things. Of first importance, God wants us to seek His mercy. The Israelites were supposed to seek God’s mercy through sacrifices, but they turned sacrifices into a work they did, thinking that the work of sacrifices would please God. To prevent that mistake from happening again, Jesus did everything for us when He sacrificed Himself—there is nothing that we can do to get our sins atoned for except to trust in Jesus as our Sin Offering. When God says "I desire mercy," He is telling us to come to Him for mercy, for forgiveness, for a chance to start over again, our mistakes forgotten. And this is not a once a week thing, this is an every day, every hour coming to God. Is there an hour of the day where you do not entertain one single, selfish, sinful thought? Of course not. God wants us to be asking Him for mercy all day long, every day.

With God’s mercy lifting the burden of our guilt and giving us a fresh start, we are prepared to offer Jesus’ mercy to others. Here is where the Pharisees did not understand Jesus. They could not understand how Jesus could ‘lower’ Himself to show care and concern for people who were obviously living in sin. But Jesus tells the Pharisees that a doctor invests his time with the sick. Jesus’ point is that everyone who has experienced God’s mercy ought to be sharing that mercy with those in need of it. We do this by speaking about what Jesus did for sinful people. We do this by forgiving people who have hurt us, instead of carrying a grudge. We do this by visiting the sick and those in jail, giving aid to the poor, and lending a shoulder to those who are depressed. This, too, is what God meant when He said, "I desire mercy." God desires us to reflect His mercy to those who surround us in our lives. That’s what Jesus wanted the Pharisees to do, and it is what He wants us to do.

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6). God was telling His people through the prophet Hosea that He wanted more from them than just showing up at church, listening politely and putting something in the plate. God is not satisfied when His people think of Him only as a weekly obligation. True worship of God is not confined to the Sanctuary of a church. God desires mercy, He desires to be acknowledged in our lives. God wants us to put Him in the center of every decision that we make. God wants our lives to reflect the fact that He defines our very existence. God wants us to acknowledge before everyone that He is our Maker, our Savior, and our Guide through life to heaven.

Have you built your life around Jesus? Is worship in church something that you look forward to as an amazing opportunity to receive the mercy of our God? Is Jesus’ mercy obvious in everything you say and do throughout the week? It is safe to say that everyone has room for improvement in this area. But mercy starts with God. Because of Jesus, every day, every hour can be a fresh start, freed from the guilt of the mistakes that we’ve made. Because of Jesus, we can find joy in life where before there was only regret. Because of Jesus we can believe in mercy, and offer mercy to everyone around us.

Each of us is a sinner. It was for each of us that Jesus came to offer the gift of mercy. Jesus said, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Jesus came for you. His mercy lives in you. May that mercy gladden your heart, and the hearts of everyone you meet.