Counter-Culture Quotes of Jesus – Who Needs a Doctor?

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Category: Personal Study

Thread: Counter-Culture Quotes of Jesus

Post Topic: It is not the healthy who need a doctor

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Scripture: Matthew 9:10-13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31-31

Key Verses:
¹⁰ …tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 9:10-13

Observations

Today’s culture says:

Fight for what we believe in. Stand up to those with opposing views. Mercy takes a back seat.

Jewish Culture said:

Rituals and sacrifice were more important than mercy.

Scripture Says:

Context – Jesus had just called Matthew, a despised tax collector, to become a disciple.
Jesus and his followers were dining at Matthew’s home right after this. It’s likely the home was a swanky place.
Many tax collectors and “sinners” had joined them.
Jesus compares the sinners to the sickly.
Jesus compares himself to a physician.
It’s such an obvious, yet insightful comparison.
Jesus tells the Pharisees to learn what it means to desire mercy, not sacrifice.

Interpretation

Setting

In the early days of His ministry, in the northern Galilee region, Jesus is calling his disciples. This quotation was given from inside the lavish residence of a sinful tax collector while the religious elite looked down their noses at the gathering.

Genre

The incident is a historical narrative; the quotation is a symbolic analogy.

Author

Matthew, the actual subject of the incident, wrote one of the accounts. He probably felt remorse at his life prior to being called, gratitude for the mercy extended to him, and sadness over the Pharisees’ unbelief.

Imagine…

You’re one of the Pharisees, concerned that this teacher is misleading the people. He seems to be glorifying sin, while not caring about upholding the sacred laws. You call him out on it, but instead of repenting, he accuses you of not understanding the prophets. Does his argument sway you?

Takeaways

The wisdom of Jesus is unmatched.
Jesus quoted the prophets to bolster his case. He didn’t come to upend the law, but to fulfill it.
The religious leaders cared more about their rituals than the spirit of the law.
As Jesus showed mercy to sinners like us, so are we to show mercy to those around us.

Correlation

Hosea 6:6; I Samuel 15:22 – Jesus references these old testament passages that show that God is more interested in the heart than in spiritual rituals like sacrifices. Takeaway – Jesus was slamming the Pharisees for not understanding the true purpose of the laws – to show mercy to others and an obedient heart to God.
I Timothy 1:15-16 – In his letter to Timothy, Paul acknowledges that he is the worst of the sinners, to whom Jesus extended the greatest of mercies. There’s that word mercy again. Read verse 13 to see what Paul was like before his conversion.

Application

Generic Applications

Standing up for what’s right and moral is good. But we should do so with respect and compassion.
We are all sick, in need of a doctor.
Mercy is more important than appearances.

Personalize it

How can I show mercy to sinners without condoning their lifestyle?
Paul calls himself a blasphemer, persecutor, and a violent man. Matthew was a cheat, taking advantage of the hard-working common people. Whatever sins we’ve committed, Jesus wants to extend mercy/forgiveness to us like he did to Paul and Matthew.

Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:

Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.

Daniel P Warner