As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth.
To many people, Matthew was simply a tax collector. Tax collectors were socially despised and were often associated with sinners.
But Jesus saw Matthew.
And He said:
“Follow Me.”
Matthew got up and followed Him.
The order is important.
Jesus saw him first.
Jesus called him first.
Then Matthew rose and followed.
Grace came before the response.
Yet grace did not leave Matthew sitting where he was. The call of Jesus changed the direction of his life.
From the Tax Booth to the Table
Soon afterward, Jesus was eating in a house, and many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Jesus and His disciples.
What a remarkable picture.
Matthew had been sitting at a tax booth.
Now he was at a table with Jesus.
And he was not the only one.
Many tax collectors and sinners were there.
Even more remarkable is that Jesus did not refuse their company.
The One who has authority to forgive sins was not afraid to come near sinners.
Why Does Your Teacher Eat With Sinners?
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ disciples:
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Their question reflected a particular understanding of holiness. They assumed that a holy person should separate himself from such people.
But the holiness of Jesus was different.
Jesus did not come near sinners because He approved of sin.
He came near sinners because He came to save them.
His holiness was not contaminated by sinners. His holiness brought cleansing and restoration to them.
The Doctor and the Sick
When Jesus heard their question, He replied:
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”
This explains the entire scene.
Why is Jesus sitting with sinners?
Because a doctor belongs among the sick.
A good doctor does not pretend that sickness is health.
But neither does a good doctor abandon sick people because they are sick.
Jesus does not redefine sin as righteousness.
He comes to sinners because sin is serious and sinners need healing, forgiveness, and restoration.
The most dangerous condition, therefore, is not simply being sick.
It is being sick while believing that you are healthy.
The Pharisees could see the sins of others, but they could not see their own need for grace.
I Desire Mercy
Jesus then quoted Hosea 6:6:
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Then He told the Pharisees:
“Go and learn what this means.”
These were people who knew Scripture.
Yet Jesus told them to go back and learn Scripture again.
They knew religious practices, but they had missed something of the heart of God.
Jesus was not rejecting worship or the sacrificial system itself. He was confronting religious practice separated from mercy.
It is possible to know biblical words and still miss the heart of the God revealed in them.
It is possible to be deeply religious and yet have little compassion for the people God desires to save.
I Came to Call Sinners
Jesus then revealed the purpose of His mission:
“For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
This explains why Jesus called Matthew.
It explains why He sat with tax collectors and sinners.
It explains the image of the doctor.
And it explains why mercy matters so deeply.
Jesus came for sinners.
Just before this story, Jesus had declared that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.
Now the One who has authority to forgive sins walks directly toward a man regarded as a sinner and says:
“Follow Me.”
The authority to forgive is now revealed in the grace that calls.
Grace Finds Us, Then Calls Us to Follow
Jesus found Matthew at the tax booth.
Matthew did not first repair his reputation and then approach Jesus.
Jesus came to him.
That is grace.
But Jesus did not say:
“Stay exactly where you are.”
He said:
“Follow Me.”
That is discipleship.
Grace finds sinners where they are, but grace does not leave them where they are.
It forgives, calls, raises, and leads them into a new life with Christ.
So the first question of this passage is not:
“Am I as responsive as Matthew?”
The deeper question is:
“Who is this Jesus who comes looking for sinners like Matthew—and sinners like us?”
He is the physician who comes to the sick.
He is the Savior who has authority to forgive.
He is the Lord who calls sinners to follow Him.
We are not at His table because we were healthy enough.
We are there because we needed the Physician.
We were not called because we were righteous enough.
We were called because Christ came in mercy to call sinners.
And the church, therefore, should never become a table where people boast about how healthy they are.
It should be a community of people who know that they needed the Physician—and who gladly make room for other sinners to meet Him.
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