There are three comparisons in rapid order in Matthew 9.12-13 that get to the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The story starts in verse 9, when Jesus calls the tax collector Matthew to follow him; now Jesus is eating with Matthew and his friends. 

The Pharisees are indignant with Jesus for several reasons.  Calling a tax collector to be a disciple was very bad form. Tax collectors were deemed to be traitors because they were partners with the Romans – they were considered “sinners” whether they were honest or not.  Eating and associating with a whole group of “sinners” would make Jesus one also.  And the Pharisees probably did not like it that Jesus rebuked their lifestyle.

Jesus had three responses to the Pharisees questioning his choice of dinner companions.  First, the Great Physician says that the sick need a doctor, not those who are well.  The Pharisees considered that their good habits made them well and so missed their spiritual illness, here seen as their lack of love for their neighbors. 

Second, Jesus challenges them to understand what God meant when he proclaimed through the prophet Hosea (6.6). “I desire steadfast love (mercy) and not sacrifice.” Sacrifice summarizes the blind following of the law, whereas steadfast love focuses on heartfelt adoration of God.

And third, Jesus is clear that he came to call sinners rather than the “righteous.”  The Son of God’s ministry was to the broken-hearted, those who recognized their need for a savior, a physician, a heart-change.  Those Jesus called were willing to repent and believe.