Matthew 9:12-13

Matthew 9:12-13

[12] But  heard  that, he said  They that be  whole  need  not  a physician,  but  they that are  sick.  [13] But  go ye  and learn  what  I will  have mercy,  and  not  sacrifice:  for  not  come  to call  the righteous,  but  sinners 

What does Matthew 9:12-13 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Jesus Himself responded to the Pharisees" question. He said that He went to the tax collectors and sinners because they were sinners. They had a spiritual illness and needed spiritual healing. Note that Jesus did not go to these people because they received Him warmly but because they needed Him greatly. In the Old Testament, God taught His people that He was their Physician who could heal their diseases (e.g, Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 32:39; 2 Kings 20:5; Psalm 103:3). The prophets also predicted that Messiah would bring healing to the nation ( Isaiah 19:22; Isaiah 30:26; Jeremiah 30:17).
The phrase "go and learn" was a rabbinic one that indicated that the Pharisees needed to study the text further. [1] Jesus referred them to Hosea 6:6. God had revealed through Hosea that the apostates of his day had lost the heart of temple worship even though they continued to practice its rituals. Jesus implied that the Pharisees had done the same thing. They were preserving the external practices of worship carefully, but they had failed to maintain its essential heart. Their attitude toward the tax collectors and sinners showed this. God, on the other hand, cares more for the spiritual wholeness of people than He does about flawless worship.
Jesus did not mean that the tax collectors and sinners needed Him but the Pharisees did not. His quotation put the Pharisees in the same category as the apostates of Hosea"s day. They needed Him too even though they believed they were righteous enough.
The last part of Matthew 9:13 defines Jesus" ministry of preparing people for the coming kingdom. "Compassion" (NASB) or "mercy" (NIV, Heb. hesed) was what characterized His mission. He came to "call" (Gr. kalesai) or "invite" people to repentance and salvation. Paul"s used this Greek work in the sense of efficacious calling, but that is not how Jesus used it. If someone does not see himself or herself as a sinner, that person will have no part in the kingdom.
Disciples of Jesus should be need oriented, as Jesus was. Meeting the needs of needy individuals, regardless of who they may be, was very important to Jesus.