Text: Matthew 9:9-13; 18-26
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."
While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live." Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region.
When I was much younger I loved to hear Jesus getting stuck into the Pharisees. Children catch on very quickly - the Pharisees are the baddies. As I get older however, those guys make me much more uncomfortable as I recognize that the Pharisees were the good church people of Jesus day. More than anything else the Pharisees wanted to live the life they believe God wanted. They didn't just try to live according to God's Law they tried to live above it. As one scholar put it this way, they aimed "to represent the pure community, the true people of God preparing itself for the coming of the messiah."
In our text even Jesus describes them as "healthy" and "righteous". The only trouble is he then rejects both their self declared healthy life and their righteousness. Instead of choosing them as his followers, he picks Matthew, a tax collector. Translating this to our modern day I guess it's like rejecting a Lutheran Church President and choosing a dole bludging, aboriginal homosexual. Understand why I feel uncomfortable? Could you ever see yourself following Jesus and doing something like that?
Now my guess is that few of us have problems with Jesus' rejection of the goodie-goodie side of the Pharisees. We're pretty used to being told we're all sinners and what we need is Jesus' forgiveness rather than putting up a front of righteousness. We know how unpleasant hypocrites are. We accept how impossible it is to try to pretend we're good enough to stand before the perfect God. We are happy to identify with Matthew the sinner, and in this area have no real problems with Jesus' choice.
But it's not just this aspect of the Pharisees righteousness that Jesus rejects. The Pharisees worked hard to be upholders of God's law. They wanted to obey all the commands that God had given his people. If God said not to work on the Sabbath, then they didn't tie their shoe laces because that was work. If God's law said that they had to be ritually clean when they offered sacrifices then they did everything necessary to be ritually clean, even if that meant walking past a man bleeding to death on the side of the road. But Jesus rejects this behaviour as well, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." He says
Now here is a real problem. This is not just a rejection of independent hypocracy in favour of honest confession of sin, this is rejection of trying to live out the will of God as expressed in his Word in favour of mercy.
Now this is a little less comfortable. As Lutherans we're proud of our right teaching. We strive to proclaim pure Gospel. When something new arrives from overseas a Lutheran Pastor loves nothing better than to point out it's theological weakness so that the whole programme can be rejected and ignored. It's simply not right. Let me ask you what's the call so far in the debate on the ordination of women. Surely it's whether it is right or not according to God's Word. I haven't yet heard the call to discover what is the most merciful thing to do.
But what does that really mean. "I desire mercy"
Jesus may not explain with words but his following actions shout his meaning. Matthew gives us two intertwined stories about two women. Two unclean, unimportant, unrighteous, unnamed, women. One is suffering from a continual bleeding. This makes her unclean. Listen to the Leviticus regulation - "Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. But this woman hasn't just given birth, this isn't just a monthly occurrence, she's been bleeding for 12 years. Everyone knows her as the unclean one. By touching Jesus she makes him ritually unclean as well. And by sneaking up from behind to touch the edge of his cloak, she's treating Jesus as if he is nothing more than a magician. She must be immediately condemned and rejected, but unbelievably Jesus turns to her and says, "Take heart daughter, your faith has healed you." Unbelievable stuff. There's encouragement, "Take heart", there's intimate loving acceptance, "daughter", there's an indication that despite her obvious error in understanding that Jesus isn't just a worker of magic, Jesus sees in her something he hasn't see in those upright Pharisees and he points everyone to what he sees, "your faith" and finally there's the completely free and undeserved gift of everything she dreamed of receiving, "has healed you." This is mercy.
But just in case we haven't yet got the message Matthew presents us with the second woman. A young dead girl. Another clearly unclean person. The Pharisees' law is uncomplicated, touch a corpse and you become unclean. The right thing, indeed the only thing anyone can do when confronted by a corpse is turn around and walk away. But Jesus crazily choses the wrong path. He denies the clear medical diagnosis. "She's not dead but asleep." He's so obviously wrong, even to musicians and the crowd, that they laugh at him. And to complete his stupidity he takes the corpse by the hand. This is the action of mercy. And we're simply told she "got up." It's now the good news of this mercy of Christ spreads throughout all the region.
No wonder the Pharisees just don't understand this Jesus. "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" Their righteousness builds barriers. We're right, you're wrong. we're clean, you're unclean, we're obedient, you ignore God's law, we're children of Father Abraham, you're children of Satan, we belong you just don't fit at all, we're righteous, you're not.
But Jesus turns their neat, clear, right, definitions on their head. Through his mercy the unclean are made clean, outsiders and called sons and daughters, faith is created in superstitious minds, and even corpses are given new life.
Think for a moment, aren't you a little afraid of what this sort of mercy would do to our church, our congregation? The critical issue is no longer who is living the acceptable life, let alone dressing in an acceptable manner; it's no longer who knows all the right Lutheran doctrine, it's not who are the people we like and who like us, the question is purely who requires the hear about and receive the mercy that has been poured into our lives already..
It's a bit scary to see what Jesus does immediately he calls Matthew to "Follow me!" I don't know about you but I'd see it as my duty to pull that person out of his old way of life, to rescue him from the evil influence of his seedy companions. Did you hear what Jesus does? He goes to have a meal with Matthew and his mates. No wonder the good righteous Pharisees ask "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
I wonder why no one has accused us of doing something similar?