Jesus Calls Sinners

"I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

When the Pharisees saw Jesus eating and socializing easily with tax collectors and sinners in Matthew’s home, they were scandalized. They questioned why Jesus would associate with the most despised individuals of society. According to their self-righteous standards, no truly godly teacher would fellowship so intimately with those they deemed unworthy. Unashamedly, Jesus responded to their hypocrisy by saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:12–13, NKJV).

Jesus presents Himself as a doctor and healer of those who are spiritually sick, the unrighteous sinners of the world. In Romans 5:8, the Apostle Paul writes, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This profound truth reveals God’s love for sinners and His purpose in sending His Son into the world. In 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul reiterates, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” Repentance is the treatment plan, and forgiveness is the cure Jesus offers.

Those who are well, or the healthy, as the New International Version translates, do not need a doctor. Jesus’ critics thought they were healthy and saw no need for a physician, but, in reality, they were deceived. Jesus is not implying that the Pharisees were righteous. Removing all sarcasm and irony from Christ’s statement, the verse might read, “I haven’t come to call on those who think they’re righteous, but to treat those who know they’re sinners.”

In quoting Hosea 6:6, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings,” Jesus indicts the Pharisees for their failure to grasp the true meaning of the verse. They were meticulous in observing the letter of the law and flawless in their execution of religious rituals and sacrifices. However, if they were truly righteous, they would understand the spirit of the law and demonstrate God’s kindness, compassion, and mercy toward the outcasts of society. Their legalistic approach to righteousness blinded them to their own spiritual destitution.

When doctors call on sick people, they must engage with them personally to offer hope and healing. Similarly, Jesus calls sinners to Himself. His love for the lost compels Him to meet them where they are. Hebrews 2:9 tells us, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” Philippians 2:7 adds, “But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” First John 3:16 states, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, as Luke 19:10 declares: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” He did not leave heaven to affirm self-satisfied religious people and ignore everyone else who failed to meet their meticulous standards. Jesus came to call all who are far off, as Acts 2:39 states: “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Through His blood shed on the cross, He brings them near, as described in Ephesians 2:13: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Tax collectors and sinners recognize their spiritual sickness and long for God’s healing forgiveness. They embody the characteristics described in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven… Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth… Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:3, 5–6). In contrast, the Pharisees are blind to their own neediness. They perceive themselves as healthy but are instead blind fools. Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:16–17 and 23–24 expose their hypocrisy: “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?… Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” The righteous are those who appear respectable in the eyes of the world and those who consider themselves righteous. Sinners are the outcasts, the rejected, and the marginalized. To follow in Christ’s footsteps, we must also engage with those deemed unworthy by societal standards. This means reaching out to the homeless, addicts, prostitutes, criminals, and the abused. It means loving the unlovable, dining with the undesirable, and befriending the forsaken. Jesus’ compassion moved Him to act on behalf of the single parent, the widow, the divorced, and the elderly, as seen in Matthew 9:36: “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”

This compassion calls us to action, as exemplified in Matthew 15:32: “Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, ‘I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.’” In Luke 7:11–17, Jesus raises a widow’s son, demonstrating His deep care for the grieving and the vulnerable. Similarly, the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25–37 illustrates the kind of mercy and kindness we are called to extend: “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”

Walking in the way of love, as Christ loved us, involves showing mercy through deeds of kindness. Ephesians 5:2 instructs, “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” By emulating Christ’s example, we fulfill the law of love and bring hope to those who need it most.