Matthew 9:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Do not deceive yourselves with a self-destructive illusion; it brings God joy to show compassion towards you; it brings God joy to offer you salvation; it brings God joy to redeem you alone. Neither human beings nor angels have the capacity to restore a humanity ravaged by sin. Only God, in His all-powerfulness, can heal the unhealed plague of eternal death. Acknowledge the depth of your fall; recognize the severity of your devastation; entirely abandon self-sufficiency; feel pity for yourselves, a pity lacking only because of your pride, self-gratification, hard-heartedness, and blindness. Show mercy: align your actions with those of God; advocate through your works for the actions of God. O hardened hearts, soften yourselves! Have compassion for yourselves and for all humanity: each one of you, like all humankind without exception, are creations cast aside by the Creator due to your willful rebellion against Him, wretched beings, serpents, defiant, suffering on this earthly realm, in this entryway to hell; beings continuously multiplying on earth, perpetually cut down by death, consumed by the soil; beings exiled from paradise due to rebellion against God in paradise. Abhor your sins, abandon your sinful existence. This alone is insufficient; recognize that your very essence has been warped by sin, that the truths arising from it are aligned with a twisted, deformed nature (Psalm 50:7). View your truths as sins; regard them not as gains but as the greatest losses to your souls (Philippians 3:7-9). These truths, held by those in denial, create an insurmountable barrier to attaining the righteousness of God (Romans 10:3). Bow your proud, deceitful intellect before God’s truth with awe and submission. It descends from heaven to humanity, brought by the God who became man: it elevates those who, denying themselves, renounce their sinfulness and their truths, fully immersing themselves in the purifying waters of repentance, surrendering to the exclusive guidance of Divine truth. Let your virtuous deeds solely reflect the fulfillment of God’s holy will, rather than your corrupt intentions! Let them be the payment of a debt to God—an obligation impossible to repay, due to the perfection of the One to whom it is owed, as well as your own limitations, weaknesses, and sinful nature. Humility, along with the repentance that springs from it, is the only condition required for accepting Christ! Humility and repentance are the sole cost of knowing Christ! Humility and repentance constitute the only moral prerequisites for approaching Christ and becoming one with Him. Humility and repentance are the only offerings that God seeks and accepts from fallen humanity (Psalm 50:18-19). Those who possess a proud, erroneous perception of themselves, deeming repentance unnecessary and excluding themselves from the category of sinners, will be turned away by the Lord. They cannot be true Christians. ‘They do not need healing, insisting on their own wellness; the physician is the Lord, but those who are ill,’ are those who acknowledge their sickness. To all humanity, the Savior of the world declares, ‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’ Amen.

In the judgment of Christ, mercy, as an active demonstration of love, will be essential for justification and will earn pardon solely through mercy, evidenced by love. ‘Mercy I desire, not sacrifice,’ proclaimed the impending terrible and unmerciful Judge. Grace will bring justification to those who cherish it and condemnation to those who spurn it. She will stand before the Lord confidently, presenting all her caretakers before Him. She will bring forth those who have truly embodied this—those who have fed the hungry, welcomed strangers into their homes, clothed the destitute, visited the sick and the imprisoned. She will present mercy before Christ for those who have acted out of the deepest corners of their souls, showing kindness to their neighbors, guarding against judging their neighbors when they stumble, forgiving insults and offenses, and rewarding curses with blessings and evil deeds with goodwill. She will present mercy to the shepherds of the church who have fed their congregants with the enduring nourishment of God’s Word, who have clothed those wrapped in sin with the garments of virtue, who have offered spiritual healing to suffering souls, and who have patiently ministered to those trapped in the dungeons of disbelief or dark error. Grace will also present to Christ the humble monks who have grasped the profound and essential knowledge of the indwelling Christ, who have developed a deep hunger for the Gospel truth, who have strived to adorn themselves in holiness and sanctity, purifying themselves from the most subtle vices of humanity—earthly desires—and thereby have attained Gospel liberty. Mercy will also be presented to those who, through self-reflection and repentance, seek to free themselves from their own poverty, sickness, and bondage to sin. For a hard heart, repentance is unattainable; the heart must soften, filling itself with compassion and mercy for its own sinful condition. When the heart is softened and imbued with mercy, it becomes capable of repentance; only then can it engage in self-examination, turning away from judging others and, having absolved its own self-condemnation, apply the balm of repentance to its wounds. Christ redeemed all humanity and each individual through Himself. The person who demonstrates mercy only to themselves will do so by nourishing their hungry soul with the Word of God, by filling it with the sensations of the Holy Spirit, steering it away from destructive pursuits of various sins, leading it into a life of godliness and virtue, clothing it with good works, healing former transgressions through confession and actions contrary to them, and transforming their mindset from a carnal to a spiritual state—all this shall be acknowledged by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He will present all his agents of mercy before Christ, asking the Savior to grant them forgiveness and everlasting joy. ‘Come,’ He will say to them, ‘blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed Me; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me... Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’ (Matthew 25:34-36, 40).

The Lord's response condemns all beginnings of the hidden affliction of the Pharisees and reflects the entire state of their souls. This response contains a grave judgment and rejection from God's presence of all fictitious human righteousness associated with the condemnation of neighbors. The nature of temptation—so meticulous, so malicious!—pretends to cling to the formalities of the law, yet tramples upon the law's true essence. O dark and blind Pharisee! Hear what the Lord says to you: ‘I desire mercy.’ When you observe your neighbor's flaws, show them mercy; they are your kin! The weakness you perceive in them today may become your weakness tomorrow. You are tempted only because of your pride and blindness. You adhere to some superficial elements of the law and for this reason admire yourself; you look down upon and condemn your neighbors, focusing on their minor transgressions while overlooking their significant virtues, which are dear to God yet are unknown to your haughty, cruel heart. You have not looked into your own heart sufficiently; you have not truly examined yourself: thus, you fail to recognize yourself as a sinner. Because of this, your heart remains unbroken, void of repentance and humility; because of this, you do not grasp that, like all others, you are in need of God’s mercy and salvation. It is a grave matter to fail to recognize oneself as a sinner! Jesus renounced those who do not see themselves as such: ‘I have not come,’ He said, ‘to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’ What a blessed endeavor it is to acknowledge oneself as a sinner! He who confesses himself as a sinner gains access to Jesus. How blessed it is to see your own sins! How wonderful to look into one’s own heart! He who gazes into his heart tends to forget that anyone else is a sinner at all. As he examines his own sinful shortcomings, he becomes convinced that the only path to his salvation is through God’s grace, recognizing that he is an unworthy servant, not just for transgressions, but also for any inadequate fulfillment of God’s commandments—fulfillment that is often more akin to distortion than true obedience. In recognizing his own need for mercy, he abundantly extends it to his neighbors, practicing a singular form of mercy. ‘If you had known what it means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would never have condemned the innocent’ (Matthew 12:7). ‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’

As the Saviour would continue, not only do I not reject sinners, but I have come for them: for my purpose is not to summon the self-righteous, such as you, but to call sinners—those who are contrite and humble in spirit—to repentance. I came, declares the Saviour, not so that sinners would remain in their sin, but so they might be transformed and improved. However, to you, as long as you consider yourselves righteous, salvation remains elusive, for your prideful heart cannot hear the call of my grace beckoning you to salvation. What a profound warning the Lord extends to all of us in this response to the Pharisees! Let us examine ourselves: do we not also harbor a Pharisaical insensitivity to the faults of our neighbor, and is there not a hidden self-righteousness within us that thinks: I am not like other people; I am not as desperate a sinner as that person over there? If even a hint of such a mindset resides in our hearts, then the Kingdom of God, proclaimed by Christ, is distant from us.

That is precisely why I have come—so that sinners would repent and be transformed; I am here to call to repentance and to save not those who consider themselves righteous and feel no need for repentance, but those who humbly recognize their sins and seek mercy from God. My Father desires mercy over sacrifice, and in fulfilling His will, I reach out to those in need of this mercy."

Yet, although His mission encompasses all, the impact of this call is only realized in those who are aware of their need for forgiveness. In this light, we could rephrase it as follows: ‘I have come to summon individuals to repentance, and it is only those who recognize their sinfulness that will respond to My invitation.’

However, there are many who mistakenly believe that their righteousness lies solely in the outward observance of God's laws regarding honor; this is a misconception, as they often feel an inner sense of guilt for their insincerity before God.

Yet there exists another group among Christ’s followers who, with greater subtlety and danger, transgress this principle. These individuals have transformed the moral law of love for their neighbor into an external guideline, akin to the ancient practices of sacrifices and offerings. They perceive the fulfillment of love merely in the act of charitable donations, and material acts of kindness, lacking the heartfelt compassion necessary for true service. Without this inner fervor, their offerings are also abhorrent to God. The Lord’s declaration, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” applies directly to these individuals. It is crucial to heed this message, especially in our times. God desires more than our external charitable acts; He seeks mercy, meaning a deep, loving disposition toward our fellow beings, sensitivity to the underlying causes of their hardships, and proactive measures to alleviate them. Mere material assistance, which fails to heal the soul’s afflictions, only brings temporary relief and fosters within us a false sense of pride in our perceived righteousness in observing Christ's law of love.

In the Hebrew context, this expression signifies that God values compassion over ritual offerings; it pleases Him more when individuals extend mercy to others than when they make sacrifices. The intent is not to suggest a choice between mercy and sacrifice but to emphasize that mercy should be prioritized. Mercy, as an expression of love, is more significant than external rituals, which can occur without genuine emotion. While the Lord acknowledges the value and purpose of sacrifice, He insists it must arise from sincere inner feelings. Sacrifices devoid of such sentiments, as often were the offerings of the misguided Pharisees, are not only displeasing but contrary to God's will (Isaiah 1:11-18). Thus, the Lord's words indicate that the Pharisees prioritize mere legalistic rituals while neglecting the deeper commandment of loving their neighbors. This is exemplified by showing mercy, which is the very reason He associates with tax collectors and sinners, to extend the mercy they desperately need. - "I have come to call..." (referencing Matthew 9:12). No human is righteous before God due to inherent sinfulness (Psalms 13:3, Romans 1:18-32, Romans 3:10-18), yet the Pharisees, by meticulously adhering to external laws, fancied themselves as righteous. The Lord suggests that His mission is to call those "to repentance" (referencing Matthew 3:2), specifically those who are aware of their sinfulness and in need of mercy, as opposed to those who believe themselves righteous, as efforts directed at the latter would be ineffective and could even provoke hostility. Although the Lord's intent is to call all to repentance and salvation, including the self-deceived righteous, their deliverance remains unattainable until they abandon their false sense of righteousness (cf. John 9:39ff.), for in their current state, they cannot accept the call to repentance or attain salvation.