Let's turn for our reading from the Word of God to the Gospel according to Matthew. Gospel according to Matthew in chapter 9, and we're reading from verse 1. Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic lying on a mat When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "'Take heart, son. Your sins are forgiven.'" At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "'This fellow is blaspheming.'" Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "'Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? "'Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk. But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, then he said to the paralytic, get up, take your mat, and go home. And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe, and they praised God who had given such authority to men. 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." Can you imagine a doctor who avoided sick people? I trust you have to imagine that you don't know one, that one doesn't come to mind. Think of a doctor who just really didn't want to be too close to sick people, avoided contact with them, wanted to mix only with those who were well, who seemed to exhibit a distaste for any who were ill, almost even perhaps seemed to look down on them because of their illness, someone who Maybe he was very comfortable with the kind of online consultation because he didn't have to get too close to people who had things he didn't want to get or didn't want to be too close to. How long would someone like that last as a doctor? We trust not very long. His attitude, obviously, is fundamentally in conflict with his calling as a doctor to heal the sick How can he heal without a degree of contact with them? And you can imagine the kind of responses that his patients would have if they discovered that kind of attitude in their doctor, in their GP, perhaps. They might be amazed. How did he ever get into this work? Might be distaste if he doesn't want to be around us. I don't think we'd want to be around him. Could be angry, disappointed. You can imagine the sorts of reactions if you discover here is a doctor who doesn't want to mix with the sick. And he would be of very limited help to his patients. The Lord Jesus Christ, as we know, often drew on everyday experience to illustrate his teaching. Situations that his hearers would be very familiar with. They could readily identify with what he is saying, and so the lessons would hit home with greater power. And, of course, his hearers would be familiar with sickness, as we all are. But during the day when medical treatments were very limited, they would be all the more familiar with illness and pain and suffering. And so we find the Lord Jesus Christ describing himself as a doctor, as someone who had come on a mission to save life, to bring spiritual healing. I want to think of that description of Jesus as we have it in Matthew 9 and verses 12 and 13, calling the sick, calling the sick. Here is a striking description of the ministry that the Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill. As we look at these two verses in Jesus' ministry and teaching, the first thing we need to look at is the criticism leveled at Jesus. The criticism leveled at Jesus. Now, look at the context of this encounter. It's the calling of Matthew, the tax collector. You have that described very briefly in verse 9. This is a man who is also called Levi in the accounts in Mark 2 and Luke 5. Levi, Matthew, it's the same person. And Jesus issues the call to him with the earlier contact. We don't know, but Jesus calls, Matthew, follow me. And you see that the calls met with immediate obedience. Matthew got up and followed him. No evidence of debate, discussion, need for thought. Immediately, Jesus calls, Matthew, obey us. He leaves his old life behind. And that would have been at considerable cost. Tax collectors generally were fairly well off because of the scope that their work gave them for graft, for dishonesty. There would not generally be poor tax collectors. But Matthew walks away, literally walks away from all of that. And what we see very clearly, don't we, is God's grace is at work in a powerful way. The grace of God in Christ transforms Matthew, and he is a new man as a result of that encounter with Jesus. And clearly, in response to what has taken place in his life, this radical change that Matthew's experienced, we see him arranging, really, a banquet, a splendid meal for Jesus and his disciples and, it would seem, some of his friends and his former work colleagues. They're to come because he wants them to meet Jesus, to hear him. And no doubt, his longing would be that some of them would experience the same transformation that he had experienced. And so they gather, as we're told in verse 10, many tax collectors, and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. Sinners, of course, in the view of observant Jews, The good living, we might say, would look at some of these people and think, they're sinners. In the NIV and elsewhere, some of you get inverted commas around sinners. Just forget about those. There are no inverted commas in Greek. It just says tax collectors and sinners. But who regarded these people as sinners? It was particularly the religious authorities, the scribes and Pharisees. But any observant Jew tend to think in exactly the same way. Look at this gathering of people, sinful people. And the religious authorities would certainly have taken a very high attitude, spiritually speaking, to these people. They're sinners. They're far beneath us. And verse 11 brings those religious authorities into focus. When the Pharisees saw this, We need just to take a moment to understand the cultural setting as to how this would happen. Now, we would think of a meal like this in a house, the doors closed, and strangers wouldn't be around. But in this setting, it was probably out of doors in a courtyard in Matthew's house. Fairly public, we've said before that in biblical culture, there was a very different view of privacy and personal space from what we are comfortable with. And so the meal would be going on, and Pharisees and other passersby could probably walk in the gate and look and listen and even interact, talk to people. Maybe strange to us, but that's why the Pharisees witnessed this. They were not part of the feast, the banquet. That much is sure. They would not have sat with the sinners and eaten with them. They would have regarded that as polluting. If they ate with sinners, they would have been unclean themselves. So, they're standing as onlookers. They're not participating in the meal. They're there, they're watching, they're commenting, they're talking to Jesus' disciples, and so forth. But they would not be part of a meal with sinners because they would have been rendered unclean themselves. But they're quite free with their criticisms of Jesus as they talk to His disciples. And they ask, well, it's not a question, is it? Really, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? It's not a question that needs an answer. They know, or they think they know what the answer is. It's an accusation. It's criticizing Jesus' behavior. And no doubt, through the disciples, they think it will be passed on to Jesus. And what is the accusation, really? What they're saying is, how could a religious teacher mix with even each with people like this, unclean people, irreligious people, sinners. Ceremonially unclean and living sinful lives, what's Jesus doing sitting at table with that kind of person? The tax collectors, of course, worked ultimately for the Roman authorities, so they were traitors. and they were notorious for lining their own pockets. Tax collector would be told by the Romans the amount of tax to be raised from a district, but the taxpayers were not told what they owed or how it was calculated. The collector simply said, you owe such and such an amount, and most of them would add on a bit for themselves. And so they did tend to be wealthy. They were certainly regarded by most of the Jews as dishonest, disreputable people. And sinners in general, well, those at the bottom of society, outside, polite circles, probably prostitutes and others. And here they are sitting. Jesus is eating with them. And the Pharisees say, what is he doing? This supposed religious teacher Why is He there? Because in the mind of the Pharisees, the question is, why would Jesus do this? A godly teacher, as far as they were concerned, would avoid people like this. Now, if Jesus doesn't avoid them, indeed, if He sits down with them, what does that say about Jesus? And to them, of course, It's telling them, this is no godly teacher who mixes with people like that. He's no better than they are. You wouldn't catch us sitting with these sorts of people, defiling ourselves, but he is. What kind of teacher is that? And that's the accusation, that's the criticism that they raise through Jesus' disciples. They stand, they look, they look down on these people. and on the Jesus who mixes with them. If he were a godly teacher, he wouldn't be sitting there. He wouldn't be doing that. And by implication, why are you disciples of a man like that? The criticism leveled at Jesus. Then the Lord responds. And we need to think, secondly, of the need identified by Jesus. The need identified by Jesus. Probably Jesus overheard them. Certainly Mark's account of this episode would suggest that Jesus heard them. One way or another, certainly He knows about what they're saying, and He gives them a striking answer. It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. And here, Jesus, very simply, very clearly, casts Himself in the role of a spiritual doctor, someone who has come to bring healing, to bring restoration. And that is how Jesus views Himself. And if he is a doctor who has come to minister to the sick, well, where should he be found? Where would you expect a doctor with a healing mission to be? And to us, no doubt, the answer is obvious. He will be found among the sick. How else could he help them? How else could he minister to them unless he is in contact with them, unless he is close to them? He ought to be found among the sick. No other place really is appropriate to one who comes as a healer. He comes to the sick. And you notice there are two categories of people described Here in Jesus' words, there are the sick and the healthy. And we need to take time to think about both of them. Who are the sick, first of all? Well, they are the tax collectors and the sinners who have already been mentioned by the Pharisees. Now, you notice Jesus is not saying that These people are not sinners. He's not denying that they are sinful people who need to be transformed. These are people who need a Savior. He's not suggesting that they're not really sinful and what they do isn't all that bad. They are sinners. They need a Savior. They are like every man and woman born into this world. Paul describes us in Ephesians 2, in verse 1, dead in transgressions and sins. And the tax collectors, the sinners, like all of us by nature, are dead in transgressions and sins. Like all human beings, with the sole exception of Jesus, we have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That's how it's put in Romans 6, 23. Romans 3.23. So here are people who sinned and fall short of the glory of God and who need a Savior. And their need is great. Greedy, dishonest, tax collectors, immoral people need a Savior. And only the ministry of this spiritual doctor can deal with what is wrong with them. only Dr. Jesus is able to deal with the plight of these sinful people. They need a Savior, and here is the Savior. So, there are the sick, tax collectors and others who are fallen sinful people whose hearts need to be transformed, who need a Savior. And He came to minister to the sick. But then there are the healthy. Who are the healthy? Well, of course, that would apply to those who are already right with God by grace. We could certainly describe those, as it were, who are saved, who belong to the Lord, who love Him by grace, They're healthy, but that's not the kind of healthy people that Jesus has in view here. In this context, the healthy are the Pharisees and those who share their outlook. These are the healthy whom Jesus has not come as doctor. Now, we need to be very clear, of course, They are healthy in their own estimation. And it's vital to understand that. Jesus is not saying, here are healthy, spiritually-minded people who don't need a Savior. They're healthy in their own minds and how they view themselves. They are people who don't think they need a doctor, who don't, for one moment, think they require a Savior. These are moral, law-keeping men, the pinnacle of the spiritual life of Israel. They don't see themselves as needing Jesus' ministry. They look at themselves, and they think, we are healthy. These others, these tax collectors and prostitutes and others, they're sick. They need to be changed, but we don't. We are the healthy ones. They see themselves as without need of a Savior. They have no sense of sin, no sense of spiritual need. They think they see the need other people have, but they don't think they have one. They see themselves as healthy. Put very vividly by Jesus in Luke 18, before he tells the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, And in Luke 18, 9, he tells the parable, we're told, to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. That really sums up the mindset of the Pharisees and the scribes and others. They trust in themselves that they're righteous. They, in their own minds, are the healthy ones, with no need of a spiritual doctor. They are doing very well. They're keeping the details of the law. They, in fact, are the people who think God ought to be pretty pleased with them, because they are such moral law-keeping people. So, to them, the healthy are themselves. They're righteous, and they look down spiritually, in pride on others. But they don't realize, and they should if they really read their Scriptures and took them to heart, they don't realize that they are in as much spiritual need as tax collectors and others. They actually are sick, but they don't know it. And of course, every medic will have come across people who perhaps are seriously ill, but will vehemently deny there's anything wrong with them. And really, that's the Pharisees. Spiritually, they are critically ill. They're dead, even, in another biblical description. But they deny any need. They have no awareness of any spiritual need. And yet they truly need the doctor as much as any tax collector did. But they can't see it. And until they come to the point of recognizing that they are sick, that they are sinners in God's sight, there really is no hope for them. They will not come to Christ until first they realize they need Him. the person who will not go near a doctor because they're convinced they're well, or perhaps they convince themselves they're well, and so there's no help for them. And isn't there a challenge here for each of us to search our hearts? Have you come in your life to a point of realizing that you're a sinner who needs a Savior? that spiritually you are sick and you need this doctor, this physician, and nobody else can deal with what is wrong with you. Have you come to that point of acknowledging what the Bible says, that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God? Could it be that you say to yourself, well, I'm a church member. I do my best. I try to be a good neighbor. I go to church. I do all kinds of things. Oh, yes, there are others out there who certainly need a Savior. And you look at their lives and their sins, and they need to be changed, but I'm all right. And yet, perhaps you have never come to Christ, never come to seek salvation. Never come to seek the ministry of this divine doctor. We need to search our hearts and understand, by nature, each one of us is sick. There are those who realize it and cry to Jesus for salvation. There are those who say, I'm perfectly all right. I don't need him. the road to destruction because you will never seek the help of the doctor if you refuse to admit that you're among the sick. The criticism leveled at Jesus. The need identified by Jesus, the need all of us have. There truly by nature isn't one of us who is healthy. We are among the sick but there is a doctor who can deal with what is wrong with us. And it brings us finally to think about the mission fulfilled by Jesus, the mission fulfilled by Jesus. In the minds of the Pharisees and the tax collectors, These people sitting at the feast with Matthew and Jesus, the disciples, are sinners. They quite happily tell them that. And yet, if they really believed that these people were sinners, surely the question is, what have they done to help them? In what way have they tried to minister to these people who they recognize her in tremendous need. What have they done to rescue them? And the answer by and large was nothing, nothing. And you've got to ask, and how seriously did they take the plight of the tax collectors and the sinners? It would seem they weren't much bothered by it. Let them perish. Let them go to eternal destruction. We're all right." And in practice, at times, that was how they behaved. Let the sinners go to what they deserve. We're in no need of a Savior. They've done nothing. And it's in that context that Jesus quotes from the book of Hosea. You might wonder as you read this passage, Why does Jesus say to them, in verse 13, go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, not sacrifice? Do you think, what has that got to do with this whole situation? Why does Jesus say that to them? I mean, they would immediately recognize that this comes from the book of Hosea. This is the Lord saying, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. What is the point of the quotation that Jesus gives them. And he is telling them that, in God's eyes, the ritual and the law-keeping and the efforts at good works that so characterized the Pharisees, all of that did not make up for their self-righteousness and their unmerciful hearts. You see, here were men steeped in religion who had no mercy in their hearts for tax collectors and sinners. They fundamentally didn't care what happened to them. These are men with no mercy. And you would not have gone to a Pharisee expecting mercy. You wouldn't have got it. If you came and spoke to them about your sin, they'd have looked down on you. So, there's no mercy in their hearts. And what God desires is mercy, not ritual observance and keeping the details of the law and tithing the herbs and the spices and all the things that so occupied the attention of the Pharisees. Because they'd missed the heart of what God required. transformation that in place of hard, sinful hearts would give merciful, loving hearts. The Lord is not saying to people like the Pharisees, if you try hard enough, You'll make yourself merciful, and you'll be all right. That's just another version of good works. Try awfully hard to be a better person, a merciful person, and you'll be all right. That's just another version of salvation by works. The mercy that they would be able to show to someone could only be the fruit of God's grace. that had changed their hearts, that had made them new people. Only the divine doctor can change self-righteous, sinful people into those who have mercy on others. It's not that sacrifice was unimportant. But the problem was, the Pharisees thought simply the ritual of offering sacrifices and doing the things the law set out, that that made them okay with God. And there was no mercy in their hearts. And here's the Lord Jesus, the doctor, who comes in such a different spirit. What a complete contrast. He says, I have come, not to the healthy, but to the sick. I have come. Here is a man with a mission. It's often said that if ever there was a man with a mission, it was the Lord Jesus Christ. I have come. He had come, of course, we know, from heavenly glory. And he was sharing our human nature. He had come on a mission. a mission of salvation. That's why he had come. Matthew had experienced that salvation and that grace. Many others did. And it could be that some sitting at Matthew's table might also experience that grace. But here are the Pharisees who think we don't need something like that. We're good enough for God. The Lord Jesus has come to fulfill His messianic mission, the mission that He accepted even before the world was created, the mission to come and bring salvation. And as the Gospels show, what a cost. What a cost was involved in bringing the healing and the new life for sinners. involved his suffering and his death on the cross. Here is a doctor who dies for those he's going to heal. I couldn't imagine that. I couldn't fit that into our world. And yet that's the case. This doctor comes and will lay down his life for the salvation Matthews and other tax collectors and sinners of all kinds and people like you and me. That's why he has come. As he will tell his disciples later in chapter 16, he must suffer many things and be killed and on the third day rise again. That's the mission with which the doctor has come. to lay down his life for sinners who are without hope and without God in the world, so that they might be saved. And that's what's needed for the salvation of sinners, nothing less. We might sometimes wonder, was there not another way in which sinners could be saved? A way that didn't involve Jesus' suffering and death, and the answer Biblically has to be, no, there was not. There was no other way. There was no easier way. There was no way that avoided the suffering and death of the Messiah. Nothing else can heal our deadly sickness. And he has come to bring healing at the supreme cost, the giving of himself. And that is the mission that this doctor fulfills. And it's as a result of this mission that sinners are saved, that we are saved from our deadly disease. He came, he says, to call sinners. The call of the gospel, the call that some accept by God's grace, I trust you have. you have heard that call, and you have responded, and you've trusted in Christ. But of course, others reject the call. They hear the same gospel and yet do not believe. And what is the call? Well, Luke gives us a slightly fuller account of what Jesus said in Luke 5, verse 32. He says, Jesus says, I have come to call sinners to repentance. Repentance. The gospel calls us, as it called Matthew, the tax collectors and the sinners and the Pharisees calls us to repentance. Sorrow for sin against God. Not simply we've hurt others or we've hurt ourselves. We've offended God. And when you realize that, and you're sorry for that, you're repenting. And you turn from that sin by God's grace and put your trust in the doctor. the Lord has provided. It's in Christ that we receive salvation and new life and transformation and nowhere else. Yes, it is an exclusive message. That's not popular, of course, in our day. We're supposed to say, well, every sincere path will take you to God. No, it will not. There's only one path that will take you to God, the path he has provided in Christ, the path of repentance, sorrow for sin, and trusting in the Savior who's come to call sinners like us, the sick. Do you see yourself as sick in need of Christ? I know many of you have, and you have put your trust in Christ. If you haven't, don't delay because there's no other healing. There's no other way of salvation. Trust in Christ. He calls the sick. We must admit that we are sick, that we are lost without this doctor, and put our trust in him. God forbid that we would ever see ourselves as those who are healthy by their own efforts, their own goodness, trusting in ourselves that we are righteous. Because as long as you insist you don't need a Savior, there really is no hope for you. Not in this life, and certainly not in the life to come. Christ has come to call the sick. Admit you're sick if you haven't done so already, and call out to him to save you, and heal you, and give you a new life. Here is the great physician. Here is the divine doctor who came among the sick, as close to them as possible, to bring healing and new life. What a great Savior.