Mercy Extended • Matthew 9:10-19, 23-26
By Carl M. White
Who needs mercy? We all do, though it is hard to admit it. Mercy is when you don’t get what you deserve. The truth is, we believe we deserve a lot; thus, it is hard to admit we need mercy.
The theme of today’s message is that Jesus shows mercy to all who come to Him in faith, implying that mercy is a response to our faith. Matthew 9:9 says, “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s office; and He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’ And he got up and followed Him” (NASB). That is where mercy begins; when Jesus calls you, not because you have faith in him. Mercy comes first, faith follows .Not the other way around.
Jesus calls Matthew, a tax collector, and then sits down and eats with this tax collector and his sinner friends. The Pharisees are appalled and ask why he would do something so outrageous. The answer is simple and obvious. It is the sick who need a doctor. Some form of brokenness comes first, then the healing hand of the physician.
Jesus then challenges them to learn the lesson of Hosea 6:6: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings” (NIV). What is the lesson here?
First, no one is a Christian unless they are first called to Christ. Matthew became a Christian not because he decided to take up religion, but because Jesus called to him. Josiah Conder expresses this in his 1836 hymn. “Lord, tis not that I did choose you; that, I know could never be, for this heart would still refuse you had your grace not chosen me” (Hymnary.org, accessed 1/9/2026).
The same idea is found in John Newton’s hymn “Amazing Grace.” “I once was lost, but now I am found; was blind but now I see.” Newton didn’t find himself. He was bind. He had to be found. God was merciful.
Second, there is a difference between religion and being a Christian. A Christian is called from something to something. Religion is doing something to try and get something. In Christianity, mercy comes first. In religion you are trying to get mercy through ritualistic actions.
The disciples of John want to know why Jesus’ disciples do not fast, a ritual. The answer is simple. The messiah is with them because he chooses them. Ritual, no matter how sincere, cannot accomplish this. The groomsmen do not miss the presence of the groom if the groom is with them. Then He says it another way. You cannot take what is new and force it into what is old. Like old wineskins, the new wine will expand and cause the old to burst.
Religion by itself helps us to do three things. First, to divide the world into the good and the bad, the saved and the lost. Second, religion allows us to justify ourselves, why you are saved and others are not. Third, religion is a way to cash in to the central power of life. There is only one problem with all of this — it is no substitute for being called to salvation by Christ himself.
On “Saturday Night Live,” one of the most popular characters was the Church Lady portrayed by Dana Carvey. The Church Lady divided everyone into the good and the evil. “I do little sins,” she would admit. “You are evil!” We laughed at that character because it felt familiar. Then we would pat ourselves on the back because we had life figured out better than that! Or do we?
This begs an old question. Can you be saved without ever knowing you are lost? In Philippians 3, Paul listed all his religious accomplishment and then said he counted it all as lost, as a throw away. Paul only came to know Jesus as the Christ because Jesus came to him first.
In 1740 a farmer from Middleboro, Connecticut, went to hear George Whitefield peach. He wrote an account of his experience. “And my hearing him preach, gave me a heart wound; By Gods blessings: my old Foundation was broken up, and I saw that my righteousness would not save me … I saw what free Grace was; I saw how stubborn and willful man was; I saw it was nothing but accepting of Christ’s Righteousness and the match was made; I saw I was saved by Christ” (https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/primary-source-nathan-cole. Accessed 1/9/2026).
Mercy comes first!
White is a member of Pineview Church, Clinton.
