Community & Discipleship
An Art Museum or a Hospital? (Mat. 9:9~13)
Jesus reached out to tax collectors and sinners, so the church should be a hospital where broken people humbly receive God's mercy and extend it to others, not an art museum that displays its own success.
Jesus turns toward outcasts, not the powerful
Right after the Sermon on the Mount, when the crowds were deeply moved, Jesus did not go to religious leaders, King Herod, or wealthy donors to build his movement. Matthew shows him instead reaching out to lepers, a Roman centurion, and demon-possessed people, those whom the Old Testament taught people to avoid. In chapter 9 he calls Matthew, a tax collector, and goes to his house for dinner. This pattern reveals where Jesus' heart was and the kind of church he wants.
Jesus calls a tax collector to follow him (9-11)
Tax collectors were hated because they worked for the Roman government that occupied their land. They often collected more than was required and kept the rest, so they were seen as traitors who lacked moral integrity. When Jesus called Matthew and ate with tax collectors and sinners, the Pharisees asked why their teacher would do this. Their question was really about whom Jesus was willing to sit with.
God desires mercy, not sacrifice (12-13)
Jesus answered by quoting Hosea 6:6: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.' In Hosea's time Israel kept bringing sacrifices to the temple while their hearts were unrepentant, and religious activity could not make them righteous. Jesus is the physician sent by God, the ultimate sacrifice who brings healing. Sinners who recognize their need are drawn to him.
The church should be a hospital, not an art museum
An art museum displays beautiful finished products, and a church becomes like one when people gather to draw attention to their success, status, and possessions. A hospital is a place where everyone admits they are ill and needs a physician. In a patient's gown, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, stand on the same level. The gospel, that we turn to God's mercy through Christ's cross, is what makes the church a hospital.
Mercy received from God must overflow to others
Hosea 6:6 has a second meaning: God also wants to see mercy shown to one another, especially to the poor. In Acts, the early believers shared their possessions so that those in need were met, a picture of a hospital rather than a museum. Sociologist Rodney Stark found that during plagues in ancient cities, many Christians stayed behind to bring water and food to abandoned neighbors. Those who survived asked about their faith, and the church grew.
Apply to Life
- Let us examine whether our gatherings and small groups function like an art museum or like a hospital.
- Let us return again and again to God's mercy, humbly admitting our sinfulness during this Holy Week.
- Let us extend God's mercy to others, especially the poor and suffering among us.
- Let us be generous in meeting one another's needs, as the early church did.
- Let us live so that the world sees the mercy of Christ in us.
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