Showing Mercy

Ps 119:33-41
33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness.
41 May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;
(NIV)
In Mat 9:9-13 Jesus said "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." Here Jesus called Matthew to follow him. A little background on Matthew: 1. he was a Hebrew. 2. He was a tax collector. 3. He was employed by the Romans (enemy of Israel at the time) 4. Most of the tax collectors at that time had unethical business practices and were not liked by many people. So why would Jesus chose to have dinner with such a sinful person? This really got the Pharisees fired up that Jesus would be in company with "sinners". At that time one of the most intimate things you could do to befriend a person was to eat a meal with each other. It was viewed as you are becoming one with the person you are eating with because you are eating of the same food. Therefore the food that is in me is also in you so we are now bonded together and are one.
For the Lord of creation to come into a mans home and sit with him and allow the man to serve him dinner is mercy. The truth is man deserves eternal separation from the Lord because of his sinfulness. Mercy is not receiving the punishment of your sin that you deserve. This is where the Pharisees fall short. They were administering judgment and forgot they were sinners also. By their judgment of Matthews’s sinfulness they are rejecting the mercy of Jesus. The Pharisees had made many sacrifices, they fasted, they tithed, they faithfully went to synagogue, ect. All these anyone can physically do at any time. But to love an imperfect person and spend time with them and accept them as a friend not every one can do that, because we have pride and tend to think of ourselves as better then other people. Even as a Christian it is easy to look at a person as such a sinner and say things under our breath like "Look how they are dressed, or Can you believe they did that?". Jesus didn't die on the cross to create a group of people that look down on every one and judge them of their sins. He did die on the cross to show us how important we are to him and to extend His mercy to us so we can extend mercy to others.