NOTES for Mat 9:9-13

It is hard and repulsive each time to stumble in yourself over the same nasty things. It feels as though you are walking in a closed circle. Again you repent of what you thought had already been passed through and understood. And you say to yourself, "Maybe I should terminate the agreement? Nothing comes of our cooperation."

But what do you hear in response? "I came to call not the righteous, but sinners." The Lord called a sinner, pulled him out of the mud, and brought him near to Himself. He said that He needed the sinner. And it turns out there was no agreement; there was a call and consent. My voluntary consent to answer His call to leave everything except Him. And then, once again recognizing my nature as a sinner, a tax collector gathering where he did not sow, recognizing the sickness whose destructive work you keep encountering even after it has been treated, the work that has deadened parts of you, I come to the physician.

I am still pained by myself, but I know who heals all this, who quiets the pain, who gives strength to rise. And, returning, you repeat the words of Psalm 106: "...He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their graves. Let them praise the Lord for His mercy and for His wonderful works for the children of men."

Christ called Matthew at the moment when he was carrying out his official duties, so hated by the whole people. Christ does not demand that Matthew repent beforehand, does not preach sermons to him, but immediately calls him to follow Him.

Meanwhile, not only for the fastidious Pharisees, but surely for a huge part of the people as well, Christ's association with tax collectors, the collaborators of their time, appeared monstrous. Few preachers of that era, even the wisest and most merciful, would have addressed such people without risking their own reputation. But the Lord sees hearts, and Christ saw Matthew's readiness to leave everything and follow Him, a readiness to do something many people with spotless reputations proved unable to do.

Here before us is a witness to the possibility of forgiveness even for people whom public opinion has grown used to considering hopeless, and this means that forgiveness is possible for any of us. And here, too, we see a warning to those who consider themselves, if not impeccable, then "not the worst," that is, again, each of us: do not exalt yourselves over anyone, for you know nothing about those whom you have grown used to despising.

These words are the testimony of God’s greatest mercy. It’s we people who discourse our relations with God in terms of worthy and unworthiness. But God knows very well who we are; and He has come exactly to such people, to us; Not because we are worthy of His mercy and not because we can recompense Him with something, but just because we need Him.

We often ask: “where is God?” being aggrieved on Him because He left us in our sufferings. No, He hasn’t left us, although we don’t deserve it in anything. But there is a radical difference from what He does and what we expect from Him. We expect that God will be correcting the circumstances of our life, for everything to be fine. Whereas, the Lord says that He came to call to penance, i.e. not to correct the circumstances of life, but to correct us ourselves.

Jesus' aphoristic phrases always have several meanings. So it is with these words: first, with them He reproaches the Pharisees because in their condemnation of tax collectors and sinners they are merciless; they do not understand other people's troubles or feel another person's pain. "The well-fed do not understand the hungry." Second, by condemning Jesus for associating with sinners, the Pharisees reveal their blindness, failing to see that Jesus comes not as a sinner to sinners, but as a physician to a patient. And third, Jesus invites everyone around Him to think: if sin is a sickness, then who is the physician able to heal this sickness? And if I exalt myself above others, considering myself healthy, then what physician am I rejecting in my own life?

Is Jesus saying that one must necessarily become "sick" in order to call the physician ("if you do not sin, you will not repent")? Of course not, but it is vitally necessary to recognize one's already real sickness.

Jesus’ aphoristic phrases always have several meanings; so do these words: firstly, He reproaches Pharisees with these words, because they are unmerciful in their condemnation of tax-collectors and sinners, they don’t understand others’ problems, and they don’t feel others’ pain. “A man with a full belly thinks no one is hungry”. Secondly, Pharisees show their blindness blaming Jesus for talking with sinners, not seeing that Jesus comes not as a sinner to sinners, but as a doctor to patients. And thirdly, Jesus invites everyone around to think: If sin is a sickness, then who is that doctor capable to heal this sickness? And if we raise ourselves above others, considering ourselves healthy, then what doctor are we rejecting in our life? Is Jesus saying that we should become necessarily “sick”, in order to call the doctor (no sin – no repentance)? No of course, but it is necessary to realize our own already really existing sickness.

Is sacrifice not an expression of love? After all, every sacrifice means giving up part of one's life: in the form of possessions, money, or time. Giving up one's life - is that not love?

Let us look from another side. A certain husband gives his wife a magnificent bouquet of roses every year on their wedding anniversary, while on all the other days he cheats on her shamelessly. Does the wife not have the right to exclaim, "I want love, not a bouquet!"? Worst of all is if the husband also thinks that everything is fine with him and does not understand why his wife is dissatisfied - after all, he gives bouquets! So it is in the spiritual life: it is impossible to call to repentance someone who does not see his sin and justifies himself.

Is sacrifice not an expression of love? Every sacrifice is indeed the delivery of a part of someone’s life: as property, money, time. Giving his life- is it not love? Let’s look it on the other hand. A certain husband makes every year a gift of a nobby bouquet of roses to his wife for the wedding anniversary and all the other days – he completely walks the streets. Doesn’t the woman have the right to exclaim: “I want love, and not bouquets!”? Worst if after that the husband still esteem that everything’s all right, and doesn’t understand why his wife is dissatisfied. It is difficult to call to penance someone who doesn’t see his sin, who acquits himself.

Today's passage begins, perhaps, with the most personal moment in the Gospel according to Matthew - the moment when Jesus calls Matthew himself. Everything is described very simply: Jesus said to him, "Follow Me," and Matthew got up and, leaving everything, went after Him. Matthew does not describe his inner experiences, but they were certainly there, because at that moment his life was broken into two parts. This is how the Lord builds His Church.

After that Matthew again tells of His preaching of the Kingdom. It turns out that Christ's teaching, while not contradicting the Scripture of the Old Testament, is in constant conflict with legalistic interpretations of that Scripture. Perhaps the key to this conflict is found in verse 13.