What is the context?
Jesus calls Matthew from his tax booth, and Matthew gets up and follows. The account then moves to a meal at Matthew's house, where tax collectors and others described as sinners eat with Jesus and His disciples. The Pharisees' question challenges His willingness to share their company.
The related accounts in Mark 2:13–17 and Luke 5:27–32 name the tax collector Levi. Luke says he leaves everything and hosts a large banquet for Jesus.
Jesus answers with the picture of a doctor going to those who are sick. His presence among sinners fits the purpose for which He came. Luke explicitly describes that purpose as calling sinners to repentance. Sharing a meal opens the way for restoration; the account does not describe sin as harmless.
Jesus then sends His questioners back to Hosea 6:4–7. There God contrasts fleeting loyalty with the mercy and knowledge of Him that He desires. The Hebrew word חֶסֶד, ḥesed (KHEH-sed), includes kindness and devotion. Brown–Driver–Briggs explains these uses and notes devotion to God in Hosea 6:6. The contrast challenges outward offerings that are separated from a faithful response to God.
By applying Hosea to this meal, Jesus brings mercy to the center of the question. The people needing help are the very people His mission seeks. His answer calls the questioners to understand God's purpose rather than judge His mission by the company He keeps.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly read this as a call to show mercy to sinners and recognize their need for repentance, rather than requiring them to become respectable before Jesus will receive them. Wesley on Matthew 9:13 emphasizes God's preference for mercy over sacrifice, and the Catholic Catechism, 545, describes Jesus welcoming sinners and calling them to conversion; its 1443 paragraph also explains His table fellowship as a sign of restored belonging.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The welcome at Matthew's table belongs within the purpose for which Christ came into the world. In 1 Timothy 1:12–17, Paul describes receiving mercy despite his former violence and persecution. He presents that mercy as an example of Christ's patience toward others who will believe and receive eternal life.
Titus 3:3–7 likewise begins with a former life of wrongdoing, then describes God's kindness and salvation through His mercy, new birth, and renewal by the Spirit. God does more than make room at a table: through Christ He gives people a new life and a future with Him. The mercy Jesus shows here is part of that larger rescue.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.