Mercy

“What can I do with you, Ephraim?

What can I do with you, Judah?

Your love is like the morning mist,

like the early dew that disappears.

Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,

I killed you with the words of my mouth;

my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,

and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Like Adam, they have broken the covenant—

they were unfaithful to me there.

Gilead is a city of wicked men,

stained with footprints of blood.

As marauders lie in ambush for a man,

so do bands of priests;

they murder on the road to Shechem,

committing shameful crimes.

I have seen a horrible thing

in the house of Israel.

There Ephraim is given to prostitution

and Israel is defiled.

Hosea 6:4-10

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:10-13

I am highlighting these two texts, because they have forced me to pause and think about what it means to fulfill God's desire for mercy, not sacrifice. What about the sacrifices offered at the temple? Are the texts addressing a different type of sacrifice? In what ways can I be more merciful? I do not have any answers yet, but these passages seemed worthy of sharing. Any thoughts?