JESUS CAME TO CALL SINNERS

Matthew 9:1-17

Key Verse 9:13

But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

Read verses 1-2.  Who was brought to Jesus and what was his condition?  Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven”; what do you think this man’s ‘sins’ were?  Why did Jesus say, “Take heart, son?”  Why did he say, “Your sins are forgiven” and not, “You are healed”?

Read verse 3-8.  Why did some of the teachers of the law criticize Jesus in their hearts?  Why did Jesus call their thoughts “evil?” What did he say to them?  How is it that healing this man showed Jesus’ authority to forgive sins?  

Read verses 9-13. Where did Jesus find Matthew?  Why were tax collectors classed with “sinners?”  What was Jesus’ invitation and Matthew’s response?

Read verses 10-13 again. Where did Jesus go for dinner?  Who criticized him and why?  What was Jesus’ response to their criticism?  Who did Jesus consider sick? (13b)  Why?  What does ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’ mean?

Read verses 14-17. What question did John’s disciples ask?  Why?  Why did Jesus say, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?  The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast,”?

What does the ‘patch’ and ‘new wine’ symbolize?  Who or what is the ‘old garment’ and ‘old wine skin’?  Why do you put ‘new wine’ into a ‘new wine skin’ and not an ‘old wine skin’?  

Think about the paralytic, Matthew the tax collector and John’s disciples.  How are they different?  How are they the same?  What is Jesus trying to teach us from today’s passage?

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