For I Desired Mercy

On one occasion the Savior was eating and “many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.” When the Pharisees saw this they questioned the disciples in these words, “Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?” Jesus heard them and responded this way, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:10-13). He was here quoting this verse from Hosea: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). These Pharisees of course were very good at offering sacrifice and burnt offerings in strict accordance with the law of Moses, but they had no mercy for others and certainly had not come to any real knowledge of God (for God was among them and they didn’t even recognize Him). They had learned well to do the performances of the law, but they had missed the whole point of how the law was meant to change their hearts and lead them to the Lord. Jesus condemned them later in these words: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23). The performances of the law were important, but there were weightier matters of judgment, mercy, and faith that they completely missed.

               This message from the Savior and from Hosea should be a reminder to us that there is a higher purpose than simply obeying the commandments the Lord has given us. The ultimate goal is that we obtain eternal life, meaning that we learn to truly know Him and live as He lives: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). As we seek to be obedient to Him, we should strive to let His commandments help us come to know Him instead of being ends in and of themselves. For example, we should be less concerned with the length of a fast as with the power it has to help us draw near to Him. We should be less worried with following a set of prescribed activities on the Sabbath as we are with how we grow in faith and testimony and a knowledge of Him on His holy day. We shouldn’t worry as much about getting through a set amount of chapters or pages in the scriptures as we do about how His words touch our hearts and help us come to learn His will. We should focus less on the number of times we attend the temple in a certain period as we are with how well those covenants are written on our hearts as we worship there. He taught this to the Nephites: “And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 12:19). His commandments and law were meant to help us truly believe in Him and repent of our sins and develop a broken heart and contrite spirit. As that happens we will indeed find “mercy” and the “knowledge of God” as Hosea suggested. The Savior suggested that at some future day He will say to some who thought they were doing all the things He wanted, “Ye never knew me” (JST Matthew 7:33). To do the performances of the law is not enough—we must come to a knowledge of Him at a deeper level such that our hearts our changed, and as we find His mercy it will bring us to our knees before Him.