Go and Learn What This Means
Mercy, Not Sacrifice
"Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'"
—Matthew 9:13, quoting Hosea 6:6
Wild Sitka rose blooming beside rounded granite beneath a bright blue sky.
There are moments in the Gospels when Jesus simply answers a question.
Then there are moments when He becomes the Teacher in a very personal way.
One day, after Jesus had called Matthew to become one of His disciples, He sat down to eat in Matthew's home. Tax collectors and other people with questionable reputations gathered around the table. It did not take long for the Pharisees to notice.
They asked the disciples,
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
Before the disciples could answer, Jesus spoke.
“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 9:12–13, quoting Hosea 6:6 (NIV)
Whenever I read those words, I find myself pausing at one particular sentence: "Go and learn what this means." Jesus was speaking to people who knew the Scriptures remarkably well. Many of them could quote large portions of the Law from memory, yet He gently sent them back to a single verse because they had overlooked the Father's heart. That simple invitation has stayed with me over the years because it reminds us that knowing Scripture and understanding Scripture are not always the same. Jesus wanted His listeners to do more than remember God's words. He wanted them to understand why the Father had spoken to them in the first place.
Why, then, did Jesus choose Hosea? The prophet lived during a difficult period in Israel's history when outward religion continued much as it always had. Sacrifices were still being offered, festivals were still observed, and people continued to gather for worship. From the outside, everything appeared healthy. Yet beneath the surface, something had quietly changed. Their hearts had drifted away from the God they claimed to serve.
Through Hosea, the Father spoke these remarkable words:
“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”
— Hosea 6:6 (NIV)
It is important to notice what God did not say. He did not say that sacrifices were worthless, for they had been given by God Himself. The problem was that people had begun treating religious practices as though they mattered more than loving God and caring for one another. Worship slowly became something they performed rather than a relationship they lived each day with their Father.
Hundreds of years later, Jesus recognized the very same problem. The Pharisees were sincere students of Scripture who carefully observed their traditions and expected others to do the same. Yet when the Son of God welcomed tax collectors, sinners, and those whom society had pushed aside, they could not understand His compassion. Jesus never criticized them for studying the Scriptures. Instead, He challenged the way they understood them. That is an important distinction. Knowledge can fill the mind, but only truth received with humility can transform the heart.
When Jesus quoted Hosea, He wasn't setting aside the Law.
He was reminding His listeners why the Law had been given in the first place. Every command was meant to lead people toward a deeper relationship with the Father and a life marked by compassion, justice, and faithfulness.
Without mercy, religion easily becomes something we perform instead of something we live. That is why Jesus returned to this same verse a second time. After His disciples picked grain on the Sabbath, the Pharisees accused them of breaking the Law, once again placing their understanding of religious rules above the needs of the people standing before them.
Jesus answered,
“If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”
— Matthew 12:7, quoting Hosea 6:6 (NIV)
Those words catch my attention every time I read them because Jesus did not tell the Pharisees they had failed to memorize the Scriptures. He told them they had failed to understand them. Perhaps that is one of the greatest dangers for anyone who studies the Bible. We can become so focused on learning the words that we slowly lose sight of the Father who spoke them. The goal of Scripture has never been simply to increase our knowledge. It has always been to draw us into a deeper relationship with God.
Jesus was never asking people to choose between truth and mercy, as though one must come at the expense of the other. Throughout His ministry, He held them together perfectly. He welcomed sinners, yet He also called them to repentance. He forgave, yet He never treated sin lightly. His mercy was not permission to continue in sin; it was an invitation to return to the Father. That is what makes the mercy of Jesus so beautiful. It offers grace while gently leading people toward truth.
As I have reflected on Hosea's words over the years, I have come to appreciate their beautiful simplicity. The Father has always desired hearts that truly love Him. When our hearts belong to God, everything else begins to find its proper place. Worship becomes genuine rather than routine, obedience becomes a joyful response instead of a burden, and love for our neighbor grows naturally out of our love for the Father.
Before we leave Hosea, there is one final lesson worth noticing. Jesus never quoted this verse simply to prove that He understood the Scriptures better than the Pharisees. His correction was an invitation, not a condemnation. "Go and learn what this means." Those words still invite every disciple to return to the Scriptures with a humble heart, seeking not merely information but a deeper understanding of the Father who inspired them. Perhaps that is why Jesus quoted Hosea more than once. In a single sentence, the prophet reminds us that God has never been looking for empty religion or outward appearances. He has always been calling people into a relationship marked by mercy, humility, and a heart that is learning to love as He loves.
As we continue following Jesus through the Scriptures, we'll soon discover another passage that He returned to again and again. This time, the setting will be a synagogue in Nazareth, where Jesus opens the scroll of Isaiah and announces the purpose of His ministry.
And once again, everything begins with the words,
"It is written."
