Meet God in Scripture

Meet God in Matthew 9:13

“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 9:13 (KJV)

Six ways to encounter God here

A passage is not only to be understood; it is to be lived with. Choose how you want to meet God in Matthew 9:13, and Living Bread opens it right there.

Read itSit with the words themselves in The Word.Study itContext, cross-references, and questions in Bible Study.Be still in itLet it quiet you in the Sanctuary.Pray itTurn it into a prayer of your own.Hide it in your heartMemorize it, word by word.Encounter it togetherGather a few people to walk through it.

The passage in its setting

Meeting God in a verse begins with hearing it where it lives, in the flow of Matthew 9. Read it slowly, and let the focal verse settle into its own context.

11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

13 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.

14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?

15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

The web of Scripture around it

Where this passage echoes across the Bible, from the cross-reference graph, 14 connected Scriptures. Each one is a door to meet God there too.

  • Mark 2:17When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
  • Luke 19:10For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
  • Hosea 6:6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
  • Luke 5:32I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
  • Matthew 12:7But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
  • 1 Timothy 1:13Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
  • Proverbs 21:3To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
  • 2 Peter 3:9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
  • Micah 6:6Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
  • Matthew 21:28But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
  • Acts 3:19Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
  • 1 Corinthians 6:9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with man…
  • Acts 11:18When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
  • Matthew 3:2And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

More to meet God in Matthew

Matthew 6:33Matthew 28:19Matthew 5:14Matthew 7:7Matthew 6:34Matthew 22:37Matthew 6:26Matthew 5:4Matthew 5:16Matthew 19:26Matthew 11:28Matthew 5:22Matthew 5:18Matthew 25:34

How it points to Christ

Every Scripture ultimately leads to Jesus. See how the whole Bible points to Him in Christ in all Scripture, then meet Him for yourself.