I love Matthew 9:9-17. I recommend reading it before reading the rest of this: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%209:9-17

The Pharisees had a system of laws--thousands of them--that were designed to exalt themselves over others. Those that did not obey all of the laws were "sinners", and the Pharisees were righteous.

But Jesus comes and flips their whole system on its head. First, he quotes the Old Testament with God's words: "I desire MERCY, not sacrifice." Secondly, Jesus broke many of these laws himself. I imagine the Pharisees would have loved to label Jesus a "sinner", except for the problem of all of his miracles and teaching with Authority stuff...

But God's desire for mercy was a problem for the Pharisees. See, if mercy trumps sacrifice, then the Pharisees' system is void, and their power is gone. Mercy sets the sinners on the same level as the Pharisees. And so this is why Jesus said "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners": because he knew the Pharisees would reject mercy (Jesus) because it didn't perpetuate their system. Jesus did NOT say this because he didn't want to save the "righteous" or because he didn't think the Pharisees needed saving; he just knew that their system wouldn't be able to handle His mercy.

Further along in the passage, Jesus is asked why his disciples don't fast like the Pharisees do. His answer again implies that there is no room in the Pharisees' system for His mercy. Jesus says: "Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

The old wineskins are a metaphor for the Pharisees. The new wine is a metaphor for Jesus and His mercy. The new wineskins are a metaphor for the "sinners". And not mentioned but implied is the old wine, which represents the Pharisees' self-exalting laws.

Am I an old wineskin, or a new one? Does my "Christian lifestyle" make me "more righteous" than others in my own eyes? Is there room for Jesus' mercy in my life, or am I too busy with offering "sacrifices"? (Did you sacrifice something for lent? Remember that what God really desires is that you reflect His mercy.)

To accept the mercy of Jesus is to completely abandon our innate systems of judgment, which by nature seek to exalt ourselves over others.