the storied jesus

Israel, Jesus, Mercy and Sacrifice.

A friend of mine posted the following on Twitter: ["I desire mercy not sacrifice" says Jesus (Matthew 9:13). He doesn't want our religious obligation but rather to be our heart's inclination.]

I was excited to see this post and wanted to elaborate on it because I did a lot of work in Hosea last year and of course this quote--used by Jesus to describe what he himself is doing--is from Hosea 6:6.

Hosea 6:6 (ESV-from Masoretic Text)
"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."
                       חֶ֥סֶד "hesed"                                 וְדַ֥עַת אֱלֹהִ֖ים "da'ath 'elohiym"

When the Hebrew above was translated, it was translated into Greek (the LXX) here:

                        διότι ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν καὶ ἐπίγνωσιν θεοῦ ἢ ὁλοκαυτώματα.
           eleos                                             epignosis    theos
mercy, pity, compassion                       knowledge  |  God

To state the obvious, Jesus quotes the Septuagint (LXX) version, but only the first part. Now we know that Jesus is fully God and fully man...so why did he only quote this first part? Being the Messiah, Jesus has come to fulfill everything. He fulfills the Law, the Prophets and Writings (i.e., the Old Testament). In other words, he is the end goal (telos). When the authors of the New Testament use Scripture, they appropriate whatever it is they want in light of Jesus. Everything changes when Messiah--the Davidic King, Prophet Elijah and True High Priest Mediator like Moses--arrives.

In the original context of Hosea (the verse that Jesus appropriates and recapitulates for himself), Israel (the Northern Tribe) was nearing Exile. Exile of course was a part of the curse of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28:49). God made a covenant with Israel, and if Israel was not going to obey, God would use Assyria to judge her. Repentance did not happen, and eventually the unthinkable took place.

But when Jesus uses this verse, strangely enough, the surrounding section (Hosea 6) speaks of God reviving "us" on the "third day" (Hosea 6:2). God desires them to "return to the LORD" (6:1) and "know the LORD" (6:3). Why? "For I desire..." (6:6).

God's desire is for Israel to turn to Him, be restored, and see the blessing of the covenant. But "like Adam, they transgressed the covenant" (6:7).

Jesus does this. He restores all that is broken; calls people to return to their God; revives himself first (resurrection) only to promise one day the same to His people. Jesus desires a steadfast love, and "attachement" to God, if you will, that is an outpouring of love for sinners (of which I am the greatest).

Jesus, seeing himself as the fulfillment of Israel's Redemptive trajectory, reconfigures everything around himself. He is the one we are to turn to to be restored. He desires Mercy because He is Mercy.

And ironically, the ultimate act of mercy was sacrifice; Jesus on the Cross.