Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 9:13

"But go ye and learn what [this] meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." — Matthew 9:13 (ASV)

Go and learn — These words from Hosea 6:6, which our Lord also cited regarding the Sabbath (Matthew 12:7), assert the superiority of ethical law over ceremonial law. Withdrawing from contact with sinners would have been a formal "sacrifice," the kind the Pharisees delighted to offer and from which they took their very name. However, the claims of "mercy" were higher and led Him to mingle with them.

This was the very purpose of His coming: not to call "righteous men" (again, with a studied reference to their own self-perception), but "sinners." He came to call them, as Luke adds, "to repentance" (though these words are missing from the best manuscripts of Matthew and Mark).

We might also infer that when the scribes were told to consider the meaning of the prophet’s words, they were also being directed to the surrounding context. There, they would find their own likeness in the words, "Your goodness is as a morning cloud; ... they ... have transgressed the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously against me" (Hosea 6:4, 7).