He did not come to save the righteous. Why not?

^{"Jesus eats with Publicans and Sinners" by Alexandre Bida from  http://www.gci.org}

¹⁰ Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house,

that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came

and sat down with Him and His disciples.

¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples,

“Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them,

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’

For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Matthew 9:10-13

Wait a sec there, Jesus... Aren't we all sinners? That's how I always heard it.

"There is none righteous, no, not one." (Romans 3:10)

So these Pharisees were not actually "the righteous," were they? So why did He call them that?

Here's another passage that throws some light on that subject, I think. This takes place after Jesus heals the man born blind from birth (my favorite miracle, by the way) in John chapter 9.

The man born blind was excommunicated by the Pharisees for professing faith in Jesus. Then he meets Jesus Himself again, and the following conversation takes place:

³⁸ Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

³⁹ And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world,

that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

⁴⁰ Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words,

and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin;

but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains."

 

So the Pharisees were, in fact, the opposite of righteous. And what made them so, was the fact that they were so very sure of their righteousness.

 

That's what I think Jesus was pointing out, by using the term "The Rightoeus" ironically. 

 

He did not come to call those who believed in their own righteousness, but those who admit their sinfulness and accept His grace.

 

Oh Lord I want to be in that number....